Johnny Prime with some good ideas that you might want to pinch
During my time as lawyer, I wrote a courtroom drama which presents the resurrection of Jesus in a new and exciting way.
More recently, a friend shared another great idea of a creative evangelistic event with me involving food, which we have made a regular part of our evangelistic strategy at Christchurch Market Harborough. Now I’m sharing these ideas with you, so feel free to pinch.
Courtroom drama
The courtroom drama, titled Who Moved the Stone?, presents the Easter story in a fresh way by exploring the disappearance of Jesus’ body from the grave in a courtroom setting, with the audience as the jury.
Legionnaire Augustus is on trial for neglecting to guard Jesus’ tomb as a result of the resurrection of Jesus. Defence and Prosecution Counsel cross-examine witnesses such as Pontius Pilate, Mary, Joseph of Arimathea, and Simon Peter. These parts are played by church members.
The script takes a personal turn when the final witness comes to the stand: a member of a local church who is cross-examined about their faith and experience of Jesus. Finally, the jury (the audience) are asked to come to a conclusion about what happened at Easter for themselves, with the opportunity for a gospel presentation and discussion to follow.
We used the drama one Easter at Enfield Town Community Church, and it has since been performed at Christ Church Dunstable. It was a great way to get the church involved and to invite friends and family along to hear the gospel and start conversations. You can read more and download the script for your own church on the FIEC website at fiec.org.uk/courtroom.
Meals with a Message
This idea is one I’ve pinched and that we are currently doing at Christchurch in Market Harborough.
The idea is to have dinner parties with friends where you’ll have a great time together and they will hear the gospel. Easy to invite neighbours, friends, and family to, with the potential of God using it for the eternal benefit of those who come.
Find a local restaurant (with good food that you need to check first, of course!) and book a room where you can arrange tables according to the size of the groups which are invited. Church members can invite friends for a meal there, explaining that between courses will be a short talk (no more than ten minutes in length) about what Christians believe. Enjoy your food and begin gospel conversations as you eat.
We also offer gospels and Uncover Luke (a great resource produced by UCCF, see uncover.org.uk) for people to take home with them to find out more. We put these on every few months to give the church members regular opportunities to invite friends to a gospel presentation.
Meals for those invited are paid for by our church’s evangelism budget (church members pay for their own meal) to make it even easier to invite folk along.
It would be a good idea to run a trial first so that church members know what they are inviting friends to. Since our trial runs, we have been seeing 50% non-Christians attending our Meals with a Message!
