Wilder View - October 2009

Five years ago a new pastor of a small ‘struggling’ church in the urban core of St. Louis, had this really crazy idea. “Let’s host a pumpkin patch on the church parking lot.” She had heard it was a great fund raising opportunity, and since the church was somewhat cash strapped at the time, this seemed like an easy way to break out of the financial bind. Oh, there were some concerns…”Someone might throw a pumpkin through our stained glass window….What happens if someone steals the pumpkins (after all we are located in the big, bad city)….someone might smash them on our lot, and make a great mess.”


However, this small church stepped out in faith, and hosted its first pumpkin patch. One day a woman in a van stopped by the patch. She was from an agency that cares for children who have been severely abused. “Would it be possible for the children to come and play in the patch, even though we do not have money to buy pumpkins?” “Of course,” said the person working at the pumpkin patch and then they began to seek sponsors for children without money, so that every child could leave with a small pumpkin of their own. Even though the patch didn’t earn the huge amount of money that the church anticipated that year, the patch was rich in the joy and laughter of the children, children who had been traumatized, children enjoying a care free morning. It really was rich a return on the investment.


There is a saying, “mighty oaks from small acorns grow.” This crazy idea of a pumpkin patch grew and grew, and grew. Now the church is known as the Pumpkin Church. In just a few days the semi-truck will arrive and a group of people will help unload pumpkins that a Navajo tribe grew this summer. There will be volunteers who will share the grace of God and the beauty of pumpkins with our community. There will be children’s parties and animal blessings. There will be pumpkin pies, pumpkin bread, and maybe even rolls this year. There will be new friendships created, more lives touched. There will be lots of pumpkins sold and lots of pumpkins sponsored. We make money to help the Navajo tribe, and even some to support the ministries of the church.This church isn’t small anymore, and certainly isn’t struggling either. It isn’t even as financially strapped anymore. However, there is one thing that hasn’t changed….our patch will once again be rich in the joy of children’s laughter, rich in the sound of children experiencing the carefree grace of God.


Won’t you please consider playing with us on our patch as we live out our vision of being “A church without walls creating a visual sign of Christ’s presence in our urban community, and beyond.”


~Pastor Kathleen of the Pumpkin Church