Two young men rang my doorball this Saturday morning, scaring Molly into the bedroom. Both were clean cut. The one doing the speaking wore a nice sweater. The other, who didn't say anything but seemed a bit older, wore a jacket and tie, with a fedora, with the contemporary look that young people manage.
Sweaterguy said they were ministers in the community, and were inviting people to a special service to commemorate the most important event of the year, Easter. He handed me a full-color flyer. I turned it over and immediately saw the words "Kingdom Hall," which is what I expected. I took the flyer graciously and thanked them, and they went on. I don't know if my apparent interest prompted them to put a checkmark beside my address for a follow-up visit.
Fedoraguy was, I'm sure, the "trainer," the experienced one of the twosome, while Sweaterguy was the trainee. That's what my Evangelism Explosion paradigm told me, anyway.
The service is on Maundy Thursday, April 9, at a UAW union hall in Roanoke, 10 miles away. So they're beating the bushes far and wide. Good for them. Admire the ambition and zeal. I was spending my Saturday morning reading a Sunny Randall mystery.
The flyer notes that there will also be a "special Bible talk" entitled, "Is there a true religion from God's standpoint?" Wanna guess the answer?
I'm actually quite interested in going, except that we'll probably have music practice. But I'd like to see their approach. Their outreach tactics. It would be instructional, and blog-worthy.
Career-wise, I've been hanging around and writing about and cheering on churches and pastors for the past 25 years as my denomination's Communications Director.
So - did you go to the Memorial, and what did you think about it?