This weekend, I had the unique opportunity to be part of a church's first ever service and also part of our home church's 50th anniversary celebration.  I got to see a few ambitious believers kick off their first church service ever in Auburn, Maine, and I got to hear six former pastors of the Bridgton Alliance Church recall the happy and touching memories from our church's 50 year history.

The Auburn Assembly of God had its 'Celebration of Hope' weekend.  For their first weekend as a church in the city, they started with an amazing event on Saturday.  I had no idea what I was going to when they booked me.  This brand new church set up in a city parking lot with free hair cuts, free family portraits (normally an impractical splurge for low income families), free nail care, games for the kids, free bags of groceries, shoes, music, hot air balloon rides and me, a wandering juggler.  They send notices home with every school child in the city, and 1500 people came out!  While the event started at 10 AM, by 9:30 the line went the length of the parking lot.  Seeing my chance, I began.  I walked up and down the line juggling and performing sleights of hand for a surprisingly patient crowd. 

The crowd was diverse, including several Islamic families - I could tell by how the girls were dressed.  There were many young families, and many little children accompanied presumably by grandparents.  I enjoyed playing with them all.  Just as the one line was winding down, I was called over to the grocery line, which had gotten long and slow moving.  While some of the families had seen me when I juggled for the other line, others had not, so I started all over again.  Being outside, I was able to go heavy on the fire juggling.  It was at this point when I ran into Pastor Dan Abbatiello and his wife, Angela.  Dan was our pastor when Sue and I first got married, and he is now the head of planting new churches for the Assemblies of God in Maine.  The Auburn plant was only one of eight new churches starting throughout the state this weekend.

After three hours of nonstop juggling, I headed back home to Bridgton.  After a few hours of rest at home, Sue and I got ready to go to our home church's 50th anniversary celebration.  It was a beautiful evening that started with a catered dinner.  The church was packed!  We then went to the sanctuary for various speakers and special presentations. The most important part of the evening for me, though, was after the program.  I had a minute to speak with Ed Boon, who had been our pastor from 2000 to 2013.  He and his wife, Karen, came back to Maine from their retirement home in Georgia for the anniversary.  I felt compelled to tell him that he was, by far, the biggest influence ever on my spiritual life.  With all the people wanting to catch up with our former pastor, I didn';t have time to get specific: his passion for third world missions, his showing by example that one can be a follower of Jesus without selling his soul to the religious right, his humor, his patient listening as I talked out the pros and cons of decisions I  had to make.  I didn't have time to say all that, just, "You have been, by far, the biggest influence on my spiritual growth in my entire life."  It was brief, but it brought tears to his eyes; I'm glad I was able to bless him with that simple affirmation.

After a night's sleep that was too short, it was back to Auburn today for the initial service at the new Assembly of God, currently meeting in the American Legion Hall; upstairs above the bar.  There was only a handful of people there, but, before doing a routine for the whole congregation, I told them how we were celebrating 50 years in Bridgton, and how our church started with only three ladies.  If they remained faithful, they would grow, too.  I wonder if they'll have me back for their 50th anniversary.  I'll only be 103 years old!  Part way through the service, I left with a small band of kids to do my full program in the park across the street.  The audience grew from the initial five kids to 10 kids and a few adults from the neighborhood as the show progressed.

Then, after packing up and getting paid, I headed back to Bridgton.  I missed the Sunday service, but I was just in time for the anniversary luncheon.  Again, the church was packed with people who have been a part of the church's history.  Pastor Lester Kringle was there with his wife, Dorothy.  Pastor Kringle was the pastor when our family started going to Bridgton Alliance in 1994.  He remembered I juggled, and that Sue and I are teachers, but he couldn't come up with our names.  Hey, it's been 15 years.  I always liked Pastor Kringle, and I remember my father, after visiting our church a few times when he'd come to Maine, saying, "Ol' Kringle; He's all right for a Norwegian." 

The luncheon broke up around 2:00, and we headed home.  I am grateful for this unique weekend as I celebrated the first day in the existence of one church and the 50th anniversary of another.