Whole Church is Involved in Discipleship and Service
Christian Life Assembly is a Midwest church with about 300 people attending on Sunday morning. They are focused on reaching their community for Christ with an every-night-a-different-outreach approach to discipleship—and every member of the church, whether age four or eighty-four, is involved.
Church member Marilyn Jacoby writes:
On Monday mornings we have a Ladies’ Bible study meeting at church. On Monday nights the men of our church meet for the Men’s Bible study meeting in local homes. Men are bringing their friends to these meetings. We also have a bi-weekly Ladies’ Bible study meeting on Monday nights.
On Tuesday nights every other week we have a video presentation of Dr. James Dobson’s “Bringing up Boys” which meets at church. It is also geared toward outreach.
Wednesday is Family Night at church. We have the Royal Rangers meeting for boys at a nearby school, and many of our boys involved in this ministry bring their friends. We have the Missionettes meeting for girls at church; it is also a time for girls to bring their friends. Our youth meet at the National Guard Armory on this night to encourage other youth in the community to be in attendance. There is also a Single Moms’ class that meets in the church. Single Moms is made up of ladies who are part of our church and those sent to us by the Family Resource Center in our city; oftentimes their children become part of our Wednesday night groups. Adult Bible class also meets on Wednesday nights at church. We have a group called “The Edge” (ages 18 to 30) who meet at our pastor’s home on Wednesday nights. Right now they are learning to “Become Contagious Christians.” They, too, meet on Sunday mornings at church. Once a month on Wednesday mornings we have a Ladies’ social outreach at a local coffee shop called Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans.
On Thursday nights our choir practices; some people are involved in our choir who are not yet regular attendees of our church. Most years we have a drama which is an outreach to our community. We also have a class for ladies who have been sexually abused. It is called “Shelter from the Storm,” and it meets periodically for 12 weeks throughout the year on Thursdays.
For four Saturday nights in January and February our class on Mayberry Values meets. This class uses curriculum based on Andy of Mayberry episodes. Once a month on Saturday mornings we have a social breakfast in a nearby community headed up by our Men’s Ministry leader. Saturday nights we also have a nursing home outreach which is now in its 13th year. We have seen many people come to the Lord. We have a team of about ten people so we can give individual attention to the residents. In the last two weeks, two ladies that one of our workers was befriending gave their hearts to the Lord. We have seen many salvations in this outreach. We continue to present Jesus to them. We also reach out to three other nursing homes on selected days of the week and on Sundays.
Sunday mornings between our two services we have Sunday School for all ages. Just as our children study at their level on Wednesday nights, they also do on Sunday mornings. We use the Gospel Publishing House curriculum for our classes to make sure they are getting a balance in their learning as well as learning at their level. In adult Sunday School we serve coffee and donuts and allow time for building relationships, praying with one another, and studying God’s Word. Right now we have four adult classes, two for building up people in the Word and helping them to make disciples, one to build stronger marriages, and one to incorporate new believers or new families into our church family. Our pastors teach this class and follow it with an open house in their home with food and fellowship. This helps these newer people to make friends more easily.
Our Sunday morning services are televised throughout the week on three local cable stations in hopes that people will be spiritually uplifted or even come and learn about Jesus with us.
Our Men’s Ministry had a Marriage Safari Weekend the first weekend in February which included couples outside the church. This weekend helped restore several struggling marriages.
Twice a year we conduct a Pentecostal worship service at a local medium security prison. At Christmas we participate in the Angel Tree outreach, partnering with another church in the inner city of Milwaukee.
We have a dish where we can receive satellite programs from CCN (Church Communications Network) and whenever we see a program available that builds up leaders, we offer that to the church. We can set them up anytime of the day or night. We also do personality training on everyone who develops into leadership so they can see why others think differently than they do and so we can teach them how to work in unity with one another.
We keep a safe environment in our church by training those who work with our children and youth. We teach them what kind of discipline can be exercised in our church for the safety of the children and the workers. We also never allow a lone worker with our children, whether it is at church or an overnight event outside of the church.
Another ministry we are involved in is called “GriefShare.” Every year we run a six or seven week series to help people come to terms with their feelings of loss.
Through Boys’ and Girls’ Missionary Crusade (BGMC), we are teaching our children about other countries and encouraging them to bring their friends and witness to them at school. Our church supports 46 foreign and home missionaries monthly and our kids are asked to write to them and pray for them. Our ministry called “.comkids,” which involves some of our Sunday morning Children’s Church members, is for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grade kids who want to follow the "Great Commission” by reaching out to those around them. It is teaching kids about ministry and involving them in ministry. Accountability is required of “.comkids;” they have to fill out a monthly report that they are reading their Bibles, going to Sunday School, and giving at least two dollars a month to BGMC.
Other ways we teach our kids to serve is by helping adults in the nursery and by serving at dinners we have. This past August during our county fair, we held a dinner in our church for the carnival workers who came to our community to set up rides, etc. They were thrilled at having real food and an air conditioned place to relax during those hot days. This will probably become a yearly outreach. In early January we hosted an appreciation dinner for all our Wednesday night teachers and helpers and had our young people serve and help clean up. We use children and teens on occasion as helpers in our Sunday School program, to usher, greet, help prepare food for needy families, with church cleaning days, to create bulletin boards in the church... In other words, wherever we can teach our children to be servants and help others, we use them.
Here at Christian Life Assembly, we are focused on using every person in ministry to reach the lost and disciple others. We have accomplished many things in the 22 years we’ve been a church, and we continue to give God the glory for all He is doing to draw the members of a hurting world to Him.
