CoffeeSwirls

Band Shell Evangelism

Coffeeswirls Weekly Bible - Week 24

In my hometown of Ankeny, a new band shell has been built to allow us to display our talents to each other. Garage bands will be playing there for our summer festival, the local theatre group will have some performances there and I've even heard that a local community band may be formed. Our town is too large not to have one, so I'm a bit surprised that this is just now coming up. I have a trombone in the closet where it's rested for a few years, but I may get it out and join the local band. But that's not what I'm getting at here.

We went to a movie there Friday night. It was a free show, and several hundred residents brought lawn chairs and blankets to see an Eddie Murphy flick, I think it was "Haunted Mansion" or something like that. We got there about 15 minutes into the showing and stayed a half hour until approaching storm clouds caused us to leave with a promise to come back and do this again. I understand movies will play there at no charge throughout the summer, so this should be a nice diversion for the family. It's also a nice change of pace for a community with teenagers and young adults that have nothing better to do than complain that there's nothing to do.

People came and went, keeping their voices down for the most part. Families sat together in their matching lawn chairs and laying on their picnic blankets, kids mostly in their pajamas. An outdoor event for families and the community as a whole is a great idea! But a weekly movie is not what I'm getting at here.

Iowa summers are hot and humid, so for many people, an outside event of any length is best done in the evening. People are drawn out to be with other people, often just to see what's going on. In this case, they came to see what it was like to watch a movie in the grass. What if they came out to see what a church service was like? Sunday morning may not be the best time for this, as the elderly may not want to bear the heat and the unsaved may not want to get out of bed for an outdoor service any more than they would for a more formal indoor one. But what about an evening service?

What if a church were to have a 5:00-6:00 p.m. service at the town square/ park/ band shell/ churchyard in their locale? Maybe not each week, but occasionally? The sound of the people singing a cappella or with a guitar would carry to the public much better than it would from the sanctuary. Neighbors may recognize others there, which is the whole point of this thought. If an unsaved neighbor were to visit your church for an outdoor visit on casual terms, with public rejoicing and a sermon that is evangelical in nature, would this not be a worthwhile thought? If they didn't visit, but could hear from their backyard over the hamburgers on the BBQ, wouldn't this be worth a bug bite or three?

We are called to be a light in the darkness, the salt of the earth. Shouldn't our worship, then, reflect that commandment? To someone seeking God, the imposing look of a church full of people they don't really know can delay the event of their first visit to "next week," but when they see people worshiping together in joy and with a real sense of family, they may be drawn to join, even a half hour into the service.

I'm not trying to describe revival tents here. Rather, this would be more of an open air event, meant to draw people to a church setting that is not as frightening to the curious as is the traditional setting. Am I off base here? Does any of this sound worthwhile? Am I missing something? Or am I, perhaps, on the right track for something that should be done a few times each summer?