FOREST RANCH, Calif.—Forest Ranch Baptist Church is giving away ice cream!
“Free Ice Cream is one of the easiest ministries I’ve ever done,” said Pastor Chips Ross, describing how church members set up a table under the church’s shady front patio and serve ice cream in bowls and cones as children are finishing school on Friday afternoons.
Pastor Ross says this is the key to the event—the church is located across the street from a local school. “Almost everyone who goes to the school drives by our church, so we time our hour to be right when school gets out,” Pastor Ross said.
The church uses the event to meet people in the community. “It’s helped our Good News Club ministry, as the kids and parents are a lot more familiar with me,” Pastor Ross said. “We’ve had a few people visit our church because they first got to know us through this ministry.”
Pastor Ross, who is part of a new mentoring program with John Greening and Jim Vogel, got the idea for the ministry while attending a Blueprint Seminar in Vacaville, Calif. John Greening was describing how Jesus went to people in His own town—but Greening also noted how difficult this can be today.
“There’s really no place that most people gather, not even the school,” Pastor Ross said. “We don’t have bars in Forest Ranch, nor do we have coffee shops. So the ice cream idea is an attempt to bring the people to the church, since it’s not quite easy for the church to go to the people.”
