KITTANNING, Pa., (BRN) – Harvest Church Kittanning in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, held our first movie night of the year on Jan. 14 at 5 p.m. The purpose of these events is to provide a free fun night out for the whole family to enjoy where they are provided an opportunity to hear the gospel, eat dinner and watch a movie together.
Our mission at Harvest is to increase the health and size of God’s church everywhere. By hosting these events, we are allowing the opportunity for our church family to bring other friends and family to an event at our church where they might not have attended previously. Our goal was to draw in people who have never entered a church building before and attend an event in our facility where they will not only enjoy a fun evening, but most importantly, hear the gospel presented.
We advertised this event through paid advertising on social media, free newspaper bulletins, flyers were sent home to all children at a local elementary school and by word of mouth from our church family. By encouraging pre-registration for the event, we were able to collect follow-up information to reach out and get to know new people.
Upon arrival, families enjoyed light refreshments and then headed to the auditorium to be seated for the movie. Halfway through the movie, one of our Kidz Ministry teachers gave the gospel presentation and his personal testimony along with a call to action. The message was well received, and we are prayerful that a strong seed was planted in those who do not call Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Everyone was dismissed to receive dinner, which was pizza, chips, cookies and soft drinks. Families then headed back to watch the remainder of the movie. At closing, our children’s ministry director thanked everyone for attending, invited families to attend Harvest Kidz – which provides classes for nursery to 6th grade students – and welcomed the adults to our weekend services. Many adults expressed their excitement of the movie night and children couldn’t stop asking their parents if they could attend the next one. We were so thankful for the opportunity to not only present the gospel to so many people, but also provide a fun night for everyone.
We had increased attendance for this movie night because it was a cold, wintery day and what better way to spend a cold day than to go to church! We had over 250 people in attendance. I was shocked when the registrations kept coming in, plus we had about 30 people register at the door. Of those 257 people, about 25% were brand new to Harvest, 18% had only attended 1-2 events in the past and 56% were church family. This is a significant increase in new people and 1-event attenders from last year when we hosted the movie nights.
We could not be more thrilled with the outcome of this event! A few families who attend our Bible2School program came to the movie night, which was so amazing to see. Plus, we had several families come to church the following Sunday. I was able to talk with those families and start to build a relationship with them. Every time I went into the auditorium, I was so happy to see most of the seats filled. Plus, the line for pizza was so long that it filled up our entire waiting area at the entrance and hallway! Praise God! We pray that He works in their lives in the time to come! Thank you for partnering with us in these outreaches!
