Our Social Events

The annual picnic is upon us. The organizing committee has been planning for months, volunteers have put many hours into preparation, and we expect our community members and friends to attend tomorrow even if the weather is rainy. 

Many people look at the church's annual picnic and other social events as fundraising tools. The picnic, however, is a risky venture because, after all the prep work, inclement weather becomes a significant factor in the plummeting number of attendees and can create a financial deficit. Why does church leadership not consider other fundraising tools where chances of success can be much higher?

That’s a fair argument, but fundraising is not the only purpose of social functions in the church. Community building, fostering relationships, and strengthening our bonds are goals that we seek to achieve through our social functions. A few years ago, the entire world tasted the bitterness of social isolation that the pandemic imposed on us and how harmful social isolation is to our emotional well-being. The social events in the church bring us together, and the more time we spend with each other, the deeper our connections become. As the pastor of this church, I have seen some relationships born and nurtured here in the church halls, in the classrooms, and on the picnic grounds, and they blossomed into meaningful friendships and, in some cases, into marriages and new families. 

Volunteering to organize and run these events can create learning opportunities for the younger generation and mentoring opportunities for seasoned members. The dynamics of this kind of relationship can extend beyond social events into daily life. Volunteering fosters collaboration and service and provides our youth with a safe and engaging space. Finally, our involvement in the church's life curbs our tendency to live our lives self-centered and encourages us to practice the truth that we worship and serve God, who is much above us. 

Jesus did not spend all His time in the synagogues or the Temple but in the grain fields and the lake shores. The social events of our church are the equivalents of those fields and shores where we put our faith in practice, serve one another, get to know more about each other, and live in God’s Kingdom here on Earth.

I will see you at my coffee station on the picnic grounds tomorrow!