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More Than an Event
Know Wonder
Last year, worship and small groups minister Scott Neese decided to rethink Christ Church of the Valley’s approach to Christmas programming in their Bakersfield, California, community. “Rather than creating a program lasting an hour or two, we now offer Christmas Wonder, a ‘choose your own event’ full of many options,” Neese says.
Christmas Wonder includes a “Christmas Central” area on CCV’s property with food, crafts, and music. “It ‘snows’ every 30 minutes at Christmas Central!” Neese says. “Snow is a big deal in Bakersfield.”
Inside, the “wonder” continues with an art show (15 percent of all sales benefit the Bakersfield Rescue Mission) and rotating video, drama, and music performances in the worship center.
Neese’s favorite activity occupies a field west of the church property, where metal Christmas tree frames—some as high as 22 feet—support an in-the-round, animated display with 30,000 lights.
“Christmas Wonder offers a fun place for families, but it also gives back to Bakersfield,” he says. In addition to the art show, CCV now opens its building for the rescue mission’s annual fund-raising dinner the Thursday night before Christmas Wonder weekend, allowing the mission to raise thousands of dollars without the expenses of renting a venue. And while the church charges a small admission fee for Christmas Wonder, unlimited free hot chocolate rewards every family bringing clothing or toiletry donations for the rescue mission.
“We have so many young families in our area,” Neese says. “We love giving them an experience—not just an event.”
www.christmaswonder.info
www.ccvbak.org
Working Class
This spring, Mountain Christian Church (Joppa, Maryland) will begin offering an internship for Milligan (Tennessee) College ministry majors. The new program offers students the opportunity to observe and participate in a church environment during the academic year, unlike many traditional internships that offer a limited perspective on church life during slower-paced summer months.
Students will take nine credit hours of classes plus participate in 20 hours of hands-on ministry each week, Milligan reports. Ethan Magness, Mountain’s pastor of spiritual formation, will oversee the internship.
“All classes will be taught by qualified personnel who live in the area around the church,” Milligan writes. “Some of the classes also may be taught online by Milligan professors. Magness also plans to assign each student intern a ‘mentor’—one of Mountain’s active ministers—to help guide them through the day-to-day stresses of their work.”
www.MountainChristian.org
www.milligan.edu
Play on Woods
Small groups take many forms: Bible studies, support groups . . . and carpentry clubs?
Each Monday night, all year long, a half-dozen men from Connection Pointe Christian Church in Brownsburg, Indiana, gather at a carpentry shop to craft toys and child-sized furniture. At Christmas time, this “St. Nicholas Woodworking Ministry”—which takes its name from the fourth-century saint who anonymously gave small gifts to children—donates every item to local support agencies as presents for needy children.
The volunteers receive high-quality wood scraps from local businesses and church members and purchase hinges, screws, and other materials themselves. Connection Pointe also donates a small amount toward the ministry.
“We make pull toys, doll cradles, and rocking horses, but also some small furniture pieces like tables and china hutches,” says Greg Byington, one of the group’s leaders. “They are heirloom-quality pieces, handmade and nicely finished.”
The group completes and donates around 150 pieces by late November, and local nonprofit organizations distribute them throughout the season.
“We never know who receives what,” Byington says. “We just enjoy the process of making things and knowing children will enjoy them. We take a few weeks off in January and then get back at it for the next Christmas.”
www.connectionpointechurch.org
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD's contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
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