Our Church, like many other churches, had a small library. It was staffed by dedicated workers but was hardly ever used. Very little priority was given to the library as a viable ministry tool. This caused me to consider what potential items we'd need to include in the library to make it a potential ministry tool and asset to our overall church ministry.
Last October we began a resource library. The resource library's purpose is twofold:
1. To encourage and facilitate spiritually appraised family living and spiritual maturity in our church family;
2. To acquaint the body with what is available in Christian literature, music, videos, and other potential spiritual resources which come to our attention.
We began with a stock of over 300 videos, a number of cassettes by various Christian artists, over 100 message tapes from key speakers in the evangelical community, 10 magazines (geared specifically to people of different ages) and are in the process of adding over 100 recent book publications addressing key areas to our book library.
Our video library includes:
- Children: entertainment and instructional listings (Gerbert, Circle Square, Psalty, Super Book, Flying House, Annimated Children's Adventures, Concordia series, Sunshine Factory, Color Me a Rainbow, Anthony Paul etc.)
-Youth: music, Why Wait Video Collection (McDowell) a number of Ken Anderson Movies directed to youth etc.
- Adult: Dallas Seminary Video Collection (42 instructional and inspirational videos featuring such people as Hendricks, Pentecost, Smith, Gangel, Campbell, etc.)
Before & After You Say I Do, Single parenting, WorldWide Pictures Movies, Ken Anderson Movies, Moody Science Collection, etc.
This is only a partial listing of some of the items we are seeking to get into our people's hands. We have only been moving in this direction for several months. The resource library has been enthusiastically received by our people but it will take at least a year before we are able to measure whether this is a Best Proven Idea or merely an idea.
P.S. We also have a Children's Phone Clip featuring a new 3 min. story each day with Gerbert that children can call as part of this.
Loren Mason, 1990