One Church Family Around the Table
Church Summer Picnic

I had been looking forward to our church picnic because it gave us a chance to do something simple and important: bring our entire congregation together. People from both services gathered around food, conversation, and the kind of unhurried time that could be hard to find on a Sunday morning. My hope was that we would feel less like two services and more like one church family. By the end of the day, I knew we had experienced that.

Putting the picnic together took plenty of work. We were setting up while church services were happening, so volunteers had to attend one service and then trade places with people from the next. Serving several hundred people also meant organizing a lot of food and paying attention to many details. None of that work felt like a burden, but it did require a committed team. The volunteers handled the logistics with generosity and care, and their work made it possible for everyone else to enjoy the afternoon.

One of the most memorable moments was also one of the funniest. Everyone had a chance to turn in a ticket, and the person whose name was drawn could pie Pastor Mike in the face. Mike ended up getting pied five times. He was a good sport—and the whole thing had been his idea in the first place—so the laughter felt like a gift we shared together.

The deeper moments came in quieter conversations. I had the opportunity to talk with people I did not know well, and twice those conversations opened a door for me to ask, “Can I pray for you about that?” I was grateful to pause, listen, and pray with them. Those moments reminded me that fellowship was more than eating together; it was making room for people to be known and cared for.

For me, the picnic showed what could happen when a church family simply spent time together. We built a stronger sense of community, took pride in the place we called home, and saw God at work in both the laughter and the personal conversations. Bringing people together was the mission of the day, and it was a joy to see that mission become real.

Todd Hixenbaugh
Kids & Family Pastor