By Donna Fisher | Canyon Lake UMC

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA -- Canyon Lake United Methodist Church (CLUMC) hosted an old-fashioned fall festival on Oct. 19 called “Celebrating the Great Commission and our Methodist Heritage.”

Nobody rode up 3500 Canyon Lake Drive on horseback, but three costumed circuit riders (including the famous Peter Cartwright and Dakota’s Methodist founder S.W. Ingham) told about their faith in the face of loneliness and hardship at three weekend services.

Photo: While adults lunched on chili and cornbread and relaxed in the shade, kids enthusiastically panned for nuggets, turned in their “gold” for coins at the assay office and bought treats at the general store.  Photos by Holly Sortland, Donna Fisher and Lindsey Rokusek.

Holly Sortland, director of CLUMC’s youth program and a candidate for ministry herself, designed the day to help the confirmation youth learn more about their United Methodist heritage. The confirmation youthg helped with the set-up and staffed some of the hands-on events.

Bluegrass and gospel music formed a framework for worship. Saddles, saddlebags and hay bales set the western mood and lots of worshippers came in western or pioneer garb.

Photo: Pastor Eric Grinager lead camp songs during the hayride around the spacious field north of the church. For many kids, the hayride was a “first.” Photos by Holly Sortland, Donna Fisher and Lindsey Rokusek.

During the children’s sermons, Francis (Mrs. Peter) Cartwright told how she and their nine children kept farm and home together while her famous circuit rider husband converted and baptized 12,000 people on his travels. All the children received real horseshoes to remind them of our circuit-riding heritage.

Thanks to a free chili and cornbread feed, a bustling pumpkin patch featuring a pumpkin train plus gorgeous fall weather, lots of neighborhood families dropped in for pumpkins and stayed for the party. Crafts, a real hayride, an old-fashioned photo booth, gold panning and even a corral of stick horses for the toddlers kept the church lawn and parking lot buzzing till 2 pm.

Photo:  A pint-sized circuit rider chose his mount at the corral. Photos by Holly Sortland, Donna Fisher and Lindsey Rokusek.

“It was so much fun and a great neighborhood outreach, too,” said Pastor Eric Grinager.