John's Tale of the Prince of Peace

While large crowds of parents and kids gathered last night (July 16) at bookstores across Wichita awaiting the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the largest crowd may have been at the Northside Church of Christ in north Wichita. The entire congregation turns out every year for a gala party themed around a book of the Bible. This year’s party was to celebrate the release of John’s Tale of the Prince of Peace. Every one attending dressed up as their favorite characters from previous book releases. The crowd joined in friendly competition with Bible Jeopardy and other games to find the most knowledgeable fans. The really hard-core fans participated in a “lightning round” quiz over general Bible knowledge. After all the festivities, parents and kids settled down in the auditorium for a reading of this year’s thriller—John's Tale of the Prince of Peace. It took a little over two hours for the reading, but everyone was on the edge of their seats. When asked how he liked staying up all night to hear about a book of the Bible, a ten-year–old boy said, “It’s really cool. Harry Potter is over 600 pages. The New Testament is only about 500, so my family reads through it once every year. This year’s book was extra neat, because it’s about Jesus. Plus, it’s full of all kinds of exciting miracles, and healings, and demons, and even kind of scary stuff.” As he locked the doors at the end of the party, Steve Tandy, Northside Minister told this reporter, “Sure we’ve got some members who get a kick out of secular books like Harry Potter, but, we realize what’s really important for our kids to read and study. We just love God’s Word around here!”

Associated Press Story
Wichita, Kansas
July 17, 2005