Harvest Movie Night (Oct, 2021)

October is a time full of fall festivities like pumpkin patches, trick-or-treating, hay rides and more. As active members of the Towngate community in Moreno Valley, Living Hope church wanted to create a alternative event that would bring the community together in a safe and family-friendly environment while still aligning to the fall aura. Thus, the first annual Harvest Movie Night took place on Friday, October 29th, 2021 at Towngate Community Center.

The movie that was shown was SmallFoot, an animated story about a Yeti voiced by Channing Tatum, whose world is turned upside down when he discovers human's do exist. Considering the movie is based on Yeti's it aligned with the fall aura but in a kid-friendly manner and it's star studded voice casts like Lebron James, James Cordon, Gina Rodriguez, etc., kept it entertaining for the adults. Living Hope provided free popcorn and water and thanks to a generous donor free nachos were also available. The doors opened 30-minutes before the featured film began with a handful of guest loading up on goodies and finding the best seats in the house. Roughly about 15-minutes into the movie multiple families began pouring in as if someone had tipped the press on the hottest ticket in town nearly filling the room to capacity.

At the end of the night, as guest were making there way towards the exit a few shared how much they enjoyed their evening. One guest shared that the movie night was a fun way to get the family together without having to worry. Another guest was surprised to learn this movie night was sponsored by a church and was now interested in attending a Sunday Service based on their experience that night. As the team loaded up the final pieces of equipment they were met by the community center representative who felt the need to ask for prayer. Although the objective for this event was to create a family-friendly festive event the primary objective of Living Hope church has always been to support the local community by discovering the living hope needed to live a purposeful life, the way God intended. This comes from fostering authentic relationships that can become lines of support in all areas of life including spiritually, socially, and emotionally.