Taking a Spin at Proclaiming Christ

by Dan Abraham

NORFOLK, ONTARIO – For six years now, the Lutheran Laymen’s League (LLL) of the (Lake) Erie Zone and Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary (CLTS) have partnered together to give seminarians a “spin at proclaiming Christ” at the Norfolk County Fair. The fair is one of the oldest in Ontario, established in 1840, and has averaged over 115,000 visitors annually for the past decade. During the last forty years, three of the Lutheran congregations in and around Simcoe have worked with the LLL to host a Lutheran booth at the fair.

While the Lutheran booth has taken many shapes during that time, a constant feature has been the spin-the-wheel-game. Fair guests are invited to stop at the booth, check out the LLL resources, make a craft or chat, and play the spin-the-wheel-game. After spinning the wheel, the stopper on the wheel eventually comes to rest on a picture that corresponds to a biblical question. It then becomes the job of the volunteer to engage the contestant in a Q&A discussion about Christ.

Although the spin the wheel game appears as a relic of a bygone era, it is amazingly effective in the context of the fair. It allows the Gospel to be proclaimed and helps seminarians learn how to think on their feet in discussing the faith in very simple, everyday language with those who may or may not know anything about Christianity.

With the booth being open twelve hours each day for an entire week, a lot of volunteers are required to staff it. As the challenge to find volunteers has increased in recent years, the LLL approached Concordia Seminary for help, and students in the Evangelism class at CLTS now spend at least a few hours at the booth taking a spin at proclaiming Christ.

The playful atmosphere of the fair and participants’ willingness to play a game combine to create a unique opportunity for the Gospel. The game necessitates a question and answer discussion of God. Volunteers learn how to encourage participants to keep spinning the wheel and attempting to answer basic doctrinal questions. By God’s grace, this Q&A game sometimes even grows into a longer conversation of a more personal nature. Although the spin the wheel game appears as a relic of a bygone era, it is amazingly effective in the context of the fair. It allows the Gospel to be proclaimed and helps seminarians learn how to think on their feet in discussing the faith in very simple, everyday language with those who may or may not know anything about Christianity.

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Rev. Dan Abraham

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