Festival time...

Next Sunday marks our 28th Annual Mediterranean Festival at St. Elias.

It's quite an event for such a small church with entertainers, a bookstore, a silen auction, and meals for over a thousand. We'll fill, with good fortune, a building the size of an American football field with people and for such a small parish that means a lot of work.

There's a love / hate relationship in Orthodoxy with Festivals. Sometimes they can become an end in themselves and frankly we need the money they raise. On the other hand they are a common project that can bind a community together and a nice way to get some exposure in the community. Obviously we'd rather have everyone just tithe and end the need of these events to cover operating expenses and yet even if that happened I'm sure we'd do them almost entirely for charity and as a way to celebrate that we're here.

I'm proud of St. Elias for taking the step of tithing our festival income. Ten percent of our income will go to charity, probably our own funds for charitable ministries, and that's quite a step of faith to take ten percent off the top when the budget is tight. Yet it's the right thing to do and so we'll press on.
God has and will always take care of us.

And the hard work binds us together. After almost thirty years its amazing how about twenty people can plan and implement a whole program that includes feeding hundreds. It would seem daunting, but it does work and somehow we make it through. This coming Sunday night, weather being good and all things working, we'll be tired to the bone but grateful for all that God has done and hoping for the future.

Pray for us!