Information from Mike Sutton
The LaPorte Ministerial Association and any other volunteers interested will join in the association’s annual Day of Sharing Saturday, May 18, from 8 a.m. to noon.
Members and volunteers will gather on the steps of LaPorte City Hall at 8 a.m. for a brief orientation and prayer meeting, then volunteers will go to various sites to complete community projects.
If you want to volunteer or have ideas for projects, contact Pastor Mike Sutton at 219-510-3193 and visit www.laportesharefest.org.
Next ministerial meeting
The Ministerial Association’s next meeting will be held Thursday, May 16, at 1:30 p.m. at the New Church, 812 Indiana Ave., LaPorte. Speaking will be Honnalora Hubbard from Terre Haute, who is involved with the Governor’s Faith Based Initiatives.
“Creativity in the Church” session
On April 18, association members met to discuss “Creativity in the Church.” This discussion was facilitated by Cynthia Hedge and Keri Marrs-Baron from The Center for Creative Solutions.
Cynthia and Keri led the group in creative brainstorming focusing on three challenge questions:
– “Suppose you’ve just come to church on Sunday morning and you discover a hippo in the baptistery. How are you going to get it out?” Some of the responses: Call the zoo, bribe him with food, bring in a tow truck, put a lion in the tank, bring in a crane, call a butcher, threaten to baptize him, ask if we have a hippo trainer in the church, drain the water, pray him out, and bring in an alligator.
– “A tornado has hit the city of LaPorte. What can the churches do to serve the city together?” Some of the 180-plus ideas offered: Offer food to those impacted, provide counseling, provide funerals, mobilize volunteers for cleaning, help people find and take care of their pets, bring in farmers for a farmers market, offer transportation, provide shelter and support, provide child care, coordinate with the hospital, provide water, and offer prayer meeting for our community.
– “Recent studies show that only 20% of the U.S. population attends church on a regular basis. What can we do together to reach those who don’t currently attend church in LaPorte?” Some of the many ideas offered: Focus on building the community, not the church; open up classes to teens to teach them to cook; offer day care; have special programs for teens; hire staff that are external in their focus; offer pet events to our community; kid contests; offer help on home improvement projects; equip our people for missional living; prayer services; pulpit exchanges.
Conclusion: The group talked about how to narrow these options down and pick a few to work on in the coming year.