Life Club meetings

Geoff Sole provided the following updates on Life Club meetings held recently in various locations around the world.

Last spring, GCI’s London congregation held a trip for their young people to view a replica of Noah’s ark in the Netherlands (see picture below). It houses full-scale plastic animals, some small live animals and birds, two cinemas and a restaurant. As a result of the trip, the congregation’s Life Club held a meeting with a Noah’s ark theme.

The Great Baddow, England, congregation held two Life Club meetings. At the first one, speeches were given on overcoming difficult circumstances, honoring parents, making a helpful difference in the lives of young people and perils and pitfalls of the first year of marriage. Graduation certificates were awarded to Maaike Mantel, Ricky Fowler and Annabelle Woolford (pictured at right). In the second meeting, speeches were given on the Church as “safety net,” health risks in eating genetically modified crops and cake-making.

At a Life Club (pictured below) hosted by one of GCI’s Cape Town South Africa congregations, the winning speech was given on career perspectives. The club also helped organize a youth service in the host church, a walking trip up Lions Head mountain, and a social day visiting area beaches.

GCI in South India held two Life Club meetings during their annual worship festival. At the first one, Patricia D’Costa (pictured at left), daughter of GCI pastor Joseph D’Costa, presented table topics. This was followed by four speeches, then a talk from pastor D’Costa on overcoming procrastination. Mission developer Rod Matthews then gave the overall evaluation, mentioning how club had helped him and encouraging others to participate.

Colin Lauchlan (pictured at right), pastor of two GCI churches in Canada, runs a weekly Life Club in a Teen Challenge drug rehabilitation center in London, Ontario. Colin writes:

We usually average around 6-8 attendees on any one evening. I have a few people in the Club who really see the benefit and are very enthusiastic about it. I rely on them to recruit new members as they join the program. Because of the frequency of the meetings and the few attendees, some members have now given several speeches and it’s great to see their progress. We have just started a new format for our meetings so that members can have more time to prepare. We now have a regular Club one week and a lecture the following week. What I am doing on the lecture evening is playing a recording of a speech to the Club, then discussing with them techniques the speaker has employed in organizing and delivering his speech. Last week we discussed Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. It is fascinating to see how even the “great” speeches of our time employ the simple principles we teach in Life Club. Next time we will be looking at Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

The Owerri, Nigeria congregation recently held a Life Club with 14 adults attending (see picture above). Chairperson Samuel Obih reminded members of the benefits of Club, including “taming the tongue” (from the book of James). Speeches were given on building a career and alternative ways of learning.

In England, a Life Club meeting was held during the annual fall festival in Paignton. The chairperson was Gemma Brown and the topics leader was James Esom (pictured at left). Speeches addressed planting seeds spiritually, overcoming a poor childhood, how astronomers know if planets exist, and gratitude. Meeting director Roger Lippross said that “speech enhances life and we should not miss opportunities to speak in Club.” He also mentioned the importance of having vision and of persevering by keeping one’s goals clearly in mind.