“Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of
the world.”
That’s our mission statement at LaFontaine UMC. So what in
the world does it mean to “transform” the world? Well, last night at the town
Halloween Party we saw what it meant in all of its glory. The entire town came
out and worked together and it was amazing. The firefighters made hotdogs and
hosted a costume contests for infants to adults. That contest is taken
seriously too, with baby gnomes and Pikachus, all the way up to adult gumball
machines and family themed Finding Nemo costumes. 
The firefighters have been gracious to allow the rest of us
to add to their event. This year, next to the fire station, Trunk-or-Treat cars
lined up for Trick-or-Treaters. Unlike other Trunk-or-Treats this one was
completely community based, with no
one organization using it as a marketing tool. Then on the other side of that,
the Lion’s Club allowed the Town Park Team to host a bake sale to raise funds
for new playground equipment. The Lion’s Club set up next to the fire station
with their kettle corn for families too. My favorite addition was from our town’s
nursing home. Not only did they provide chili alongside the fire station, but
they provided a hay ride across town to their facility, where facility residents
passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. In Rolling Meadows’ courtyard, they even
set up a haunted maze.
Okay, so obviously, cool event. But what does that have to
do with “transformation?”
Everything. For
one thing, this was not a church providing a community service. It was the
entire community pulling together and serving each other. It transformed us
from a town where people live, to a community where everyone belongs down to
our oldest, most vulnerable population. From newly weds, to single moms,
everyone was there receiving gifts from
nursing home residents. When the nursing home began to run out of candy
long before running out of kids, the trunk-or-treat folks gave them some of
their stash. We were able to raise money for our town park, a place that
physically needs to transform.
This. This is what community
looks like. It looks like two teens facetiming to figure out how to make toilet
paper into “flesh wounds” and then tying for “scariest costume.” It looks like four
different people helping man a bake sale so the mom in charge can participate
in trunk-or-treat right outside with her daughter. It looks like 3 families
allowing everyone to go in front of them on the hayride and one teenage boy
telling the pastor “you sound just like my mom” when he was being considerate
of others. As I whispered to another mom
in the midst of the nursing home visit, “This is what community is.”
As a pastor, I am really proud of what my church did to
support this party. We didn’t do anything officially as a church, but church
people were being faithful disciples
in serving their town and building community. Some of us brought in candy
for Trunk-or-Treat or treats for the bake sale. Some of us served as
firefighters or by passing out candy at Trunk-or-Treat. Others came in and out
of costume for the contest and connected with the many people in our community
with no church home. By doing this rather than our own Halloween thing, we made
a bigger impact on our town and its transformation.
We did our mission by being the salt and light in the strangest of places.
Funny how God can take a Halloween party and turn it into
something holy and life giving, isn’t it?
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