Again this year, I did a show at the Bridgton Alliance Church's 'Harvest Party' on Halloween night.  The event starts with lots of carnival style games, free candy and a bounce house.  Families walked around in costumes and caught up with neighbors.  It was a safe, contained place to enjoy a lot of family friendly activities.

About half way through, the bounce house was deflated, the games shut down, and the audienced was seated.  I was on.  I could talk about how much they loved Harley - my rabbit.  I could talk about how much I dropped balls in my first juggling routine, or how flawless I was with machetes later in the show. I could talk about the fright followed by relieved laughter after I used my hand guillotine.  But none of those things were the highlight for me.

Before the show, I ran into a student from fifteen years ago.  Heather was always one of my favorites (yes, teachers have favorites).  She was also a good friend of our daughter, Naomi.  She was always honest with me about her struggles, even and especially her struggles of faith.  It was a joy to see her at this event with her husband and three children (and another one coming soon!)  We caught up a bit, but soon it was show time.

Then, afterwards, as I'm loading props into my car, some people approached me in the parking lot.  They were two more former students from even further back: sisters Catherine and Jackie and Catherine's two children.  They go  all the way back to when I taught at OVCS in the early 2000's.  We also took a few minutes to catch up with each other.

None of these former students are currently going to a church, but they all came out to BAC for this event.  Sometimes the best thing a church can do is just be part of a community, make people feel welcome, and let them know that, no matter what has happened in the past, this is a church where they will not be hurt or abused.  

Thank you Pastor Mike, for holding this event, and thank you for letting me be a part of it.