27 February 2014 | Meppel, The Netherlands [Rudy Dingjan and Judy Plaatjes, tedNEWS] Most people in the Netherlands know something about the Bible and have a favourite story they can recall from childhood. So in 2013, nine Christian denominations, including the local Seventh-day Adventist church, in Meppel, Netherlands decided to join hands and conduct a survey in malls, schools and streets throughout the city to find out from people what the ten most popular Bible stories were. 2,100 people filled in questionnaires which were counted and the results compiled into a list that was shared with each of the participating churches. The idea was that at the beginning of every month, the story of the month would be announced and all of the local churches in the city would focus their sermons on that particular story.
The churches have dedicated one of their church services each month to the “Story of the Month” and in September 2013 they started with the story in the tenth place: Ruth. The next month saw the story of Samson being told, followed by The Good Samaritan, and in December, the story of David and Goliath was shared. 2014 started with the story of Creation, followed by Moses’ story and in the coming month of March, they will concentrate on The Prodigal Son. The monthly discussion nights about the stories take place just across from where the Adventist congregation meets each Saturday. The grand closure of the series will take place in June this year with a central feast and many features.
Adventist involvement in this project is strong. PR is in the hands of Hanneke Tan-Koning who sends out monthly newsletters, in which the Seventh-day Adventist services are always mentioned. For more information, and to discover which stories were voted the most popular, you can visit the website or take a look at their Facebook page. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Miroslav Pujic, director; Deana Stojkovic, editor
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