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For many churches, event planning during the winter months is primarily about indoor happenings in well-heated buildings. At New Heights Church in Vancouver, Washington (www.newheights.org), people are thinking far beyond the winter chill. By January of each year, they are making plans for Summer Festival, a 16-day experience that occurs each August. It's like an extreme Vacation Bible School that involves everyone.

Summer Festival takes the entire church to the entire community. In 2005 Summer Festival included 52 different events, more than 30 off campus, ranging from mini-golf to motorcycle outings, from garden tours to guided tours in a children's museum. A few, like a 10K, 5K, and kids' race for the homeless, involve corporate sponsors, but most are free or of minimal charge.

A few require a full day, such as a hike up Mt. Rainier or a trail bike adventure, but most last an hour or so, such as a lesson in line dancing or a game of Frisbee golf at a local park.

"Our goal is to provide dozens of ways to connect with friends, new and old," says pastor Matt Hannan. "One of God's finest gifts to us is each other." Each activity is carefully planned to make it easy for church people to invite family and friends. "We try to help everyone find more than one activity that fits them," says Hannan.

The event, inaugurated in 2000, kicks off on a Saturday and ends with an "Under One Sky" outdoor worship service.

"The whole experience, especially the final event, flows out of our mission to find, enfold, and heal those who are lost or disconnected from church," says Paul MacLurg, executive pastor. "One of our core values is to love and accept people where they are, using a language they can understand. We want Summer Festival to convince people that we really do mean that we accept them as they are."

Other churches have adapted Summer Festival to their own communities. "It's one of the most easily transferable things we do," says Julie Boe, children's ministry director. "You mostly go to places you don't have to create, so a church doesn't need a great facility or lots of space." For all the impact, it takes less than 1 percent of the church's budget, plus staff time.

According to Sally Butts, Summer Festival coordinator, about 90 percent of the church participates. "If you don't take part in something, you almost feel left out," she says. In addition, church people bring more friends to Summer Festival than to any other event during the year.

The church works hard to make a strong connection to the rest of the year. Summer Festival involves sizable crowds, but its lasting results are measured one by one.

Tracey, currently a lay leader at the church, recalled conversations years ago on a Summer Festival hike as a turning point. Scott and Paula, a couple living together, had been attending the Alcoholics Victorious program but didn't feel at home at New Heights until the friendships they made one Summer Festival. They are now married, baptized, and involved in the church.

"Summer Festival is about making connections through an atmosphere of love and acceptance," says MacLurg. "From there they can explore what it means to have a relationship with God through a community of great people."

Copyright © 2006 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.
Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

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