Birmingham church dinner theater reaches community

Type the words “Intentional Evangelism” into the Google Internet search engine and you’ll get 1,590 hits.
   
Narrow that search by adding the word “Baptist,” and you’ll hardly notice a difference. That’s because Baptists are leading the pack in redefining “good works before men” in such modern terms — and such contemporary techniques. 
   
Take Lakeside Baptist Church, Birmingham, for example. 
   
In August, Lakeside Baptist hosted a dinner-theater-style outreach for prospective members. The event coincided with the Alabama State Baptist Convention’s three-year emphasis on Intentional Evangelism.
   
“It was good fellowship,” said deacon J.O. Miller. 
   
As Lakeside’s potential member cleanup hitter, Miller said he was very pleased with the results of the outreach effort. 
   
“If someone fills out a visitor card, I’ll call them and write them a note, but this was kind of a way to put them face to face with our regular membership,” he said. “It was just like a dinner theater, only it was a Christian dinner theater. It was just a real fun thing.” 
   
And according to music minister Chris Diffey, the food and fun were definitely intentional. 
   
“We wanted them to know we were very much interested in them,” Diffey said. “Of course, we just hope they’ll find a church home, but if it happens to be Lakeside, that’s great.”
   
The brainchild of Pastor Mike McLemore, the event was aimed to “remove some of the stigmas about Southern Baptists,” Diffey said. 
   
“If you’d walked in that night, you would have felt warm and, hopefully, at home,” Diffey said. “We let them know the doors at Lakeside were open. We wanted them to become more involved and, hopefully, become believers in Christ.”
   
To pull it off, a portion of the gymnasium inside Lakeside’s family life center surrendered its hardwood for plush table settings and professional lighting and sound systems. “It had a romantic, candlelight kind of feel to it,” Diffey said.
   
Participants — which included around 130 members and 70 visitors — enjoyed a meal to the sounds of a big band orchestra composed almost entirely of Lakeview’s own musical ranks, including Diffey on bass trombone. 
   
Visiting couples had their dinner paid for by the Lakeside couples with which they were seated. “They would come and sit down and, hopefully, introduce themselves to at least one of the other couples,” Diffey said.  
   
Over dessert, those in attendance focused on a one-act comedy sketch written by Lakeview member Sandi Luna. The play, “Perfectly Different,” dealt with the ups and downs of the first year of marriage.
   
Leslie Kimbrough, the pastor’s secretary who was in charge of event logistics, said, “People just asked their friends to come, their neighbors … people who weren’t really in church, and a large portion of the visitors who attended have followed through in becoming members.”
   
Lee Raybon of Vestavia Hills was one who attended the dinner theater — and subsequently joined the church.
   
“There was a professional orchestra, the play had great writing and hilarious delivery. I enjoyed it and it’s because of hospitality like that I felt I wanted to be a part of the church,” Raybon said.