IDEAS THAT WORK - Christianity Today

Studies show that in an average week a person will be found in three places: home, work, and a shopping mall.

And at Christmastime, particularly, if a church wants to reach people, the place to find them is at the mall. Folks may not come to church for the holidays, but they won’t give up their Christmas shopping. Christ the King Lutheran Church in Southgate, Michigan, recognizes this and makes the most of it.

Robert D’Ambrosio, minister of discipleship, decided to hold a Christmas sing-along at the local mall. He arranged a time and courtyard location with the mall activities director. The group of 75 singers from the church met for a brief rehearsal before going to their location.

While shoppers gathered to listen, the church singers passed out song sheets so the audience could join in. Members from the church choir helped carry the singing, and the youth flute choir presented a separate performance. “The high school kids felt apprehensive about performing in front of their friends at the mall,” D’Ambrosio says, “but they found out it wasn’t so bad after all. They learned that you can be a Christian and let people know about it.”

Response was good. “It seems like it could have gone on longer,” one listener said. “I hope they come back next year.” Many asked where the group came from. To help answer the question, the church’s worship schedule was printed on the back of the song sheets. Also, about 600 lollipops and 1,000 pens, on which the name and address of the church were printed, were passed out.

“It’s a good way for people to learn public witnessing,” D’Ambrosio says. “We have tried other forms of caroling and decided to go with this because it provides better outreach.”

New-Pastors’ Questionnaire

When a new pastor arrives, how can he or she find out what a congregation really thinks? How can a pastor get answers to questions like these:

What are this church’s traditions?

What do you feel are the three most important priorities for your pastor? The three least important?

What does this church do now that you want to see discontinued?

Are there people or families whose needs the pastor should be aware of now?

Ronald A. Hotrum wondered about such things when he arrived as pastor of Florence (Oregon) Evangelical Church. So on his second Sunday, he asked.

Hotrum distributed a two-page survey with twenty such questions, including: How long have you attended here? How do you think people in the community view your church? What do you appreciate about how the church board conducts business? What complaints do you have?

Members had three weeks to return the surveys, either by placing them in the offering plate or mailing them to the church office. About one-half to two-thirds of the adult members returned a survey.

“It was interesting that many things on the ‘wish it were discontinued’ list were also on the ‘wish it were continued’ list,” Hotrum says. “It let me know which subjects to treat carefully, and about how many people felt each way.” At the Florence church, the delicate subjects were the coffee time on Sunday mornings, Sunday school attendance drives, and potlucks. Modifications were made as a result.

The survey also gave the church council “an informal guide to things to keep track of,” says Hotrum. As a result, the time of the evening service was changed, for example.

In addition, the survey alerted Pastor Hotrum to several people who were in out-of-town nursing homes, situations he may not have learned about for weeks or even months.

One key to the survey’s success is giving parishioners the results and showing them how their opinions are making a difference. “As soon as I passed out the surveys, people asked, ‘How soon will we get results back?’ and ‘What are you going to do with all this stuff?’ ” Hotrum says. “So I made a point of tabulating results and distributing them to everyone on the fourth week after the survey. Thereafter, I made reference to it: ‘This change is being made as a result of the opinions the congregation expressed on the survey.’ “

Youth on Video

Many churches have “Youth Sundays” or “Parent-Appreciation Banquets” in which young people are called upon to speak. Often, though, the results are mixed.

Darrell Bridges, youth pastor of Second Baptist Church in Conway, Arkansas, discovered this when the youth of the church put on an annual banquet and program for their parents. When it was time for testimonies, he found that, “as a rule, youth, especially junior high kids, are not good public speakers. The testimony time quickly can get off track.”

The question is, How can a church help its young people publicly express the meaningful things they feel, without long pauses or inappropriate high jinks?

Enter video.

The church set a filming time. When kids came, members skilled in video production (who donated their time and equipment) captured kids’ answers to questions like these:

The most unusual habit my mom (or dad) has is . . .

You should have seen the time my parents . . .

When I think of my parents, I think of . . .

The one message I would most like to give my parents is . . .

“The youth loved making the video,” according to Bridges. Filming took less than two hours. With the best clips selected, the final tape ran about six minutes long, yet it gave every young person a chance to respond.

The night of the banquet, the church borrowed a wide-screen projection system so everyone could clearly see the tape. Some of the material was humorous (“I was driving with my Mom, and when we went by some guys, I had her duck down in the car so they wouldn’t see her”) and some serious (“Mom and Dad, I love you and appreciate the things you do for me”).

“Parents were very appreciative and positive,” reports Bridges. “Some were deeply moved.”

Baptism and Dedication Invitations

“As pastors, we’re always trying to get non-Christians into church,” says Calvin Ratz, pastor of Abbotsford (British Columbia) Pentecostal Assembly. “But getting people to come the first time is always the hardest.”

While discussing these issues in a meeting, the church’s staff realized, in Ratz’s words, that “if ever there is a time a non-Christian will come to church, it’s when a friend is having a significant event there.”

So now, when someone is planning to be baptized or to dedicate a child, the church provides tastefully printed invitations and envelopes with which the member can invite friends and family. The dedication invitation, for example, reads as follows:

As a public expression of our faith, and our prayer to raise our child to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, We, (space for parents’ names) will be dedicating ourselves and (space for child’s name) at Abbotsford Pentecostal Assembly; 3145 Gladwin Road; Abbotsford, B.C.

It is our prayer that you will come and share this time of joy with us. Date: (space for date of service) Time: (space for time of service).

“Some people send a lot of invitations, while others send only a few,” says Ratz. “But they’re effective. One night following a baptismal service, I asked the people who had been baptized how many non-Christians had come as a result of their invitations. The total was about 50.” Accordingly, Ratz tries to give a clear presentation of the gospel each time there is a baptism or dedication.

The Children’s Service

What to do with children during the worship hour? That long-standing question usually is answered in one of three ways: (1) keep the children with their parents for the entire service, (2) provide a separate children’s-only service, or (3) a compromise, keep children in the service until time for the sermon.

Now there’s a fourth option.

Switzerland Baptist Church in Vevay, Indiana, has chosen to keep children in the entire service. “During the week, children are separated from their families through day care, school, and other activities,” writes pastor Larry Michael. “Why should the church be one more means of keeping families apart?” At the same time, the church wanted to communicate to families, both children and parents, that “we care about reaching every age group in worship.”

So the church began a monthly “family service” geared to young people throughout. The service includes choruses that children enjoy singing (“I’ve Got the Joy” or “The B-I-B-L-E,” for example), Scripture readings and prayers led by children, and a sermon that uses visual helps to interest youngsters. A recent message, for example, titled “The Full Armor of God,” employed large placards illustrating each piece of armor mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 6.

Do the adults feel left out?

“Not at all,” says Michael. “Usually the family service is our most popular. There is enough child in every adult for the sermon to appeal to all, so when we aim at the children, we usually hit the adults. On her way out the door, one elderly lady recently remarked, ‘Now that was on my level.’ “

What’s Worked (and Not Worked) for You?

Most people learn more from their failures than their successes. As Thomas Henry Huxley put it, “There is the greatest practical benefit in making a few failures early in life.”

In that spirit, LEADERSHIP would like to include, periodically, in “Ideas That Work” an idea that did not work-but that gave lessons (and laughs?) to those who tried it. Each published account of a local church’s “should have worked” idea earns up to $35.

In addition, LEADERSHIP continues to pay up to $35 for each published account of a fresh and effective church ministry.

Send your description of a helpful (or hoped-it-would-be-helpful) ministry, method, or approach to:

Ideas That Work

LEADERSHIP

465 Gundersen Drive

Carol Stream, IL 60188