Affinity Evangelism

It was a night for love. Couples from several churches invited their friends, unchurched couples, to come to a sweetheart dinner. It was a ticketed event held in a banquet room, where the couples from church bought tickets for their friends. Some folks at church bought extra tickets for those whose finances were tight -- that was a nice touch.

This was a festive event. The church really put forth an extra effort for decorations, very classy invitations and attempted to do everything with elegance and style. It was almost (not quite) on the level of a wedding reception.

There were hors d'ouvres and drinks as people arrived. Then a host couple eventually welcomed everyone, prayed for the meal and they were seated. After a delicious dinner an evangelist talked about God being the focus and foundation of a marriage, how much God loves them and wants their marriage to succeed. He invited people to receive Christ and closed his message with an invitation for couples to come forward, be prayed over and have their marriage blessed.

The message was followed by a wedding cake for dessert and dancing. Everyone went home happy. Couples also received a gift bag with a book on marriage, a list of resources for marital help, a discount coupon for a restaurant, an invitation for church, a card thanking them for coming and some other things.