Thursday night ministry provides alternative
By
John M. De Marco
CRESCENT CITY — Thursday nights are “happening”
at Howe Memorial United Methodist Church here, with a new program that
has seen strong participation by the previously unchurched.
In mid-January the church launched its Thursday night “Faith,
Fire and Fellowship” event, a dinner/worship service that had 75
people in attendance the first evening, including 24 children. Those
numbers have remained fairly steady since the program’s inception,
according to the Rev. Bryan Simpson, pastor of the church.
“We had some groups in the church who took Disciple [Bible Study]
one through four,” says Simpson. “Each time when they finished,
they said, ‘We need to do something for the community.’ Their
first idea was to do a soup kitchen. I said, ‘We need to feed
people, but we also need to feed their spirituality.’”
“Faith, Fire and Fellowship” was born out of that desire. Each
Thursday event begins at 6:15 p.m. when soup is served. Guests are
then entertained until 7 p.m. by various musical groups from the
community. At 7 p.m. a worship service begins in the dinner
theater-type atmosphere created in the church’s fellowship hall. A
guitarist and percussionist lead worship for about 15 minutes. This is
often followed by a skit, interpretive dance or video. Simpson then
reads a scripture and delivers a message.
“What we do after the sermon is what I think is bringing people
to this service,” Simpson said. “We do Holy Communion every
Thursday night, through intinction. At the same time, we have a person
gifted in anointing with oil, and people have a chance to be anointed
and prayed for.”
Such a practice is new to this congregation. Simpson said only a
handful of people requested the anointing the first Thursday night,
but an average of 20 or so have been coming forward each week since
then. The service concludes in silence.
The pastor said individuals who have not been in church for 10 to
15 years are attending regularly on Thursday nights and have pointed
out their long-standing desire for an alternative to Sunday worship.
“It’s all God. It’s nothing that we do,” Simpson said.
Meanwhile, while the adults are worshipping upstairs, children ages
3 to 12 are participating in “Outback Kids,” where a basement has
been transformed into an Australian countryside, complete with koala
bears. Two mothers in the church volunteer to lead the program. “They’re
having a ball,” Simpson says, noting that the program often includes
“birthday parties for Jesus” with crafts, movies and popcorn. “The
children are asking every week to come back and they’re bringing
some of their friends.”
To help newcomers feel welcome, church members wear red aprons that
read “Faith, Fire and Fellowship” and serve as greeters. The
church chose Thursday evenings for the event because church activities
are taking place the other nights of the week. The musicians also have
other obligations playing in clubs and other venues. The new service
has been promoted mostly through word of mouth, Simpson said, as well
as through a pancake breakfast the church has every Saturday that is
attended by about 110 people from the community.
“Everybody I see that has told me they don’t come because their
weekend is so packed—I tell them, ‘We have something that will fit
your schedule. Come and see,’ ” says Simpson.
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