Our first attempt at an evangelistic event for parents was a Mums Night Out, held on Mother's Day in 1998. The basic theme was "Put your feet up, have a break from the kids" We put on a three course meal, served by the male members of the team in tuxedos, followed by lively entertainment, with a ten minute gospel presentation to finish. It was a roaring success, and we've been aiming to produce a couple of these nights a year ever since.

We've found that a week night is best, since our parents are less likely to be going out, so it won't conflict. It may also mean that bigger sisiters/brothers can be coerced more easily into baby sitting! We charge £4 for a ticket. This ensures that those who say they'll attend, actually turn up. We cater for about 150 mums, so we need that kind of security!

We lay our tables with nice table cloths, and decorate them with flowers and candles. Really pull all the stops out! We apply to the council for a temporary license to serve and sell alcohol; our mums wouldn't turn up if it was a dry evening! Their ticket gets them one glass of wine, and then they pay for any further drinks. Unfortunately a few always turn up with a bottle of vodka in their handbags, but we're used to that! We leave it entirely to your own discretion and conscience whether you have drinks at your own event.

Our last event was based on "Big Brother", cunningly renamed "Big Mother". After dinner our star comperes led a thrilling competition of games and tasks for the 8 lucky mums who made it through the first selection process. The games were straight from the Kidz Klub compendium and the mums loved every minute of it! Eating jelly without using your hands, the infamous bog-roll challenge, they screamed the house down all the way through.

We also run a bingo game, with a cheap electronic random number bingo machine. Bingo cards can be bought cheaply from many high street shops. Raffles are highly popular - the task of selling tickets should be given to someone who has the gift of the gab. This is an excellent way of raising funds for your club, but do make sure the prizes are worth trying for! Up here in the north, the ladies love nothing more than a night of bingo with some karaoke and 'laffs' thrown in; you may have to come up with different ideas to satisfy the tastes in your region!

At the end of the evening, over coffee, arrange a guest speaker to give their testimony. We give out response cards and pens to every mum, and include a 'prayer request' clause. This can be followed up on your visiting round, and has proved amazingly fruitful! Click here for testimonies...

Our Dad's nights are run slightly differently. In Liverpool, there are a lot of disinterested and even absent fathers, so we call this event Dads'n'lads. Its a chance for a kid and his dad to have some fun together, and we've had comments from both on how much it changed their relationship.

Our last event had an indoor 5-a-side football challenge, a pool competition, a darts championship, inflatable Gladiators and even axe-throwing. Best to keep those last two a good distance apart! We served burgers and sausages in buns, with a impromptu bar serving beer for the dads and soft drinks for the lads. Our stars for the night were Tough Talk, the power-lifting evangelists from the East End of London. We cannot reccomend these guys highly enough. See our links section for more details.

Remember that a lot of non-christian men are quite nervous of getting involved with anything to do with church. Very often they perceive it as 'soft' or 'cissy' so make your Dads'n'lads night hard core and tough. Once again we gave out response cards, and several dads filled them out with prayer requests.

These events can be fantastic ways to show non-church people just how excellent the family of God really is. You can also use them as a springboard for Alpha or 'Just looking' classes that your church may be running.

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