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1-14-07 -- An Airline Industry Ministry
Church on the Fly
It began with two Christian pilots flying together. “It’s been two months since I’ve been able to attend a church service,” said one. “Me, too,” said the other. “You know, with the Internet it would be so easy to connect flight crews with churches around the country. Someone should do that.”
Jeff Armstrong pauses and laughs. “That someone turned out to be me.”
Armstrong, a commercial pilot for a major airline, began “The Wing and a Prayer” to create opportunities for pilots and flight attendants to attend worship services at local churches during weekend layovers.
The process is simple: interested crew members anticipating a weekend assignment to a city away from home contact the church in that area, and church members provide rides to and from the church and airport hotel. All airline personnel must show their FAA identification to the driver before entering the car, and churches make a special effort to provide female drivers for women traveling solo.
But for Armstrong and his coworkers, the ministry extends beyond shuttle service. “The airline industry is saturated with immorality,” he says. “Attending church encourages us and reminds us we are not alone.”
In addition, the pilots and other crew members who participate can serve as a witness to non-Christian team members. “Crews hang together,” Armstrong says. “They go to bars and restaurants together—wouldn’t it be great for them to attend church?”
Armstrong is an active member at RiverTree Christian Church (Massillon, Ohio) but “The Wing and a Prayer” welcomes churches of many denominations. “One Sunday we attended an African-American church,” says Armstrong. “After finding our own transportation there and walking in late, we definitely stood out as visitors! But the church was so kind, and they signed up to be the volunteer church in that city. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to experience different expressions of faith with brothers and sisters around the country.”
To continue its ministry to the airline industry, TWAAP needs more churches to participate. To find out how your church can make a difference, visit www.thewingandaprayer.com.
Spiritual SEALs
The United States commissioned the Navy SEALs, an elite military unit, in 1962. In 2006 First Christian Church (Phoenix, Arizona) began developing its own group of “special forces.” Junior and senior high school students at the church recently completed a “SEAL”—or “Scripture, Evangelism, and Life”—program to develop spiritual and personal growth.
Bob Witte and Jeff Chamberlain, FCC’s student ministry leaders, write:
Fewer than 20 percent of all who apply for the Navy SEALs make it through the rigorous training program.
The SEAL program imitated many of the same principles of this military branch. Instead of physical training, we pushed the students through the most challenging . . . and [most] intense spiritual training [of] any church in the Phoenix area.
As the students worked through this program, they learned to discipline themselves in . . . prayer, fasting, evangelism, reading, journaling, memorizing Scripture, accountability, etc.
Fourteen teenagers—about one third of the students that began the SEAL program—completed the course.
www.fccphx.com
Chapter and Verse
Discover Christian Church (Dublin, Ohio) launched its Scripture memory program in January 2005, and recently redesigned it to involve even more families. Participants in the “Total Recall Challenge” memorize a new passage each month; children recite the memorized verses to their parents (two times over the course of several days to make sure it’s committed to memory), and twice a year parents complete a short form to report their child’s progress. Each six months Discover hosts a party for everyone who memorized the last six verses.
“We want it to be straightforward and uncomplicated,” says Jim Brechbuhler, family life minister. “We don’t want to overwhelm people with information, so monthly handouts just feature the new verse and a short devotional thought to generate discussion about that passage.”
Although the program’s simplicity makes it easy for kids to participate, Discover encourages families to work through the material together. “It’s wonderful for children to memorize Scripture because it remains with them and can come to mind at important times throughout life,” Brechbuhler says. “But it’s just as crucial for adults to develop this discipline. We encourage all ages to participate.”
www.discoverchristianchurch.org
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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