This Sunday, Don't Be Late! Want to know what is happening this Sunday at the Suncoast? I wish I could tell you but it is a surprise! See you at 9:30am & 11:00am. Don’t be late or you won’t get what is going on!
Over the past 3 weeks at the Suncoast we have been trying to crank the fun factor up! Now, I know you might read that and think, "Well that doesn't sound very spiritual!" You are right, Jesus never had fun. He never smiled. And, when He gathered people together He never wanted them to enjoy being in His presence. OK, sorry for the sarcasm.
The reason we are trying to crank up the fun factor is because of the last post on the new tool we are using to plan the flow of a service. We have such a wide range of people walking in the front door of our church every week that you have to do something to get everyone on the same playing field and fun is a great way to do that. From sinner to saint everyone likes to have fun. Fun breaks down barriers and in a lot of ways opens your heart for what God wants to say. So, we have been trying to open our services with some fun stuff.
I will give you two examples. One from our Coastal Kids ministry and one from "Big church". First our children's director Crystal bought a bounce house and put it out by the children's check in kiosk. So while the parents are checking in their kids they can be going nuts on the bounce house. It is fun and a "Wow" factor. This past Sunday they also slimed kids. They took them out back of the school we meet in and slimed them (with parents permission ONLY). Take a look:
Looks like fun! Great job to all the Coastal Kids volunteers and to Crystal for pulling it all together at a portable facility!
The second fun thing we did was I basically made a fool of myself all in the name of fun. We just got done doing a series called "Girls Gone Wild" and to open the service we showed this:
Don't get me wrong. We are not just about fun. But, it is a helpful tool to welcome people and break down some of the barriers we walk into church with. So try something fun this Sunday!!! Get creative. Who says you can't do that in church?
I would love to hear some of the fun things you have done if you are doing stuff like this.
The order can be changed within each shaded area but not into another color area because you are trying to take people from the wide end (from sinners to saints) all to the same place. But you have to be strategic about how you do that. This tool might help in that process as you ENGAGE, INVOLVE, and then finally CHALLENGE.