The Fellowship Fest: Encountering God’s Presence in our Community
Whenever I am heading out of the parking lot on Gildersleeve Street, I often see the skateboarders in the vacant lot as I drive past. And as I watch these independent young teenagers go air born off their home made jumps, hair flying as they gracefully cling to their skate boards while spinning their bodies effortlessly in mid-air, I find myself wondering, how can the church touch the lives of these young people with the truth that they are loved limitlessly by the One God who has brought them into being?
Well, this past Saturday, September 26th, as a slew of volunteers set up barricades and moved Good Shepherd’s presence out onto South Street, between the music, children bouncing joyfully in the Moonwalk, kids creating colorful chalk art on the black top while delicious smells of barbeque wafted from Harry Heck’s gas grill, I was amazed to behold a line of young teenage boys roll onto South Street in the midst of all the festive happenings. I took the opportunity to connect with them while they hung out by introducing myself. And I commented to them how I have watched them skateboard in the vacant lot and have admired their acrobatic moves. They seemed surprised that people like myself actually watch them.
The presence of the skateboarders on Saturday exemplifies how the Fellowship Fest is a one-day celebration that has the power to open up our church to the surrounding community. There is a tremendous amount of work from a variety of volunteers that goes into the Fellowship Fest to make this one-day street fair happen. The question might be raised, is all that time worth it for an event that only lasts five hours? I would say, every single minute spent in the planning and preparation for the Fest is worth it just to see all the people in our community who are able to connect with Good Shepherd throughout the day: foreign students from Wilkes University; families with children from all over the city including many from the Hispanic community. And yes, even the skateboarders for whom I have been longing to connect with and I have finally had the chance to meet.
And as I watched these skateboarders teach some young admiring boys how to balance themselves a top a precarious board on wheels, I realized, as Jim Parks lifted up in his devotion at our council meeting last night, the Spirit of God is not limited exclusively to those on the inside of the church. But is constantly at work and is found in unexpected places like rebellious teenagers connecting with the community of faith at a Fellowship Fest street fair on South Street.
Peace,
Pastor Janell Wigen
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