Last evening we had an awesome gathering of about 80 people here in our Wexford Atrium to celebrate another successful season at the Wexford Starlite Car Cruise.
These folks represented the whole cross section of our volunteers, vendors, leadership team and supporters who helped to pull off this summer long event that reaches tens of thousands of people every season.
Last night was particularly special in that we acknowledged the "hidden hands" of the scores of volunteers who wave the flags, direct the traffic, serve the people, pick up the trash, start the conversations and literally do a hundred other tasks that help families, bikers, hard core car enthusiasts and everyone in between have a great experience!
We also identified that one of the reasons that people primarily came to the Car Cruise (and this came from the mouth of several non-church participants) was the family friendly and "warm and accepting" environment that we have created. Unlike other places where people are basically measured by what they drive or excluded for one reason or another, everyone felt welcome to attend and beyond that, valued for being here.
This is no small epiphany to me as there has to be an explanation to me as to why 7000-8000 or more people would show up every friday night for an event like this on a church campus! I wonder what hidden lessons there are for those of us in the church community about what draws people and what they're really looking for as a place to start a journey of making friendships and getting connected even if they don't share all the same spiritual values.
All in all it was a great night and a wonderful time to honor many people who helped to create an unforgettable experience for thousands of others.
We will hopefully be able to repeat this experience many times to come!
Blessings,
Dr. Jay
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