Light Party

As you may all be aware for the past few years on Halloween we have run a Light party in the church as an alternative to trick or treating and the other Halloween related events that take place. In view of the church’s reviewing what we do and how we do it, and aiming to do less and use our resources effectively. I have prayed about whether we should run a light party this year and come to the decision that we won’t. It has been a very successful event in terms of numbers of people coming into the church building for the party, but over the years it has lost its impact. We have also struggled to use it as a platform for building lasting relationships – and it requires a very large number of volunteers and set up time to run!
Instead of having a big light party in the church I would like to encourage people from the church to get together and host smaller light parties in their homes. This will enable there to be a greater focus on building on the existing relationships that people have. In a smaller group there is also a greater opportunity to share the reasons why we are doing something different, something that could get a bit lost in the larger event. The Church is happy to support these smaller light parties – we will provide anyone who wants with ideas and resources for games and crafts.
It is important to remember that as one thing finishes it will create time and space for us to focus on the other things that we run such as Superstars and the Ark or for something new to happen.
Rich Lomath (rich@stjamesbythepark.org / 023 8077 1755)