Fellowships: Church Wide

WATERMELON FUN
Bill Nichols

Instead of having just an ordinary watermelon eating fellowship, have an experience in creation. Mix up your church family into smaller groups which have older, middle and young adults, youth and children. Give each group materials, scissors, paste, magic markers with which they can decorate their watermelon. Before you cut these masterpieces have a judging. Have several categories so there can be several winning groups. *

BABY FACE FELLOWSHIP
Bill Nichols

This fellowship can be especially fun for adults. All church fellowship honoring the staff might be good. The theme is babies. The decorations and announcements are adorned with symbols relating to babies. A fun activity is to have the adults of the staff bring baby
pictures. Provide a list of possible names. Instruct the people to match the numbered pictures to the names. The refreshments can maintain the theme with a good imagination. *

MALE CHAUVINIST PIG DESSERT CONTEST

Bill Nichols

A great way to have an all-church fellowship is to present an all male dessert making contest. Prizes can be given in just about every category imaginable. Be creative. Just for fun, decorate the room with pigs marked "MCP" for male chauvinist pig. Publicity can be a blast for those who use chauvinism to its fullest. *

A FELLOWSHIP OF NOTE
Bill Nichols

Everyone likes music in some form. So, have a musical fellowship. Decorate the room with musical symbols. All publicity can be done on a musical theme. For the activity time have a group of people play in a band using instruments they create, such as a washtub bass. Have a leader direct the group in singing rounds. If you have some good soloists, the Grasshopper Opera is a fun entertainer.

For refreshments, cake and cookies can be made or decorated like musical symbols. *

NEW MEMBER FELLOWSHIP
Bill Nichols

 

A good way to get to know the new people who join your church is to have a special fellowship honoring them. The deacons can be the sponsoring group. A deacon can be assigned a new family, which is that deacon's responsibility to contact and host at the fellowship. Provide pencils and paper. Have people write the name of the church down the left side of the paper. Direct them to then find someone whose name begins with that letter.

BEAT THE DRUM FELLOWSHIP

Berniece Camp

Near July 4, plan an after-church patriotic fellowship for all ages. Decorate the area with red, white, and blue- balloons, streamers, and flags.

Introduce each event with the beating of the drum. Include such activities as group singing of patriotic songs with drum accompaniment and relays between teams of reds, whites, and blues.

Stage a mock tryout for marchers in a parade. Choose the least likely candidates (who are good sports) and direct them in practice marching before the others with drum accompaniment

Plan a couple of "Who Am I?" monologues from American history and ask the audience to guess their identity. Close with a man dressed as Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg address, the singing of "America," and a prayer for the country.

Serve hot dogs and Cokes. *

ALL ABOARD THE USS STEWARDSHIP

Berniece Camp

Plan an all-church fellowship on a Sunday night during the annual stewardship emphasis.

Decorate the area to resemble a ship-ropes, portholes, anchors, deck chairs, etc. Ask the "Captain" to welcome everybody and to introduce the activities.

Begin with group singing of fun songs. Move into the stewardship theme with a skit by 2 creative people who serve as comedian and straight man. Include proverbs, jokes, and quotations about money, such as "A penny saved is a penny earned," "Money talks," "Where there's a will there are people to fight over the inheritance," "You can't take it with you," "Money isn't everything," "How to marry a millionaire “and” The love of money is the root of all evil." *

THE WELCOME MAT IS OUT

Berniece Camp

Plan an all-church fellowship on a Sunday night to welcome a missionary family home on furlough or a new staff member to the church. Use flowers and greenery in the fellowship hall for a festive air. Place "happy faces" and welcome signs about the room. Reserve seats for the honored family.

Prepare name tags for everybody to aid in getting acquainted. Prepare and present three or four skits, speeches, or songs by different age groups in the church designed to entertain. Include young children. Plan a "pounding" for the guests of honor. Bring the donated food, linens, and staples into the fellowship hall in gaily decorated wheelbarrows.

Give opportunity for response from the missionaries or staff members, children included, and suggest they share social customs and everyday life of people in the country or area where they served.

Close with prayer for the honorees and for other missionaries on the prayer calendar for the day.

Serve Cokes with homemade cookies, candies, and other goodies brought by women of the church. *

REVIVAL PREPARATION WORSHIP SERVICE FELLOWSHIP

Marsha Eichenberg

This would be a good fellowship to have a few Sundays before revival, during evening worship service. Divide them into groups by their Church Training classes. Each group selects a revival hymn or hymn of dedication for the theme song. Each sings that choice.

There can be no repeats.

Have a skit illustrating wrong attitudes regarding revival. Let each group name all the things they detected that were wrong. Share their list in turn.

Give each group a Scripture passage to study together as to Christian response regarding revival. Then have each group decide what they can and want to do to aid real revival in their church. Have each group share what they have committed together to do.

Let the pastor commission them for their tasks.

Close with special music to heighten commitments. *

WEDNESDAY NIGHT PRAYER FELLOWSHIP
Marsha Eichenberg

Select Scripture passages on prayer and put them on cards or strips of paper. As they are given out, no more than eight people (four to six is ideal) will receive the same passage. If the crowd is a large one label cards to indicate one of several groups.

Group will read passage from as many translations as possible. Discuss the meaning and application for daily lives.

Have them all turn to the Lord's Prayer. Give each group a work sheet of questions to help them get the greatest meaning. With the Lord's Prayer as a guide, have them as groups join together in prayer-first in a round of praise, then in submission to God, then needs, etc. *

ORGANIZATIONAL TALENT SHOW
Bill Nichols

After church some evening the whole congregation can participate or enjoy an organizational talent show. Each organization is responsible to provide an act for this event.
While contacting each organization for an act, assign that group a food to bring for refreshments.

Church papers, posters, and department announcements can be used to get the church excited about this rare event. *

COMMITTEE FELLOWSHIPS

Nancy James Sayers

Since most church duties and functions are carried out by standing committees, it would be well to let the membership know the purposes, plans, and accomplishments of some of those groups.

Set up a time table featuring one, committee who will plan, host, and carry out all plans in a churchwide fellowship each month (or less, if desired).

For example, feature the stewardship and finance committees at budget and pledge time of the year. A stewardship drama would be effective at this fellowship. The missions committee might present slides of outreach projects by the church, or they might host the fellowship as a special emphasis during a week of prayer or before an event such as packing food baskets at Christmas.

The youth and children's committees can say, "The proof is in the pudding," by featuring those whom their committee serves.

Bring church and staff closer together by taking a close (maybe comic) look at each staff member, perhaps featuring them in a fun drama or talent show. The personnel
committee is host. Each committee who wishes to participate should plan to both inform and entertain the guests. With good information abounding, committee work and recruiting should both receive a boost. *

SENIOR ADULT TALENT SHOW

Nancy James Sayers

Some of the best talent, least displayed, may be hiding in the older-age departments of your church. Check it out! Chances are you'll find many unusual talents and persons
who can do some of the following. If not, it is fairly certain they have friends who do:

·       Play a saw

·       Play a Jew's harp

·       Play a Fiddle

·       Call hogs

·       A magic act

·       Play the piano

·       Sing

·       Recite poetry

·       Play a banjo or other stringed instrument

·       Tell stories

Encourage senior adults to plan the evening of fun and entertainment as hosts for the churchwide fellowship. A talent show, group singing (oldies but goodies) and refreshments will delight the entire church family. *

GATHER AT THE MALT SHOP

Nancy James Sayers

With fifties nostalgia sweeping the country, high schoolers know those crazy hangouts with sodas, burgers, fries, and juke boxes really did exist at one time. A malt shop, authentically created, will be a popular gathering place for teens following athletic games any time of the year. As a one-time fellowship theme, the malt shop will bring' em in alive. If you're lucky enough to have a facility which can be decorated and reused for an entire season, you're sure to have a hit on your hands.

Select a location which is large enough for the group without giving too much "rattling around room." Malt shops weren't known for their spaciousness. Being near a
kitchen will facilitate food preparation, but is not entirely necessary.

Start early to collect the following items and others to fit your scheme:

·                    Tables for four

·                    Paper table covers (make your own)
Paper goods for serving

·                    Chairs

·                    Juke box (if you think big)
Stereo (if you are more realistic)
Records (oldies, of course)

·                    Large menus, printed on poster board
Food (as per menu chosen)

·                    Nostalgic posters

·                    Blenders (for making malts and other creations)
Grills, deep fat fryers, etc. (according to your menu)

Feature really tasty things to eat and drink. It is better to have one great specialty than ten mediocre items to choose from.

Plan for live entertainment using people who have the dress and sound of the 50's. Paper table tops are a great place for doodles, nostalgia quizzes and games. Fill in with records and eat well! *

THOSE WERE THE DAYS
Rick Fisher

An after-church fellowship idea for the entire church honoring Senior Adults, this activity includes recognition of talents, abilities and contributions of these "special" folks. Suggest that each Senior Adult bring an item unique to the time of his adolescence. Using these, create a display for all to enjoy. Decorations could include red and white checkered tablecloths, oil and kerosene lamps, or any creative item prevalent in the early 1900's.

Begin with an icebreaker such as a questionnaire pertaining to events, items and trends from the turn of the century. In order to complete this sheet, each person would have to ask a Senior Adult for help. This builds communication with Senior Adults as well as giving them a sense of worth.

 Follow this with simple games and songs, preferably drawn from the early 1900’s as well. You may want to use this sort of music as background during certain periods of the fellowship. Include a time for "remembering yesteryear," when three or four Senior Adults relate briefly special events from their childhoods. Ask the pastor to say a few words concerning the value of this group of folks to your church. Then, bring on the food! *

IN THE PUMPKIN PATCH

Berniece Camp

On a Sunday night near Halloween invite people of all ages to the Pumpkin Patch (fellowship hall) after church.

Decorate with lighted jack-o' -lanterns made from real pumpkins. Hang orange and black streamers over doorways and windows and from the ceiling, and tape them to backs of chairs.

Prepare parodies on the pumpkin theme for group singing and sing them to well-known tunes. Include rounds, action songs, and weird sound effects (moans, floor tapping, and discordant sounds of the piano) as accompaniment.

Turn out all lights except the jack-o' -lanterns while a very tall person (aided by standing on a box if necessary) dressed in a white sheet to the floor tells a ghost story. Fashion a jack-o' -lantern mask or pumpkin head for him. Announce a pumpkin contest and draft several men to blow up orange balloons, awarding an orange lollipop to the one who first blows the balloon until it bursts. With lights dimmed again ask someone to close the fellowship with a brief devotional thought on light and darkness in the Scripture-light symbolizing that which is good and of God, darkness as that which is evil or of the devil. Use Micah 7:8b. Close with prayer.

From a jack-o'-lantern decorated refreshment table serve pumpkin tarts and coffee to adults, decorated cookies and punch or soft drinks to children. *

CHRISTMAS FIRESIDE

Berniece Camp

Plan an after-church fellowship for all ages on a Sunday night near Christmas. Arrange chairs in a. semicircle for adults with children sitting on the floor in front of them.

Use traditional decorations. Simulate an old-fashioned scene in one end of the social hall with mock fireplace, rocking chair, kerosene lamp, knitting bag, and embroidered wall motto.

Begin with groups singing fun and popular Christmas songs and carols. Collect Christmas legends and stories from newspapers, magazines, and the library. Include such things as the legend of the poinsettia, the custom of tree decorating, the observance of Christmas in other lands, and humorous tales of Christmas observance from times past.

Ask a woman in old time dress to sit in the rocker and read or tell the stories and legends to a child sitting on the floor at her feet. Include the story of the writing of" 'Twas the Night Before Christmas" (consult an encyclopedia) and spotlight a good reader in a separate area to recite the poem.

Close with the woman in the rocker reading the Christmas story from Luke 2, the singing of' 'Silent Night" by all, and prayer.

Serve hot punch, cookies, and candies. *

YOU BE THE JUDGE
Mabel King Beeker

Judges in the Bible and judges today combine judges and justice all the way.

PUBLICITY

Draw a gavel such as a judge uses in the center of each poster. Around it print the title of the fellowship, time, place, date, and "for the whole church family."

PREPARATION

Plan to divide into intergeneration groups of ten. Provide scissors and a roll of crepe paper for each group-red for group 1, blue for group 2, and so on. Cut a narrow strip from the end of each roll, divide it into ten pieces, and mix them in a box from which guests will draw to form the groups. Around the room place scales and other objects suggestive of law and justice.

REFRESHMENTS

Place one refreshment table at the entrance and another at the far end of the room. As guests arrive, serve one chocolate or caramel cupcake and a cup of lemonade to
each one. Send one to the other table for a lemon cupcake and a refill of orangeade or another fruit drink.

ORDER IN THE COURTROOM

Knock three times on a table with a gavel or a hammer to call the "court" to order. Instruct each guest to go to the table with the crepe paper which matches his strip.

Inducting the judges. -Instruct each group to choose a judge and make him a robe such as men wore in Bible times.

As the judges parade, ask the guests to select, by applause, the one who looks and acts most like "a solemn old judge."

Address him as "Mr. Chief Justice"; ask him to "lay down the laws," as follows, to the other judges and ask them to promise to observe the law: No matter what happens, look solemn as a judge.

1.Call the name of anyone who breaks any law.

2.Keep a record of your group's achievements.

3.Be ready to assist in other matters as needed.

Beauty contest. -Ask each judge to choose two contestants from the group under his jurisdiction. Read Esther 2: 15-17. Then give each couple some makeup with which to prepare one of them to be a contestant for the queen of the beauty contest and the other to be Mordecai. The judges, guided by the chief justice, will decide which contestant receives the most applause for queen.

While the new queen stands et one side of the platform wearing a gold cardboard crown and Mordecai stands at the other side, instruct them to pantomime Esther 4: 7 -17 as you read it. Comment: "And that is how God, through a beauty contest, saved the lives of his people. Now, more than two thousand years later, the Jews still hold an annual Feast of Purim to celebrate deliverance."

Side-seat driver's test.-Ask each group to choose an
elementary-school student as a representative. Ask some easy questions about the traffic laws of your state to be answered by the child who raises his hand first each time (or another chosen by the chief justice if one answers too
often). The chief justice must decide, backed by the judges, whether the child answered correctly.

If not, he may call on another. Here are suggestions:

·       On which side of the car does the driver sit?

·       What does a red light mean to a walker or driver?

·       Does the walker or the driver have right of way?

·       What does a "yield" traffic sign mean?

·       What should you do when the light is yellow?

Some answers may need additional explanations.

Are you willing? -Ahead of time ask a lawyer or someone else who knows your state laws well to help you make out a list of questions about wills. This time the group
representatives should be adults.

Here are ideas:

1.     Why should a person write a will?

2.     When should a person write his or her first will?

3.     Where should a person keep his or her will?

4.     When is a judge involved in a person's will?

Who's that judge? -Ahead of time, assign one judge each to five people for some special presentations:

·       Deborah (Judg. 4:4-17; 5:1-3)

·       Gideon (Judg. 6:11-40; 7:2-22; 8:4,22-24,27,32)

·       Jephthah (Judg. 11:6-11,30-40)

·       Samson (Judg. 13:2-5,10-25; 14:1-20; 16:1-30)

·       Samuel (1 Sam. 1:9-11,20-22,24-28; 2:18-20,26;
3:1-10,19-21; 7:3-6,10-12,15; 8:4-7,19-22; 9:15-20;
10:1,24-25; 12:1-7,13-19,23-24; 13:8-14; 16:1-13;
25:1)

Without calling the name of the judge, present No.1, No.2, and so on.

Here are some ideas for presentations:

·       After the judge gives a summary of special activities, each group writes its guess as to the identity.

·        Each group, in turn, asks a question of each of the
judges until someone guesses the identity.

·        Each judge pantomimes some special event in his life with the help of a volunteer, and others guess.

Award ten points for each correct guess.

Be sure Samuel reads his timely advice in 1 Samuel 12:14-25.

Bible laws. -Call on each group, in turn, to quote or summarize and explain one of the Ten Commandments. Ask each group to choose a teenager to represent it in a Bible drill. Provide Bibles and call out these verses for the first to raise his hand to read: Psalm 75:6-7; 50:6; 9:7-8; 98:8-9; 1:5; 19:9; Acts 10:42-43; Matthew 7:1; Amos 5:23-24; 2 Timothy 4:1; 4:7-8; James 5:9; Romans 2:16; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 1 Peter 4:5. The judges may count ten
points for the first correct reader. At this point instruct judges to add their scores. Present
cardboard gavels, "Honorary Judge," to winners. Ask everyone to quote in unison Matthew 22:37-40. Ask the children: "What did Jesus mean by 'neighbor'?"

Close by having a man with a strong voice to read Revelation 20: 11-12 and a quartet or the whole group to sing "Are You Ready?" *

GELATINOUS AFFAIR
Mabel King Beeker

 

A before or after covered-dish fellowship of gelatinous proportions for the whole family (or, for first-graders through grandpas)

INVITATION

Vegetables, meat, or fruit-bring any kind of food; But, please, in each and
every dish some gelatin include To make some dishes rare for our Gelatinous Affair; And with the food the empty box we ask that you will bear. Add the time, date, and place for the fellowship.

PREPARATION

Set up one or more long tables for the dishes of gelatin and seven other tables at which the people will eat. Mark each of the seven with one letter of GELA TIN and set on it a small real or artificial tree which people at it will decorate with fruit from the gelatin boxes. Provide scissors, tape, and extra gelatin boxes at each table. To these add the boxes the people bring. On the food tables put paper plates, forks, spoons, napkins, paper cups, and a fruit beverage.

GETTING STARTED

Ask each guest whose first, middle, or last name begins with a G to go to the "G table," guests with an E to go to the "E table," and so on. Divide the rest to make an even
number at each of the seven tables. Instruct each group to choose one fruit with which to
decorate their tree and to appoint two members to cut it from the boxes and tape it to the tree. The rest are to take the remaining boxes, one at a time, to other tables to exchange for fruit they need. Recognize the group whose tree is first to "bear" seven pieces of the fruit.

GELATIN GALORE

The trees being decorated, have a prayer of thanks for the great variety of foods which God provides; then invite the people to line up on each side of the food tables and sample several varieties of the gelatin dishes.

GELATINOUS ACTIVITIES

How many varieties? -Give each table-or each end of each table if the tables are long-a pencil and a piece of paper on which to list all they can of the various kinds of gelatin and gelatin dishes they have sampled plus others they have eaten in the past. Call on each group, in turn, to name one item on their list while the others mark that one off theirs. Recognize the groups with (1) the longest list and (2) the most left.

Gelatin box. -Ask each person to pick a fruit from his tree and to be ready to move quickly to another table when he hears the words "gelatin box" in the story: "There was an old woman who had eight children. As each of them liked different kinds of food, she had a very
hard time pleasing all of them at the same meal. One day in the grocery store she noticed a gelatin box with a new flavor of gelatin. She reached up on the shelf and took the gelatin box down. As she liked the picture, she put the gelatin box in her basket. After she had filled her basket with other groceries, she went home and prepared a big meal for her husband and eight children. While the foods were cooking, she read the directions on the gelatin box. Then she realized that one box of gelatin by itself was not enough to feed her husband, their eight children, and herself. What to do? 'I must add something to it,' she said; and she did. "When the family sat down to eat that evening, three persons ate roast beef, four persons ate ham, and the rest ate chicken. Two ate carrots, six ate green beans, and the rest ate potatoes. But each one tried to get a serving of the gelatin salad that the mother had made from the contents of the gelatin box." By the end of the story, everyone has changed tables five times. Ask each group to find out what is now the predominant fruit in that group and to make as many words as they can from the letters in that fruit. Let the
"lime" group choose any other flavor they wish.

Gelatinous crossword puzzle. -Work up a crossword puzzle using gelatin flavors for clues.

FRUITFUL THOUGHTS

Read Luke 6:43-45 and urge all to accept the challenge that Jesus gave his disciples to show our faith in him by the "fruits" that we bear for him. *

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Mary Lou Serratt

PURPOSE

To recognize and get acquainted with those who have come into the church family during the past six months (or other time period, according to your church).

TIME

After the Sunday evening worship service.

PLACE

A large room where informal activities can take place; preferably fellowship hall.

AGE GROUP

This should be a church-wide fellowship, since new members will come from all age groups. Provide a nursery.

PREPARATION

The key to the success of this fellowship is involvement. Representatives from every age group should have a part. In advance, letters should be sent to all new members of
the church, explaining that they are to be guests of honor at the fellowship. It will be necessary to contact other key people in advance. These will include the following:

•        Chairman of deacons-He will receive a letter stating plans for the fellowship and a list of those who have come into the church. His responsibility will be to call attention to these and give them a special word of welcome and appreciation.

•        Pastor-He will be asked to make a gift presentation (an appropriate book) to those present at the fellowship who have been members of the church for the longest and shortest time period. He can do this by asking how many have been members of the church for 30 years, then 35, etc. This will vary with the church situation. Then he will recognize the newest member. This may be one or more persons who have joined the church in the preceding service. Plan to have several copies of the book to present to the newest members on hand.

•        Greeters-These should be representatives of all age groups, male and female. They should steer people toward the fellowship area after services and help them get acquainted and involved in the activities.

•        Game Assistants-These should be older children who help give out the icebreaker games and pencils; they will receive instruction in advance.

•        Devotional group leaders-These should be carefully selected because of their ability to lead in group discussions. You may want to choose from deacons, Sunday School teachers, and other leaders. This is a vitally important part of the fellowship; select them prayerfully. They should receive letters asking for their help and explaining how the groups should be led and a list of questions to be discussed.

•        Children's group leaders-These should be the best
children's workers in your church. It will be their responsibility to take all the children to another room (or rooms) during the group devotional time. They may present the spiritual emphasis with puppets, stories, and/or songs. The
number of leaders will depend on how many children you expect to attend. They should plan on about 20 minutes with the children.

•        Refreshment committee-This might be some organization such as the WMU. Instruct them to keep the refreshments simple, such as cookies, coffee, and punch. They will be ready to be served at the conclusion of the fellowship period. With all these people actively involved in preparation, you will be assured of a good turnout and lots of interest in the fellowship.

ORDER OF EVENTS

Icebreaker. As the people come into the fellowship area the game assistants will give them "Hi, Neighbor" sheets and pencils with instructions to begin at once. They are to have the person fitting the description of the sentence sign his own name in a blank following that sentence. The sheets should have large letters spelling out "Hi, Neighbor" vertically down the left side of the page.

Sentences are as follows:

•        Have the person with the friendliest smile sign here.

•        Isn't that someone whose middle name you don't know?

•        Now have that person with the pretty blue eyes sign here.

•        Everybody loves a fellow who was born in Texas; his name:

•        In this crowd there's someone whose favorite food is pizza.

•        Give the lady standing closest to this paper to sign her name.

•        Have you seen someone who is in elementary school?

•        It's Big feet carry this fellow around.

•        Over there is someone who likes to watch football on T.V.

•        Right now find 3 people who will sing "Jingle Bells" with you. After you sing together, have them sign here.

After everyone is in the room and the groups have begun to finish, ring a cowbell or get attention in another way and ask all to be seated in the chairs which are placed around the room in a circle. The fellowship director will make a brief statement about the purpose of the fellowship and the difference between "talking" and "communicating." This will lead into

Getting to Know You ...
Better-Ask everyone to find out some interesting things about two other people and be ready to share the information with the group in five minutes. At the end of the time,
call on four or five different ones to share what he has learned by "introducing" the person he has come to know better.

Did You Know? -At this time the pastor will present the "oldest" and "newest" member of the church. He will then introduce the chairman of deacons who will call attention to the new members present. Following this, the fellowship director will introduce the leaders for the children's group devotional time and they will invite the children to go with them to another room for something special.

To Love You Is To Know You-After the children have left, the group leaders will come to the front of the room and number off aloud. They will take their places round the room. Everyone else will number off according to the number of leaders (this will vary; five to eight per group is ideal). For instance, going around the circle everyone will number from 1 to 8; the 9th person will begin with the number 1 again. All will go to the area where the leader
with the corresponding number is standing. Each group will form a circle of chairs and the reader will begin his own group's devotional time. The leader will explain that he will ask a question and give his answer; then each person in the circle is free to give his answer to that question if he wishes.

The questions are:

1.     Thinking about the first home you lived in as a child, what was your favorite room? Why? 2. If you could take one day off next week, how would you spend it?

2.     What is the most important thing you look for in a friend?

3.     What three things do you think are essential for happiness? (Each is answered before the next is asked.)

At the end of the discussion the leader will read 1 John 4:7-12 and lead the group in thanking God for His love and the gift of friendship. After completion of this they may
go to the refreshment table and visit informally. Not all groups will finish at the same time. The children should be dismissed about the time the last group is finished. Guests are free to leave as they wish after refreshments. *

MEN'S CAKE BAKING CONTEST

Margaret Epperson

A good all-church fellowship for after Sunday evening worship is to have a cake baking contest with all cakes baked by men of the church. There can be no work done on the cakes by any females. However, after judging when the cakes are cut and served, all women are urged to eat at their own risk.

Ribbons are made for the winners in such categories as follows:

•        most decorative,

•        most unusual, best tasting,

•        and most terrible.

 It is possible that you may have a tie in one or two classes and you should be prepared for a couple of ties with extra ribbons. It is more meaningful if you make your ribbons.

To make the ribbons, use gift wrapping ribbon found at most stores. Make a circle out of sturdy construction paper or light cardboard. The circle should be about the size of a silver dollar. Using ribbon about one inch wide.

•        cut a length of ribbon about two inches long and wrap the ribbon around the index finger.

•        Overlap the ends of the ribbon and tape at the overlap.

•        When you place the ribbon circle on the circle, put taped side down.

•        Cover the circle you have already cut out

•        Cut seven to nine ribbon circles.

•        Put one ribbon circle in the middle and six or eight around it.

•        Add a couple of flat ribbon pieces (about five inches long) behind the circle and let hang down as with regular prize ribbons.

•        On the flat ribbons, paste letters or use glitter to write the correct category listed before such as most decorative.

Have the cakes brought to the church dining hall before the evening worship service with names on bottoms where judges may not see them. The judges that we have chosen
in the past were ladies who were widows and members of our church. We all had such a good time as these ladies judged the entries after the evening worship service prior to admitting people for the fellowship to begin.

Other judges you could ask would be women whose husbands did not enter a cake. Cake mixes should be banned from the contest. In your announcements in the bulletin, church paper, or wherever you announce the contest be sure to make this widely known as one of the important rules.

A good fellowship will result if you begin promotion a month ahead of time and announce it every week before the actual date. Place an announcement in the church section of your local newspaper the week prior to the contest. Let your youth become involved by making posters to place in the church halls advertising the contest. *

MY CHURCH FAMILY GET-TOGETHER
Lynn Keith

Family reunions or get-togethers are always special times. Some people get acquainted for the very first time, while others deepen the closeness that already exists. People always enjoy and cherish the time spent together with their family.

Why not try the same things with your church family? You could call it "My Church Family Get-Together." The planned program will last for about one and one-half hours, so there will be time at the end for unplanned fellowship.

As the people arrive, give each one a name tag to wear. (This is important because many of the people in our churches don't know each other.) As a get-acquainted time, use this "Find Your Twin" activity. Write down the name of someone at the "Get Together" who shares the following things with you:

FIND YOUR TWIN

Same hobby ___________________________________________

Same favorite food______________________________________

Same favorite television show____________________________

Same favorite flower ____________________________________  

Same favorite song _____________________________________  

Same birthplace  _______________________________________

Same birthday  _________________________________________

Remember who has the same birthday as you do because you will sit together as to birthday month for the meal. (Approximate time allowed: 20 minutes) Your dinner will be a covered dish meal-prepared and shared by the ones who have come. Identify the tables for
the various months of the year by your choice of decorations for each. (Approximate time allowed: 30 minutes)

Following the meal, allow about five minutes to recognize some special people present such as the following:

1.     oldest person present

2.     youngest person present

3.     person who has been a member the longest

4.     person who is the newest member

5.     any charter members of the church.

Prior to the time of your "Get-Together," prepare a group to present a skit telling the highlights of the history of your church. Perhaps you could use a narrator to tell the
story while others are pantomiming corresponding actions. Limit this part of your program to ten to fifteen minutes.

For the next five minutes have the group to stand and sing a favorite song of fellowship such as "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" or "Sweet, Sweet Spirit."

If your ' 'Get-Together" is scheduled at the beginning of a new church year, allow about fifteen minutes at this time for the leaders of your church to share with everyone a visual presentation concerning future plans and opportunities for your church.

As you close, have everyone stand, form a fellowship circle around the room, and close with prayer. (Plan for someone to be in charge of taking pictures of the various activities so that you will have a record of this event for the future "Get-Togethers.") *

ALL-AGE FELLOWSHIP

Mary Ruth Brew and J. Meeks Brantley

PUBLICITY

Prepare a poster for each age group. Use age-group pictures cut from magazine and make a montage with appropriate captions as to age group, time, place, etc.

Let each poster relate to a specific age group, and have it in the location where these people met on Sunday morning and Sunday evening.

Ask the person in charge of announcements on Sunday morning for a few minutes of time to make a general announcement.

Begin by having two boys or girls stand. One has the poster that was displayed in his room. He says to the other: "Hey, look! Someone has planned a fellowship for us, and it's for tonight!"

The other person replies: "Great! Let's both plan to go!"

Two youth in another section of the auditorium stand up and said, "Hey, kids, it's not for you; it's for the youth. See my poster."

The other youth adds: "See, it says 'youth.' Maybe yours is for next Sunday night."

 Two adults from another section of the room stand up and one says: "Well, I'm sorry for the confusion; but we've just been told that this fellowship is really planned for the adults!"

The other person adds: "See, we have a poster that has been displayed in our room, and it says it is for adults."

Each of the persons standing looks confused.

The person who is in charge of announcements says: "Well, let me clear up the confusion. This fellowship is really for everyone. We want to get together and just have a good time and sing and play together.

Everyone is invited! It is for everyone! It is an all-age fellowship."

GAMES

Shave a Partner. -This game could be used with older adults. You might select someone who would have a hard time actively participating but who is a good sport and enjoys a good laugh. Select four men and four women to form four teams. Place a large towel around the neck of the man and fasten the towel with a safety pin. The leader of the game makes a big show of lathering heavily the face and neck of each man. Select a woman to be a partner to each man, and give to each woman a plastic spoon. Blindfold the women
and tell the men to keep their hands behind their backs. Tell the women they are to use the spoon to see how fast they can shave their partner. Line up the four teams, and get your stopwatch out ready to give the command to begin. Urge those not participating to 'cheer on the participants. When time is called, remove the blindfolds and recognize the team who did the best job.

Shoe Mixup. -This game can be played with middle adults. Select five men. Ask each one to sit in a chair and remove his shoes and socks. Put a sock in each shoe and place them under the chair each one is sitting in. Have each man roll up his pants legs above the knee. Now, blindfold each man and hand him a pair of ladies' hose. Let him put the hose on. When each person has completed putting on his hose, let him get up and walk around
in a circle. This can be done to marching music, if you prefer. Still blindfolded, let each man be seated in a different chair. Ask each man to remove the hose and put back on his shoes and socks. Needless to say, the shoes will not fit the person attempting to put them on. After some struggle, remove the blindfolds.

Poor Kitty. -This game is enjoyed by youth, especially younger youth. Let about twenty boys and girls bring their chairs into a circle. The older people may stand behind, if they wish. Choose a boy who likes to clown to be the "kitty" and let him choose a "victim" to be his partner. Let the kitty go to the victim and kneel. Then with expression and agony, let him say "meow" in such a way as to cause the victim to smile. The victim must lean over and pat kitty on the head and say "poor kitty" and keep a straight face. This is done three times before the kitty gives up. If the kitty causes the victim to smile, the two exchange places.
Otherwise, the kitty has to hunt for another victim. Shake a Kiss. -This game is especially good for younger children or maybe older preschoolers. Place candy kisses (six in all) with the papers slightly loosened on six paper napkins that have been placed on the floor. Select six participants and tie their hands behind their backs. At a given signal, they are to rush to their napkin, kneel down, and with their teeth and tongue shake a kiss loose. The first one to get the kiss unwrapped and into his mouth wins.

Feed a Monkey. -This game is good for older children or younger youth. Select three teams of two persons each. Put a plastic bag or large towel around their shoulders and
pin it. Now, give to each one a banana. Blindfold them and tell them they are to feed their bananas to a partner while this partner is feeding his banana to him. The team that
finishes eating their two bananas first wins. Popcorn Feed. -Older youth or young married enjoy this game. Select three men and three women for this game. Place bowls of popcorn and plastic spoons on tables behind which the women are sitting. Blindfold them and tell them they are to feed the popcorn to the men, who are not blindfolded. The men must keep their hands behind their backs; they cannot help except by trying to get the popcorn in their mouth. At a given signal, the women will place one hand on the bowl and take their spoons in the other. Then they begin the task of feeding the popcorn to their partners. When the leader thinks enough time has elapsed, time will be called and the blindfolds removed.

Needle Thread. -Give to three young teenage boys needles and thread. Have them sit in chairs, facing the people. Let three teenage girls stand behind the chairs. At a given signal, the girls put their hands over their partners' right eyes and keep it there while the boys thread their needles. When the boys complete threading the needles, the girls remove their hands-leaving big, black smudges over the right eyes. (You may use black costume makeup or soot.) Needless to say, the boys will not understand why the people are laughing so hard. Give them a mirror so they can see what has happened.

Broken Record Jigsaw Puzzle. -Break and place in two paper bags two old broken seven inch records. Give to each of the two leaders of the two teams a sack. Explain that each leader is to remove a piece of the record, dash to the place where a newspaper has been spread, put down his piece, and race back to the next person on his team. This person takes a piece from the bag, and off he goes to add his piece to the puzzle. The first team to get all of the pieces in place wins.

Choral Reading

Use seven youth to do "On Being a Senior Adult" from Drama for Fun by McGee (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1969), or create a skit on the ageing process that would bring happy responses from your people.

SING ALONG

Have a person just naturally lead in some old favorite songs. Include such songs as "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean,” "Tell Me Why?" "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "I've Been Working on the Railroad," "The Eyes of Texas," "School Days," and "Do Lord." The group may want to suggest other favorites.

REFRESHMENTS

Keep them simple-cookies or doughnuts and cold drinks.

DEVOTIONAL

After someone enlisted ahead of time has made a few appropriate remarks, form a friendship circle. Sing "Blest Be the Tie" and have a closing prayer. *

FISHY FAMILY FELLOWSHIP
Mabel King Beeker

There's really nothing "fishy" about this fellowship, even though the guests will see, hear, or taste fish from beginning to end.

INVITATION

Fish in the ocean, fish in the sea,

Fish in the rivers, but none in your tea
at Fishy Family Fellowship at (place), (date), (time).

So, swim on over with family and friend;
And come well prepared to quickly unbend.

PREPARATION

Decorate walls and other suitable places with pictures of fish, stuffed fish, toy fish, bowls of fish, and nets. For several games you will need lists of fish; for example, in

"Fishing for partners," one list for fishermen; in "Pull in the net," an alphabetical list of fish assigned to players for the fisherman and a card with the name of one fish on it for each player; and, for' 'Fish market," a list of all fish for each group unless you post lists of fish on bulletin boards or walls. Include these fish: abalone, anchovy, balloon fish, bass, bluefish, buffalo, catfish, clam, cod, cowfish, crab, devilfish, dogfish, eel, fantail, flounder, goldfish, guppy, haddock, halibut, herring, jellyfish, kingfish, lobster, mackerel, oyster, perch, pickerel, pike, porpoise, red snapper, sailfish, salmon, scallop, shark, sheepshead, shrimp, smelt, sole, starfish, sturgeon, sunfish, swordfish, rainbow trout, tuna, turbot, whitefish. Decide whether to use people or puppets for characters in "The Biggest One That Ever Got Away": a reader for the introduction and conclusion, voice of.God, fish, Jonah, and two sailors. Arrange for rehearsals. REFRESHMENTS Serve tuna fish sandwiches, of course, and spiced tea.

FISH IN THE OCEAN, FISH IN THE SEA
(ACTIVITIES)

Fishing for partners. -After the guests have had their refreshments, allow a few minutes for them to roam around your "fish museum" and examine the fish. Then choose two of them for' 'fishermen." Give them a list of the fish names and ask them to withdraw from the group while they choose two fish from the list and two people to represent those fish. Returning to the players, they are to say, "We're fishing for" and add the names of the fish. Ask players to "swim" forward, two at a time. As a chosen "fish" comes, the fisherman facing him bows and sends him to the "lake" to bring prospective partners. When he
brings the right one, fish become fishermen.

Swim, fish, swim. -You will need a playing area at least 40 by 50 feet. Choose five youth or young adults to be the "net" and the rest of them to be "fish." At the call, "Swim, fish, swim," the fish swim as far from the net as they can. The five who form the net join hands and try to catch fish by surrounding them. Fish caught become part of the net; the last five, a new net.

Pull in the net.-Choose one player to be the "fisherman." Seat the rest in a circle of chairs and give a card with the name of a fish on it to each one, repeating the names if necessary or limiting the number. Give the fisherman an alphabetical list of all the fish. Explain that, when the fisherman calls the names of two fish, the two must try to exchange places before the fisherman can sit in one of the chairs. If he calls, "Pull in the net," all must change seats.
Whoever is left out becomes the new fisherman.

Fish market. -Ask the guests to form' groups of four persons each of mixed ages. Explain that each "family" will have a fish dinner; but they must look at the ads to decide what fish to buy. Then give each group a pencil and a copy of the following clues:

(1) Enemy of rats.

(2) Valuable for mother-of-pearl.

(3) Roost for a bird.

(4) Old-fashioned weapon.

(5) Colorless.
(6) Rosy biter.

(7) Clumsy, inefficient action.

 (8) Pay on delivery.

(9) Part of a shoe.

(10) Done with the nose.

 (11) Member of a barbershop quartet.

(12) Close-mouthed.
(13) Sour or peevish person.

(14) Smoked sardine.

(15) Small, salted cracker.

(16) Yellowish-pink color.

 (17) Half-circles in a border.

 (18) Small or puny person.

(19) Sharp-toothed weather forecaster.

 (20)· Big enough for Solomon's family.

Answers are: (1) Catfish, (2) Abalone, (3) Perch, (4) Pike or swordfish, (5) Whitefish or whiting, (6) Red snap- per, (7) Flounder, (8) Cod, (9) Sale, (10) Smelt, (11) Bass,
(12) Clam, (13) Crab, (14) Herring, (15) Oyster, (16) Salmon, (17) Scallops, (18) Shrimp, (19) Rainbow trout, (20) Whale.

Fish dinner. -Draw two chalk lines or lay two strips of tape about 30 feet apart. On each one set up a sign: "No Fishing Beyond This Point." Ask all children and youth to stand behind one line. Choose a youth to be the "fisherman" and give him this warning to read as the others try to "swim" to the opposite safety line: I'll fish in the ocean; I'll fish in the sea.
Fish, if I catch you, my dinner you'll be. Fish caught may join hands as a net to catch others.

MESSAGE FROM THE SEA OF GALILEE

When Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be his disciples, as recorded in Matthew 4: 18-22, his invitation to these four fishermen was, "Follow me, and I will
make you fishers of men." But, back at the Sea of Galilee, Peter grew impatient when the risen Christ delayed his coming and said, "I go a fishing" (John 21:3). The other disciples said, "We also go with thee." And they did not mean fishing for men. Then Jesus, who had taught them to fish for men, appeared and gave the fishermen a lesson in fishing. (Read John 21:3b-12.)

Close with "Peace! Be Still!" No. 471, The Broadman Hymnal.

FISHING FOR CHILDREN ONLY

Children will enjoy some of the games along with the adults, but here are some especially for children to play in one end of the room or in another room with leaders.

Fish pond. -Collect plastic tops of many colors from bottles and milk jugs and float them in a large tub of water. Give each child a fishing net made by gathering a circular piece of nylon net 6 inches in diameter on a 10 inch length of wire with the ends of the wire wound around a stick for the pole, or let children take turns.

Let each color of float represent a certain kind of candy or cracker or cookie; award the eats accordingly.

This is my fish.  Provide either modeling clay or finger paints with which the children may portray their ideas about the fish that caught Jonah.

Fish story. -Prepare or let the children prepare jigsaw puzzles using Bible pictures or other pictures of fish, fishermen, boats, or other water objects. Paste each picture on a sheet of cardboard; when the pictures are dry, cut each one into large, irregular-shaped pieces; mix them up; and let the children put them together again. Let some children tell stories about them.

School of fish. -Let the children tear fish from newspapers or cut a chain of fish. To make a chain of fish, fold a 12- to 14-inch-long strip of paper in half and then fold it twice more, each time in half. Cut one side of a fish along the folded edges of the paper, leaving at least one place connected. Unfold the paper and let the children draw eyes and fins on the four fish that can now swim side by side.

Fishers of men. -Tell the children about Peter, Andrew, James, and John, four men who made their living by fishing in the Sea of Galilee. One day Jesus came to the seashore, watched them awhile, and then invited all of them to go with him to learn a new kind of fishing.

Jesus said, "I will make you fishers of men."

Do any of the children know what that means?

Teach them the little chorus, “I Will Make You Fishers of Men":

I will make you fishers of men,

fishers of men,

fishers of men,

 I will make you fishers of men if you'll come follow Me.

If you'll come follow Me,

 if you'll come follow Me,

I will make you fishers of men if you'll come follow Me.

"The Biggest One That Ever Got Away." -Arrange for a dramatization or a special presentation of Jonah 1: 1 through 2: 1, 10. *

DON'T "LEAF" ME OUT
Mabel King Beeker

Leaves, leaves, leaves-all sizes and shapes of leaves-will 'leaf' a pleasant memory of this fellowship in the minds of the participants.

PREPARATION AND DECORATIONS

At the front of the room display a long strip of newsprint bearing the theme of the fellowship, decorated with leaves of many sizes and shapes. Collect enough leaves of various kinds to give each expected guest two or three, plus pencils, paper, and glue. Decorate a tag with leaves for each one.

REFRESHMENTS

If mint leaves are available, use them in a fruit-flavored tea. Serve lettuce and tomato sandwiches or a salad with a lettuce base, topped with parsley.

"LEAF" -ING OUT ACTIVITIES

"Leaf" me out. -Give each person a pencil, leaves, and a piece of 81/2 by 11 paper or construction paper. Have glue or paste on tables within reach. (Plastic tops from milk
jugs will hold paste for two people.) Instruct each person to look at a leaf; imagine that it is
part of an animal, a person, or a thing; paste it on half the paper; and draw the rest of the animal, person, or thing.

Repeat the process with the second leaf. After about ten minutes, ask each artist to sign his name.

Collect and display the masterpieces.

Give each artist a leaf-shaped cookie or a piece of fruit candy.

Give me my leaves-Provide an old tree trunk or a sketch of a tree on a large piece of board into which contestants may stick leaves with thumbtacks. Call for ten contestants, show them the tree, and give each one a thumbtack and a real or construction-paper leaf to fasten on the tree after he has been blindfolded.

Award a piece of orange or apple candy to each who succeeds.

"Leaf" me be myself. -On backgrounds of light colored construction paper or cardboard, glue real leaves or pictures or sketches of leaves from well-known trees, shrubs, and so on: oak, rose, mint, maple, lettuce, spinach, apple, and dandelion-whatever is available. Be sure that everyone will be able to see them when you hold them up or display them by means of an overhead projector. Divide the guests into groups of perhaps ten people and let each
group take a turn at guessing the kind of leaf you are displaying.

Let's just "leaf" it in. -Seat the contestants at tables on which you have placed enough leaves of various shapes and sizes for each guest to have several leaves, some sheets of paper, and spatter paints. Instruct participants as follows: (1) choose a leaf; (2) lay it on a piece of paper at any angle that suits you; (3) spatter the whole paper with paint; (4) pick the leaf up carefully so that its outline will remain on the paper.

Falling leaves. -Instruct the participants to write the letters of "LEAF" down the left side of the papers and to make sentences beginning with those letters, adding "a," "an," "the," and short prepositions as needed; for example: Leave Elephants Alone in the Forest. Recognize the last four persons to finish as the "Last Leaves to Fall" and ask them to sing" 'Tis the Last Leaf of Summer" to the tune of “‘Tis the Last Rose of Summer," thus: 'Tis the last leaf of summer left swaying all alone. All her lovely companions are faded and gone. No leaflets of her kindred, not a single leaf is nigh To reflect back her blushes or give sigh for sigh. Call on others to read their messages as time allows.

CONSIDER THE LEAVES HOW THEY GROW
(message)

This message might be somewhat as follows: Some people make delicious tea from leaves. Some use mint leaves to decorate or flavor other foods, tea, or punch. Others use parsley to decorate meat or eggs. Most of us use lettuce leaves under salads or in tossed salads. And, of course, doctors and mothers consider the leaves from spinach and other greens good for the health. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis 3: 7, we read about how Adam and Eve used leaves. Who can tell us? (Wait for answers.) In the last book of the Bible, Revelation 22:2, we read about a special way in which God will use leaves. Does anyone remember? (Have someone prepared to read it.) Which way is better-to try to cover our sins or to help to heal people by telling them about Jesus, the true Vine, who came to the world for that purpose? Let's think of using our "leaves" as using our talents, time, and possessions to serve God. Look at the theme for this fellowship: "Don't 'Leaf' Me Out." If we change one word, what do we have? (Don't Leave Me Out.) Do you know any people who, for some reason, feel left out of important things of life? Maybe there is such a person in your class at school or Sunday School in your place of business, in a house or apartment down the street, or in a nursing home. There might even be a person or a family from another country. That person may be calling to you: "Don't leave me out. come to me. Involve me in your activities; if I can't attend because of illness or work, come to me and tell me about what you are doing. Don't leave me out because I can't speak or understand English. Help me to learn to communicate. Come to me as Philip went to the Ethiopian
eunuch and tell me about God's love." Will you tell these lonely, left-out people about the
"leaves which are the healing of the nations"? Will you help them to feel that you and Jesus really care? (Close with group singing or special music on this theme by a soloist or a choral group; for example, "Do You Really Care?" "People to People," "Reach Out and Touch," and "Teach Me, 0 Lord, to Care" from Baptist Hymnal, 1975 edition, and other sources. Also suitable would be "Lonely Voices" by Billie Hanks, Jr., in Sing 'n' Celebrate
II, published by Word, and Folk Encounter, published by Hope Publishing Company.) *

HAPPY HOBBY FELLOWSHIP
Mabel King Beeker

So many people have interesting hobbies about which they like to show and tell that you might present this one on two evenings after church with adults in charge first and the
youth and children managing the second one.

INDIVIDUAL INVITATIONS (for an adult emphasis)

Do you have a happy hobby or two about which you like to talk and maybe to show results through the years with pictures or objects or chalk?

Then bring in a box of some of your "stuff"- Come prepared both to show and to tell
The why and the where-from, the when, and the what of things that you buy, make, or sell.

Happy Hobby Fellowship

Add the date, time, place,

and an information slip on which the adult may indicate his hobby and his willingness
to tell briefly anything of special interest about it and to request any equipment he may need to display or demonstrate it-or space for his own. If only adults will display, demonstrate, or tell about hobbies at this time, indicate that fact also; but add that this is an all-church fellowship, if it is.

PUBLICITY

Decorate a poster with pictures of interesting hobbies surrounding the following information:

Our adults (or, members) have interesting hobbies galore, And they want you to see what they are. So, they'll have "show and tell" on the date that is set; And who knows? One might play a guitar

Happy Hobby Fellowship

Add information about the date, time, and place.

ACTIVITIES

Happy Hobnobbing. -A favorite hobby with lots of people is talking with friends. So, while the guests who brought objects to display arrange them, give each of the others a bag with thirty beans in it. Each person is to try to guess the hobbies of some of the others by asking up to three questions which can be answered with either a yes or a no. If the questioner guesses correctly on the first try, he may collect three beans from the other person; on the second try, two; and on the third, one. After the third or successful question, the other person becomes the questioner. After his three tries, each one selects a new person
to query about his hobby. Before the next game, weigh or count the beans of the questioners who claim to have earned the most. Give the winner a bag of jelly beans and ask him to tell what hobbies he discovered among those with whom he hobnobbed.

Hobby-Gazing. -This is the time for viewing displays and talking with the hobbyists about them. Then, with everyone seated, call on several hobbyists, representing different kinds of hobbies, to tell "the why and the where- from, the when, and the what" of their hobbies. Some may be able to relate unusual stories about even ordinary hobbies or interesting stories about experiences with unusual ones.

Tasty Hobbies. -Cooking, of course! Ask some of your best hobbyists in this area to demonstrate their hobbies by preparing special cookies or other tasty snacks for the
enjoyment of all the guests. Add a suitable drink.

Harmonious Hobbyists.-Turn the spotlight on music and musicians. If someone brought records, you might play some of them softly as people eat. Then continue with special numbers by musical groups or individuals who play instruments or sing.

Stiichen) Hobbyists. – all  volunteers from among those who sew as a hobby. Divide them into two or more teams, not more than ten to a team. Seat team members side by side and give each person a button or a bead. Then give the first person on each team a piece of cloth and a needle and thread. At a signal each first person sews his button or bead on the cloth and passes the cloth to the second person, who sews and then passes the cloth to the
third person. Recognize the team that finishes first, but give an especially flowery recognition to the team that displays the most attractive design-by plan or chance.

Handy Hobbyists. -If any of your members or neighbors have chosen puppetry as a hobby or if any groups in your church are making use of puppets, ask one or more of them to present a puppet show based on a Bible story or theme. Or, provide puppets-even sack or handkerchief ones-and let some of the children or youth present an original dramatization of a Bible story or a mission story. Another possibility would be the live dramatization of a
story, possibly with the accompaniment of a song, such as "Zacchaeus was a wee, little man," complete with tree. Many people have slides and prints of places where they
have traveled. You might prefer to ask one or two of them to show and tell in this area. If the pictures depict scenes in the United States, lead the group in singing songs such as
"America, the Beautiful" and the second and fourth stanzas of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." Pictures taken in other countries might be accompanied by the singing of "In Christ There Is No East or West," "We've a Story to Tell to the Nations," or some other song with a mission theme. Of course, if the pictures were made in the Holy Land, "One Day" or some of the Christmas songs would be especially appropriate.

Future Hobbyists. -If you plan to have another fellowship with an emphasis on the hobbies of children and youth or of some group not included in this one, issue an invitation now for all of those present to return and bring someone else.

USING OUR HOBBIES

Note that hobbies are often related to talents and ask God's guidance in the use of all talents represented. *

FOUR SEASONS AND THEN SOME
Mabel King Beeker

A fellowship for young and old and in-betweens based on the idea of seasons

PUBLICITY OR INVITATION

Winter, spring, summer, or fall-

These seasons we know, but are they all?
Bring all your family or come alone

For seasonal fun you can't postpone.
Four Seasons and Then Some Fellowship

PREPARATIONS

In each corner of the room place a poster with the name of a season printed on it in large letters: SPRING on green, SUMMER on red, FALL on orange, WINTER on white. For "Biblical Seasons": (1) Enlist two young people to read these verses responsively, one from the King James Version of the Bible and the other the same verse from a modern translation (quotations here are from the Good News Bible, TEV): Ecclesiastes 3:1 ("the time God chooses"); Proverbs 15:23 ("right occasion"); Acts 24:25 "when I get the chance"); 2 Timothy 4:2 ("whether the time is right or not").

(2) On separate cards or papers type Bible verses that refer to the seasons: Genesis 8:22; Psalm 74: 17; Song of Solomon 2:11; Psalm 32:4; Proverbs 6:6-8; 30:25; 10:5; 26: 1; Jeremiah 8:20; Mark 13:28; Deuteronomy 28: 12; Psalm 1:3. Add the following verses from a modern translation, such as Good News Bible (TEV), which translates "early rain" as "autumn" and "latter rain" as "spring": Deuteronomy 11:14; Joel 2:23; Proverbs 16:15; and
Jeremiah 5:24.

SEASONAL REFRESHMENTS

As people enjoy ice cream and fruit at all seasons, serve ice cream sandwiches, cones, or bars or fruit.

CELEBRATING THE SEASONS

Divide into four seasonal groups by distributing an even number of colored slips of paper with pins or masking tape attached; green, red, orange, and white. Instruct guests to
match their colors with the seasonal signs. If there are more than ten in a group, divide into subgroups for each season. Give each group a pencil and a piece of paper on which to list activities which usually take place in their season. Allow five minutes. Collect the lists and distribute each one to a different seasonal group with instructions to pantomime one activity
for the other groups to guess both the activity and the season. Name other activities they listed.

Four-seasons spelldown. -Ask each group to choose its best speller for a spelling bee. Use the words the groups listed as seasonal activities for the spelldown.  For a more challenging spelldown, give each contestant a paper on which you have printed in capital letters the words "FOUR SEASONS." Using only the letters in those words, the first person is to make a word which begins with the first letter, “F”; the second person, the second letter, “0”; and so on, returning to” “F after someone has used the last “S”. If a contestant does not think of a word which begins with his letter in ten seconds, he drops out till he can supply a word for another contestant who has to drop out for the same reason.

Seasonal music. -Ask each group to sing and then to lead others in singing one or more songs for its season. To help them, give each group a suggestion: spring “Welcome, Sweet Springtime"; summer-"In the Good Old Summertime" or "The Last Rose of Summer";
autumn-"Come, Ye Thankful People, Come"; winter- "Jingle Bells" or "Walking in a Winter Wonderland."

What season was it? -Ask each group to choose one teenager and one adult to represent it in a contest. Explain that you will ask questions which they are to answer with a season: spring, dates in March to May; summer, June to August; autumn or fall, September to November; and winter, December through February.

1.     In what season did Jesus rise from the dead?

2.     When did Paul spend three months in the island of Melita or Malta on a voyage to Rome?

3.     When did Peter warm himself at a fire in a palace?

4.     When did Columbus think he had reached India?

5.     When was the Boston Tea Party held?

6.     When did the First Continental Congress meet?

7.     When did John Hancock and representatives of the thirteen colonies sign the Declaration of Independence?

8.     At what season was the Song of Solomon written?

9.     When did Paul want Timothy to visit him in Rome?

10. What season did Jesus say fig leaves heralded?

11. When did "the early rain" come in to the Holy Land?

12. When did "the latter rain" come in the Holy Land?

13. At what season does "a young man's fancy" lightly turn to "thoughts of love"?

14. When did George Washington cross the Delaware?

15. When did Cornwallis' surrender mark the end of the last large battle of the Revolutionary War?

16. When did George Washington pray at Valley Forge?

Answers: (1) spring; (2) winter; (3) spring; (4) autumn; (5) winter; (6) autumn; (7) summer; (8) spring; (9) autumn; (10) summer; (11) autumn; (12) spring; (13) spring; (14) winter; (15) autumn; (16) winter.

BIBLICAL SEASONS AND MORE

Call for verses about the seasons. Then say: "The Bible has much more to say about events in the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. But the older translations of the Bible use the word season in another, even more important way. This use of the word
will be clearer as you hear the verse read from the King James Version and then from a modern translation." After the two young people have read these verses, lead in a prayer that all may use the right words in the right way at "the right season," God's own time. *

"STARS IN MY CROWN" AWARDS SHOW

Phillip T. McClung

This fellowship or social feature is designed to draw attention in a comical way to the lack of commitment and faithfulness exhibited in many church members. Care should be taken in casting to be sure the actors do not reflect in real life any of the characteristics of the fictitious roles they portray.

SETTING

Church sanctuary, fellowship hall or outdoor setting. MC and award winning characters should speak from behind pulpit, using public-address system, if available. Piano or organ should be used for brief musical interlude as each winner rises and steps to the microphone to receive his/her trophy. Audience should be cued by MC to applaud each name announced as a winner and lead a short applause following each acceptance speech. Awards presented can be simple cardboard stars covered with aluminum foil. Theme music should be "Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown" played on piano or organ.

CAST

MASTER OF CEREMONIES

ANGEL (Big, tall man in angel costume with tiny wings and halo)
MR. SELDOM HERE

MR. PETE REPEAT

MR. LONGWIND

MISS OLEO BlTITERFINGERS
MR. BEN BUSY

MR. SCROOGE TIGHTWAD
MR. COUNT-ME-OUT

BYSTANDER

GRANNY GOSSIP (Could be a man dressed as an old woman)
MISS CHUG-A-LUG

MRS. DUSTY COBWEB

FLASH FLEETFOOT (8 to 12-year-old boy)
MR. COFFIN NAIL

PROPS

1 angel costume

11 cardboard stars (10 inches by 12 inches diameter)
covered with aluminum foil

2 cardboard hands (19 inches and 30 inches in length)
mounted on sticks

2 empty Coke bottles

1 telephone receiver

12 sealed envelopes

SCRIPT

MC: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this, the last, annual "Stars in My Crown" Awards Show. We are here to give due recognition for outstanding achievement in several categories of churchmanship. All the nominees have done their very best in living
up to the highest standards of performance in each category. They now wait breathlessly for this auspicious hour when the winners' names will be revealed for the very first time. Of course, there are really no losers here tonight. Each one of you has made a significant contribution in your respective category. So, if your name is not called tonight, just try a little harder next time.

And now the time we have all been waiting for, the awarding of the coveted "Stars in My Crown" trophies.

Our first category is "Attendance at Special Events." May I have the envelope, please?

(Assistant dressed as angel hands MC one envelope to open.)

This award goes to one of our church members who has been most faithful in attending those special occasions celebrated by our congregation. This year's winner attended not only the morning service at both Easter and Christmas, but this year broke his own outstanding record by also showing up on the morning of Mother's Day. Let's give a big hand to this year's winner, folks, Mr. Seldom Here

Theme music begins, MC holds up small cardboard hand as audience applauds until winner reaches microphone for acceptance speech.

MC receives trophy from Angel and hands it to winner.)

MR. SELDOM HERE: Thank you, so much, for this great honor. It is certainly gratifying to gain this recognition for my faithfulness. I really must give some credit to my family in helping me set this record. I never really intended to go to church on Mother's Day this year at all. In fact, I had already planned a fishing trip for that very weekend. But, then my mother-in-law showed up for an unexpected visit and my wife threatened to let her move
in with us permanently if I didn't at least take her to church on Mother's Day. Well, you can see what a bind that put me in, so, by forcing myself, I went over the top this year. Thanks again for the trophy. And the rest of you hang in there and keep trying.

(Mr. Seldom Here retires from the platform.)

MC: Thank you, Mr. Seldom Here. Yes sir, he's a real church champion. And now, folks, let's go to our second big award for tonight in the category of "Attendance at Church Training." May I have the envelope, please?

(Receives envelope from Angel. Opens envelope.)

This has really been a spectacular year for Church Training Attendance. The competition has been especially fierce. This year's winner of the Church Training Attendance award actually showed up two consecutive Sunday nights-that's twice in a row, folks!  And our winner is Mr. Pete Repeat. Here he comes now, let's have a big hand for this winner, folks.

(Theme music and applause. Mr. Pete Repeat comes to microphone.)

 MR. PETE REPEAT: I'd just like to say that I really don't deserve a lot of credit for attending Church Training twice in a row. It was a pure accident that I came that
second Sunday. It happened when we moved the time back an hour from daylight savings time to standard time. I really thought I was coming for church at 7 o'clock, but it was actually only 6 o’clock, and there I was, trapped in Church Training for a whole hour. But, it
wasn't too bad. Thanks for the award! (Mr. Pete Repeat retires from the platform.)

MC: Moving right along, here is our third big category- the award for "The Longest Prayer."

May I have the envelope, please? Now, this year's winner prayed for a record one hour and45 minutes when called upon to pronounce the benediction at a Sunday morning service. This record-breaking, marathon prayer included an analysis of the morning sermon, the missionaries in thirty-seven foreign countries, endorsement of three political candidates, two quotations from the Old Testament, four from the New Testament, and concluded with a scorching reprimand for the sinners of the whole congregation, some of whom were mentioned by name. The effects of this monumental benediction will not soon be forgotten by our church because it resulted in eighteen charred roasts, nine seared chickens, twenty- one dehydrated hams, and a great run on the local McDonald's.

We have our winner, Mr. B. A. Longwind, to thank for all that. Let's hear it for Brother Longwind, folks!

(Music-"Sweet Hour of Prayer." Longwind comes to platform, receives trophy. )

MR. LONGWIND: (Pompously) I'd just like to say a few words of deep gratitude to express the exceeding great joy this award brings to the very depths of my heart (MC cuts in)

MC: Yes, thank you, Brother Longwind. (Mr. Longwind cuts in)

MR. LONGWIND: Furthermore, it is my firm conviction that if……. (MC cuts in)

MC: Yes, indeed, Brother Longwind, we are all aware of your personal convictions. Thank you, again! ….. (Mr. Longwind cuts in)

MR. LONGWIND: But, I...

MC: Ah! Ah! Just save it for your next benediction, Brother Longwind, please!

 (Mr. Longwind retires from platform.)

MC. And now, folks, we turn to a musical category. Our next award is for "Outstanding Performance by a Pianist." May I have the envelope, please?

This year's award-winning performance was an offertory played with the song book upside down, resulting in every note being played only on the black keys and in several cracks of the keyboard. It was not the sort of tune you could hum along with, but it certainly was most
unusual. The performer of this unique musical treat was our own Miss Oleo Butterfingers. Come up here right now, Miss Butterfingers, to claim your trophy. Here she is, folks.

Theme music and applause. Miss Butterfingers comes to platform and accepts trophy, but drops it on the floor with an apologetic "Whoops!" MC retrieves the trophy for her.)

MISS BUTIERFINGERS: (Flustered) Oh, thank you, just thank you all, so much. I just want you to know that I could never have played that way if I had not forgotten my glasses that day. I wasn't real sure if I was playing from my song book or from my Bible. It really wasn't
easy, either. I broke three fingernails and strained a knuckle playing that particular offertory. But, it was worth it! (Miss Butterfingers retires from the platform.)

MC: There goes a self-sacrificing young lady, folks. Let's give her a hand. (MC holds up smaller cardboard hand as audience applauds.)

MC.  No, come on now; let's give her a bigger hand than that! (MC holds up the larger cardboard hand as applause increases.)

MC. Now, folks, our category for "Most Active Committee Member." Many of you have had a chance to compete in this category. Let's see who our winner is. May I have the envelope,
please?

MC. This year's winner is a member of no less than 17 committees, including the Committee for Prevention of Cruelty to Deacons, Committee for Traffic Control in
the Vestibule, Light Bulb Inspection Committee, and Sidewalk Crack-Cleaners committee, just to mention a few. He has not been at home a single night for the past 36 months. He came home unexpectedly one night when a committee meeting had been cancelled and was bitten by his own dog that no longer recognized him. Let's hear it for a really dedicated winner, Mr. Ben Busy!

(Music-"To the Work, To the Work." Mr. Busy comes to platform to accept trophy.)

MR. BEN Busy: Thanks, folks, for all your good wishes. I'm looking forward to spending more time at home next year, if I can just remember my street address. I hope my kids will start calling me "Daddy" again instead of referring to me as "that stranger!" (Mr. Ben Busy retires from the platform.)

MC: Now, we turn to our award in the financial area, "The Most Consistent Giving Record" for this year. May I have the envelope, please?

MC.  Our winner this year has achieved the ultimate in consistency. There are no figures recorded at all on his financial record in our church office. Not one penny has he
contributed all year long. Let's hear it now, folks, for our winner, Mr. Scrooge Tightwad.

(Music-"Bring Ye All the Tithes into the Storehouse." Mr. Tightwad comes to platform and accepts trophy. )

MC. Congratulations, Mr. Tightwad!

MR. TIGHTWAD: Scrooge, just call me Scrooge, please. Everybody does! It wasn't easy maintaining my flawless record of non-contributing. There was one service especially when we were told about the work of our Children's Home when I almost broke down. Just the
thought of those poor little homeless orphans put a great big lump in my throat. (Sobs and snivels slightly.) I thought I was a "goner" for sure. But, I gritted my teeth and sat on my hands, so I wouldn't reach in my pockets and find some loose coins to drop into the collection plate. I'm going to try to break my own record next year by not only refraining completely from giving any money, but also grabbing a little change out of the collection plate when nobody is looking. Thank you!  (Mr. Tightwad retires from the platform.)

MC: Yes, sir, there's a man who is not satisfied just to rest on his laurels, but always trying to improve his own performance. That reminds me that in our next category I believe we also have a winner with a perfect record. The category is "Absenteeism." May I have the envelope, please?

MC: Yes, folks, I'm right! Our winner in the category of "Absenteeism," turned in a perfect record this year. He has not attended a single function of the Sunday School, any worship services, no prayer meetings, nor even any musical programs for an entire year. We thought he was going to break down and attend during our revival services, but he held out faithful to the very end of the year. Let's have a big hand for this winner, folks, Mr.
Count-Me-Out!

(Theme music and applause. Bystander comes to whisper in MC's ear.)

MC: Well, how about that! I've just been informed that our winner, Mr. Count-Me-Out, is not here tonight to receive his trophy. Now how about that for dependability in absenteeism? (Applause.)

MC: The next category is Outstanding Achievement in Communications. May I have the envelope, please? I have the envelope, please?

MC:  Our winner this year is a lady you all know. She has been communicating almost non-stop throughout the year. When she is not talking to someone in person, she is on the phone, sometimes two phones at once. Her dedication enabled her to spread one hundred eighteen rumors, conduct for whispering campaigns, make fifteen anonymous crank calls to the church office, just to mention a few of her accomplishments. Our winner is Granny Gossip.

(Music-"We've a Story to Tell to the Nation." Granny Gossip comes to the platform with a
telephone receiver stuck in her ear to receive her trophy.)

MC: Tell us, Granny, how do you manage to keep so many people so well-informed in such an efficient manner?

GRANNY GOSSIP: Well, the secret of my success is just to keep talking, never listen, just keep on talking. Don't give anyone a chance to get in a word edgewise. That's just a waste of precious time.

MC: We all admire your techniques, Granny, and our congratulations! (Granny Gossip leans over to whisper in MC's ear, while pointing to someone in the audience. MC listens intently.)

MC: Oh, really? Well, I never ... my, my, MY! (Granny Gossip retires from the platform.)

MC: Our next award is in the category of "Interior Decoration." Many people have done a lot of things to improve the appearance of our meeting rooms. May I have the envelope for the name of this year's winner, please?

Yes, oh, this is exciting, folks. We have a tie in this category. Our first winner has set a record for leaving the most empty Coke bottles in halls, stairways, classrooms, and also the sanctuary. What would we ever do without these little touches of trim and decoration? Our winner is-Miss Chug-a-Iug!

(Music-"It's the Real Thing." Miss Chug-a-lug appears on the platform with an empty
Coke bottle in each hand. She gets MC to hold one while she reaches for trophy.)

MISS CHUG-A-LUG: Thanks so much! It is certainly nice to be appreciated for one's talent of a sense of decor. I think empty Coke bottles give a place that warm, lived-in look which everyone appreciates. No one ever complains except those who are clumsy enough to stumble over those bottles and break a leg. There were three of those this year and only two sprained ankles. But, it serves them right for being such duds when it comes to appreciating the better things in life. Thank you, folks! (Miss Chug-a-lug retires from the platform, leaving the other empty Coke bottle on speaker's stand for MC to dispose of.)

MC: Now, our second winner in the category of "Interior Decoration." This award is presented to the person who has preserved the oldest, unchanged bulletin board
anywhere on the premises. This year's winner is none other than Mrs. Dusty Cobweb for her faded and tattered bulletin board which still bears proudly, if dimly, the slogan "A Million More in '54." Step right up, Mrs. Cobweb, and congratulations!

(Music- "That OldTime Religion." Mrs. Cobweb comes to platform and receives trophy.)

MRS. COBWEB: It thrills me to accept this trophy. I'll treasure it forever! (She clutches trophy to her breast.) My bulletin board, with its catch phrase "A Million More in '54,"
really deserves to be preserved for posterity. Once or twice a year someone points to it and asks me what it means. That gives me an opportunity to up-date them on the latest developments in Southern Baptist life. All of you please drop by my classroom and take a look at our bulletin board. We are so proud of it that we wouldn't dream of changing anything on it.

MC: Thanks for the invitation, Mrs. Cobweb. I'm sure we'll all keep it in mind. Let's have a nice hand for a nice lady. (Applause.)

MC: And now a very special category for "Most Miles Run at Breakneck Speed in Aisles and Hallways." This category is restricted to competitors under twelve years of age. May I have the envelope, please?

MC: This year's winner is one of our finest runners who has been in training for nearly six years. He logged the most miles and has been clocked at speeds exceeding twenty-five mph. The winner is Flash Fleetfoot. Come up here, Flash!

(Theme music and applause. Flash Fleetfoot runs to platform from rear of audience and stands panting for breath into microphone. Flash is a boy eight to twelve
years old.)

MC: While you catch your breath, Flash, let me just ask you one question. Do you think you will ever top the great speeds you have attained this year?

FLASH FLEETFOOT: I know I could, if only my Mom would let me wear my sneakers to church. I could go a lot faster. (Exits running.)

MC: There he goes-a bolt of greased lightning! And now, ladies and gentlemen, our last, but by no means our least category is that of "Outstanding Religious Fervor." May 1 have the envelope for our last category, please? Thank you!

MC: For "Outstanding Religious Fervor," this award goes to the member who has offered up the most burnt offerings at our church this year. You may have noticed this individual quietly observing his private ritual by smoking a quick cigarette on the front steps, behind the kitchen, outside the back door, or between cars in the parking lot. Unobserved by admiring eyes, he has even been known to offer up a burnt offering secretly in the men's
rest room, especially if it is raining outside. He never misses an opportune moment for practicing his religious ceremony. Our winner, folks, is Mr. Coffin Nail. And here he is!

(Music-"I've Just Gotta Have Another Cigarette." Mr. Coffin Nail comes to the platform and
receives his trophy. )

MR. COFFIN NAIL: (Coughs loudly intermittently.) Thank you, dear folks! 1 have not done what 1 have done to be seen of men, but 1 sincerely appreciate this great honor (coughs, coughs, and coughs).

MC: I can see that Mr. Coffin Nail is deeply touched. I'd even say he's all choked up over this unexpected recognition. Let's have a hand for this great winner, folks. (Mr. Coffin Nail retires, still coughing.)

MC: Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's our "Stars in My Crown" Awards Show. If you didn't get your fair share of stars this year, try harder next time. I'm sure the fine examples we have seen here tonight will inspire us all to greater achievement in the future. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors who made this Awards Show possible. But no one would claim responsibility for such nonsense, so we can't hang it on anyone. Thank you all for attending, and goodnight, ladies and gentlemen! *

JANUARY BIBLE STUDY FELLOWSHIP
Mary Ruth Brew

This fellowship could be planned for the first Sunday night of the January Bible Study. The person or persons directing this fellowship should work with the Church Training director and the person responsible for the evening worship service to determine the time. Since it will likely follow one and one-half hours of intense study, especially for the adults, the games should be brief.

PROMOTION

Promote at each age-group level. Be sure the parents understand that their children will be involved for a period of fellowship after the Bible study. Encourage these parents to participate in this event, too.

PURPOSE

To provide interest in the Bible, especially the book being studied.

DISPLAY

Ask the director of library services to assist in setting up a display of Bibles, tapes, recordings, filmstrips, and so forth. Include many versions and translations. Highlight especially the book being studied this week.

PROGRAM

Let each age group have a definite part on the program. Their teachers and/or workers can use this participation as part of their promotion. Plan to involve as many persons as
possible.

Preschoolers. -Let the preschoolers sing two or three of their favorite songs concerning the Bible. If desirable, the teacher and/or workers may work with the music director for this feature. Suggested songs are as follows: "The Bible Is a Special Book" from Music for Today's Children.

"Jesus Loves Me" and "We Love the Bible" from Songs for Fours and Fives.

"I Open My Bible" from Songs for the Young Child Recording, No.1.

"I Know a Bible Song" and "Bible Helpers" from Songs for the Young Child Recording, No.2.

Children. -Using the Bible Drill approach, let the boys and girls have a Bible hunt. Enlist six to ten children and have Bibles available. Appoint a timekeeper, and allow approximately six seconds for each call. Select verses from the book the adults are studying. Let each boy and girl participating read one of the verses.

 Youth.-Divide approximately ten youth into two groups for a game of charades. On a table have names of persons, places, and events mentioned in the book being studied by the adults written on slips of paper. Let one person from each group select a piece of paper and act out what is written on it. To add to excitement, keep time and announce the winning team.

Young Adults. -Present drama "Blessed Are They" by Sarah Walton Miller (or have one of your young adults write one). This drama is taken from Devotional Dramas
for the Christian Life (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1968). It is on pages 21-25. Check with your church librarian for information concerning this drama. Assign this drama in advance so the six characters will have time to learn and rehearse it. Keep costuming and props simple. About ten minutes are needed to present the drama. Devotional.-Have an older adult who reads well read "The Anvil-God's Word" from The Best Loved Poems of the American People, page 310, or some other appropriate reading.

REFRESHMENTS

Keep the refreshments simple. Freshly baked donuts, coffee, and chocolate milk will be good. Have some fresh fruit available for persons unable to eat donuts. Encourage
people to move around and have fellowship as they eat.

COOKIE FELLOWSHIP
Charles Goza

Who doesn't become frustrated at times trying to dream up some different kinds of refreshments, or else having to call people to bring the refreshments?  Here is an idea that

not only provides the food, but the fellowship itself.

Announce well ahead of the fellowship that everyone is invited to bring an entry for the big cookie baking contest. Print, or monograph, a leaflet telling the time and place of the fellowship and listing the different categories of entries that will be judged.

These may include prizes for:

·       largest cookie,

·       most unusual looking cookie,

·       best decorated,

·       most I unusual shape,

·       and most unusual ingredients.

Some "kookie" games you should plan to play while you are waiting for all the youth to gather at the fellowship site might include:

·       Blender-A new name for the Revolving Door game. Players divided into two teams, chairs lined up facing each other in two lines with a stool or obstacle in the middle. A ball, or other object (how about a cookie?) is passed from right to left. The person on extreme left end runs out and circles obstacle clockwise returning to end of the line. Other team members move up one chair to left while runner circles obstacle. The cookie is then passed down the line again until every team member has participated.

·       Another, less active, game is Cookie Crumble. Once again the group is divided into two teams and chairs are placed in a circle for each team. One team member begins counting and each person gives the next number in sequence as it comes his turn. Any number that has a six or multiple of six in it cannot be named, but the person must say, "Crumble." The counting off then proceeds in the opposite direction until the next "crumble." It would sound something like this: 1,2,3,4,5, crumble (reverse)
7,8,9,10,11, crumble, 13,14,15, crumble, 17, crumble, etc. Anytime someone misses, the counting must begin from 1 again. The first team to reach 54 first wins.

After the game time, give everyone a sheet of paper with the categories of cookies to be judged and have each pass by the table where all the entries are displayed. Each person will make his choice of the best entry in each category by writing the number displayed with each entry.

All the papers are gathered, tallied, and the winner in each category is announced. Give a blue ribbon to each winner, and possibly a red for second place. A grand prize ribbon might be a good addition. Make the ribbons by buying Notary Gold Seals at a local stationery shop, labeling them as to each category with Rub-On Letters, and stick the seal onto a piece of ribbon from the dime store.

You will want to remember to take your camera to get some pictures of the winning entries for the church paper or local newspaper. After the group has eaten all the cookies it wants, the remaining entries may be taken by a nearby nursing home, to some of the church's shut-ins, or given to the church nursery for their use.

A SLAPSTICKY FELLOWSHIP
Ida M. Clark

A good time for all ages following an evening service, is the slapsticky fellowship, featuring:

·       a bubble-blowing contest,

·       corny comb harmony,

·       and a bit of "meller drammer."

Publicize the event for at least one month in advance.

Select a committee that is representative of several age groups.

Assign responsibilities for poster making, telephoning, and publicity in the church bulletin. You might want to use three little pigs dressed in fluffy skirts and big bows on the posters.

Arrange the chairs around the room in a circle, leaving room for a makeshift stage for the slapsticky events. Under three of the chairs, attach a piece of paper with “P” printed on each. Later on, these “p”s will designate characters for the featured skit, "The Three Little Prigs."

Use an announcer with a carrying voice, or provide a portable speaker. This person should have a magnetic personality and an infectious smile. Naturally, you are going to want name tags that have a sticky back, and supply people with felt-tip pens, so their names will be visible several feet away.

On six of the tags place an inconspicuous "X" for later use.

Hand out the bubble gum immediately at the start of the fellowship so that the guests can start chewing on it to make it ready for bubble blowing later.

 For the non-chewers, provide liquid bubble making material or cakes of soap and bubble pipes.

As soon as all are seated, an emergency announcement should be made: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a slight problem. I realize that this is a slapsticky fellowship, but there's been a slight mistake. A freshly varnished chair seems to be missing. Would you please check to see if your chair is it?" As people start checking, have someone come in with a little doll chair which is handed to the announcer who excitedly informs the audience that the chair has been found. Since everyone is relieved that the lost is found, have them sing a parody on "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."

Found, found, found the chair

Sitting in the hall

Happily, happily, happily, happily
Joyous are we all!

Sing the ditty once together, then divide the group into three parts and sing it as a round.

With a drum roll, a toy trumpet, a whistle, or other dramatic way of calling up the next event, announce the bubble blowing contest.

Call for the chewing gum bubbles first. For the largest bubble, give an outsized bubble-gum ball, beautifully wrapped with paper and ribbon.

In the liquid bubble blowing contest, immediately following, make the prize a cake of soap, also wrapped.

Then ask all those with X's on their name tags to come forward. This group will comprise the Corny Comb Harmoneers.

Give each of them a comb and a piece of wax paper to cover the comb. The player should place his lips on the tissue and hum into the comb. Give the group a list of current or old time songs and send them into another room for a few minutes of practice.

While they are out, announce with fanfare the arrival of the ice-cream man. Have bells ringing as two or more people come in with ice-cream cups, cookies, and cups of water.

By this time the comb players are ready to do their act.

Announce them with proper dramatic flourish. Time now for the Three Little Prigs. Ask guests to find the P's under their chairs.

Have large brown paper bags, or shopping bags, containing ribbons, sashes, ties, odd pieces of outer clothing, and whatever your imagination indicates.

Give the bags to the prigs, and have them dress up in the findings.

The script for their meller drammer is as follows:

LUCRETIA PRIGG: (looking into a large, empty pocket book) Oh dear, I've lost it!

CHUBINA: (searching her own purse) Me too!

LUCRETIA: But without it, I can't pay the rent on a new condominium!

CHUBINA: Or make payments on a new car!
LUCRETIA: Or fly in an airplane!

CHUBINA: Maybe it is under a chair. (looks for it)
LUCRETIA: Or back of the piano.

LUCRETIA: Woe is me!

LUCRETIA: Both of us!

SUBRINA: (entering with a brown bag) Are you looking for something?

Land C: (simultaneously) We can't find it anywhere!
SUBRINA: Is this what you are looking for? (She pulls out a long streamer. Printed on it is "THE END OF THE RAINBOW.")

Land C: You found it! Now we can live happily ever after!

As the laughter (or groans) dies down, turn off the lights and focus a slide depicting a rainbow, or sunset, or other inspiring scene. Have someone read the Twenty-third
Psalm, or give a few words showing God's goodness and love for us. Close with prayer, or a prayer song. *

OLD-FASHIONED DAYS

Charles Goza

To end a day's emphasis of remembering the past as, for instance, an Anniversary Sunday, an Old-Fashioned Fellowship can bring back some fond memories to some and provide some interesting and informative times for the younger members. After a time of singing some of the old songs, arrange a demonstration of marble shooting and reminiscing about aggies and steelies. Have top-spinning and yo-yoing demonstrations, give instructions on making inner tube slingshots and rubber shooting clothespin guns, and wood carving for the boys. For the girls include activities as rag and corn cob doll making instructions, and
lessons on knitting, crocheting, or tatting. Homemade ice cream would top this fellowship off in great style. *

RETURN OF MOTHER GOOSE
Charles Goza

Is Mother Goose dead? How long has it been since you heard a nursery rhyme? It might be a good time to have a return of Mother Goose fellowship. As fellowshippers arrive, have them pass through a Crooked Man Obstacle Course to get to the game area.

Games:

·       Jack and Jill relay (boy and girl carry a bucket of water, dump it into a five gallon can and give the bucket to the next couple).

·       Jack's Candlestick Standing High Jump (For the boys of course!), Mary's Lamb (Follow the Leader),

·       Nursery Rhyme Singdown (Each team taking turns singing a nursery rhyme seeing which team can remain standing the longest),

·       Modern Mother Goose (compose new rhymes).

Refreshments: Jack Horner's Plum Pie, or the King and Queen of Hearts' Tarts. *

"RELAY" YOUR LOVE AND APPRECIATION

Mary Ruth Brew

Your church has been involved in conducting a mission VBS and/or Backyard Bible Club(s). Several of your youth and adults have been involved. Plan a fellowship to honor these persons, and invite the boys and girls who participated to be guests. You may want to invite their parents, too.

PROMOTION

If possible, the mission VBS director should secure photographs and slides of the different events. Use these to make several attractive posters to promote this fellowship. In a followup effort to transfer these boys and girls to the regular Sunday School roll or to establish a new Sunday School in the area (if that was the purpose of the mission
VBS), the participants and their families should be invited to a special fellowship beginning on Sunday afternoon about one and a half hours before Church Training begins. Explain to the boys and girls that their teachers will be honored. This fellowship should be planned for outside, if possible. Otherwise, plan for some running room as the games will be of a relay nature.

GAMES

Keep the relays short and fun. Let as many of the children participate as possible.

·       Orange push relay.-Select four boys and four girls to form two teams. Give to the leader of each team an orange and a yardstick. At a given signal, let each team leader push his orange with the yardstick to a given point and back. Then he hands the yardstick to the next person, and so on. The team winning may eat the two oranges.

·       Egg in spoon relay. -Have two boiled eggs prepared. Select four boys and four girls to form two teams. Give to the leader of each team a teaspoon and an egg. Do not mention that the egg is boiled; just caution them to be careful not to break the egg or the team will be eliminated. At a given signal, let each team leader carefully take his egg in the spoon to a given point and back. Then the person in charge of the game will carefully lift the egg and put it in the next person's spoon. The team winning may eat the two eggs.

·       Ping-Pong paddle relay.-Select four boys and four girls to form two teams. Give to the leader of each team a Ping-Pong paddle and a Ping-Pong ball. Instruct him that
he is to bounce the ball in the air as he walks to a given point and back. Caution the players that they must not let the ball touch the ground. If it should touch the ground,
they must go back to the starting point and start again. Only one hand and the paddle may be used. Give to the winning team some hard candy.

·       BaIIoon pass relay. -Divide all of the children present into two teams. Give each team an already blown up balloon. At a given signal, let the first person on each team pass the balloon over his head to the person standing behind him in rapid-fire fashion. The last person getting the balloon races to the front of the line and the relay
begins again. This may go on two or three times, depending on the person in charge of the game. The winning team gets to pop the balloons.

·       Paper sack burst relay. -In two chairs at a given point, have about six paper bags folded like they come from the grocery store. Form two teams of six persons. At a given signal, let the leader of each team race to the chair, pick up the top paper sack, blow it up, and burst it. Then he races back, and the next person does the same thing. (In the last two paper sacks have a small amount of talcum powder.
Be sure the sack is folded as the others so this will not be obvious.) When the last contestant reaches his chair and blows and pops his paper sack, he will be covered with powder. Award the best "popper" with a lollipop.

·        BaIIoon burst relay. -Form two teams of about six each. Give each person on the two teams a balloon and let him practice blowing it up. Use soft balloons that blow easily. At a given signal, let the first person race to the chair used for the relay before, blow up his balloon, sit on it and burst it, and race back to the next person on his team. The team winning is the team that bursts all of its balloons first. Others. -You will know of other relays your boys and girls will enjoy. Play as many as time allows.

CLOSING REMARKS

As the boys and girls rest, let the missions VBS director present each person who led in the schools and clubs a Good News New Testament. These may be ordered from the American Bible Society for a small fee. If summer missionaries were used, present them with the Good News Bible. Ask the pastor to voice your appreciation to these workers and express your love to the boys and girls and their parents. Be sure the welcome is warm and sincere. Let the Church Training director invite each person to Church Training after refreshments are enjoyed.

REFRESHMENTS

Either watermelon or homemade ice cream would be good. Ask your church hostess to be in charge. *

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ONE MORE TIME, GEORGE!
Jerry Chiles

A fellowship for the entire family built around George Washington's Birthday. As families enter the fellowship hall, provide all members with a pencil and a paper with the following true/false questions about the life of George Washington.

Please Answer True or False

1.      George Washington signed the Declaration of Independence. (T)

2.     George Washington was president of the First Continental Congress. (T)

3.     George Washington was Commander-In-Chief of the Continental Army. (T)

4.      George Washington lived in the White House in his last year as President. (F)

5.     George Washington was born in England and came to America as a young child. (F)

6.     George Washington was trained as a surveyor. (T)

7.     George Washington inherited Mount Vernon. (T)

8.     George Washington was an active Baptist Elder. (F)

9.      George Washington fought in the French and Indian War. (T)

10.  George Washington took oath as President in New York. (T)

11.  George Washington served only one term as President. (F)

12.  George Washington was Chairman of the First Constitutional Convention. (T)

13.  George Washington was first President of the United States. (T)

14.  George Washington had three sons and three daughters. (F)

15.   George Washington died on December 14, 1799 at the age of 67. (T)

After true/false questions have been answered, have the group learn or listen to songs that would have been sung at the time George Washington lived.

Samples:

 as a child:

·       "London Bridge,"

·        "Ring Around a Rosey,"

·        "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush,"

·        "Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow."

As a teenager:

·       "Johnny's So Long at the Fair,"

·        "Kiss Me Early."

As an adult:

·       "Seven Songs for the Harpsichord" or "Forte Piano" by Francis Hopkinson,

·       "The Liberty Song" by John Dickinson,

·       and "Chester" by William Billings.

Choose a story or myth that has been written about George Washington and have a storytelling time.

Play the game: Throw a silver dollar across the Delaware. The following materials will be needed: a bathtub full of water (the Delaware) and Styrofoam cut in the size and shape of silver dollars.

Choose five to ten strong men from the audience. Make the point that it took a lot of strength for Washington to throw that dollar. Place the men three at a time, four feet
from the tub. Give each three Styrofoam dollars. The men are to compete to see who can get the most dollars, if any, across the tub (Delaware).

For refreshments serve cherry pies baked by ladies of the congregation, coffee and milk to drink.

Close by bringing the group together again and relate the following story about George Washington: During the terrible winter at Valley Forge, Washington's officers became worried one day because they could not find their commander. After a lengthy search, one officer found Washington in the woods kneeling in the snow praying for his troops. Do we as Christians exercise our prerogative of prayer to receive power? *

LOOK-AROUND FELLOWSHIP
Mabel King Beeker

People are always looking around; but they don't always see what they need to see, as this fellowship may-or may not-reveal.

INVITATION OR POSTER

Look around and see people and things; Look around and see petals and wings.

Look-Around Family Fellowship (date, time, place)

PREPARATION

Collect pictures of famous or well-known people from the past and the present, of buildings in the United States and abroad that members will recognize, of natural scenery such as the Grand Canyon, and of birds, animals, and fish; news headlines and pictures about contemporary events; cut or potted flowers of various kinds, perhaps from garden club members; and other items of special interest to display on poster or bulletin boards.

On tables around the room set interest-center trays displaying small items used by seamstresses, painters, auto mechanics, carpenters, hairdressers, artists, and
cooks-or make posters showing pictures of these items.

Over or near the entrance place an attractive sign: "Welcome to the Look-Around Gallery."

Hang mirrors on the walls and set them elsewhere. Enlist several voluble people as guides for sightseeing tours. Instruct them to make humorous comments.

WELCOME TO THE LOOK-AROUND GALLERY
Assign guides to groups of guests for quick tours of the displays. After about ten minutes, cover the trays.

SEESA W ACTIVITIES

What did you see?  Give each guest a pencil and paper on which to write all he can remember that he saw on each of the trays. After four minutes, call on one person per
category to read his list for that tray. After each report, let other guests add items. Uncover that tray.

Look at that headline. -Select four groups of three to five persons each and give each group a picture of some- thing that has been in the headlines recently. Explain that each group may act out its news, or one member may be a reporter interviewing the others about what happened. Caution them not to mention names or locations. After each presentation, give the other guests up to five guesses as to the event. If they fail, ask that group to present its news again, with names and places.

Look in the ocean, look in the river, but look out for the frying pan.  Choose twenty to twenty-five people to take part in this game. Explain that each player is to choose, but
not reveal, the name of a fish or other sea creature as you read the names from a list. Then, as you walk around the room, calling out the names, each one is to get up as soon
as he hears his name and "swim" behind you till you say, "Look out for the frying pan!" At that call, each one must find a chair quickly. The one left standing becomes the fisherman and continues the game. In addition to well-known fish, you might include the following on your list: abalone, cowfish, dogfish, eel, fan- tail, guppy, sailfish, sheepshead, starfish, smelt, sturgeon, sunfish, swordfish, turbot, whitefish. Include these fish on your list: anchovy, bass, catfish, clam, cod, crab, flounder, haddock, halibut, pike, herring, lobster, mackerel, oyster, perch, red snapper, salmon, scallop, shrimp, sole, rainbow trout, turbot.

I see who did it. -Make a statement about some person whose picture is on display; for example, for Abraham Lincoln, you might say, "I see a man who made a famous oration on a battlefield." Let the first person who guesses your person make a statement about another person on display. Continue with five or six others.

I see a ring. -For this adaptation of "ring on a string," provide a ring and about thirty yards of string for each group of about twenty-five players. Instruct each group to place its ring on its string, knot the ends of the string, and on signal send the ring around the circle three times as fast as possible. The player who started the ring must then hold it up and call out, "Look around! Look around! What do you see?" Quickly you reply, "I see your ring." Each group repeats this action three times to find the winning group.

What building is that? -Say: "What building do I see? It begins with" and give the first letter of its name. Let the correct guesser call the next one. I see a flower. -From familiar songs and poems, read quotations about flowers; but pause before the names of flowers for guests to supply them: "My Wild Irish Rose," "Mistress Mary, Quite Contrary," "When You Wore a Tulip," "In Flanders Fields," "The Lily of the Valley," "The Last Rose of Summer," and "Daffodils." Ask all the guests to join in singing "The Lily of the Valley." God saw that this was beautiful.-Call for five volunteers. Explain that one is to choose a picture of natural
scenery and say: "God saw that this was beautiful; and I think so, too. What is it?" The others are to ask questions which he can answer with yes or no until someone guesses
the place; "Is it a mountain?" "Is it high?" The correct guesser chooses the next place.

Looking backward. -Read Genesis 1:20-25. Say: "We do not know how long it has been since God made the birds and animals, but we know what he told Noah to do with them." Read Genesis 7:1-5. "How many birds and animals can you name? I will say 'bird' or 'animal' and call a letter of the alphabet. Let's see who can first match a bird or animal to that letter. Do not repeat names." On a prepared list check off each bird or animal named.

LOOK AT THE FOOD

Make the refreshments as fancy as possible or serve a combination such as pink lemonade and blueberry tarts decorated with ruffles of whipped topping.

WHEN GOD LOOKS AROUND

Ahead of time enlist seven people to read Genesis 1 from a modern translation as follows:

1.     Genesis 1: 1-2;

2.     1:3-5;

3.     1:6-8;

4.     1:9-13;

5.     1:14-19;

6.     1:20-23;

7.     1:24-31.

Say: "Yes, God was pleased with what he saw because he had done good work. May each of us do his best so that God will also be pleased when he sees the work which our hands and minds have found to do."

Close with the song, "Look and Live." (Voice of Praise or Songs of Faith. These books are out of print, but you could check with your church library or city library for one of these books.) *

SAY IT WITH PROVERBS
Mabel King Beeker

One proverb may be "worth a thousand words" because "brevity is the soul of wit" at this fellowship.

INVITATION

"Birds of a feather flock together," One proverb doth proclaim; "Fine feathers make fine birds," another- Do these two mean the same?

Find out (date, time, and place) at the Say It with Proverbs Fellowship

PROVERBIAL DECORATIONS

"Waste not, want not." So, make the decorations do double duty by displaying pictures to illustrate some proverbs to be used in games.

Here are samples:

·       "A watched pot never boils" (an iron pot). "Still waters run deep" (a river scene).

·       "Birds of a feather flock together" (birds in trees).

·       "Beauty is but skin deep" (advertisement for face cream).

·       "A dog's bark is worse than his bite" (barking dog).

·       "Many hands make light work" (outstretched hands).

·       "The proof of the pudding is in the eating of it" (picture of a plum pudding).

·       "A great ship asks deep waters" (ship on the ocean).

·       "The pot can't call the kettle black" (pot and kettle).
"A penny saved is a penny earned" (piggy bank).

·       "Don't put the cart before the horse" (a horse standing by a cart or other horse-drawn vehicle).

·       "A rolling stone gathers no moss" (a loose rock).

·       "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" (an apple).

·       "The early bird gets the worm" (a fishing worm).

·       "A stitch in time saves nine" (a woman sewing).

·       "Strike while the iron is hot" (an iron on a board).

·       "When the eat's away, the mice will play" (mice).

·       "If the shoe fits, wear it" (shoe advertisement).

·       "A new broom sweeps clean" (a broom).

·       "Snow is the poor man's fertilizer" (a snow scene).

·       "Curiosity killed the cat" (a cat sniffing).

·       "What goes up must come down" (a balloon).

·       "Make hay while the sun shines" (a haystack).

·       "Where there is smoke, there is fire" (burning house).

·       "You can't tell a book by its cover" (book covers).

·       "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" (a horse).

·       "Let sleeping dogs lie" (several napping dogs).

PROVERBIAL GREETINGS AND COMBINATIONS

Print or type familiar proverbs on slips of paper and cut each one into three parts. Mix these and hide them around the room or place them in six boxes, making sure that each part is in a different box. Give a signal for each guest to gather up all the slips he can find or to take one slip from each box (if there are enough slips for each one to have that many). Then tell the players to piece together as many proverbs as they can and to exchange their extra slips with other players to make more proverbs. After ten minutes let the person who has

put together the most proverbs read all of his and call on several others to read one each.

Concealed proverbs.  Ask one player to leave the room. Write a short, well-known proverb on the chalkboard or have it already written on a large piece of paper or cardboard so that all the guests will be able to read it. After you make sure that all of them know it, explain that the first player will ask questions to try to learn what the proverb is. In their answers, the person he questions first must use the first word of the proverb, the second person must use the second word, and so on, repeating the process if the questioner does not guess the proverb in the first go round. Erase or conceal the proverb, call the questioner back, and explain the process to him. When he guesses the proverb or gives up, have everyone to say the proverb and appoint the player who said the last word to become the
next questioner. Continue in this way with others.

Gobbledygook proverbs.  Divide the guests into teams of about five members each and give each team a pencil and a paper on which you have written a different list of three or four familiar proverbs. Explain that each group is to choose one proverb from its list and rewrite it in gobbledygook language. Give this example: "A burnt child dreads the fire" in gobbledygook it might be "A youthful human being who has been injured by the application of excessive heat becomes extremely uneasy in the immediate vicinity of the visible phenomenon of combustion." Or, "A stitch in time saves nine" might become "A single in-and-out movement at the correct measurable period avoids the utilization of a whole baseball team." As each group reads its gobbledygook version, let the others try to guess what the original proverb was.

Shouting proverbs.  Ask each group to select another proverb and to assign each word of it to a different player. At a signal each member of one group is to shout his word so that the other groups hear the whole proverb at once. The group that first guesses a shouted proverb correctly has the next turn at shouting.

Decoding proverbs. Distribute pencils and paper and instruct the guests to work in pairs to decode the proverbs illustrated by the pictures on display. After about ten minutes read all of the proverbs and give a penny each to the couple or couples who have the longest correct list, reminding them that "A penny saved is a penny earned."

Mending proverbs.  Ask each couple to choose a proverb from their list and divide it between them. Ask those who chose the first part of a proverb to form a circle and
face outward. Ask the remaining ones to form a circle around them and to march while music plays. When the music stops, each person in the outer circle is to clasp the hand of the person nearest him in the inner circle and say his part of a proverb. If it mends or completes the other person's proverb, the two go to the refreshment table together for apple juice ("An apple a day"). Repeat the mending process two or three times. Then say, "He who waits upon fortune is never sure of a dinner," and send the remaining guests for refreshments.

PROOF OF THE PUDDING

Serve a favorite pudding (' 'The proof of the pudding is in the eating of it") with the apple juice.

PROVERBS FOR LIFE

Say: "King David is credited with saying it first." (Have someone prepared to read Ps. 34: 12-14.) "Peter thought it was worth repeating." (Have someone else to read 1 Pet.
3: 1 0-11.)

 "Both of them used this advice in the context of a person's relationship to God; and it is good advice for Christians today. Let's see what other proverbs from God's Word give us good advice." (Copy the following proverbs ahead of time and distribute them now for members to read aloud: Proverbs:

1:7; 3:5-6;                                   3:12;

3:27-29;                                      4:23;

6:6-8;                                         10:1;

14:34;                                         15:1;

15:16-17;                                    15:20;

16:18;                                         16:32;

17:17;                                         18:21;

18:24;                                         19:17;

20:1;                                           20:11;

22:1;                                           22:6;

23:29-32;                                    25:11;

25:21-22;                                    25:25;
27:1;                                           27:2;

29:20;                                         31:4-5;

31:10-12;                                    31:30-31.

Pray that all those present will trust in the Lord with all their hearts and acknowledge him in all their ways so that he may truly direct their paths.

ALTERNATE OR ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

Match or deny it. Make a list of proverbs that are similar in thought; for example:

·       "Actions speak louder than words" and "Practice what you preach";

·       "A fool and his money are soon parted" and "He that gets money before he gets wit will be but a short while master of it";

·       "Haste makes waste" and "The more haste, the less speed."

Make another list of proverbs that are contradictory in thought; for example:

·       "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" and' 'Out of sight, out of mind";

·       "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" and "You are never too old to learn";

·       ''There is honor among thieves" and' 'Set a thief to catch a thief';

·       "Consistency, thou art a jewel" and "Consistency is the jewel of little minds."

Instructions

1.     Arrange all of the proverbs in alphabetical order and make copies to distribute to the guests.

2.     Keep a list for yourself with matches and opposites indicated.

3.     To keep score, divide the guests into groups with a scorekeeper to keep the count for each one.

4.     Read a proverb; say, "Match or deny"; and see which person or group can do so before you count to ten.

5.     If someone quotes a suitable "match or deny" proverb which is not on the list, double the score for that answer.

For example, "All things come to him who waits" might have "Every dog has his day" as a match and either "Don't count your chickens before they are hatched" or "There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip" as contradictions.

·       Lasting proverbs. -As a variation of "Match or deny it," read a Bible proverb and let guests quote general proverbs which are similar or opposite in meaning:

·       Proverbs 1:7 ("You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.")

·       Proverbs 13:3 ("Silence is golden.")

·       Proverbs 16: 16 ("Better an empty purse than an empty head.")

·       Proverbs 19: 15 ("Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.")

·       Proverbs 22:6 ("As the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.") Proverbs 18: 13 ("It is better to be sure than sorry" or "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.")

·       Proverbs 22: 1 ("A good name is sooner lost than won.")

·       Proverbs 27:2 ("Self-praise is half slander.")

·       Proverbs 29:11 ("A still tongue makes a wise head.")
Proverbs 13:4 ("If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.")

·       Proverbs 26:20 ("Where there's smoke, there's fire.")
Proverbs 1 7: 1 7 ("A friend in need is a friend indeed.")
Proverbs 13:34 ("Honesty is the best policy.")
Proverbs 26:27 ("As you make your bed, so must you lie on it.")

·       Proverbs 30:8 ("Two things are bad: 'too much' and 'too little.' ")

·       Proverbs 23:5 ("A fool and his money are soon parted.") *

RING THOSE BELLS!
Mabel King Beeker

Collecting bells and ringing hand bells appeal to senior adults as well as to children and youth. Combine the two activities and really "ring those bells!"

PREPARATIONS

Bell ringers. -Enlist a hand bell choir from your own church or a neighboring church or school for several numbers on your program. If a trained choir is not available,
perhaps you can interest a group in learning to ring hand- bells. If not, enlist some good instrumentalists who can simulate the ringing of bells.

Bell collections. -Bell collectors insist that bells are the oldest collectibles because they were made well before the Bronze Age. They may range from cowbells to tuned bells.
Some of your local bell collectors might even have a bell cast by Paul Revere or a portrait bell by Gorham. Find out and ask them to display what they have and to tell briefly about the origin or use of one.

Other bells. -Swing a large bell from the ceiling or over a doorway for use in one of the games as well as for decoration. For the game, you will also need a blindfold and a baton or a stick. If you do not have handbells, you will need six bells of varying sizes and tones for "How many bell ringers?" For "Meet a bell," provide a large sketch of a bell with the nine parts numbered (as shown in Webster's dictionary).

Bell poetry. -Two dramatic poems about bells are' 'The Bells" by Edgar Allen Poe and "Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight" by Rose Hartwick Thorpe.' Enlist one or two good readers for these and perhaps other poems. In "The Bells," Poe dramatizes the tinkle of silver bells, the mellow tones of golden bells, the brazen tones of alarum bells, and the tolling of iron bells. If possible, have bells with these tones ringing during the reading of the first two lines of each stanza. "Curfew" uses the verb ring in some form fourteen times. Instruct the reader to practice pausing before those words so that the guests may supply them.

WELCOME BELLS

Ask the musicians to play "Silver Bells" or similar music as guests arrive and view the collection of bells.

RINGING THE BELLS

Listen to the bells. -After a few minutes of listening to the bells, lead the guests in singing bell songs: "The Bells of St Mary's," "Silver Bells," "Jingle Bells."

"Bell" words. -Ask for ten volunteers to test their knowledge of "bell words." Divide them into two teams, and ask them to number off. Appoint a "bellman" to keep score. Explain that you will say a word that begins with the sound "bell" and call a number. The person with that
number who first uses that word correctly in a sentence will score five points for his team; the other, two. Here are words to use: belladonna, bell bird, bellhop, bellicose, belligerence, bellow, Belshazzar, bellpull, Belfast, bellwether, Belgium, belfry, bellman. Meet a bell. -Enlist four people for this introduction.

'See collections of poetry such as The Family Book of Best Loved Poems, edited by David L. George (New York: Hanover House, Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1952).Display the sketch of a bell and explain that, like our bodies, bells have nine main parts and that some of them have the same names. Ask the contestants to stand ten feet from the bell. Explain that you will say the name of one of the parts and then, "Bell it," as a signal for whoever knows that name to run to the bell, touch the part, and name it correctly. Score five points.

Here are the parts (as in Webster):

1.     bead lines

2.     clapper crown

3.     head

4.     lip

5.     mouth

6.     shoulder

7.     sound bow

8.     and waist

Bell poems. -Use a "bell" poem, as suggested under "Preparations." Explain to the guests that they are to supply "ring," "ringing," or "rung" in "Curfew."

The Liberty Bell. -Say: "The Liberty Bell is one of the most cherished symbols of our American independence. What do you know about it?" Ask these questions:

1.     On what famous birthday did it first ring? What did it ring to celebrate October 14, 1781? Why did it ring on April 6, 1783?

2.     On July 4, 1826, it tolled when the principal author of the Declaration of Independence died. Who?

3.     For what anniversary did it ring July 14, 1826?

4.     What happened when it was being tolled for the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835?

5.     Why did someone try to ring it in 1843?

6.     What happened to it on February 22, 1843?

Answers:

1.     That of the United States, marked by the official adoption of the Declaration of Independence;

2.     the surrender of Cornwallis;

3.     to proclaim peace with
Great Britain;

4.     Thomas Jefferson;

5.     our fiftieth, "the
Year of Jubilee"

6.     the bell cracked

7.     Washington's Birthday

8.     it cracked too much to ring.

Ring that bell. -Enlist six people to ring the dangling bell. Blindfold each in turn, tap the bell, hand him the baton, and start him toward the bell. Count five points if he hits the bell; ten, if the clapper.

How many bell ringers? -Enlist four persons to listen, blindfolded, to six bell ringers. Explain that, each time you give a signal, differing numbers of the bell ringers will ring their bells one time simultaneously. Award five points for the first correct guess each time.

Golden bells. -After the instrumentalists play "Ring the Bells of Heaven" and "When They Ring the Golden Bells" one time each, ask all the guests to join in singing the first stanza of each song.

SWEET BELLS

Serve bell-shaped sandwiches, mints, and cookies with hot tea. If bell-shaped cutters are not available, make them by shaping the ends of cans to the desired sizes. *