Harvest festivals help UMs reach out to communities

By Rachel Toalson
Staff Writer
Three-fourths of the regular worship population of Asbury UMC, Corpus Christi, staffed the Oct. 21 event.
The Corpus Christi police department parked somewhere around 3,000 cars.
Church members cooked more than 3,000 hot dogs and prepared more than 90 pounds of caramel for apples.
Asbury’s Harvest Festival—with its puppet shows, face painting and much-requested hayrides—has become one of the largest harvest celebrations in the Southwest Texas Conference. Many congregations plan fall events as outreach tools around Halloween.
The 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Corpus Christi event provided “out-of-control fun,” said Beth Gray, director of Asbury’s children’s ministries.
About 3,500 people attend each year, Gray said—a far cry from the church’s average worship attendance of 450.
Volunteers provide hayrides; food including cotton candy, popcorn, hotdogs, caramel apples and nachos; puppet shows every hour; and face painting. The event also has carnival games, moonwalks and obstacle courses for children’s entertainment.
Everything is free.
Asbury uses funds from its annual pumpkin patch sales to finance the event, Gray said. Pumpkin proceeds always seem to supply enough money.
“It’s not in our budget at all,” Gray said of the Harvest Festival. “It’s just a matter of God working it out, making the expenses match our output from the pumpkin patch.”
Last year, she said, the expenses were $1 less than their income from the patch.
“This event is fun, and it is also Christ-centered,” Gray said. “That’s what makes it successful. The purpose of the event is to reach people for Christ.
“We’re doing all this for free so that people can understand the free love of Jesus Christ.
“It is an extremely effective outreach.”
Thirty people made first-time decisions for Jesus at the face-painting booth last year, Gray reported.
Painters use only five colors: yellow (for gold), black, red, white and green, Gray said. The colors symbolically stand for religious elements of the Christian faith.
Yellow reminds people of something precious—like the streets of gold waiting for everyone in heaven, Gray said. Black represents sin and how we are separated from God. Red stands for Christ’s blood on the cross.
White symbolizes our being washed white as snow, Gray said. Green symbolizes growth in Christ.
After explaining the colors, painters usually pray with their subjects and give them an opportunity to accept Jesus into their life.
Coker UMC, San Antonio, ran its harvest celebration Oct. 22. The “alternative to Halloween” event offered food, hayrides, games, music and inflatables.
“This is a place that everyone can bring their children,” said Cheryl Kendall, director of Coker’s children’s ministries. “It’s for family, for all ages.”
This year the event featured a labyrinth at the site of Coker’s contemporary service, Kendall said. In addition, members offered “trunk or treat.” People decorated the trunks of their cars and handed out candy and other goodies.
The church doesn’t charge to attend the festival, Kendall said.
“We’re trying to reach out,” she said. “This is not just for the church. It’s for the community around here. We want to let people know that we’re here for them. We want them to come to a safe place.”
Bracken UMC, Garden Ridge, staged “Bracken Days in the Pumpkin Patch” event Oct. 14.
It was a “day that our congregation can come out and play in our patch,” said Jessica Roessing, a member of the church.
This year was the fourth for the annual celebration. It featured an “amazing pumpkin race,” a craft fair, a pumpkin recipe bake-off, potato sack races, partner races, a picnic lunch and a pumpkin seed-spitting contest.
The event was well-attended, Roessing said.