The ideas on this page are for the most part tested ideas with some suggested variations. It is noted in the description when it has not been tested.

All-Church Bridal Showers - A Tradition Revived with a New Twist. The very name "bridal shower" tells the central purpose of such an event - to shower the bride with gifts. Today you find showers of all kinds, some that have removed the word "bridal" so it includes both bride and groom and includes gifts for the yard and workshop. Many of the gifts given at showers are now in price ranges once left for wedding gifts.

In a church I was a member of years ago, no young lady who had any relationship with the church - no matter how distant or occasional - went without a bridal shower. The ladies in the church at the time saw a shower as much more than a just an occasion to give gifts. It was almost like a ministry to them although at the time they wouldn't have put that word to it - it was just their opportunity to say to the young lady "you are a part of our family and we are walking with you as you enter this new phase of life." And those showers were memorable events with fun games, wonderful decorations and elegant food. Most of the time the bride knew what she would receive before she ever got to the shower - so and so always gave potholders, another was know for kitchen towels, still another for doilies, and yet another embroidered pillow cases with crocheted edging and so on. Many of the gifts were simple and handmade and relatively inexpensive.

How could such a shower be duplicated in today's environment when few women do handwork and the attendance at "circles" or "ladies aid" meetings are on the decline? Who would give the shower and how would you make sure that no one was left behind? The women's circles could still keep track of the young ladies associated with the church and their goings and comings and then those who are not circle members could easily be brought into the planning of the showers - it is just a matter of bringing the fun back into that area of church life.

As for the gifts, that can be a hurdle especially in a year when there are a lot of weddings. One solution could be to take the emphasis off expensive gifts. Have a kitchen utensil and gadget shower where gifts must be less than say $9.00. In a catalog I have, there are 58 items in that price range with nearly half of those being less than $5.00 and they did not include any kitchen linens.

Games could include a contest to see what team could peel a pile of potatoes the fastest; a pen and paper game of matching measurements like 3 teaspoons equal a tablespoon, two pints equal a quart; 4 tablespoons equal a fourth cup, etc.; a name the gadget contest; a pen and paper game of matching herbs with what foods they season best or a relay race for setting a table for a four course dinner. Instead of games, have a demonstration on how to cut vegetables for an attractive relish tray or how to grow a herb garden. It could become a tradition to put together a kitchen cartoon book. If the women knew that they were going to be asked for a cartoon on some kitchen topic, they could keep their eyes out for them on an ongoing basis, having them ready when the next shower rolled around.

Once one starts thinking about it, the possibilities are endless and fun. And the chance to impact a bride at such an important time in her life - without measure.

CD Postcard. Military personnel, missionaries, college students long for news of home. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. At one time, groups put together scrapbooks to send to those far away. Today, with technology what it is, groups can put together a CD postcard and do it very cost effectively. Using digital cameras, get pictures of special community events, candid pictures of activities not particularly special - just daily events. Gather autographs and greetings. Once all this has been brought to one place, create a presentation - perhaps a powerpoint presentation - and burn it onto a CD and send it on its way. While teenagers would have a good time doing an activity like this, so would young adults, so would empty nesters. Autograph Party. Before you send that CD Postcard, have an autograph party and sign the cover that will go into the CD case. Depending on who it the CD is going to, you may also want to autograph a table runner or a placemat using the permanent fabric pens.

The following idea came to us via Hal Paxton's Odd News of the Day e-mail on June 17, 2003. Sounds like a fun way to celebrate fathers.

Father's Day: "Grand Island, NE - Who knew there was another church out there like ours! Well, we didn't do recliners, but we did do breakfast. In Grand Island, at the Evangelical Free Church, select fathers were surprised with recliners and TV remotes for their sitting pleasure during the services. They also had a choice of several drinks. Fathers were selected from the newest to the oldest; from the father that changed a diaper an hour before church to the father that was actively coaching more than five sports for his two sons and daughter. The TV remotes were meant to make them feel at home, but they didn't allow them to mute the minister. I guess you can't have everything."

Mr. Paxton's website is http://www.thegreatseparation.com

A Missions Fundraiser: The women's circle of the Sunshine Advent Christian Church, Deer Isle, Maine, sponsored an out-of-the-ordinary Christmas in October, a fundraiser for providing for missionaries at Christmas. On September 26, a flyer was placed in the bulletin that indicated this year's Christmas in October would have a Charlie Brown twist.

The idea was birthed by an odd-shaped spruce tree that had grown in front of the church's Fellowship Center for years. The front side of the tree is thriving, filled out and beautiful, but the back is such that it resembles the tree in "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The objective was to make the tree beautiful.

During the month of October, a beautifully decorated small tree, five-light candelabra and ceramic church graced the piano, along with a framed sign that read, "Christmas in October". Each member was given a small felt stocking on September 26, and asked to prayerfully consider giving toward the $525 goal. The "twist" was that for each $10 raised, one set of white Christmas lights would be put on the "Charlie Brown Tree"--the members were also asked to allow the circle to borrow their strings of white lights (24 sets of lights were borrowed or donated.

Sunday morning, October 27, a mural of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, Woodstock and Charlie's legendary tree--made by members and friends of the church--was placed on the front lawn of the Fellowship Center, and by 4 p.m., the 24 sets of white lights graced the tree and mural. That evening the congregation celebrated Christmas in October by sharing a "bagged" supper, lighting the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, reading the Christmas story, singing carols and exchanging each family's favorite Christmas cookies. The Charlie Brown tree raised $754.13 for Christmas in October--may God be praised!

Story found in the December 2002 issue of the AC News, Reported by Rev. David Davis, Pastor of Sunshine Advent Christian Church. . Used with permission.

Message Cards: Give teens and adults alike a message card they can keep in their wallet - If you are looking for something to do for Valentines Day or Easter, create some message cards on your computer using the "business card" paper you can get at any office supply store or even at the local discount store like WalMart. Using your mail merge program, upload all the names of those you want to give the cards to. On the face of the card give the message "I have come that [person's name] might have life and have it more abundantly - Jesus"

Oil and Filters: Many churches across our country are conducting a special outreach events to share Jesus' love with their community. They offer free oil changes on automobiles with the men in the community donating all the labor. Sometimes they carry the cost of the oil and filters as well. Other times they charge only for the oil & filters. What a great idea. I've read about churches doing this on a regular basis for single parents, senior citizens, and others on limited incomes. We know that regular car maintenance is important but paying for that is easier said than done when on a limited income. It would be such a blessing and a great way to show God's love. It's a version of "when I was hungry, you fed me."

Recycled Dolls - Note: The ideas on this page are mostly tested ideas. This one is not. It is just an idea that came to me as I watched The Carol Duvall Show on HGTV. The guest showed making lifesize dolls out of recycled clothing - therefore, keeping the cost down. She made her pattern for the doll by having her grandson lay down on newspapers and traced around him. I remember doing that with my son when he was small only we did it on butcher paper and then he colored it in and we sent it to his grandmother in Florida so she could get an idea of his size, etc. Anyway, it made me think what a fun project this would be to do with the children and young people in our church. It would be a fun way to illustrate that we are all children of God or He's Got the Whole World in His Hands or The Family of God or use in fundraising for missions using the dolls as stand-ins for those on foreign mission fields. If your youth room or Sunday School area needs sprucing up, these characters may be just the ticket. The instructions can be found on the HGTV website - HGTV.com. Search for the project with this information - Life-Sized Recycle Dolls - Carol Duvall Show : Episode CDS-452.

Family of God: As churches grow, it is sometimes difficult for everyone new to the church to feel a part of the church. Not everyone is agressive and able to communicate that they have a place in the church family. Sometimes leaders are so busy leading that they may become exclusive rather than inclusive. Sometimes churches are so busy training people that they don't give wings to those who want to be of service. Every church and every situation is different. A fun way to let everyone know they are a valuable member of the family of God is to send to each member and friend of the church a piece of a jigsaw puzzle created from a picture of the church and ask them to bring it to church on a specific Sunday. Have each piece backed with a piece of flannel, of hook and loop tape or a magnet. On the designated Sunday have a big flannel board, a large board covered with a piece of metal or a board covered with a piece of carpet that the hook and loop tape will attach to. As the people come in, have them start assembling the jigsaw puzzle. When we did it we had each piece numbered so to facilitate getting the puzzle put together for those who couldn't tell where their piece belonged when they came in. Of course the object lesson is that if we are not all present and accounted for in God's kingdom, we cannot be about God's business as He would have us to be.

The last gift of the season. The first commitment of the New Year. For several years, at the close of the Christmas Sunday worship service an invitation to the church's New Year's Eve party was handed out and with it was a card for them to bring to the party. It was a card where they were invited to commit to a gift to the church. The organizers had made up cards with the front saying "My gift to the church" and the inside there was a place where the giver was to identify a talent that they chose to use in church life in the year ahead. The cards were beautiful - done in silvers and blues - just as a gift to someone special is beautifully wrapped.. Sometimes they came back with a talent identified - music talent, mechanical skills, construction, painting, sewing, program idea development, sports. Sometimes the gift was more defined - refurbishing of pews, reupholster couch in fellowship hall, drive young people to retreat, organize a fundraiser. These gifts often identified skills and talents that the church leaders did not even know were out there. Throughout the year, the leaders claimed these gifts and the life of the church was enhanced by them. One caution: at times, the gifts that were offered were awkward for the church to receive for one reason or another. It took great wisdom and prayer to work with the giver but never in the several years that this was done did the event become divisive or hurtful.

Land Stewards - In recent years the church has left a lot of the education regarding our stewardship of God's creation to the secular environmentalists. While they certainly make the case for protecting our environment, they don't give us the Christian perspective of being stewards of God's creation. "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." I'm sure part of the reason is the lack of material that goes beyond just talking about it. On ISU Extension's website is a wonderful "lesson plan" for teaching about the soil. Combine it with Sunday School lesson material about God's creation and you should have a good opportunity for increasing our young people's awareness of just how special this world is that God has given us. The Extension lesson plan can be found at http://extension.iastate.edu/GrowingintheGarden/lessons.html

All Church Birthday Party - These are wonderful mixers and can be a lot of fun. The theme is from Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Depending on your size and the size of your location, set up 4, 6 or 12 tables. If you have four, decorate them according to the seasons. If you have 6, decorate each table with a theme for 2 months - January and February, March and April, May and June, etc. If you have 12, - yep, you figured it out - decorate each one with a theme for each month. Have fun with it. Put up streamers; get party hats; have name tags that say "I praise you because [place for name] is fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful" and plan an assortment of birthday games that can be enjoyed by the different age groups - some pencil games for the older adults; charades for everyone;a scavanger hunt for the kids - you get the picture. The mixing part - have everyone sit at the table for the month or season that their birthday falls in and at the table, have something that will cause the people at the table to talk to each other. One idea would be to have a jigsaw puzzle that they have to put together together. If you have a cake decorator in your church, ask them if they would do a sheet cake divided in 5 or 13 sections - using the center section to write the theme verse and the others to again represent the seasons or the months of the year. Put up a banner with the theme verse - maybe with a collage of photos of some of the church family from all the generations.

Silver Tea - The word silver here has a double meaning. It is a tea where you use silver, fancy dishes, and an elegant menu. It is a tea for honoring the silver-headed crowd. Let the seniors in your church sit this one out in the planning and execution. It is a good opportunity to get the teens and the young adults to put together the event. Send invitations to the senior members and friends. Then call them in advance, arranging to pick them up and escort them to the event. Have name tags for everyone. Plan a program that the seniors will enjoy - and that does not necessarily mean a sing-along but it probably will not mean a praise and worship music group either. In all the planning, consider the people being honored and plan it around them and the things they enjoy. Have fun with it.

Creation Fair - There are several ways to do this depending on the makeup of the church. You may just choose to have displays for each of the days of the creation and one for that day of rest. Or you might actually put together "booths" with games based on the days of creation. You may chose to have it on a Sunday morning or you might make it a Saturday fair. If you decide on a party atmosphere, plan games that emphasize creation. If you go toward a dinner with entertainment, put together a program with music that talks about God's creation and intersperse it scripture that talks about the wonderful world God created. Have the children create a mural showing the days of creation. Put together a powerpoint presentation containing sights and sounds of creation. Have name tags that say "[name] is God's creation." There are so many ways to go about a Creation Fair.

Cooking lessons - Note: This is not a tested idea. It may amaze some of us who are older and know how to cook from scratch even if we don't do it very often that there are some young people who may have boiling water down and can fry an egg but that is about it. Here's a new twist for a bridal shower that could be fun. A variation of it might also work for a pounding, for a housewarming or for giving food to the food pantry. Have all your guests write their favorite recipe using food from the pantry or the freezer on a recipe card and then have them bring all the ingredients that would come from the pantry. They might also note in the gift package the food that needed to be from the freezer or refrigerator - for instance, hamburger, chicken breasts, etc. When the bride goes home, she will have food for her pantry that she will actually have a use for. Here's a for instance recipe:

1 box beef flavored rice
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 small can mushrooms
1/2 pound hamburger
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

In a large frypan (with a lid) cook down the hamburger to a crumbly mixture (note: hamburger can be cooked down ahead of time and frozen in the freezer). Drain and set aside. In the same frypan. prepare rice per instructions on the box. Stir in the tomatoes, mushrooms and cooked hamburger. Serve with sour cream and grated cheese. In a separate pan, heat a can of refried beans and serve on the side.

With the recipe card you would include the box of rice, the can of tomatoes and the can of mushrooms. On a separate card you would list additional food you would need - hamburger, sour cream and cheddar cheese

A Bridal Shower Idea - a variation of the cooking lessons idea: Many young brides have not built up a collection of reliable recipes they can fall back on. To give them a ready made file of sure recipes, with the shower invitations include a recipe card and invite them to bring the card to the shower with their favorite recipe on it. You can expand the idea by asking them to also bring a household hint and perhaps a hint for a successful marriage. The hostess can then give these to the bride either in a recipe book sold to hold recipe cards or use a photograph album that has the pockets for photographs. Or you can be a little creative and make an accordian folder for them as illustrated by Carol Duvall for the Carol Duvall Show on HGTV.com. This would be a real keepsake from the shower and those attending could write a message to the bride on their "envelope page." The instructions can be found at HGTV.com, episode CDS-1218. While you are at it, taking a page from the scrapbooker and include pics of the person who contributes the recipe and maybe include a favorite scripture.

Decorating at Church Events - Following is an idea from the St. Petersburg, Florida AC Church. It is how they decorated for their Father's Day Breakfast. Their church is quite small and many of us would have said, "why go to all that trouble for so few?" Well, they were creating an atmosphere that silently reached out to those in attendance and visually communicated what was going to be said verbally. One of the organizers wrote: Our theme was in 2 parts: one was VIC (very important characters) and the other was the scripture from Psalms 1: 1-3. We put blue crepe paper down the middle of the tables for streams taping it to the table cloth in wave shapes and curved to look like streams. We wanted trees to set along side it but couldn't find anything except the ones used at Christmas that were white. Finally on Friday a clerk at the craft store suggested using artificial plant pokes. I bought little tiny clay pots and filled them with real dirt that held the plant pokes in place. They did look like little trees. Then I bought at the dollar store little row boats complete with oars that had been painted. I painted VIC to the back of each boat and then on one side of the bow I painted the Psalms Scripture reference. We scattered them on the blue crepe paper and the men were told to take one home and use them on their dressers maybe to collect loose change or something. The men seemed to like them. We also had decorated with miniature lighthouses and marble looking stones we bought at the dollar store in between the "trees". It all looked pretty good.

Miniature Golf with a Twist - This idea comes from a Baptist church in the community of Red Oak. For a fundraiser, the church created a miniature golf course in their church running through a fellowship hall and SS classrooms upstairs and down. Each "hole" was represented by a Bible story - Jonah and the Whale; The Burning Bush; Matthew, the Tax Collector; Rolling Back of the Red Sea; .... and the characters from each story were on hand to tell their story again.

Scavenger Hunt - This is a scavenger hunt that can be done without having to leave the building. Have a scavenger hunt going in search of information. Find the person who has been a member for the longest amount of time; the person who has held elected positions for the longest amount of time; the person who has the Bible with the oldest copyright; the person who has lived in the most number of states or the person who has lived in the most foreign countries; the family with the greatest number of pets; the person with the oldest car - the categories would depend on the group but this is a great way of getting to know each other especially if there are several generations.

From the Villisca Advent Christian Church - Visiting Shut-ins: When ladies in the church visit a shut-in, they arrive with a thermos filled with coffee, cups and saucers, pastries and paper plates. What a lovely treat for someone who, when she was able, had loved setting a pretty table for a coffee! It removed all the embarrassment of not being able to offer something to her guests.

From the Friendship Advent Christian Church in Maine - Friendship has a creative Christian Ed. program. Here's what they did for Rally Day. It is safe to say, that the Rally Day for the Advent Christian Church Sunday School was like none other in history. A 16 foot by 16 foot tic tac toe board was built in the sanctuary, modeled after the "Hollywood Squares" television game show.Sunday School classes joined forces to form two teams, the X's and O's, each team playing for a college our church supports. The X's played for the Berkshire Institute of Christian Studies, and the O's for Theological Seminary at Tecate' Mexico. Even the adults got a round in, pitting Marguerite Sylvester on the O's team against guest speaker for the day, Rev. Ron Walton playing for the X's. Youth Pastor Mike Poli was the "host". Sunday School Bible Squares, as our game was known, was the brainchild of the Sunday School Teachers, and much of the creative work was done by Doug & Sherry Simmons, who designed, purchased and directed the structure from which we played. We were blessed and encouraged by this rally, with the hope and prayer that God would lead more of His people into Sunday School studies.