IDEAS THAT WORK - Christianity Today

Tapes for Truckers

It can be a lonely trip from Atlanta, Georgia, to Waco, Texas, for long-haul truckers, and Marvin Donnell wanted drivers to know their Creator cares about them, and a church full of Texans is praying for them.

Donnell, associate pastor at First Baptist Church of Woodway, assembled ten local Christian musicians willing to donate their time to record a tape of three country-western songs he had written and five well-known gospel favorites. The tape is called, “Here’s to You, America,” and its jacket contains a brief gospel message, a toll-free number, and the address of First Baptist Church.

The missions committee of this Waco, Texas, church paid for the production of 1,500 tapes. Most of the tapes have been given away at four truck stops within 100 miles of the church. They are displayed near the cash register and are free to any driver who signs a card. The card has space for the trucker to request prayer or a call from church members. The cards are returned by the truck stop managers to be filed in the church’s prayer room, where volunteer intercessors pray for and contact those who request it. Letters of thanks have come from as far away as Canada.

The pastor also gives away the tapes as he makes pastoral calls on prospective members and to nonmembers seeking counseling or other help from the church. Church members themselves purchase copies of the tapes for personal use or to give away. The income from the tapes is reinvested in the tape ministry.

Donnell calls it a “cutting edge” ministry-planting a seed for consideration of the gospel.

Reported by Trisha Taylor, Hewitt, Texas

The Parable Project

When Murray Sink suggested passing out money at Burkhead United Methodist Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, some people thought he was joking. He wasn’t. Sink based his suggestion on the parable of the talents, in which a master gave various amounts of money to his servants. The wise servants made a profit on their money, but the foolish servant simply hid his portion. The master rewarded the wise servants and punished the foolish. Sink suggested that after hearing the parable the congregation be given small amounts of money and challenged to make their portion increase, with the money and profits being returned six weeks later.

With the help of associate minister Karen Miller, the board planned to involve everyone in the congregation.

Matthew 25:14-30 was presented as readers theater. A lay person and Pastor Miller conducted a dialogue, pondering the meaning of the Scripture reading.

The dialogue concluded with these comments.

Pastor: We’ll give these people money today, let them have a period of six weeks to increase that money, and see how wise they can be.

Lay person: Real money?

Pastor: Yes, and each person who takes money will use it to earn more.

Lay person: That seems risky.

Pastor: Right! We might lose it all.

Lay person: But we should get back more than we started with.

Pastor: That’s what will happen when people invest the money and use their abilities to increase what they’ve been given.

Then the ushers distributed envelopes containing five-, ten-, and twenty-dollar bills along with instructions and an envelope to be used for returning the money in six weeks.

The instructions:

1. Use your own abilities and plans to make this money grow.

2. In six weeks you will be asked to return the money to the church with any profit made.

3. For the next six weeks, each worship service will include a Parable Pause, when someone will share his plans and what he is learning about the parable of the talents.

4. If you need help or have questions, please contact a member of the project committee.

The following week an article in the church newsletter described the Parable Project and explained how those who were not in worship that Sunday could obtain their free money.

A spot in the foyer became a clearinghouse for those who wished to advertise a service or project. Posters were mounted to remind participants to work on their projects.

The young-adult Sunday school class combined their money and prepared a fellowship dinner. The response was enthusiastic, and the church hall was lined with all kinds of handmade items and sweets for sale, and ads for services (one VCR owner, for instance, offered to make a video tape of the contents of homes for insurance purposes).

At the end of six weeks, the youth and adult Sunday school classes met together to celebrate the closing of the Parable Project. Participants had the opportunity to talk about their experiences. Many persons admitted feeling skeptical at first, but getting caught up in the enthusiasm of individual and group projects and the power of the parable.

In the concluding worship service, those who had participated placed their gifts on the chancel rail. Cash distributed at the beginning: $1,250. Returned: $3,651.57.

Pastor Miller says, “We discovered we all had gifts and that the important question is, ‘How will we use them for Christ?’ “

Letters to Grow On

Every pastor is concerned about follow-up of new Christians. Gary Carpenter, pastor of the Church of Christ, Kokomo, Indiana, produced a series of 52 instructional letters that are sent weekly to newly professed Christians.

For eight years Carpenter has mailed these two-page letters. In each one, biblical references are interspersed with personal comments. The letters close with half a page of review and study questions on the subject of that particular letter. The letters are designed to “communicate foundational truths in such a way that the new convert should be able to understand that the Christian faith touches every aspect of life,” says Carpenter. “It’s a convenient, comprehensive reference tool.”

Even children receive the letters, although they are written with adults and teens in mind. Some parents review the letters with their families. Occasionally a child will tell the pastor

he didn’t get his letter that week. The church is now developing a group of disciplers who will deliver the letters and go over the material with the new Christian each week.

Positive Visibility

Every church wants to relate the message of Christ to particular people groups. A recognition day for professional teachers gives Pastor Michael Barton and his congregation an opportunity to do that in San Jose, California, each year.

Students in the congregation are asked to submit the name of a teacher they would like to honor. Six weeks ahead those teachers receive a printed invitation sent from the church in the name of the student.

The invitation reads as follows: “Susan Smith invites you to join us for a special day of recognition for your contribution to education. You are invited for breakfast at 8:30 A.M. and a 9:30 A.M. worship service on (date). This day is planned by the students who attend First Church of the Nazarene in San Jose. Please RSVP by calling the church office no later than (date). We look forward to having you as our guest.”

When teachers accept the invitation, the student who submitted that name is notified, and the teacher receives a letter of welcome from the pastor.

On their special day, teachers are greeted by members of the congregation who are teachers. Each guest receives a flower to wear and is seated for breakfast with the family of the student who issued the invitation.

Breakfast is simple. After brief introductions and prayer, the pastor reads letters of commendation he has solicited from the mayor, governor, and state superintendent of education. Centerpieces on each table say, THANKS FOR HELPING US TO GROW. During the meal, music is provided by one of the church’s ensembles. Following the meal, some of the students’ stories, titled “What My Teacher Means to Me,” are read. After breakfast students accompany their guests to the sanctuary for worship. The bulletin includes the name and school of each teacher present. The theme for the day is, “Christ the Teacher.”

For the most recent celebration, 98 invitations were sent, and 30 teachers accepted the invitation to breakfast. Twenty-five remained for the worship service.

Among the thank-you notes from teachers, one read, “Please know how rewarding it is to work with children and parents like yours. I can’t thank you enough for the recognition your church gave me and my peers today.”

Pastor Barton says, “We found the day was not only favorable to the teachers, but also to our church. The congregation gained confidence in inviting people to church. The event increased church visibility in the community and created a positive atmosphere in the lives of those we touched.”

Missionaries-Up Close and Personal

Getting each person in the congregation acquainted with visiting missionaries is a challenge. Many times missionaries speak during worship services and never meet individual members. Pastor Alan Eagle of Salem Evangelical Covenant Church in Oakland, Nebraska, plans for personal contact between visiting missionaries and members of his church.

First, he schedules missionaries into the activities of existing small groups. This means the missionary may meet with a men’s prayer group, a Bible study, or a group of children. Eventually, a majority of the congregation has the opportunity to question the missionary and receive a personal challenge about the mission task. “The missionary becomes less a celebrity and more a real person,” says Eagle.

To get new people interested in missions, a banquet is planned for the Welcome Class featuring the visiting missionary. “It has proven more worthwhile to meet with eight new couples who know little about missions than to meet a third or fourth time with larger groups of people who are already committed to missions,” says Eagle.

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