City Church Harvest Part…ies

In the worship service on Sunday, I explained a phrase that’s become a bit of a mantra around City Church:

We want to be a church that throws good parties.

Good parties reflect our hope of the eschatological kingdom of God (that is, the future God has planned for His people in the last days) and good parties allow us to live in line with the trajectory of the kingdom ethics of God (that is, how we’re supposed to live here and now). 

One of the cornerstones of City Church’s efforts to be a church that throws good parties is our Harvest Party. Since 2009, City Church has gathered every fall for a Harvest Party—a good party full of smoked meats, Brunswick stew, live music, fun activities, and community. Even in Covid years we found a way to hold a modified version of Harvest Party because we believe that gathering together matters.

But at City Church we also believe that how we gather matters. We’ve noticed over the past few years that we’ve drifted a little bit away from the original how and why of the City Church Harvest Party. Even though last year was our biggest (and by some measures, most successful) Harvest Party, there were aspects that were missing. As City Church has grown, the percentage of people at the Harvest Party from outside our church family has decreased. As the party has gotten more sophisticated, more of the work of hosting the party has shifted to staff and a few core leaders. Those factors have combined to make it feel more like the Harvest Party is just another event to go to, rather than an event to host for our friends, neighbors, and coworkers. 

This fall City Church isn’t going to have a Harvest Party. Instead, we’re going to have multiple Harvest Parties. (“What could be better than the City Church Harvest Party?” you ask. City Church Harvest Parties.) We’re going to relocate these parties into local neighborhoods across Richmond where City Church members live. Rather than the staff and leadership of City Church throwing the Harvest Party, we want all of City Church to throw Harvest Parties. Rather than the church leadership as hosts inviting you to a Harvest Party, we want you to host your neighbors, friends, and coworkers. 

We believe that this approach to our Harvest Party is the right thing to do because it’s what Jesus tells us to do. As I shared on Sunday from Luke 14, Jesus teaches: “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friend or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, let they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.” Yes, Jesus is teaching here about the nature of God’s Kingdom and the great reversal of who will be invited into community of God’s people. But He is also teaching us how to live our lives now. We should take him at His word. We’re throwing Harvest Parties for people throughout Richmond this fall, because we’re compelled by the gospel revealed in the works and words of Jesus.

Here are the specifics of what we’re hoping to see this fall. First, we want to identify at least 3 (and hopefully more) Harvest Party sites throughout the Richmond area. Second, for each of those sites, we want to identify a Harvest Party Captain (or two) who will serve as the point person for that site. Our hope is that each neighborhood Harvest Party will be hosted by a group of people from City Church (as 2 or 3 City Groups partner together). Third, each of these parties will consist of roughly 1/3 people from City Church and the rest from outside our community. These won’t be people from whom we expect anything in return but people who can’t pay you back. They won’t be insiders but the least, the lost, the little, and the last.

For our part, City Church will provide a sort of playbook to help you plan and host an amazing Harvest Party. We’ve got a team of folks willing to provide smoked meats. Our Children’s Ministry Team will help you think about family friendly activities. We will point you in the direction of live music. We’ll provide all the resources you need, while still leaving room for you to creatively design a Harvest Party tailored to the guests that you’re inviting.

We want to identify our Harvest Party sites and Harvest Party captains by the end of August—we will hold a first planning shortly thereafter. So, if you’re interested let me (or another member of the staff) know. It’s a good thing for a church to throw good parties. And how we throw those parties matters.