Why so serious? Evaluating the 'Ministry of fun' At Oak Grove Community Church, McDonough, Georgia

After a season of plateau and decline, the leadership at Oak Grove Community Church in McDonough, Georgia requested a contextualization study of the community within a ten-mile radius of Oak Grove Community Church and asked the congregation to complete a congregational survey. One of the top responses from both studies indicated that the top preference for congregational programming was family and leisure activities. In addition, the study indicated that the top dissatisfaction in life was personal spiritual development.;The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between spiritual wellbeing and having fun in church. The ministry research hypothesis was that there is a connection between creating an atmosphere of fun in church and perceived spiritual wellbeing. Sixteen congregants voluntarily participated in a "ministry of fun" in which six events were planned. The first three events were "Family Worship Days," which were fun themes planned on the first Sunday of the month for three months. The second three events were a family picnic, fall festival, and movie night at the church. At the beginning and the end of the research period, the participants completed a Spiritual Well-Being Scale survey. In addition, the participants were asked to participate in focus groups following the research period.;The evidence suggests that there was not a statistically significant relationship between individual spiritual well-being and the ministry of fun. The qualitative and quantitative evidence from the study indicates, however, that there is a significant relationship between the ministry of fun and a collective dimension of spiritual wellbeing, which has yet to be explored in the existing research. This study offers a conceptual framework, which includes a collective dimension of spiritual well-being and leisure, for further ministry and research.