By Barney Wells
Fred turned off the highway onto the fourth of the eight streets that make up Harpersville. Seven of them are five blocks long, and the eighth, Main Street, runs out of town as a county road.
The setting sun shone on the three things that rise above the treetops in town, the old grain elevator (now closed), the water tower (which has needed a coat of paint for 20 years), and the steeple of the Harpersville Church, Fred”s destination.
As he drove down Main Street toward the church, he recalled the names and faces of the folks who lived in each house when he was a kid. He wondered who lived in those houses now””he noticed most of the houses had toys in the yard. He drove through the two blocks of “downtown,” past the little post office, the old bank that was now a tavern, the boarded-up grocery store, the hardware store that today housed a secondhand store. When he reached the corner that held the remains of the elementary school, he turned toward the church.
Like the community, it had changed a lot in the last 30 years. Back then, Sunday mornings had seen crowds of 250, with packed Sunday school classrooms. Today a good Sunday saw 100 people. The aging building always needed repairs, and the offerings didn”t go as far as they used to. That was what brought Fred to the church tonight; the elders were meeting to try and find some way to get the church growing again.
Across the wooded hills and fertile prairies of the nation, there are hundreds of villages like the fictional Harpersville and hundreds of churches facing the same problems. It is not that these very small towns are depopulating””most of the houses are occupied””but the younger families moving into these places are not the farmers and small business owners of 30 years ago.
They tend either to be households where both parents work, usually some distance away, or where a single parent is to some degree dependent on government assistance. The work schedules and the culture of these new village residents do not make them naturally inclined to get up and go to church on Sunday mornings.
How, then, is the church to reach them? One method enjoying considerable success is a midweek program targeting children.
Let me tell you the stories of three churches in small places with big midweek programs, often as big or bigger than their Sunday morning services.
Ingraham, Illinois
The Ingraham Christian Church is exceptional in a number of ways. Its average attendance on Sunday morning is more than half the population of the town (Ingraham has 90 people; the church runs 46). Youth minister Keith Graham has been there 24 years, and he”s the new guy on staff””preacher Ron Payne is beginning his 45th year with the church. This little congregation annually hosts a regionally known conference for ministers and recently built a gym/fellowship hall to serve the youth. Its midweek youth program attendance consistently averages more than Sunday morning worship, sometimes 50 percent more.
Ingraham Christian”s midweek ministry started as a continuation of a very well-attended Vacation Bible School almost 30 years ago, which became a Bible Bowl program, which then morphed into an outreach ministry for unchurched in the community.
“When we really took off with the new kids, my first lesson was on “˜This is a Bible”” Ron Payne remembers. “Most of the new kids were not from a church background at all. My early lessons lasted only five minutes because that was their attention span. It soon built up to a 30-minute lesson and even some 45-minute ones.”
Four different age-graded groups encompassing kindergarteners through 19-year-olds attend, with preschoolers begging to be allowed in early and young adults wanting to come back. Sessions for each age group include a Bible lesson, active games, and an element of surprise””something different each week to keep the kids interested.
The church supports this ministry well, in dollars, in volunteer hours, and in access to the building. Beyond the weekly meetings, a fifth-Wednesday activity with another area church and events for the entire family, are part of the plan.
Medaryville, Indiana
About three years ago, minister Don Nedza noticed that folks in this town of 800 could use a good meal, spiritually and physically. So the congregation that runs about 90 on Sunday mornings launched a Family Night ministry.
The program consists of three parts: a meal for the entire family, recreation for the kids, and Bible teaching. The ministry began with about 80 in attendance, and has grown steadily. Each week some of the 25 or so volunteers supervise games for the kids while others prepare a simple meal for anyone in the community who wants to come and eat. For some of the families in town, this helps stretch their slim grocery budgets. After the meal, parents can attend an interest-targeted class (biblical parenting was the first class offered) while the rest of the family goes off to age-graded classes.
The folks at Medaryville Christian Church are clear that the primary goal is to win souls for Christ. More specifically, their three goals are to bring people into MCC, to be a presence in the community, and to offer help to those who need it. As volunteer leader Randy Anliker puts it, “We are Jesus to Medaryville, and we strive to meet needs like Jesus would.”
Although the adults in the community have been slow to come on Sunday morning, the program is impacting the kids and the entire community. While the hunger of their souls is the greatest need, many of those who attend the Family Night ministry have a real need for physical food as well. The holistic approach of sharing both bread and the Bread of Life has enabled this community to see Christ through the congregation.
Metcalf, Illinois
It was perfect timing””when a lady from this community of 200 approached the folks at the Metcalf Christian Church to ask if the church could start a youth program, church leaders had already been discussing the need. The congregation (which averages in the mid-30s on Sunday mornings) made a plan, enlisted volunteers, and kicked off its Kids Klubhouse ministry with 42 in attendance the first night.
A crew of nine is the backbone of the program, preparing a meal (including a monthly cake and ice cream birthday celebration), leading in games and crafts, and teaching Bible lessons through Scripture, songs, and prayer.
According to minister Don Pruiett, the program has several goals:
“¢ Teach the rich truths of the Bible and the plan of salvation.
“¢ Make the church not just a community center, but the center of the community and something to be loved and respected.
“¢ Encourage achievement, character building, and a real sense of others and belonging.
“¢ Build a bridge between communities of lost families and the church of Jesus Christ so that, beginning with the children, we can perhaps find favor with their parents and “by all means possible win them to Christ.”
Like the early church in Acts 2:47, the congregation in Metcalf is “praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” Members of the community regularly comment on how beneficial the Kids Klubhouse ministry is, and even those who don”t attend the church have donated to make the program a success. Schoolteachers have sent word that children who participate in the program are improving academically and behaving better in the classroom. Most importantly, the youth of the community are being introduced to Jesus.
Your Community
There are a number of reasons you might consider starting a midweek ministry in your small place, but here are the top two:
1. Many households in your community need to hear about Jesus, and the reality is Sunday morning is not a good time to reach them. Getting them to Sunday worship may be a goal, but you have to start with a time they will come, and midweek evenings seem to be the best.
2. This seems to be about the only approach bringing vitality and growth to churches in very small communities. Even the smallest congregations can double their ministry outreach through a midweek program and recapture a sense of mission and purpose that churches in smaller places often have difficulty maintaining.
Here are some tips from these three churches about how to start a midweek ministry.
Pray, make a plan, recruit some workers, and get started. It is needed NOW.
Expect that the young people in the program will not know how to behave in church. Few of them will have any experience with church, some will have behavior or learning disorders, and parental support may not be strong. All these are reasons you need to make a difference in their lives.
Have a good plan and a careful schedule. Know how you will fill every minute of the time.
Budgets in the three programs range from less than $3,000 a year to more than $10,000. If you do not have the financial resources, you may be able to get in-kind donations.
Kids often will come hungry. They may concentrate better if you feed them.
Decide what components you will have, based on the participants” needs and what you can provide. You will want to have a Bible lesson, but you may or may not be able to offer recreation, crafts, music, food, homework help, etc.
Because the participants are likely not church members, be careful of liability issues.
God is doing some very big things in some very small places, and he”s doing it in the middle of the week.
Barney Wells is assistant professor of Bible and ministry at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian University.
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