Mobile Car Wash
One week before vacation Bible school, a group from our church, mostly VBS teachers and helpers, went to the homes of unchurched families in the community to wash cars for free. We took a pickup truck filled with rags, buckets, hoses, and Windex. At each house, we explained what we were doing, washed the cars, talked with the people, and handed out invitations to VBS.
The day before the Bible school began, a woman from the church returned to each of the homes with a fresh reminder.
—Mike Neifert Arba Friends Church Lynn, Indiana
Drive-in Movie Night
Near the end of summer vacation, in order to give junior highers the opportunity to meet incoming seventh graders and to introduce their friends to the church in a nonthreatening way, we held a Drive-In Movie Night.
The teens were dropped off at the church parking lot near dusk. Each brought a lawn chair and a can of soda. The church provided popcorn.
We used a king-size bedsheet for the screen and a portable sound system. Teens enjoyed a fun night of harmless ’50s drive-in flicks, now in video, mixed with some Christian music videos. They met one another and the youth pastor. In addition, holding the event in the parking lot made cleaning up the spilled soda and popcorn a breeze!
—Jim Catlin Valley Bible Church Veradale, Washington
[Editor’s Note: To show videos in this way, your church needs a license for public performance. To obtain one, call the Motion Picture Licensing Corporation at 800-462-8855 or 310-822-8855.]
Community Connection
To make our church better known in our community and to demonstrate servanthood, the Crystal Lake Evangelical Free Church spent a week last summer doing public service projects. We contacted the park commissioner, mayor, and school board to see what work needed to be accomplished.
We cleaned parks; cleaned and prepared the new middle school; took cookies and appreciation letters to police, fire, and sanitation workers; took up a collection for the community food pantry; and visited nursing homes. We concluded the week with a community-wide picnic and concert at the town’s main beach on Saturday night, at which we served eight hundred families. On Sunday morning we held a combined worship service in a city park. All expenses were paid through donations from church members.
The community was appreciative. One sanitation worker said, “In all my years, I’ve never received a ‘thank you.’ Your church is good for this town.”
—Bob Page Crystal Lake Evangelical Free Church Crystal Lake, Illinois
Candy-reward Sermons
Since our church does not have enough volunteers for a children’s program, the children remain in the worship service. Holding their attention can be difficult.
To keep kids involved, each week we print an outline of the message in the bulletin. The outline has underlined spaces to be filled in during the message. Each space begins with the first letter of the word to be inserted. Children who are too young to write draw a picture of something I have said during the message.
At the end of the service, each child who completes an outline receives candy.
Through this simple activity, children are more attentive during the services. As a bonus, this helps me keep the message simple and focused.
—Mark Patterson Coronach Alliance Church Coronach, Saskatchewan
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