Listen: Josh Reid talks about Jesus Club activities and attitude with Ben McEachen
By Ben McEachenMonday 13 Dec 2021Hope AfternoonsChristmasReading Time: 2 minutes
Josh Reid makes no bones about it: “Christmas looks like a lot of celebrations out there but it’s a lot more fun at Jesus Club”.
Josh is Operations Manager with Jesus Club, a network of local groups across Sydney and beyond.
Jesus Club is for adults living with intellectual disability.
Jesus Club is for adults living with intellectual disability.
Local churches host “Jesus Club” gatherings where singing, games, craft, Bible study, and food are shared by members and leaders.
Josh explained they made Jesus Club Christmas super fun by blasting around “gigantic beachballs”, consuming loads of food, and getting Jesus Clubbers to wear outrageous hats.
A “life-saving difference” can be made to those who are part of Jesus Club, Josh said. He pointed to its “unique” focus.
“Our main emphasis is teaching the Bible but… most adults with intellectual disability are concrete thinkers and they are unable to think in abstract terms,” Josh said.
“So, things like salvation, faithfulness; all the poetic language and symbolic language that the Bible is full of – like ‘Jesus is the bread of life’ – they can’t really grasp it.
“What we talk about, instead of salvation, is how God loves us all and we can all become friends with Jesus forever.
“We try to make the complex, abstract concepts very simple.
“And the Christian message is very simple: We are sinners; we need salvation; we have a saviour available to us.”
Listen to the full interview with Jesus Club Operations Manager Josh Reid in the player above.