Food may be just the right ingredient to get young parents and their families to church – and on time. At least that’s what First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Tulsa, Okla., has discovered. The church inadvertenly developed a strategy that helps retain young families in its congregation: provide meals for them. When members of the Graduates and Young Professionals (GAP) group couldn’t seem to get their families to Sunday school on time, the church began offering free breakfast, which immediately corrected the problem. As the program expanded, organizers realized that there were also children in the community for whom the breakfast represented one of the few meals they would eat over the weekend.
First Christian offered breakfast during Vacation Bible School to children and their families, as well as transportation and the program grew exponentially. “I am happy to say we have had at least four young families and their children join FCC over the last six months because of that first impression and contact,” said Beverly Vale Brown, the church’s director of children’s ministries. To read more about the program, see:
www.disciples.org/tabid/58/itemid/872/How-the-Breakfast-Club-Ministry-Has-Evolved.aspx
Offering received Sept. 26 & Oct. 3