enewsletter

October 2005

Featured Event Idea - Christmas Outreach

Real Stories - Case Study- Campus Outreach-Youth All-Nighter

Performer Profile - Featuring Sarah Arthur

Special Promotions - Image Banner~Book a Narnia Speaker

Effective Resources - Event Planning Guide

Event Planning Tip of the Month - Equip Chruch Members to Pray for & Invite People

News & Updates - Team & Performer News, 2005 National Outreach Convention-Night of Comedy & Comedy Break

Joke of the Month - Featuring Phil Di Tommaso

Christmas Outreach

Christmas has one of the highest church attenance rates of all the days in the year. Host a Christmas Outreach Event a week or two prior to Christmas, and capture new visitors twice in one month. Feature our Narnia Speakers. Here's how...a

Target Audience

Families
Entire Church
Neighboring Community

Location

Church Building
Community or School Theatre- with moveable setting
School Gymnasium
Local Community Center

Site Set-Up Ideas

Coffee-house seating with small tables (4-6 chairs per table) facing towards an elevated stage.
Ticket sales booth
Refreshments table
Raffle/Door prize table
Welcome/New visitor table
Christmas craft tables

Decorations

Nativity Scene
Christmas lights
Wreaths
Garlands
Mistletoe
Christmas tree with presents in the foyer
Stockings
Narnia Banners/Speaker Banner
Narnia Paraphanalia

Activity Ideas

Outreach Narnia Speaker
Outreach Comedy Performer(s)
Christmas skits
Children's Christmas pageant (story of baby Jesus)
Christmas music (choir or instrumental)
Christmas caroling
Craft fair
Contests
Community service effort
Gift exchange

Contest Ideas

Best Decorated House: Invite church neighbors to come to your Event, and let them know their home has been nominated to receive the "Best Decorated House" award- you can even add special categories for added fun. You may also send out flyers to the community beforehand so people are prepared to compete.

Best Snowman: Entry and competition inside for children

Raffle/Door Prize Drawing: Sell tickets or have guests fill out forms to enter for free. Be sure to collect visotor information for follow up on these entry forms!

Community Benefit Ideas

Tree Donations/Auction: Receive tree donations (fully decorated) for needy families in town(or provide decorated trees, and aution them off to support your cause)

Gift Drive: Participate in a toy drive or other gift drive for needy families.

Christmas Dinners: Allow people to donate their services towards providing families in need with entire Christmas dinners.

Adopt a family from the Katrina disaster: Participate in sending "basic-needs" kits for adults and children.

Food

Bake Sale: set aside an area where guests can purchase additional goodies

Serve Foods: like hot apple cider, hot chocolate, coffee, egg nog, homemade cookies, gingerbread, popcorn, candy canes, and other holiday favorites.

Welcome Table & Ticket Sales

Greet: Equip a hospitality crew to greet guests with information on the church or ministry

Follow-Up: Have contact cards or sign up sheets available to collect visitor information for follow-up. If selling tickets for entry or a raffle, collect contact information on back of tickets for follow-up

Information: Have ministry information available to visitors at a welcome booth

Welcome Gifts: Have visitor welcome gifts available

Outreach Ideas & Tools

Door Hangers: Canvass local neighborhoods with Outreach Door Hangers

Direct Mail: Send a postcard mailer or Outreach ImpactCard to the community

Personal Invitations: Equip church members with Outreach InviteCards for their friends

Banners: Hang an Outreach ImpactBanner across a main road or pathway

Publicity: Send a press release to local newspapers

Radio Ads: Take out airtime on local radio stations.

Cross-Promote: Hand out flyers, make announcements, or purchase ad space at other Events, movies, concerts, etc..

Flyer: Leave flyers at local businesses.

Calendars: Get listed on newspaper, internet and radio community calendars

For Outreach Communications tools, contact an Outreach Specialist at:

1-800-991-6011

Budget Booster Ideas

Member donations: Have church members donate baked goods, crafts, gifts and trees

Event Program Ads: Create an Event Program, and sell advertising space to local businesses as part of your fundraising efforts. If space does not permit, invite businesses to donate, and let them know that you'll list and thank supporters in your Event Program.

Business Tree Donations: Solicit local businesses to purchase trees and decorations. Indicate on signs which trees are donated by which businesses

Ministry Trees: Put each church ministry or club in charge of one or two booths.

Sell Entry Tickets: Attach a cover charge for the evening: $10 per adult, $5 per student and child, free for seniors and children under the age of 5. Sell tickets in advance and at the door.

Sell Raffle Tickets: Hold a raffle with tickets for $10 each. Announce winners from the stage.

Case Study:

Campus Outreach: Youth All-Nighter

Youth All-Nighters are an effective way to connect with unchurched students in your schools! Cutting Edge Ministries of Manassas, VA hosts an annual youth all-nighter with local area church youth ministries participating--complete with 8 hours of fun your students will love. Here's a great way to connect with kids on-campus!

Event Basics

Customer Interviewed: Debbie Cali

Organization Name: Cutting Edge Ministries

Event Name: "All Night Celebration 2004"

Event Type: Youth All-Nighter

Event Dates & Time: Thursday, December 30, 2004 10pm - 6am during Christmas break

Event Location: Multiple locations in Virginia including: a church, an aquatic and fitness center, an ice rink and 2 bowling alleys.

Location Profile: 27 miles outside of Washington D.C.

Attendee Type: Jr. High and High School students, youth pastors and youth volunteers from multiple denominations.

Price per Attendee: $35 registration for entire night's activities and food

Total Attendees: Approx. 450

Behind the Scenes Efforts:

Publicity Tools Used:

Call Campaign: Called area youth pastors to invite
Direct Mail: Mailed a letter to area youth pastors
Website: Listed details on ministry website, and provided registration forms online
Campus Club: Encouraged students on campus "EDGE Clubs" (Christian clubs) to invite their unchurched friends

Cutting Costs:

Registration: Students were required to pay a $35 registration thru their church youth pastor.
Sponsors: Local businesses offered price breaks for use of facilities, and pizza was offered by Domino's Pizza® at a reduced rate.

Team Efforts Included:

1 Event planner from Cutting Edge Ministries
11 area churches (11 youth pastors) participated
Volunteer Ratios: 1 adult for every 7 students, these volunteers were supplied by the participating churches

About the Event

Event Purpose:

Support Local Youth Pastors: The annual 'All Night Celebration' is a gift to local youth pastors during the holiday break. Individual youth pastors can skip planning a major Event during the holidays and are invited to bring their students to a pre-planned all-nighter Event. Youth Pastors are simply asked to handle registration of their students, volunteers, drive and attend--the planning, activities and agenda are taken care of for them.
Support Students: On-campus, Christian "EDGE Clubs" are also supported through this Event as an fun outreach to unchurched students. EDGE Clubs are student led, on-campus clubs through Cutting Edge Ministries which follow these guidelines:

Event Content:

The evening's schedule of events included...

10pm - 12am, Entertainment: a local band and professional comedian performed, interacted with students and the comedian shared his testimony at an area church.
12am - 2am, Gym: activities included swimming, basketball, pizza party etc. at an aquatic and fitness center.
2am - 4am, Ice Skating: freestyle skating and broomball were available at a 2-rink ice-skating arena. Christian music CDs were played overhead.
4am - 6am, Bowling: cosmic bowling at 2 local bowling alleys (the group was so large they had to be divided) was available. Christian music CDs were played overhead.
6am, Drive: students were driven back to individual churches by youth pastor & volunteers; leaders were equipped with sunrise devotional talking-points for the ride back.

Site Set-Up:

Tables were set-up at the fitness center for the pizza party, and chaperone stations stocked with coffee, pain-relievers, snacks, etc. were set-up at each site, along with information on Cutting Edge Ministries.

About the Comedy Performance

Performer: Michael jr.

Performance Type: 45+ minutes of stand-up comedy

Message: 20+ minutes of student interaction, Q&A session, and testimony

Results

Response to Performer:

"Not only did Michael meet our entertainment needs (he was so funny!), but he bantered back and forth with our students. He was daring enough to interact with and connect with them."

Response to the Event in General:

"This event was very well-received--it was the talk of the campus the next week! We had many calls from parents wanting to know how they could be involved next year."

How Many Unchurched Students Came?

"Approximately 1/3 of the 450 students were not regular attenders of a church youth group (150 students)."

Increase in Attendance:

"We've held this Event annually for the past 4 years with a comedian. The original size of the group 4 years ago was around 200 students, this last event had about 450 students (that's 125% growth 4 years later). The EDGE Clubs on campus also increased in size afterwards."

Fundraising:

"This growth has allowed this event to become a great fundraiser while still serving the community and keeping student registration costs low--$1,000 was raised for Cutting Edge Ministries with this 2004 Event."

Additional Comments

Biggest Concerns Heading into the Event:
"The weather. Had it been snowing that night, we would probably have had to cancel the event due to poor driving conditions."

How These Concerns Were Addressed & Resolved:

"It didn't snow!"

How This Compares with Past Events:
"We felt this year's event was the most connected. I really believe that Michael jr. set the tone. He really made it feel like one big group with one sole purpose. It was a GREAT icebreaker with student interaction. Many of the kids were able to use it as a starting point for conversations the rest of the evening."

Would You Do This Event Again?

"Yes--it is an annual event for us because of the following reasons...

(1) We are able to reach a large number of kids, and show them that you can have an evening of awesome Christian fun.

(2) It's a great break for area youth pastors. They are often over-worked, and we find it very rewarding to relieve them once a year.

(3) It's a great way to increase our funding, get the word out about our clubs and serve the community at the same time."

What Would You Do Differently Next Time?

"We wouldn't change a thing--it was great the way it was. Next year we may have to split the group up further as it continues to grow (i.e. - have one group ice skate while the other bowls, then reverse it), we will also invite different entertainers next year to continue to add variety to the Event, but we'd LOVE to have Michael jr. back in the future!"

What Would You Say to People Planning a Similar Event?

"Pray! But God will bless you 100-fold whenever you try to increase His kingdom. This generation is so worth it that it is our duty to provide great opportunities like this for them."

Speaker: Sarah Arthur

Sarah Arthur is the best-selling author of Walking With Frodo (Tyndale/thirsty? 2003) and Walking Through the Wardrobe: A Devotional Quest into The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). From childhood, Sarah’s imagination and intellect were shaped by the writings of C.S. Lewis and other great Christian storytellers

When did you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus?

I was raised in a Christian home. My parents made me aware of the Lord's presence in my life. It wasn't until I went to Wheaton College that my faith was deepened and that I took ownership of faith for myself.

Tell us about your church experiences, how you grew up, and what you are currently involved with ministry-wise?

My father is a Presbyterian Minister, so church was a huge part of my life. As a student at Wheaton College, church ministry became part of my own vocation, that is, it took a part in missions. I was in East Africa, Nairobi-Kenya, for a semester. After graduation, my call was to local ministry in a mainline church. I have been a full-time Youth Director for seven years.

What is your Mission Statement as a writer and Christian?

To minister to the Imagination. I am fascinated by the role imagination plays in the spiritual formation of children and youth.

What books have influenced your work?

Works of C.S. Lewis have been the most influential in my writing and in my faith.

What kind of testimony to your faith are you demonstrating in Walking Through The Wardrobe: A Devotional Quest into the Loin, The Witch and The Wardrobe?

It is a priority for me to provide a link to the readers from Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia to his other works, such as the Screwtape Letters and more....

What is it about C.S. Lewis that sparks your imagination?

I am completely influenced in life by C.S. Lewis' imagination and my own imagination that I have a hard time understanding whose is whose. The reason is, because he can make a believable imaginary world that doesn't make you hate our world, but makes you appreciate it even more.

Who are your mentors?

My parents and grandparents have been incredible mentors in my life. My husband, Tom, and various christian authors have also influenced me and have been awesome mentors in my life.

What are your favorite family traditions?

My husband and I pray together every morning when we can.

When I was a child, my parents had a little ritual on Christmas Eve to remember my baptism, because that is when I was baptized. And we, as a family, continue that tradition every Spring to commerate my Godson's baptism.

Walking Through the Wardrobe: A Devotional Quest into The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005).

Monthly Website Promotion

Free Banner when you schedule a "Narnia Speaker"

with one of our OutreachEvents Coordinators!

*Booking minimum $5,000 required. Offer good on "Narnia Speaker" OutreachEvents only. Not valid with any other offer. Must mention offer to Event Coordinator at time of first contact. Promotion and prizes sponsored by Outreach Events .

Event Planning Guide!

Features:

-3 Ring Binder. 96 pages.

-1 CD ROM with worksheets and forms.

The Event Planning Guide gives your everything you need to organize an effective Outreach Event. Based on the 3 P's of Event planning: Pray, Plan and Promote, the 96-page guide features planning schedules, discussion guides, budget and fundraising ideas, preparation checklists, follow-up guidelines and more! If you find this eNewsletter helpful, you'll LOVE the Event Planning Guide!

Yours FREE* when you book an Outreach Event, or $24.99 from the Outreach Catalog. Call 800-991-6011 to order it directly!

*Limit one per customer.

Equip Church Members to Pray and Invite People

Be prepared. Coming Soon to your area: C.S. Lewis' Chronicles Of Narnia-The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe!

This team action item invites the members to take an active part in reaching out to the community, and will also help you fill seats at the Event.

Invite: Ask them to think of 5 specific people they'd like to pray for and invite them to this Event

Equip: Provide two index cards for them to write these names on (first and last)

Accountability: Have them keep one card and turn the other card in to the church (with their own anme and phone number on the card as well)

Follow-Up: Have a team of volunteers call two weeks later to see how each member is doing with their invitations and prayer.

Speaker : Christin Ditchfield

"It's not enough to know God's Word...you've got to Take It To Heart!" (R)

This is not only the heart of Christin Ditchfield's message, but her life's passion.

Christin Ditchfield is an accomplished educator, author, conference speaker, and host of the internationally syndicated radio program Take It To Heart! (R). Her articles have appeared in numerous national and international magazines, including Focus on the Family,Today's Christian Woman, Sports Spectrum, and Power For Living. She writes the "Everyday Theology" column for Today's Christian (formerly Christian Reader ). Christin has written dozens of gospel tracts for Good News Publishers / Crossway Books, including "Under Attack" (9/11) and "The Passion Of Jesus Christ," each of which has sold more than a million copies worldwide. She is the author of nearly fifty books, including A Family Guide To The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and The Three Wise Women (Christmas 2005).

Comedian:Phil Di Tommaso

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Phil was a natural comedian since birth. In the maternity ward, instead of all the babies crying, Phil had them laughing. They were a great crowd! Phil was also born premature and has never been late for an appointment since.

After spending some time in the comedy clubs, God touched Phil's life and changed him for eternity. He made a decision to live his life for the Lord Jesus Christ. Laughter in church, Phil had never heard of such a thing. Through constant prayer and fasting (and pulling some hair from his head), Phil went forward.

His greatest hope is that throughout his ministry seeds might be planted and healing can take place. To quote Proverbs 17:22, "A cheerful heart is good medicine."

Phil has performed everywhere from comedy clubs to corporate events, churches, fundraisers, prison ministries, cruise ships and yes, even weddings. This versatility has helped him mature into what people have called a "real professional" and a "natural in front of a crowd." His observational and clean, family-oriented comedy is why he's been a success in front of such a wide variety of audiences.

November 2-5,2005 in San Diego, CA. Experience the synergy and exceitment of joining with thousands of church leaders from across the nation and around the world at the 3rd annual National Outreach Convention. Your passion will be fueled, your vision expanded and you skills sharpened through the transformational general sessions and more than 80 focused workshops in different learning tracks. While your there, visit Outreach Comedy's Night of Comedy and our Comedy Break segment. Visit the National Outreach Convention website for more convention information. Click here. The National Outreach Convention has something for everyone.

November 3, 2005