Pets and church rarely mix, but when outreach leaders of Forest Lake Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa hosted its first Paws for Praise dog show March 12, canines were a necessity to reach the community.
The free family event drew about 45 dogs- from bassett hounds to Saint Bernards to poodles – and of the more than 100 people who came, only 25 were Forest Lake members.
“It was strictly designed as an outreach,” said Mike McCormack, evangelism ministry team leader at Forest Lake. “It served as a good way to attract people to come to the church.”
Forest Lake members had initially wondered what a dog show had to do with evangelism, but they “found out quickly how easy it is to talk to people when there’s a dog on a leash in front of you,” McCormack said.
Having the dogs opened doors to conversations, and several families are now attending the church as a result. Paws for Praise offered free games, prizes and more for the dogs and owners, and many people who came said they were interested in learning more about a church “nice enough to do something like that for the community.”
“We will probably keep doing it as an annual event,” McCormack said. “It was a bigger success than we ever dreamed it would be.”
(TAB)
Share with others: