The Family Bible Fair is an outreach idea that “just seemed to morph” into reality over a period of several months. Now that we have done it, we look forward to trying it again, in whole and in part.
Our inaugural effort ran for four hours — 9 am to 1 pm — on a very warm Saturday in August. As the name suggests, there were things for everyone in the family to do, and we made sure that there could be no mistake on the part of any visitors: we identify ourselves with the Bible. Of course, everything was free.
With beaches and amusement parks not far away and other churches running carnivals to beguile people, we didn’t expect to be trampled underfoot by big crowds. But a few families came, and we got to talk with some fathers and mothers.
A key part of this outreach effort, in our estimation, was the range of games, crafts, and prizes that catered to children. A large open tent was set up in our side yard with all kinds of activities for kids. It was highly visible. Additional stations were set up for children in our fellowship hall. Many of our sisters, brothers, and young people got involved running these events — most dressed in bright yellow T-shirts that had our name, logo, and website on them. There is little question that families came to the fair because there were things for children to do.
Beyond this, we made sure there were lots of Bible-related things for adults. We ran a Psalms Read-A-Thon in our meeting room and everyone was invited to join in.1One grandmother arrived at the beginning and listened quietly for more than two hours. She stayed through the reading of 75 psalms while her daughter and grandchildren enjoyed other parts of the fair. There were exhibits with large identifying banners: “Seven Centuries of the English Bible” and “The Bible Comes to America”. We had a “Bible and Technology Chat Room” just off the entryway for anyone who might be interested in Bible apps and things like that. Nearby, a flat panel TV played a continuously running slide show about our 122-year ecclesial history.
And, of course, we wanted to get information into visitors’ hands. To this end we had a big “Bible Build-A-Bag” table in the entryway. Each adult visitor was offered a large cloth bag — imprinted like the T-shirts — to fill with freebies: imprinted water bottles, fridge magnets, pens, three different Bible DVDs, laminated Bible Companion bookmarks, a nicely bound set of Bible reading tips, and items related to the exhibits. Copies of “Answering Your Questions About The Christadelphians” and a companion leaflet describing our ecclesial services were already in every bag.2
And what would a Bible fair be without Bibles? The centerpiece of our build-abag table was free Bibles. Since we live in an area that has a growing Hispanic population, we offered Bibles in both Spanish and English. A nice, relatively inexpensive, hardbound bilingual Bible drew particular interest.
Obviously, we had to advertise, and this took about half of our FBF budget. Two small, full-color display ads went into the local newspaper, starting about two weeks before the fair. An Ad Note (a stick-on ad) went on the front page of the paper a week before the fair, and a flyer was inserted in the same paper two days beforehand.
In addition, our young people — and some not so young! — canvassed local neighborhoods one week before the fair with extra copies of the newspaper insert. We also put up two lawn signs in front of our hall to announce the event.
Nearly all the things we prepared for the Family Bible Fair can be used again. We also have leftover giveaways on hand for another time. It will not cost as much to run another fair. Some of the things can be used with other events as well. For example, the exhibits can be set up at Bible reading seminars. The Bible Companion and the set of Bible reading tips can be given away at almost any outreach event. The Family Bible Fair has good prospects of being cost effective.
And it is adaptable. We designed the fair to make good use of our entire ecclesial venue — inside and out. Other ecclesias would need to adapt it to their own settings. It is a “non-threatening” event, and we found that people come. Our visitors now know where we are and they have been inside our hall. Key things, we believe, include a range of inviting activities for all ages, advertising, and putting it firmly in God’s hands. We prayed a lot about this. Then it ran its course. And everyone in the ecclesia had an opportunity to get involved.
- Did you know that a group can read 119 Psalms aloud in 4 hours and 10 minutes?
- Three Bible DVDs were offered free of charge: “Introducing the Bible”, “Introducing Jesus”, and “God’s Land of Promises”, all obtained from the Williamsburg Christadelphian Foundation at an astonishing low cost. We played the DVDs on another small TV so visitors could see what they were getting.
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