15 Apr Easter Story: 40 New Members at Zion UB

40 new members received on Easter Sunday at Zion UB in Blissfield, Mich. (click to enlarge)

From Rochelle Jensen, Zion UB (Blissfield, Mich.)

The “best kept secret in Lenawee county” is leaking out. On Easter Sunday, Zion United Brethren in Christ (Blissfield, Mich.) took in 40 new members! Pastor Aden Porter has given the church that motto because we are located in the rural area of Ogden Center. But just as the early followers of Christ came to him from everywhere, people are joining the community of believers here at Zion UB. Knowing Christ as Lord and Savior is one secret we want to share with everyone.

09 Apr Easter Story: Kokomo, Ind.

From Greg Reed (right), senior pastor of Morning Star Church (Kokomo, Ind.)

As a way to demonstrate the free gift God gives us and to show His incredible love to others, our church gave away 7,950 FREE chicken & noodle dinners to people in our community. From 11 am-7 pm, we offered dine-in, carry-out, and delivery meals absolutely FREE to everyone! Not only did our guests enjoy a free meal, it was also an incredible experience and a true blessing for everyone who served that day.

On Easter Sunday, five persons indicated that they were placing their trust in Christ for salvation for the first time. God is so good!

09 Apr Easter Story: Caro, Mich.

The crowd at Colwood church awaits the arrival of the helicopter with Easter eggs. (click to enlarge)

The helicopter dropping eggs. (click to enlarge)

Blue-shirted Colwood volunteers.

When Colwood UB (Caro, Mich.) announced that they would host a free community Easter Egg Drop, Pastor Jon Herron was praying that 1000 people would show up. Caro is a town of 4500, so that would make a pretty good percentage.

What a surprise when 5000 people came! Cars poured in from Birch Run, Bay City, Saginaw, Bad Axe, and elsewhere.

As the crowd watched, a helicopter flew over the grounds and dropped over 10,000 plastic eggs onto the field. Each egg contained such items as candy, toys, and free iPod certificates.

Pastor Jon Herron with wife and son.

The egg drop was designed for kids age 12 and under. Local fire trucks, EMTs, and sheriff’s deputies were on hand, and kids could also enjoy inflatable games.

Pastor Herron wrote on his blog, “God multiplied our hopes and dreams by five. I can imagine the Father hearing our prayers and saying, ‘Hey, Jesus and Holy Spirit, circle around and watch Me do this!'”

A group of 135 volunteers helped make it a big success. Pastor Herron writes, “It was awesome walking around Saturday morning with nothing to be in charge of. Our staff and volunteers had everything mapped out–my role was simply to cheerlead!”

Unfortunately, there weren’t enough eggs. They prepared 10,000, but that was in anticipation of 1000 participants. Many kids didn’t get any (including the pastor’s own three-year-old). So for next year, Pastor Herron says, they’re looking at 100,000 eggs, bigger fields, and multiple drop times with different age groups to make sure nobody goes home empty-handed.

On Sunday morning, 850 people attended the multiple worship services. And 19 persons stood from their seats and prayed to receive Christ!

09 Apr Easter Story: Harlan, Ind.

From Gary Gates (right), senior pastor of South Scipio UB church (Harlan, Ind.)

Several of our congregation participated in community Lenten luncheons, cooperating with area churches. Each church supplied one of the weekly meals, and their respective pastors provided a Lenten devotional.

Our Palm Sunday began with a 9:00 carry-in brunch. Special music and readings, a children’s sermon, a short meditation, and communion service followed during the worship hour.

A Good Friday service was hosted by the Harlan Christian Youth Center, an offshoot of our congregation.

Easter Celebration included a welcoming poem read by a young lady, two songs by a women’s ensemble, a solo, video song (“He’s Alive”), responsive reading, and a message. Many guests and irregular attenders joined our celebration of the Lord’s resurrection.

07 Apr Easter Story: Oak Harbor, Ohio

A large piece of artwork displayed during the Easter service at Shoreline Church.

From Steve Fish, senior pastor of Shoreline Church (Oak Harbor, Ohio)

We chose to do a contemporary observance of Lent this year. We started on Ash Wednesday by burning in a small bowl slips of paper with confessed sins written on them (it was quite a fire.)

We encouraged Shoreline families to add family mealtime devotions into their lives for Lent (instead of giving something up.)

We celebrated the Passion week with a Seder meal and Good Friday services.

For six weeks we added something into each worship service–special music, worship dance, drama, and chalk art. On Easter Sunday we brought all these pieces back together as a response to the message that God’s strong arm (Isaiah 53:1) has brought from death to life those who seek the hidden treasure of God’s kingdom (Matt 13:44-46).

We were up 30 from 2009 Easter attendance. We continue to seek ways to reach people along the 107 miles of Shoreline in Ottawa County, Ohio. Thankful to God for His goodness to us!

07 Apr Easter Story: Rockford, Ill.

Pastor Barry Skinner and boys

Kevin Bergdall, a layperson at Kilburn Avenue, at the Easter pancake breakfast.

From Barry Skinner, senior pastor of Kilburn Avenue UB (Rockford, Ill.)

On Sunday evening, April 4, about 12 of us held an Easter chapel service at the Rockford Rescue Mission. On Saturday, in preparation for the service, we had made 180 sack/dinners and Arby’s provided us with 180 roast beef sandwiches and condiments (which were picked up Sunday evening so they would be fresh).

The theme was the victory we have in Christ Jesus because of what He accomplished on the cross. Several people responded for prayer in their lives. One fellow in particular broke down in tears as I prayed for him; the Holy Spirit was indeed present when I prayed with him.

We also walked the community inviting folks to our pancake breakfast on Easter Sunday morning. Preparation for that was also done Saturday morning.

On Easter Sunday we celebrated the risen Christ and had special music from guests Charles and Linda Nealy (who also went to the Rescue Mission with us that night). We also had our communion service and six other people came who do not normally attend. Two young boys from the community came and bonded with my grandson who is their age, and they stayed for most of our service.

06 Apr Easter Story: Byron Center, Mich.

From J. Michael Caley (right), senior pastor of Banner of Christ Church (Byron Center, Mich.)

On Palm Sunday I gave a report on my recent trip to Israel, along with slides and stories. It ended with a pictorial walk of Christ during Holy Week. Over 100 people attended.

On Tuesday, we celebrated a full Passover Dinner with families participating by bringing some of the food. We had 90 in attendance as we celebrated Jesus’ declaration that he was the lamb of God come to sacrifice himself for our sin.

On Saturday, April 3, we held our third annual free egg hunt with over 4000 candy-filled eggs spread throughout our back lawn. Over 200 showed up to gather the eggs, pick up special prizes, and hear the message of Easter.

Many new families came the following day for Easter Sunday, with a strong attendance of 275 even though many families had left for the beginning of Spring Break vacations. Banner has seen an attendance average increase of over 23% for the past two years.

06 Apr Easter Story: Jackson, Mich.

From Scott Hardaway, senior pastor of Pathway Community Church (Jackson, Mich.)

Two weeks before Easter, I challenged everyone to pray for three unchurched people and invite them to our Easter service, and I asked those who were willing to do this to stand up. We had 45 adults stand (over half the adults in attendance that day).

Since that time, I’ve been sending out a daily email of encouragement to each of the people who stood, and praying for each of them daily, along with 10 unchurched people of my own.

On Easter Sunday, we kicked off a new series on different world religions titled, “So What Is The Difference?” We had 157 people in attendance–112 regular attenders, and 45 visitors (25 of them first-time visitors).

So 1 out of every 6 people in attendance had never been to our church before. Nearly all the first-time visitors are unconnected with any church. By comparison, we had 31 first-time visitors in all 12 months of 2009.

Our church is learning how to become evangelistic people. Praise God!