The Ohio Independent Baptist, May-June 1965

' ristian i£()uratinu By Mrs. Earl Umbaugh, 2150 Marhofer Ave., Stow, Ohio Hold That Line! Then Advance! Peak attendances are u ually attained in the first quarter of the year. "Chri tma ' ' i over! Long weekends are nil at this period of the year. Many churches enter into Sunday School attendance contest whiah close on Easter Sunday. Ea ter becomes the big push! We are happy to ee the well thi bring to our cl 1 asse and chur~h ervice·.,. But after Ea ter wh·at a let down! How can we hold the attendance up? "Our people need a re t" omeone will s·ay. We •3ay no! Now i not the ti.me to re t. It i the time to ' Stand fast". And s tanding is hard work. It i a time to enter into a new advance. P·aul said in Philippians 3: l 4: ' I pre toward the mark for the prize." By standing fa t I mean . . . draw up the line. "Toil on in the light of tomorrow. " What we are doin,g is o great that we can afford to w·ait for the harvest. However, we know there i eed ow,ing and constant cultivation while we wait for the harve t. Each c lass, each department and the Sunday School as a whole h ad a certain average in the first quarter attendance push. It hou]d have shown 1 an adv1ance over the previous quarter . T,his new high average no,w be– come the "line". You have e tablished a new line to hold. Go into plans for a new adv,ance. In a football game we chant, 'Hold that line! Hold that line!" and the reason for holding the Jine is to enable the team to make a new advance toward the goal line. If the line is lost then the opportunity for new advance i lo t. Get into a huddle and make pl an for your new advance. Set new goals for the next quarter. It i your la t chance before vacations and Jong week-ends hit the church attendance. Make the Stranger Welcome We are li ting a few ideas to help iin se tting goal and making new advances in the coming quarter. Every member should be as igned a new member with whom he is to keep in touch. Picture your elf a the s tr anger in the class and decide how you would like to be treated. lnc·/ucl e them in. In conver ation cliques, in fellowships af ter church, take them home with you for dinner, introduce them to other cla s n1eimber or other hurch 111ember3. Invite them to the mid-week pra)fer n1eeting. Sit with then, in cht1rch. Be friendl y to them. Every dc1)artr11ent should be prepared to add new classe . Have a reserve corp-;:, of teachers. ne or two that )fou ca11 u e to expancJ yot1r depart111cnt 1f the growth w, rrant this. t1cre \.Vere no dotabt 0111~ fir-r"t tin1ers, or ncerc;, duri11g 1t1e J)a l qtJarler. rl 'hese becor11 "hot' ' proc;;pects! Win tl1e111 to l1ri t and to ) 'Ottr cl1ttrch. Pr 0 - ehool teacl1er 111ay fi11d little Jetter to the pt1pil \ 1 ill do 111or t<) " ' i11 1t1 ct1ild and l1is fa111ily tt1an at1)f thi11g J • Al o a J1ot to th par ·11ts ~xplair1i11g tl1e THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIS I - .. MRS. EARL UMBAUGH n1emory work and attendance r ecord plan will be help– ful. We are li sting some books and author that wi ll give many more helpful idea ·in the area we h1ave been di cu sing. J. HOW TO ORGANIZE AND ADMLNISTER A GREAT SUNDAY S HOO,L by Loui Entzminger. We ugge t you read ,chapter four titled 'Removing the difficul ties in enlar,ging of ,a Sunday School. " 2. SUNDAY SCHOOL EVANGELISM by A. S. London. Read e p ecially chapter even titled "Here' How I t' Done '. 3. KEYS FOR THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACH– ER by La Vo e A. Wallin. Read chapter ten eleven and twelve titled "Reaching The Home" "A Letter to Parent ' and 'Vi itation and Follow-Up'. 4. 1000 PLANS A D IDEAS FOR SU DAY SCHOOL WORKERS by J. Jacob . Read especial ly chapter twenty-three titled ' Summer Plan ". 5. PR INCIPLES OF TEA HI G FOR HRIS- TIAN TEA HERS by C. B. Eavey. Read chapter thir– teen titled ' The Improvement of Teaching." NOW TRY THIS ( ubmitted by Jr. Youth Fellow hip Worker in the Litchfield Bapti , t hurch, Litchfield, Ohio ) 'One day one of four parent r:- tated that her yoL1ng children did not under tand many Bible word . It wa decided to tart a Bible Dictionary f r our Junior Y 0L1th Group. -- ach child wa a ked to n1ak a li t of Bi b le word they did not 11nder tand. hey ,v r e co llected by the teacher. Other word n1ay be added a, , you progre~~- -. ach child 111ade hi own diction– ary ot1t of con trL1ction paper and typing pap r. a h one decorated hi wn cover. r m the li ' t tt1rned in the teacher 111atlc an alphabet1cal lL t. he take two worti ettcl1 Ltnday night anll e plain th 111, giv111g Bible ref crence anLI a ver) 1111 pie ti efin 1tio11. hi \ t' then cop1cli 111to tl1cir t l1ct1 )J1ar l)\ the c}1iltl. hrot1gl1 re, ic\ thc'ic \\ orLI~ ar l1ecL1111i11g f a 111 i I i ar to t 11 e J u 111 or age c h I l ti r cn.'· b) 11 \ hirle)' hin1i1 I)o )' OU l1ave 111ctl1i11g ' t)ll ar t1,111g i11 \ ot1r ot1th GrotJJJ (lr 'Llllt1a\ '11001 ltt,, tl1'1t \ ' ti \\ t)ttlll like to sl1ar' \.\' ith otl1ers'l l,t \Ott tlo J)l ~t"L' t\ 11e it ot1t a11LI se11 J a11 illtt tratiL)Jl (lf tl1c 1Llt:ct tt) lrs. l . 111lJ 1t1gt1 al l he tttlclrc s al){)\' t,;. MAY-JUNE 1965 PAul 9