'In His Steps' program to kick off at Ganado UMC
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By Jessica Coleman
Staff Writer
Pastor Mark Smith of Ganado United Methodist Church is shaking things up a bit, and reaching out to a different kind of audience. Instead of standing in front of the congregation and preaching, he’s planning to sit down with people who share his love for God and revive the popular late nineties question, “What Would Jesus Do?”
“Most Bible studies, what you do is you dive in and explore the Bible,” said Smith, “You try to figure out what it was supposed to mean back when it was inspired, and if you’re lucky, how it can be applied today. This is a little different.”
In His Steps, a program based around the Charles Monroe Sheldon novel of the same name, begins on Valentine’s Day. It focuses on doing what Jesus would do in any given situation - spreading love around the community, sometimes making more difficult decisions.
“In the 80s or 90s,” said Smith, “There was a big resurgence of this book, and everyone had on their bumper stickers, WWJD. What most people don’t realize is that isn’t anything new.”
In His Steps, written in 1896, centers around a preacher who challenges his congregation to a new way of thinking, asking them to always ask themselves “What would Jesus Do?” every time they do anything, whether it be in their careers, personal decision making, interpersonal relationships, or any other facet of their daily lives.
“Always, ‘What would Jesus do in this situation?’” said Smith.
“It’s not going to be a particularly comfortable class,” he said, “It’s going to be an interesting class. I want to see if Ganado can make the same change as this town in the book does.”
The class will go hand in hand with another service Pastor Smith is beginning, called Out of the Box.
“It’s open to anyone and is a completely nontraditional service,” he said. “I sit on a stool and have alternative music come in – some gospel bands, some jazz bands, things like that. I have a box I’m going to put in the back of the sanctuary, and when people have questions about God or the Bible, they can put it in the box.”
“I won’t look at the questions beforehand,” he said, “I’m just going to open the box up and see the question and we’re going to talk about it.”
“Hopefully I’ll know something about the passage,” he said, laughing.
The In His Steps program begins on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. at the Ganado United Methodist Church at 200 Twin Oaks Blvd in Ganado. Smith said it will be over by 7.
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