Fess Up to Messing Up and Win a Free Book!
Send us your most humbling, and amusing, outreach stories.
Tell us in 200 words or less about one of your most humbling outreach experiences that, in hindsight, is also pretty funny. If we pick it as a top-five entry, you'll get a free copy of The Church Leader's Answer Book (Tyndale), a comprehensive reference guide for ministry. Plus, with permission, we'll publish your story on the blog. Send your entries by e-mail here.
Now, we should clarify the spirit of this contest. We don't want to discourage anyone, and we certainly don't want to make light of our call to spread the gospel. Rather, we hope this exercise helps us laugh at our anxieties and shortcomings—"jars of clay" indeed—and reminds us that we're hardly alone.
Our editor Drew volunteered to kick off the contest with an anecdote of his own:
My wife and I were trying to think of creative ways to reach out to our neighbors. We had invited them to church several times, but they never came. That winter our church announced there would be a Santa Claus for the kids at the Christmas service. This is perfect, we decided. Our neighbors had two young children. Besides, it seemed like a service with old Saint Nick was the perfect way to get them to church without offending their secular sensibilities.
But when my wife extended the invitation, their response surprised us. "I'm sorry," the wife replied. "We don't believe in Santa Claus. We tell the kids their presents come from Jesus."
The deadline for entries is Monday, March 16. Don't be shy!
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Comments
My husband pastors a church without any other staff. I am his helper! We have 'friendship' pads on the pews. At first everyone helped out and signed the books, and made sure that they went down the pew for others to sign. Eventually over the past year and a half, they have stopped being faithful to doing this for us.
My husband doesn't remember to tell them each week to remember them...and...I often forget to pick them up on Sunday night. There have been weeks that I haven't even remembered to pick them up until the following Sunday...which means that anyone that still signs, knows I've forgotten them. If I do remember them, they may sit at the house until we're having company and we have to get the house cleaned-up. I might look at them then, and I might pile them in the spare room...out of sight.
It's pitiful!!! And, I want to be better at it. I'd also like some ideas to get them to be excited about signing the books for us. I know if our regulars will be faithful, our visitors may be more interested in signing them.
Posted by: Wendy Durbin | March 21, 2009 9:02 PM