Hughesville Friends Meet Community at Crossroads of Life
| Cover Stories: | In The Spotlight: | Features: |
|---|---|---|
| Hearing the Call; Taking the Risk | Quick News from Around the Yearly Meeting | |
| FY (Friends Youth) United | Misson Trip by Plane, Motorcycle, and RV's | |
| Serve Time |
Hughesville Friends Strive to Meet
Community at Crossroads of Life
Reaching out to communities may mean creating crossroads. What do these look like in a rural community? Car shows, wagon rides, barn dances, and wild game dinners!
“Crossroads are places where our faith and the world intersect for a few moments so that we can share the love of Christ with people who see the church as irrelevant to their daily lives,” explained Pastor Dan Cale. “Most non-Christians are not interested in churchy things so we have to build places where our faith and their interests come together.”
Hughesville (PA) Friends deliberately chose to create four crossroad connections with their neighbors and community in 2009. The first event was their second anual block party which included a classic car show, live music and lots of fun. Each major ministry of the church hosted an area of entertainment for the day including games, face painting, and a dunk tank for the leaders (yes Pastor Dan and Pastor Tammy took their turns).
Hundreds of people from the community joined for a full day of free food, drinks, and great fellowship. Horse drawn wagon rides around town were an especially big hit. All agreed it was a fantastic day to say thanks to the community and to develop crossroads of faith.
Their second event was the Wild Game Sportsman’s Dinner. Over 100 people crowded into the Fellowship Hall of the Hughesville Friends Church on September 26th to enjoy a night of very different tastes. A sold out crowd shared in diverse wild game dishes including mountain goat, wild boar, venison, elk, rabbit, salmon, catfish, and many more.
Renowned Christian wildlife artist, TV host and researcher Ken Hunter shared stories of his life, work, and faith with those who attended. National champion turkey caller David Tilburg held demonstrations and Dominick Draper of Draper Taxidermy shared his skill by mounting a nice buck during the afternoon. The demand for tickets to this event may require a move to a much larger venue for next year’s dinner.
The third event was a Barn Dance and the fourth was their first annual Great Commission 5K Run/Walk for missions on October 31st. “We were hoping for 20 to 30 runners for our first race,” explained Pastor Dan. All were pleased with the total of 47 runners and walkers who participated.
On Sunday the church was able to hand Dr. John Williams Jr. a check for $438.50 towards the EFC-ER Great Commission Budget. Plans are already underway to run the race next year. The winner of the race ran the 3.1 miles in 19m29s. Pastor Dan Cale ran this race as his first official 5K and placed 16th with a time of 29m54s.
The concept of community crossroads has opened the door to make friends with and engage dozens of non Christians in a discussion about faith and Christ.
One person who attended our wild game dinner sent a thank you card expressing her gratitude for the creative way that we shared the good news. She had brought with her a close non-Christian friend and left the dinner encouraged that one day her friend would come to know Christ.
Information provided by Pastor Dan Cale.
