#ginghamsburg

A Safe Halloween Alternative For The Entire Fort McKinley Community

On Tuesday, October 28 from 5:30-7:30pm, Fort McKinley Church will host it’s annual Light The Night: Truck or Treat event.  Children and parents are invited to an evening of food, games, story telling and contests. The night will conclude with a free pumpkin patch and trunk-or-treating, where cars will line up by the dozens to serve treats to the Fort McKinley community.

“As a church in the Fort McKinley community we are always looking for opportunities to bless the people around us. Light the Night is a great way to bring light to an evening that can be full of darkness,” said Fort McKinley Children's Coordinator, Amy Nooks-Evege.

This Halloween alternative is a free event open to families with children of all ages.  Enjoy food, games, story telling and the pumpkin patch from 5:30-7pm followed by Trunk or Treat from 7-7:30pm. All events are chaperoned by background-checked adults who are looking forward to lighting the night with the love of God.

“We want to show the Fort McKinley Community the love of Jesus. We want our neighbors to know that while we would love for them to join us for worship on Sunday, we also are here for them and care about this community every day of the week. Trick or Treating can be a dangerous in our community. This is a chance for kids to have fun in a safe environment,” said Nooks-Evege. 

Fort McKinley’s Light The Night event is FREE and open to the public on Tuesday, October 28 from 5:30-7:30pm at 3721 West Siebenthaler Avenue, Dayton, OH 45406. Children are encouraged to wear costumes, bring a bag to hold candy and come ready to have a great evening with friends and family in the neighborhood.

Fort McKinley worship times are Sundays at 8:30, 10 & 11:30am at 3721 West Siebenthaler Avenue, Dayton, OH 45406. Childcare is provided at all worship celebrations. Breakfast is served from 8-9:45am.

On Saturday, September 6 the Ginghamsburg Church front lawn is set to transform into an evening of fun for the entire community. All ages are welcome, and admission is free for the 2014 Fall Fest featuring giant inflatables, carnival games and rides, food vendors and more. The festivities all conclude with a fireworks show at dark. 

The fall fest has been held annually at Ginghamsburg for more than a decade. Last year nearly 4,000 guests took part. Due to the overwhelming number of participants last year, festival coordinators plan to double most of the attractions at this year's Fall Fest.

"The purpose of Fall Fest is to provide a fun, free event for guests and families. We want to create an atmosphere that produces lasting memories and most importantly shows the community the love of Jesus Christ," said Nathan Mills, Director of Guest Services and Events. 

Guests will enjoy a fun-filled activity tent for kids, a DJ, hayrides, pony rides and a pumpkin patch where every child receives a free pumpkin. Approximately nine food vendors will also be on site offering all the favorite traditional festival foods such as elephant ears, funnel cakes, cotton candy, Philly cheese steak and sausage sandwiches. There will also be gourmet burgers, pizza, chicken and hand-cut chips.

The fireworks show is provided by American Fireworks and is scheduled to last about 20 minutes. "You won't want to miss this incredible firework display. It's going to be the perfect end to a fantastic evening," said Nathan. 

In addition to providing a good time for all visitors, Ginghamsburg also looks forward to introducing newcomers to the church. With over 100 volunteers and staff members hosting the event, festival goers will be invited back to the Ginghamsburg Church front lawn on Sunday, September 7 for a powerful one-of-a-kind worship experience bringing together all three Ginghamsburg campuses.

This "All Church" Outdoor Worship will take place at 10am, and the community is encouraged to take part. 

Sponsors of the 2014 Community Fall Fest include: Troy Ford, Dave Arbogast Buick/GMC, Dave Knapp Ford Lincoln Mercury, Emerson Climate Technologies, New Tech Plastics, OPOC.us, ProSource, Piqua Steel and Crane, Speedpro Imaging, Tipp City Veterinary Hospital and Wellness Center, American Fireworks, US Bank and Amlin Advantage.

At Ginghamsburg, summer time means it's time to go deep.  We figure with the weather so nice, the ones who make it to worship are our committed few.  "Renegade" can be defined as an apostate of faith, or a traitor who leaves one party or cause for another.  We're painting the whole series as a call away from institutionalized religion and standardized faith.  That being said, I was excited to start the series off with a radical call to discipleship.  Here's the final opener:

What fascinates me about this video is how it all came together.  First of all, I'm by far the crafty type.  So for the Series brand (above), I asked Ginghamsburg's creative director Kim Miller to create a makeshift-looking flag for me.  I designed the logo, and she made a stencil.  Kim also tracked down materials for the video:  bamboo sticks, canvas, sheets, red spray paint and twine.  I then put out a call for extras, and informed anyone interested we'd be shooting EARLY, pre-dawn.  Which meant we were scheduled to shoot at 4:30am (so we could run out with our flags at 5:35am sunrise).  I received several replies (which surprised me), but still did not have a location.  It just so happened that one of my extras is a property manager named Gary, who owns hundreds of properties across the US, which includes a warehouse in downtown Dayton.  He offered it for the video shoot. Cool!   It was a great set... an old warehouse felt like the perfect place to start an underground movement of renegades.  But what I didn't expect was for Gary to go above and beyond.  Since the warehouse is in a rough part of town, he contacted his police friends for extra patrol.  He also recruited 3 of his employees to hold "ginghamsburg" signs on the street corners in reflective vests so our other extras didn't get lost.  He also brought a box full of LED lights, a table, a generator, donuts and coffee.  AND he let us tag the inside wall and side of the building.  

It's nice to be surrounded by people that are on fire for Jesus.

I told Gary his warehouse would be a cool place to plant a church.  Gary agreed.