New Around the Mission
Drive-in Lot for Jesus Making Headlines
January 20, 2009
Drive-in Lot for Jesus Making Headlines
Christ Church Anglican in Jacksonville, Florida, is breaking ground for a new facility in more ways than one. The congregation recently purchased a 13.5 acre property that is centrally located in the city, highly visible and, get this, used to be an X-rated drive-in movie theatre.
"We included the fire department in our property dedication because we symbolically burned cases of pornography that were found in closets," shares the Rev. Mark Eldredge, rector. "I blessed the water, and the firemen sprayed the entire property down."
"We got a lot of free publicity," muses Eldredge. On the following day, the local newspaper headline read, 'Local Church Burns Porn' and the story got national attention. "I got immediate calls from several major news networks, and we had 865 hits on our church website that day."
As parishioners make plans for new facilities, the creation of a free movie-night ministry is also underway, redeeming what people watch on the big screen to bless the community and build relationships with the unchurched.
The Saturday before Christmas, Christ Church had their first showing of The Nativity Story for 170 guests, 30-40 of which had zero previous connection with the church. People had the option to stay in their cars for viewing or gather outside and sit in lawn chairs to keep the event more people-interactive.
Christ Church member Jim Evans is overseeing the movie ministry with twenty years experience in movie theatre management. Jere Latimer is organizing parking needs based on past history directing parking for Florida State football games.
Reclaiming the land for God's use.
With purely evangelistic motives, there is no admission fee to watch a movie, and the concessions are economical for everyone's budget. The congregation already has one new member who represents "fruit" from the property acquisition. Eldredge notes, "Our hope is that if someone is seeking help, they will think of the nice people they met at the drive-in movie theatre and come and check us out at Christ Church."
Posted By: Cynthia P. Brust
Categories: Archived News
