By Samantha Blowers
On Sunday 12th September 2010, Philo Trust saw the launch of the largest just10 series of its kind since it began in 1998! With support from UCB, Premier Media and Compassion, over 517 churches took part in teaching the Ten Commandments to their congregations!
Since its launch, just10 has captured the imagination of hundreds of church leaders and we have seen an explosion of creativity in the way churches are running just10 and using the series to reach out and engage with their community. We are hearing so many encouraging stories from leaders who have been using the materials to teach the Ten Commandments over breakfast, in cafés, during school lunch groups, in prisons and even in residential homes. We have been so encouraged by them that we wanted to share some…
Two local churches joined together to run just10 at a new time of 4pm, specifically aimed at encouraging teenagers to bring in non-churched friends, and had 50 people starting on the first week!
One church advertised on a huge billboard opposite their building to promote their just10 series.
20 churches in Leamington Spa are running just10; they distributed 15,000 leaflets and prayed together for the series and for the people of their town!
Many churches across the UK have contacted their local newspapers and are running weekly columns focusing on a different commandment each week!
Andy Morgan, Leader of West Bromwich Network Church, decided to use just10 as a tool to help reach out to young adults in the local community, “We wanted to run the series for all churches in the area that may not have the resources to do it themselves, so we took a leap of faith and hired a theatre right in the centre of West Brom! This building offers a neutral venue for all denominations to come to, but more importantly to invite non-Christians to attend without feeling intimidated. We are running the series on a Wednesday evening so that the other local churches can get involved without having to cancel their own services on a Sunday. We are confident that this will enable us to reach out to people who may not normally attend a Christian event.”
You can read more stories and find other creative ways to run a series by visiting www.just10.org. If your church is running a just10 series, we’d love to hear from you; please email us your stories at enquiries@just10.org.
just10 on TV!
We are delighted that our friends at UCB are broadcasting the entire just10 series from Thursday 23rd September at 7.30pm until Thursday 25th November, with repeats being shown on Fridays at 10.30am and 2.30pm, so if you can’t make it to a live series then you don’t have to miss out - just pop the kettle on and watch it with family, friends and neighbours in the comfort of your own home! Please visit www.just10.org for more details.
The Future of just10
We realise that church life is busy, and for some churches just10 didn’t quite fit into the plan for 2010. What’s great about the just10 series is that the teaching is timeless and the resources provided for the leaders in the just10 Tool Kit can be used again and again.
just10 is an ongoing initiative continuing into 2011 and beyond. J.John explains, “We are excited about the future of just10 and our hope is that thousands more churches will be equipped and encouraged to teach the Ten Commandments to their flock, and those on the fringe and even beyond, for many years to come. We would encourage every church to run just10 and see what God will do.”
As well as being flexible, just10 is also extremely compatible with other courses used in church. We already know many leaders that are using the just10 series as follow-on teaching after their Alpha course, as they complement each other very well.
Looking ahead, just imagine thousands more churches across the UK and beyond running ten weeks of teaching on the instructions no-one has improved on! Not only will lives be realigned with God’s desire to see us live out lives to the full, just10 will open up opportunities for people who do not have a relationship with God to also be impacted by these life-changing principles … and what can be better than that!
Samantha is Philo Trust's Projects & Events Manager.
