Three years ago, the people of Hepzibah Baptist Church, McCalla, realized their neighborhood had a lot of families and a lot of kids that the church hadn’t reached.
So someone floated an idea — ice cream.
“We rented an ice cream truck and did a parade through the immediate surrounding community,” said Larry Sumrall, pastor of Hepzibah Baptist. “Both children and adults will come out for ice cream.”
And since that first year, it’s been a tradition.
Volunteers from the church, which is in Pleasant Grove Association, walk ahead of the truck, knocking on doors, letting people know about the ice cream — and inviting people to Vacation Bible School (VBS). A line of decorated cars follows the ice cream truck, increasing interest even more.
The parade and free ice cream give the members of Hepzibah Baptist a way to connect to the community, Sumrall said. “We get to talk to a lot of parents that way. We’ve had nothing but good responses.”
As a result, the church — which averages 400 or 450 — welcomed in about 400 children June 10–15 for VBS.
VBS outreach
Ten new families now attend the church because of the VBS outreach in recent years, Sumrall said. “We gain two to three families a year from VBS.”
And this year, 20 children professed new faith in Christ — and two adults did in the adult VBS classes.
“All of it has been a great tool to meet people and try to get them connected to the church,” Sumrall said. “Where the church is located there is a lot of turnover because of the rental houses. Each year there are new faces.” (Grace Thornton)
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