WENTZVILLE—Doris May, who is a member of First Baptist Church here, is not a scrapbooker. So, it is a surprise that scrapbooking is the center of her 10-year ministry. May is the hostess of Remembrance, the free scrapbooking crop, held every third Friday at the church.
“I’ve made a few scrapbooks as gifts to celebrate special events through the years,” May said, “but, I want to be available to have one-on-one conversation with everyone attending the crop.”
May and another scrapbook team member, Jamie Thornton, reported that the free monthly crops attract manyscrapbookers from the community.
“The crops are open to the outside and believers,” Thornton said. “They are coming from a lost world with mixed religious backgrounds. God is placing them in this circle.”
She understands the draw for truth.
“An assignment to read the Bible in a college ethics class started my questions,” Thornton said. She began attending First Wentzville and became a Christian in 2003, the year the scrapbooking ministry began. “This ministry has had a tremendous impact on my life,” she said. “I came from a lost lifestyle and a lost family.”
May agreed that the questions from the scrapbookers are important.
“In the last five years, we’ve had more than 500 different people attend and 95 percent of those are not in church anywhere. We’ve ministered to several seekers,” she said. “We always have a speaker during the four-hour crop, and that always prompts discussion. I’ve had many of the scrapbookers looking for personal answers after hearing testimonies. The plan of salvation is always shared during the time.”
Many other churches have sought information on how May and First Wentzville operate the ministry. “Ten years ago when I considered starting this ministry,” she said, “I called Pastor (Ralph) Sawyer and asked him about it. I knew this was an unusual ministry and I wondered if I could get budget money for it.”
May’s plan was to turn the fellowship hall into a well-equipped, up-to-date crop room. “We’ve got a Cricut, multiple cartridges and other die-cutting tools,” she said. “I know many come to use our equipment. As things get older, I sell them and put the money back into the ministry.”
According to Thornton, the equipment is a great part of the publicity. “Doris puts our group on Craig’s List and in the local newspapers,” Thornton said. “It is wonderful to offer the equipment in publicity.”
In addition to the monthly crop, the ministry provides one overnight crop each year. The next one is scheduled for September.