For generations, many congregations have observed “Rally Day” or “Homecoming Sunday” at the end of summer. After vacations, beach days, family visits, and weekends away, worshipers were invited to “rally” back to church and begin a new program year together.

This Sunday, September 20, St. John’s will revive its own version of that tradition with the return of our Americana Festival. The celebration was once a familiar part of congregational life, but we discontinued it during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of our 150th anniversary year, our leadership decided that it was time to dust off the tradition, bring it back, and make some new memories.

The day begins with worship at 9:30 AM. We will bless our school children and their backpacks as they begin another academic year. We will also celebrate the opening day of Sunday School, welcoming our young people back for another year of learning about God’s love. A worship bulletin is attached.

After worship, the celebration moves outside for picnic food, drinks, live music, pony rides, a bounce house, children’s games and races, and plenty of fellowship. There will also be a dunk booth, and for reasons I do not entirely understand, your pastor has been selected as one of its featured attractions. Apparently, after listening to me preach from a safe distance for several years, some people are eager to test their aim!

All joking aside, this festival is about more than food, games, or sending the pastor plunging into a tank of cold water. It is about coming home. It is about reconnecting with friends, welcoming new neighbors, and remembering that the Church is not merely a building we enter. It is a family in which we belong.

For 150 years, generations have gathered at St. John’s to worship, learn, serve, celebrate, and support one another. This Sunday, we continue that story.

So come to worship. Bring your children, grandchildren, neighbors, and friends. Stay for the festival. Enjoy the music and festivities. And if you are planning to visit the dunk booth, please remember that forgiveness remains an important Christian virtue!

See you Sunday!

Blessings,

Pastor Marc