MTM’s Celebration Banquet is big success in Chattanooga
By Dr. David Myers, Trustee and a Denominational Executive
Early this year, Ross Campbell and I had the privilege of sharing the good news of MTM’s ministry to our friends and neighbors in Chattanooga. We were hosts for a Celebration Banquet, designed specifically to raise awareness and build support for the ministry of MTM in our hometown. It was a splendid affair!
Here’s how we did it!
Table hosts were enlisted to invite enough friends to fill a table at the banquet. Each host paid a flat cost -- approximately the cost of the meal -- for each person at the table. The hosts were given a target date for the completion of the invitation process. Ross and I maintained close contact with the hosts while they were filling the 18 banquet tables. We supplied them with invitation cards that gave the time and place of the banquet. Also, we gave them some basic information about the MTM Mission and encouraged them to discuss it with their guests before the banquet date.At the end of the invitation period, the hosts reported their numbers to us and we were delighted to see that every table was filled. We had decided to use a local country club for our banquet site rather than a church, restaurant or other community place. When we gave the club manager our number requirements, he was impressed and became excited about our event.On the evening of the banquet, our hosts arrived early and were at their tables to greet their guests. There was time for all our guests to mingle, meet and greet each other. At mealtime, the club manager displayed a beautiful buffet, expertly served and genuinely appreciated by all our guests.After the meal, our program began with musical entertainment highlighted by a very talented MTM board member, Janet Noyes, who sang well-known and appreciated selections.The audience sat in stunned silence while Lloyd and Mary Byers, a pastor and wife who have been through the termination process, told their story. They had attended an MTM Wellness Retreat and related how that experience and other assistance that MTM provided them had given them strength to move through one of life’s very low moments to a new life of positive testimony.To conclude our program, Charles Chandler shared his burden for hurting ministers and their families. He gave examples of how the MTM Mission Statement guides our organization. Then, I made a brief low-pressure appeal for financial support of the work of MTM. Our entire program lasted only a couple of hours including the meal.Without question, the key to our success was the faithful work of our table hosts. We had the exact number of persons present for whom we had made reservations. A broad community base was represented among the guests across racial, age and denominational lines. And to our pleasure, with one exception for each of us, every person we asked to be a table host accepted the responsibility and carried out those duties faithfully, and fully.Bottom line -- more than 140 people heard about MTM, heard testimonies of persons helped by MTM, enjoyed an exceptional evening meal, heard an outstanding musical program and made new friends. How can you top that?Many of our guests accepted the challenge and became MTM advocates by contributing to our ministry. Others have mailed in their contributions. I believe MTM will continue to receive, for a long time, very positive support from these new advocates that gave a night of their lives to attend MTM’s first Celebration Banquet in Chattanooga.
MTM is a new kid on the block. We’re only five years old. I encourage others to share the good news about MTM’s ministry through a Celebration Banquet in your town. It does take a lot of work. We’ll help you do it. It is well worth it for you and for MTM.