IDEAS THAT WORK - Christianity Today

Tippecanoe and Worship, Too

Most ministers are familiar with summertime attendance slumps, but pastors in resort areas see tourists strolling right by the church en route to the beach or other amusements. How can ministers in these areas reach vacationers? If you are Dr. Donald C. Lacy, pastor of Leesburg United Methodist Church near Lake Tippecanoe, Indiana, you conduct services from a pontoon boat.

A typical Sunday morning on the lake involves fishing, swimming, and relaxing on the beach. The Leesburg church provides an informal worship alternative for vacationers. Members of the impromptu congregation recline in lawn chairs on the beach, sit on the long pier, or relax in boats anchored near the pontoon boat. Lacy’s “pulpit” sits 100 feet from the shore, and the program is amplified by a sound system capable of being heard a half-mile away.

The program lasts half an hour and consists of preaching, Scripture readings, and singing. Volunteers provide bulletins, coffee, and juice, and collect the offering in plastic-lined fish nets. The services are modestly publicized, and the church underwrites all expenses.

In 1989, twelve lake services were held with an average attendance of 239. Worshipers hail from all over the United States. One man told the pastor that his family had been in crisis: “I don’t know what we would have done without the services.”

Need a Toaster?

When people go to the annual rummage sale at Grace Baptist Church in Racine, Wisconsin, they leave their money at home. They don’t need it.

Exchange Day, as it is called, is basically a giant garage sale each June at which everything is free. As Jane Worsham, the pastor’s wife, explains, “We aim to stimulate a lot of sharing within the church.”

On the day for bringing items, members stream into the fellowship hall with pots, pans, dishes, wall hangings, baby equipment, clothing of all sizes, toys, games, books, and electrical appliances. The only requirements are that the items be clean and in good repair.

The same people then return on Exchange Day to pick up anything they would like. Says Worsham, “We see it as a chance to share with each other.”

Sunday School by Telephone

Many people cannot attend Sunday school classes at their church due to illness or infirmity. “It just didn’t seem right that persons who spent forty or fifty years serving the church should be ignored when they could no longer attend,” says Evelyn Wilharm.

Evelyn expressed this concern to the pastoral staff at Hillcrest Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. A few weeks later, they asked her to teach a Sunday school class by telephone. A conference call, placed at the same time each Sunday morning, links the shut-ins with Evelyn, who is sometimes homebound herself.

The thirty-minute class begins with roll call and a time of visiting. Usually the members want to hear church news. Who’s in the hospital? Who needs their prayers? After twenty minutes of actual teaching time, Evelyn closes the session with a poem.

Attendance, which averages twelve to fifteen, is reported to the church secretary, who adds it to the church’s total for that day. The church pays $1.50 per person per session for the telephone conference calls.

Shut-ins are visited by an associate teacher who delivers curriculum materials and tapes of church worship services. “You don’t know how much it means to me to hear the voices of people in the class,” said one member. “I live alone, and sometimes I don’t speak to another person all week long.” One woman puts on her best dress for the occasion, but those who are bedfast can join the class in comfort. Some members never meet face to face but often call each other during the week.

“We’re able to talk and discuss the lesson just as if we were together in a classroom. We feel it’s the next-best thing to being there,” they say.

A Mission-Statement Hymn

Music is one of the few activities requiring both left- and right-brain activity. Jerry Hoffman, pastor of Nativity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, took advantage of that fact when he wrote a hymn specifically for his congregation. The words, from the church’s mission statement, are sung to an original tune composed in 1985 by John Gerike, then a member of the pastoral staff.

The mission hymn is often sung in congregational worship. Meetings of the pastoral staff and the governing board begin with the hymn. New members learn it as part of their orientation. Through their mission hymn, everyone in the congregation learns to articulate what their church is all about.

A Hymn of Mission

Christ’s name is proclaimed.

His story is shared.

His praises are sung,

His sacraments given.

The Bible is taught;

The Good News is told.

People are equipped,

Empowered to be bold.

The hurting are loved,

The sick visited,

The grieving supported.

The broken are mended.

By deeds and by words

The world, we invite

To share life in Christ,

That all might unite.

We welcome all guests;

New friendships are formed.

Called and gathered,

We know we belong.

Time, talent, and money

Are given in love.

By working together,

We will do the above.

Harvest Sale

It was a super zucchini year, and people were bringing their extras to church in Springfield, Oregon. Squash began to appear in the church kitchen, on tables in the foyer, and in automobiles in the parking lot. There was joking about the mysterious “zucchini genie.”

One Sunday morning the pastor asked those who had produce to share to bring it on Wednesday evening and place it on a table just inside the front door. The next Wednesday the table was filled, and produce overflowed into a box on the floor. Everyone was free to take what he or she liked from the table.

The next year, one of the deacons suggested that a harvest sale might be a good way to raise money for the food baskets the church distributed each Thanksgiving. Produce donors agreed, and a small contribution jar was placed on the table. A sign above the table explained how the money would be used. Contributions were voluntary and varied from $15 to more than $50 a week.

No produce was wasted-not even the over-abundant zucchini. One of the ladies was active in a local food-distribution organization and was happy to box up the leftovers and deliver them to that group. She and another volunteer also wiped the table, counted the money, and delivered it to the church treasurer to be deposited until it was needed for the November food baskets.

Feedback was so positive that several churches in the community are doing the same thing. Some of the donors have even promised to plant extra rows during the next gardening season so they will have more abundance to share.

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

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