By Susan Shinn
For the Salisbury Post

For the second consecutive year, the J.F. Hurley Family Y and Life Church are partnering to sponsor a Fall Festival. The event takes place next Sunday, Oct. 30, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Y, 828 Jake Alexander Blvd. West.

Kristine Miller, event coordinator at Life Church, notes that some 100 church members are set to volunteer, and that 725 tickets for a free hot dog and drink are available at the door. Abigail’s will be selling cupcakes, and Life Church members will be staffing nearly two dozen carnival-style games, all of which they’ve made. Some of the Y’s employees are volunteering their time for the festival as well, says Richard Reinholz, the Y’s executive director.

There will be activities indoors and outdoors — including a bounce house, face painting, a dunking booth, and a showing of “Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.” The fall festival will happen rain or shine, Reinholz says.

It’s a perfect day for the event, Miller says. Not only is the next day Halloween, but the public schools are also off that Monday.

Reinholz and Chris Shelton, lead pastor for Life Church, believe that having the event on “neutral ground” will be a more welcoming location for folks who might be intimidated in going to a church for such an event.

“It’s meant to be for the entire community,” Reinholz says. “We just want to bring the community together.”

“We want families to come and enjoy time with each other,” Miller adds.

The Y’s location on Jake Alexander serves a diverse community, Reinholz points out. “We want everyone to feel that the Y serves them.”

Last year, the festival was held in the Y’s small gym, a space it quickly outgrew with 1,000 participants, Reinholz notes.

“We will be utilizing all areas of the Y,” Miller says, “inside and outside. We’ll have games for children ages toddler and up. They’ll receive 10 tickets to play games, with the opportunity to earn more tickets at some games. All of our games have been made by church members, and we’ll also have 25 members with cars around the track for Trunk or Treat.”

There will be a hayride around the Y parking lot and the Life Church parking lot, Miller adds.

“We wanted to find a way to continue to demonstrate to the community that the Y and Life Church have a similar purpose,” Shelton says of the idea of the festival. “We are both here to serve the community.”

“These organizations exist to make our community better,” says Shelton, a member of the Y board. “That helps distinguish us from everyone else around us. Doing Halloween in a unique way is a great opportunity for folks to come to the Y. It’s a community location. Our purpose is doing this is not to proselytize. The goal is to serve families and children in our community. That fits into one of our goals as a church.”

Hosting a fall festival may be a small thing, Shelton admits, but an event that fits into Life Church’s overall strategy in the community.

“Like the church, our responsibility is to serve the community,” Reinholz adds. “We are a friendly, inviting environment that is a neutral location. We want people from all walks of life to be comfortable here. We are a Christian organization, and we have a Christian mission. But we have an environment that’s accepting of everybody. It is inclusive.”

Reinholz and Shelton have been friends since Reinholz became the Y’s executive director in May 2015. They realized quickly that the goals of their organizations align.

“The Y is here to be a partner in the community, and a contributor to the holistic health of our families in the community,” Reinholz says.

The Y and the church, Reinholz and Shelton both say, are a movement, not a specific place. That’s why the church is moving outside its four walls to serve the community.

“Our mission can’t be held to one location,” Shelton says.

Freelance writer Susan Shinn lives in Salisbury.