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| Sabbath School Programs and Teaching Plans for your Church |
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Formerly Sabbath School Leadership, LEAD is a quarterly magazine to bring more power and polish to your Sabbath School programs and Sabbath School teaching.
 Listen to the Sabbath School Theme Music for this Quarter
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PROFILES: Outreach Fires Culpeper Church 
In many churches the lines between church departments are not etched in glass, breakable and dangerous. Instead, church outreach involves all members, including those who strongly support the Sabbath School and work to fulfill the Sabbath School goal of community outreach. The Culpeper church in Virginia has such a blending of outreach.
Retreats
The church’s annual evangelistic season kicks off with an outreach focus at a camp retreat. In September 2009 the church rented a meeting place at the Mt. Aetna campgrounds in Hagerstown, Maryland, and had the largest retreat attendance: 40 people, including 12 non-Adventists. Church members always are encouraged to invite their non-Adventist friends and family to a weekend of camping, spiritual meetings, testimonies, hikes, games, and team-building.
The retreat is supported by small groups that meet every Friday night in members’ homes. This provides an opportunity for those who are currently studying and new friends to gather informally for a meal, songs, testimonies, and a nondoctrinal study of Scripture. Friendship evangelism has been the most successful form of ministry for Culpeper members. Newcomers are introduced to a healthy diet, have their hearts touched by testimonies, learn Scripture through song, and are invited to share prayer requests. People receptive to the messages in these meetings are later encouraged to enter into more intensive studies with experienced members.
The outreach team organizes an annual schedule of events: lectures, cooking classes, prophecy seminars, etc. These events lay the groundwork for new prospects to become involved in the group studies. Church members participate as greeters, organizers, helpers, and even as lay speakers.
Sabbath School
Culpeper members have found that Sabbath School is a great venue for teaching and nurturing new members. We have the regular adult and children divisions plus a special Discover Class led by our young adults in which newly baptized members are given a chance to share fresh revelations from God’s Word.
Up to three quarters of the church membership gathers at Sabbath School, eagerly learning, sharing, and allowing the Holy Spirit to impress their hearts.
Our yearly outreach activities culminate in an annual evangelistic series. Because of the limited venues in our small community, Culpeper conducted a tent revival meeting, and that proved to be an intriguing climax to our outreach year.
God blessed our efforts for the past two years with 16 baptisms and 7 rebaptisms. The growth has been a blessing to our 70-member congregation, and Culpeper members continue to press forward in the faith of Jesus.
Felipe Ferreira is the outreach coordinator for the Culpeper, Virginia, church and wrote this article with input from the outreach team.
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