On October 18th, Saint Andrews UMC had their 2009 Homecoming Sunday. I love Homecoming Sunday and its not just about the food. It is a time to see folks who live too far away to be with us each week, but who still hold their connection close to their heart. I've also been serving the Mount Airy Charge long enough that I recognize those I only see maybe once a year. We had people with us all the way from Oregon and Colorado.
Once again, all three churches of the Mount Airy Charge came together for another church's Homecoming.
Our guest singer was Alyce Blanks, who sings with the group "The Ageless Wonders". Alyce sang in the choir at Fairview UMC when we were there. Joanne provided piano accompaniment for Alyce and for the service.
Rev. Tim Earnhardt was our guest speaker. Tim was the Senior Pastor at Fairview UMC when I was the Youth Director and Joanne was Organist and Church Secretary. Tim did Gospel Magic for the chirldren who came to Homecoming.
The Gospel Magic may have been meant for the children's message, but you can tell by the look on the adults that they were as interested as the kids.
Tim delivered an excellent message on "Becoming Childlike Again" using the passage from Mark 10:13-16 as his text. He blended together his gospel magic lesson and his sermon that helped the flow of the whole service.
Yeah, you knew the fellowship meal pictures were coming. There is no better eating than at a church Homecoming. Everyone brings their best and no one leaves hungry. The fried chicken for the meal was prepared by the Mount Airy Store and it was really good. You can tell by all the smiles that everyone had a great time together.
There is one special thing that happened that morning that I just have to tell you about. Our god-daughter, Hannah Gaitten, was in town from Colorado with her daughter, Noah, and we had talked to her on the phone about maybe coming down to church on Sunday. She said she would call us and let us know wether to expect her or not. Well, we had stayed at the parsonage on Saturday night and never got a call from her. So, we thought we would have to see her later in the week.
When the service was closing and I had gone to the back of the church for the benedction, I saw someone holding a child in the entry area. When I finished the benediction the person walked in and it was Hannah and Noah. After a shocked hug, she told me that she didn't have my cell phone number and didn't have my blog address on her laptop. So, she went to Courtney's blog (my daughter), found where I had made a comment, and from there she found my blog. She then went through the blog and saw which churches had already had their Homecomings. Then she figured that it was St. Andrews UMC that was having their Homecoming that day. She then Googled the church to get the street address and then went to Mapquest and got directions. She had been there for the entire service and I didn't even see her. It was a wonderful topping on a wonderful Homecoming Sunday.
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