Exit Church hosted their annual Fall Fest on Oct. 2.
The church in Gas City hosted a group of about 350 people comprising of Exit Church members, local families and students from Taylor University and Indiana Wesleyan University. The event served as a celebration of God’s goodness, featuring seasonally themed activities like line dancing and pumpkin painting.
“I saw families engaged in conversation while kids played games and painted pumpkins,” said Sam Smith, Fall Fest attendee and freshman at Taylor University.
The scent of seasonal soups, desserts and cider settling in the sanctuary, mixing with fall-themed decoration created a warm familial atmosphere, Smith said.
“It’s a worthy thing to celebrate the goodness of God and his provision and all things of the Lord’s: the whole earth and the fullness thereof,” said Forrest Brown, co-pastor of Exit Church.
The festival reminds participants that they rely on God’s provision for so much in their lives, especially in a geographical area heavily impacted by agriculture and farming. We are dramatically dependent on the Lord for our livelihood, Brown said.
Jeanette Voss, a deaconess and longtime Exit Church member, started the Fall Fest tradition five years ago. Though each successive event brought small changes, the impact of the celebration has remained consistent in its creation of community under the sanctuary roof, Voss said.
Voss wrote a mission statement for the first Fall Fest that has carried through to this year’s event.
The purpose of the festival, she wrote, is “for the Exit family to come together and celebrate God’s goodness and love in festive food and dance.”
She passed the leadership role for Fall Fest to Danielle Brown, Forrest Brown’s wife, this year. Danielle holds to the original vision for the festival, Voss said.
For church members, this fellowship is deeply meaningful. Celebrating God’s provision is a biblical theme based on Old Testament celebrations like The Feast of Booths, Voss said.
A central element of Fall Fest has been Bob and Ellen Davis’s band, which has played the music for the line dancing portion of the night almost every year.
This year’s celebration was the band’s last Fall Fest, as the Davis’s plan to retire from playing for the event. While their departure marks the end of an era for Fall Fest, leadership remains confident that the event will continue bringing people together.
The live music and line dancing callouts are a highlight of the event, Forrest said.
“The line dancing was a fun way to get to know those in the community,” said Mallory Johnson, Fall Fest attendee and Taylor University freshman. “It was fun, and I got to enjoy music and meet a bunch of new people while dancing.”
Exit will continue hosting and developing Fall Fest as attendance rates grow in order to unify the body of Christ. Voss and the Browns see the event as an opportunity to make connections and invite people to join the congregation.
“There’s always room at the table,” Voss said. “So with Exit, as we have outreach, we use everything we have as a venue to invite more people into our family.”
