Inasmuch Plays Well in Peoria

In the days of Vaudeville, when a new show was developed the producers would often have it debut in Peoria, IL because it was believed that this mid-sized middle America town was a good barometer for future success.  If the show played well in Peoria, the producers could be confident it would play well in the rest of the country as well, hence the saying, “It plays well in Peoria.”

Glen Oak Church is affiliated with the Illinois-Wisconsin Region of the Disciples of Christ Churches.  Region leaders have been watching with interest what has taken place in Peoria and on August 29, used that church’s experience as the basis for Miracle Day--a multi-site day of compassion ministry for Disciples congregations throughout central and southern Illinois.

David Crocker was on hand to speak to the volunteers at the Peoria and Decatur, IL locations of Miracle Day on August 29.  He shared about the origin of Operation Inasmuch and encouraged the volunteers to be authentic representations of God’s love and grace as they went about doing their projects for the day.  He visited several of the work sites where he heard recipients of the compassion ministry express heartfelt gratitude for the ministry the Disciples provided that day.

Ten Disciples congregations were represented in the 200 or so volunteers who participated in the Peoria Inasmuch event.  Another dozen or so churches provided volunteers in the Decatur and Mt. Carmel locations.  The Rev. Dr. Beth Dobyns, Acting Regional Minister for the Illinois-Wisconsin Region said:  “Inasmuch facilitates the multiplication of partnerships among churches to be many places at one time.”  The Region is considering collaborating with Operation Inasmuch, Inc. to equip their congregations to use the Inasmuch model to impact their community for Christ in a simultaneous, Region-wide event in 2010.  Says Dobyns:  “This sort of ministry is contagious.  The August 29 event proved the value of the Inasmuch model and I expect it to give fresh momentum for what we are wanting to happen in our churches region-wide.”

Now that we know that Inasmuch plays well in Peoria, watch out America!!!!

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