Homecoming/Fall Festival - Rector's Rambling for October 10, 2021

     Once again we come to our Fall Festival gathering, which we have called Homecoming.  Being a downtown church with a long history, a place were people like to come for “big events and holidays”, I wanted to try to add a third Sunday on the calendar, along with Christmas and Easter, when our friends can “come home” to worship with us and enjoy a meal.

However, as the neighborhood is growing around St. John’s with more and more housing, I would like to expand the focus of this special fall weekend into a Fall Festival.  In 2019, Cam had the “out of the box” idea of having a bounce house.  Perhaps next year, assuming things are more “back to normal” with the virus, we can bring back the bounce house and a few other things (petting zoo?) to attract neighbors to come and join us in addition to the glorious worship and delicious luncheon.

A few weeks ago in a conversation with a graduate student, he pointed out that most undergrads he interacts with now have no experience of church.  We have come to the point as a society were so many people don’t even have the veneer of church attachment, even tangentially.  The thought of stepping inside a church building for a luncheon, rummage sale, or worship is intimidating.

But if we have something outside that we enjoy and is attractive to the neighbors, we can then begin to forge relationships which then can open them up to joining us inside.

Of course, the best way to make this happen is for us individually to invite those we already have a neighborly relationship with to join us for these events and more.  And even better, to invite them directly to come to know Jesus