A note from Abby

by Abby Stevens, PLC Weekend Services Producer

Friends –

I was 8 years old and I was having my first ever birthday party/sleepover combination.  Our house was full of 7 and 8 year-old girls, Barbie, My Little Pony, and Rainbow Brite sleeping bags, hair ribbons, pink and purple explosions of cake and streamers . . . it was every parent’s nightmare, I’m sure.  But we were having a ball and the night was only going to get better.  I guess it was about 10 p.m. before my parents got us all settled into our sleeping bags in the basement, and for some reason, my dad decided to come down and tell us a bedtime story.

I should perhaps offer the fact that my dad never told bedtime stories.  That was not his M.O. Ever.  Why he decided that this would be his first and last foray into the bedtime-storytelling-genre I have no idea.  But it was certainly memorable.

He chose as his late-night fare the “escaped-convict-with-a-hook-stalks-and-kills-the-teenaged-couple-necking-in-the-woods” urban legend.  You know which one I’m talking about, right?  If you’re shaking your head in horrified amazement, I’m right there with you.

To this day he can’t tell us why he thought that would be a good story for a basement full of elementary aged girls.  One girl started crying and made us call her mom to come get her, and the rest of us hunkered down in terror for the night.  We finally gave up and decided we needed my mom to come down and sleep with us, but couldn’t decide who would be sent to venture all the way up the stairs and to Mom and Dad’s room to wake her up.  It was either me or my younger sister, and I’ll bet you can guess which birthday girl did NOT brave the dark all alone. 

This month, we’re talking about audience.  As my dad quickly learned, 8 year-old girls are not the right audience for his scary stories.  And sometimes, we’re just as irresponsible and ill-informed about our audience as he was.

As we plan our weekends, execute them, and move forward into ministry at each of our campuses, it’s vital that we regain our connection to our audience.   Who are the people to whom we’re speaking?  Who are we trying to reach?  Are the ideas/strategies we’re using really those that will best equip us to accomplish that goal, or are we just doing what we like and would respond to?

Let’s commit this month to recapturing an understanding of who exactly we’re speaking to, so that the truth of our message isn’t lost.  We don’t want to accidentally send someone home crying.

 Can you think of an audience we could do a better job of capturing?  And did your dad ever tell you a horrible bed-time story?

Comments

[Ken Bauer]

What a great thing for us to consider as we move forward to reach others. I think one of the greatest failures of the church, in general, they have not considered their audience, unless it is their own "holy huddle". People in the world have BIG NEEDS and how can we relate the gospel to them in a "soul gripping" way unless we take the time to listen to how the lack of their needs being met are currently effecting their lives? Then Jesus, who meets all our needs, can become relevant to them in ways they will find extremely hard to resist.