Food evangelism for junior highers
To help junior highers introduce their friends to the Lord and our church, I began a series of Saturday cooking classes advertised through flyers sent home with our youth group. Our students were asked to invite their friends. I chose meals a student would likely eat and reproduce at home, with a special emphasis on desserts.
We cook, practice good manners and the art of table conversation, then do dishes. Afterward, I show a 30-minute video of musical artists or stand-up comics who include a clear presentation of the gospel in their wrap-up segment.
Recipes go home with the students, who are encouraged to cook the meal that week for their families.
Our youth group has doubled since the project started, and several of the students’ families have visited or are now attending our church.
Linda Riley Living Word Fellowship Torrance, California
Visitor fete
Quarterly, our church compiles a list of visitors and then prepares a banquet in their honor. In addition to the visitors, our staff and church board attend; each hosts a table to encourage conversation. After the meal, the staff, board members, and visitors are introduced. A video is shown to highlight various church ministries. At the conclusion, questions are welcomed.
Becky Seaton Warwick Assembly of God Newport News, Virginia
Developing teachers
It’s difficult to get professional teachers to volunteer for Sunday school, since they teach all week. This year, we initiated a teacher-preceptor program, which links professional teachers with Sunday school teachers who need coaching.
Each volunteer is assigned to a professional teacher. The two go over the curriculum, discuss a classroom routine, and decide which elements to incorporate in the class.
During the first two weeks, the professional teaches the class while the assigned Sunday school teacher watches and assists. Afterward, the two discuss what worked and why. The following weeks, the assigned teacher teaches the class with the preceptor nearby. After class the preceptor makes suggestions and discusses strategies.
Finally, the assigned teacher is ready to handle the class alone, but the preceptor is now the ideal substitute if the assigned teacher is absent.
Joy O’Shea Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Baptism mentors
Prior to baptism services, candidates choose a spiritual mentor who has been meaningful to them. At the service, a table is placed below the baptistery with a large, lit, central candle, surrounded by a number of smaller, unlit candles, corresponding to the number of baptismal candidates. As the candidates enter the baptistery and briefly share their testimonies, their spiritual mentors stand next to the table. Then as they are baptized, the mentors light a candle representing new life in Jesus Christ.
Mike Fleischmann First Baptist Church Powell, Wyoming
Seeker-sensitive liturgy
In order to invite modern people to historic liturgy, St. Thomas’s Church took advantage of the current musical popularity of Gregorian chant. We advertised (through posters, radio announcements, notices to newspapers, and letters to neighboring churches) a monthly service of Compline-a service of psalms and hymns that have been sung as night prayers in Christian monasteries for centuries.
Held one Sunday evening a month, the service lasts half an hour, with no offering, and invites people to “come as you are.” The whole service, done in English, is sung in Gregorian chant by the parish choir.
People attending are not asked to say or sing anything. The service leaflet helps people read as well as hear the biblical praises of God. We include an introductory brochure and a few notices about parish activities.
We hoped for 30 people, and the first evening we had 120. Attendance eventually increased to 175, exceeding the building’s capacity.
Michael Rowe St. Thomas’s (Episcopal) Church Camden, Maine
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1997 by Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.
