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Helping Your Congregation Give Thanks
A teller at the drive-in window of a bank was having difficulty with the glaring sun. He lowered the shade. Behind the shade he could see customers as they drove up, but they could not see him. As one woman drove in, he punched a button. The money drawer opened just as the woman came to a stop. She put in her check, closed the drawer, and it withdrew. Seconds later the drawer rolled out again with her money in it. She took the money, and stared at the window. She could not see anyone. “I know you are completely automated,” she said, “but I want to thank you anyway.”
The Bible says of our response to God’s goodness, “Give thanks to Him and praise His name” (Ps. 100:4, HCSB).
Here are five practical suggestions for helping your congregation express gratitude to God.
1. Thankful Pastor and Staff
Would you agree that attitudes are caught rather than taught? A church family’s sense of gratitude often parallels that of the pastor and staff. I preach positively. I state publicly my personal gratitude to God for His blessings. I show enthusiasm for God’s activity within our congregation. With God’s help, I try to practice James 1:2, though I do not profess to have the practice of this verse mastered. I do my best to model the attitude I want our church family to have.
What about you? Think about the words that come from your mouth? Do they model thanksgiving? Think about your attitude. Does it reflect enthusiasm and gratitude to God? Do you express gratitude toward your staff and the people you serve? Does not your attitude reflect itself in that of your congregation?
2. Thanksgiving-Missions Banquet
Our church schedules two annual events that are “don’t miss” happenings—our summer picnic and our Thanksgiving- missions banquet. We can expect big crowds for both.
On the night of our banquet our social committee prepares the meat, drinks, and paper goods, while our people bring covered-dish food items of all kinds. It’s really quite a spread!
Since Thanksgiving precedes the Week of Prayer of International Missions (See International Mission Board) we have combined both emphases into a banquet format. We prepare printed programs. Tables are decorated colorfully. We do our best to create a festive, exciting atmosphere.
During the banquet we sing songs that express thanks. We have a large college ministry. Each year about a dozen of our students participate in short-term missions projects. We ask them to share testimonies of their missions experiences. We also enlist one or two Thanksgiving testimonies from persons within our congregation. Some years we celebrate the Lord’s Supper at the banquet. The Greater Detroit Baptist Association, with which our church is affiliated, sponsors a ministry to low-income persons called the Hope Baptist Center. Each year at Christmas the churches in the association purchase Christmas gifts for needy children in the inner-city of Detroit. We promote this ministry at our banquet.
Our missions committee also takes time during the banquet to highlight missions opportunities that will be available during the coming year. We promote short-term mission trips, a food pantry ministry, Hope Baptist Center projects, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Foreign Missions, and opportunities for helping build Habitat for Humanity houses in our area.
Last year our church had a family who responded to God’s call as missionaries to Southeast Asia. When people came to the Thanksgiving-missions banquet they brought items this family needed on the mission field—everything from flashlights to computer CDs.
Our church has grown rapidly during the past five years. We feel the annual Thanksgiving-missions banquet offers a prime fellowship time for getting to know people who are new to the church. We send invitations to selected prospects and new members urging them to attend. Our experience shows this banquet builds fellowship, elevates the importance of giving thanks, highlights missions, and creates a generous spirit in our church family.
3. Thanksgiving Banner
I can think of at least two possibilities with a banner. To emphasize the importance of missions, our missions committee recently taped up a graffiti banner with the title “A day without missions is like . . .” People were encouraged to write on the graffiti banner and complete the sentence. For several Sundays groups of church attendees gathered in front of that graffiti banner to write their comments. Why not take a similar approach with a Thanksgiving graffiti banner? “A day without thanks is like . . .”
Another banner idea is to tape a banner to a prominent wall in the church in a high-traffic area. At the top of the banner write, Thank You Letters to God. Ask people to write a thank-you note to God, then tape it to the banner. Leave the banners up for a few weeks, and allow people to add to them. Another slant would be to use the Thank You Letters to God idea with children’s Sunday School classes instead of with the whole church.
4. Thanksgiving Projects
Encourage classes or groups in the church to conduct a ministry project during the Thanksgiving season. Cook a meal at a homeless shelter, work at a soup kitchen, prepare bags of food for needy families, help a family in need, visit shut-ins at a local nursing home, participate at a local Thanksgiving service sponsored by area churches, or offer to baby-sit children for single parents who need an outing.
What ministry needs exist in your church or area? A list of possible ministry projects is endless. You are limited only by your creativity.
5. Thanksgiving Theme Worship Service
Here are two orders of service for the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, with some words of explanation, for worship gatherings with a thanksgiving theme. One is for a traditional style of worship, while the other can be used in a contemporary worship service.
|
Service #1 Opening Choir Anthem Ask your minister of music to have the choir sing an anthem that focuses on thanks to God. Enlist people of differing ages for the testimonies. Preach a message with a thanksgiving theme. |
Service #2 Special Music Selection Select a thanksgiving theme song for the special music by the ensemble that opens the service. The praise and worship songs shown give energy at the beginning of the service, then gear down to a more worshipful mood. The drama needs to emphasize thanks. Preach about being thankful. |
Mother Theresa told this story during an address at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994. One evening we went out, and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition. I told the sisters, “You take care of the other three; I will take care of the one who looks worst.” So I did for her all that my love could do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. ‘Thank you,’ she said. Then she died. I could not help but examine my conscience before her. And I asked, ‘What would I say if I were in her place?’ But my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself, I would have said, ‘I am hungry, I am dying, I am in pain,’ or something. But she gave me much more; she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face. 1
God’s Word challenges us to “Give thanks in everything” (1 Thess. 5:18, HCSB). The ideas contained in this article are offered with a prayer that God will use them to help your congregation be thankful.
1 Leadership, Vol 16, #2.
Gary Hardin is pastor, Packard Road Baptist Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Adapted from a previously published article. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright ©1999,2000,2002,2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.
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