by Bishop Glenn Davies
One of the most important resources we have is our human resources. And I don't just mean volunteer time. I also mean our intellectual resources.
As society changes, so we must "reinvent' our ministry methods. In earlier days the church bell would ring and people would come. That no longer works. We still need to do the same things, but reinvent the "how'. We need to invite people to church. We need to reach children. We need to teach the Bible. The question always is, "how'?
Good ministry will be a mix of centrifugal activities (reaching out like a Catherine Wheel) and centripedal activities (drawing in like a whirlpool).
The ideas on this page are shared in the hope that you won't need to reinvent every wheel to keep the church on track.
Free Family Fun
Recently St Andrew's, Roseville tried a "Cradle Roll' with a twist. Celebrating ten years of holding playgroups, all families who had attended the playgroups in the past ten years were contacted and invited to a free afternoon of family fun. Jumping castles, a sausage sizzle, Devonshire teas, face painting, games, clowns, mini golf, saw the church grounds swarming with families who returned for this treat. The Rev Mark Calder said, "Of particular amazement to those who came was that the whole show was free. "Where do we pay?', "Isn't this a fund raiser?' was constantly asked."
Held on the day before Father's Day everyone was invited to join in a Father's Day Sunday Service the next day and was also given information about the children's programs. The resulting goodwill in the community can not be over stated.
Kids' Games
Churches may no longer manage all the local sports teams but game playing is still a popular way to gather people. At Mowbray Anglican Church a team of 50 volunteers led by the Rev John Chappell, letterbox dropped their whole parish, cooking treats and setting up activities for a week where 183 local children came to "play'.
As a school holiday program which runs Monday to Friday, this non-denominational resource has been used more and more by local churches to recapture the draw card of organised games for local children.
Mr Chappell says, "one of the wonderful things about this event was approximately half of the families attending had no contact with the churches around. It was really exciting to see parents ask for Bibles and use them with the children at home in completing the daily work sheets."
A launch of Kids' Games 2006 is being held at Ryde Anglican church on Friday, November 4 at 7.30 pm. Contact Carolynne Noack at Scripture Union on 0425 257728.
Sign of the Times
Church billboards have been around for a very long time, used with great impact in Sydney with the St Barnabas and Broadway Pub dialogue over many years.
Over the past year St David's, Forestville has faced massive development either side of its property. Originally overshadowed by two major construction sites, it is now sandwiched by new blocks of units. Street signs were used to capitalise on the apparent liabilities.
During construction, dwarfed by two massive cranes, one sign said, "New lives under construction by the Great Architect'.
Recently, with both buildings offering Display Units for inspection, the sign now says, "Display Church Open for Inspection Sundays 8, 10 and 6'. This sign has been well received.
Forestville rector, the Rev Richard James says, "I am amazed at how many people specifically comment about our street signs and how many new people indicate the street signs are one of the reasons they chose to come to our church " it really works".
