Every year, my little town of Marshville, North Carolina holds a community festival called the “Boll Weevil Jamboree.” Wandering around our area these days, one would wonder why this name was chosen. Cotton is no longer a major crop of the nearby farmers and–even if it was–I’m not sure that I’d choose to immortalize an agricultural pest with a community celebration. Nevertheless, the Jamboree offers a wonderful excuse for bringing the town together, complete with rides, gospel music, cheesy souvenirs, and lots of artery-clogging, deep-fried foods.
For the past couple years, the Boll Weevil Jamboree has provided the perfect opportunity for my church to experiment with a more “missional” mindset by finding ways that we could serve festival attendees. We’ve chosen to distribute free bottles of ice-cold water as a simple way of sharing the love of Christ. Our efforts have been well-received, and there have actually been a few other churches that have followed our lead. However, in order to keep things fresh (and to give a little break to the Jamboree’s bottled-water vendors), we decided to try something different this year.
So, last Saturday, a group of willing volunteers from First Baptist Marshville spent the day offering “Free Festival Photos” to passers-by. One of our members put together a beautiful back-drop with an autumnal theme, and we had a digital camera ready to go. As families or groups of friends came by, we offered them a free commemorative picture, taken in front of our back-drop. And this next week, all the photos will be mailed and/or emailed to the appropriate recipients…along with an invitation to check out our church if they don’t already have a church home.
I wish that I could say this project was an invention of my own clever imagination. But it actually was pattered after the ministry of a Christian outreach called Joe Pix that equips churches and other groups to offer a similar service at festivals and other events. It just so happens that we chose to borrow the idea and make it our own.
Neverthless, the project was a great success. Not only did we have a wealth of face-to-face contact with people in our community, but we also garnered several admiring comments from people who thought it was “neat” that church would do something like this.
My congregation has a journey out in front of us if we ever hope to embrace the potential of mission that God has entrusted to us. But on weekends like this past weekend, I’m encouraged enough to be able to say, “We’re on our way.”
