Youngchurch
A spooky, good time
I
n late October 2011 more than 250 congregation and commu- nity members in Lexington, S.C., experienced how St. James Lutheran made Halloween a fun, interactive and informational holiday for the youth.
It began when Nathan and Andrea
Rice, co-pastors of St. James, became frustrated with the congre- gation hosting Halloween events that didn’t accomplish what Nathan said the church does best—“sharing the gospel.” The pastors took it upon themselves to create a unique event that not only offers fun activities for the youth but also teaches them about the Bible. “A lot of [churches] were doing
[fall festivals] as an alternative to Halloween,” Nathan Rice said. “We thought, ‘Well if all these people are doing this kind of stuff, why don’t we be the church and do something that actually has to do with what we believe.’ ”
The outcome was Spooky Stories of the Bible. It features a different interactive Bible story at seven sta- tions, such as sitting in the mouth of a whale listening to Jonah’s tale and wielding a slingshot, aiming to defeat Goliath.
Send stories of your youth group (pre- school-confirmation age) to: Andrea Pohlmann Kulik , 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago IL 60631; andrea.pohlmann@
thelutheran.org.
Rice said each Bible story has a message the children are meant to grasp and learn from. He believes last year the youth took notice of those messages. “I thought it was effec- tive,” he added. “I heard lots of good things from people who don’t even go to
40 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
LUKE ROLAND
Eric West (left) as King Belshazzar and Joshua West as Daniel prepare to tell the story of Daniel in the lion’s den while Hannah Frazier tries to slay Goliath (inset). With Spooky Stories of the Bible, St. James Lutheran, Lexington, S.C., provides Halloween fun and does what the church does best—”sharing the gospel,” says Nathan Rice, pastor.
our church.” To make Spooky Stories of the Bible possible, the Rices found a book of
Christian game ideas. Many of the games lacked religious relevancy, so they put their own informational twists on each one. “We thought, ‘We can make this exciting and we can tell interesting stories from the Bible that are a little bit spooky,’ ” he said. “There are lots of spooky stories in the Bible … and then we made some kind of relevant message that went along with those sto- ries that we shared with our community.” Adam Steele, a congregation member who ran one of the seven stations, said the event surpassed his highest expectations. “You just never know with an event like that,” he said. “I think 100 [people] would have been, in my estimation, a great success.” Rice said the church’s fellowship hall was near maximum capacity dur- ing the surprisingly popular event in 2011, so this year they may have to open other areas of the church or even extend activities outside. It may have to happen because Steele said he thinks as a result of last year’s success, this year even more people will show up. “I would think 250 [participants] is realistic again,” Steele said. “I think if we promoted [the event] more we could go to 300.”
Spooky Stories of the Bible is scheduled for Oct. 29 from 4-9 p.m. No
matter whether there are more or fewer people this year, Rice said he is excited because this program is just “another doorway into the church.”
Jeremy Ott For more information, contact the Rices at
office@stjameslex.com.
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