This is by far the greatest of all the ministries. It is also the most enjoyable and productive. Here is all you have to do.
- Find someone who can play guitar and sing.
- Find a place to have a service. We have had services on the side of the road but a park or other piece of property is better. We now have our services in one of our members Aunts front yard under a nice shade tree. Much better than an Interstate 10 on ramp.
- Invite people to come as you are talking with them. Let them know you will be serving lunch.
- Print out a single page on typing paper with the Bible verses you will talk about. No canned sermons. No agenda based sermons. Just the Bible. Parables and stories about Jesus work very well. (i.e. The Good Samaritan, The Woman at the Well, The Prodigal Son, The Raising of Lazarus, Etc…) Print enough copies for everyone to have one. You will find that they fold them up and keep them.
- On the day of the service purchase some pizzas, Food World chicken or just get a couple of loaves of bread, cheese, meat, mayonnaise and mustard. Add chips and water and you have your meal. If you have a folding table for the food that would be nice. Otherwise a picnic blanket will suffice.
- Meet at the location, open in prayer and let people start eating. Don’t ever make anyone wait until the service is over to eat. Let them eat up front. Then just start playing songs. Hymns and praise songs are great. Play as many as you want. We normally do about 8 songs.
- Pass out the Bible verses and just read and comment on the verses. Since you are probably not a professional preacher then you are going to need help. This will be the Holy Spirits job. Remember, just read and make comments.
- After the Bible reading ask is anyone has a testimony or something that God has done in their life.
- Then do a song or two in closing. We normally do I’ll fly away and then a song like Just as I am.
- Then just close in prayer and you are done.
- After the service stay and talk with people. Let them have all the leftovers. Our people normally take them to people who could not make it to the service.
Remember, keep it simple and casual. Make people feel comfortable. Don’t dress in a suit. If you can’t sit on the ground in the clothes you wear then wear different clothes. Don’t talk down to people. Let them sit in chairs while you sit on the ground or on your guitar case.
