Super Saturday
Super Saturday
Saturdays are often spent cleaning and catching up at home. But one Saturday a month in Glendale, Ariz., people are learning their Bible basics.
About 10 years ago, David Clark, pastor at Grace, Glendale, Ariz., began offering his Bible information class as a Saturday seminar. The class meets from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. for one Saturday a month for four months.
“It’s daunting for people to commit to one hour a week for 14 to 20 weeks,” says Clark. “I wanted to find a way to make it easier without cutting down on the material.”
He continues, “What I found is that people are willing to rearrange their work schedules and get babysitters for that one Saturday of the month because they feel it’s ‘one and done.’ ”
Clark wrote his own course that covers the information that prospects—and members looking for a refresher—need to know to become a WELS member, which includes all the parts of Luther’s Small Catechism.
When he started the seminars, the congregation continued to offer the normal weekly Bible information class as well. But within a year, everyone was signing up for the seminar-style classes.
His last class had 47 people, 16 of which were already members. The majority of the rest of the class was people invited by church members. He confirmed 17 new members from the class in December 2007.
"This may not work for every congregation,” says Clark. “I just know that it works for us."
Clark calls his classes “Super Saturday.” Why? “It’s an opportunity for me to do what Luther calls in the Large Catechism, ‘teaching the devil to death,’ ” he says.
To learn more, contact Pastor Clark at pastorclark@graceglendale.org.
About 10 years ago, David Clark, pastor at Grace, Glendale, Ariz., began offering his Bible information class as a Saturday seminar. The class meets from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. for one Saturday a month for four months.
“It’s daunting for people to commit to one hour a week for 14 to 20 weeks,” says Clark. “I wanted to find a way to make it easier without cutting down on the material.”
He continues, “What I found is that people are willing to rearrange their work schedules and get babysitters for that one Saturday of the month because they feel it’s ‘one and done.’ ”
Clark wrote his own course that covers the information that prospects—and members looking for a refresher—need to know to become a WELS member, which includes all the parts of Luther’s Small Catechism.
When he started the seminars, the congregation continued to offer the normal weekly Bible information class as well. But within a year, everyone was signing up for the seminar-style classes.
His last class had 47 people, 16 of which were already members. The majority of the rest of the class was people invited by church members. He confirmed 17 new members from the class in December 2007.
"This may not work for every congregation,” says Clark. “I just know that it works for us."
Clark calls his classes “Super Saturday.” Why? “It’s an opportunity for me to do what Luther calls in the Large Catechism, ‘teaching the devil to death,’ ” he says.
To learn more, contact Pastor Clark at pastorclark@graceglendale.org.
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