"Adults Enjoy Back Yards, Too"
Children and teens aren't the only ones who like going outside for Bible study. At Lexington Avenue Baptist Church in High Point, North Carolina, the weekly Back Yard Fellowship has become a summer tradition among the adults.
"We wanted to reach the neighborhoods and let people know our church was alive and well during the summer," says Perry Holleman, who was coordinator of church programs at the time. "But with vacations and such, our Thursday night visitation program had dwindled to six or eight people."
Several years ago Holleman dropped visitation during the summer and replaced it with Back Yard Fellowship. It has continued each summer since.
"Each Thursday night now, about 40 people bring their lawn chairs, Bibles, and when possible, unchurched friends to the back yards of volunteering members," says Holleman.
"We would play volleyball, or sing, or share testimonies, or have a devotional time—whatever the host family had planned- Each week we had at least two or three unchurched people come, and one year two families joined our church as a direct result of these fellowships."
The final meeting of the summer is always a surprise. Everyone meets at the church, boards a bus, and takes off for a spot known only to the leader.
"One year we went to Oak Hollow Lake, sat on the bank, and I led the devotional about things that happened along the shores of the Sea of Galilee," says Holleman.
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