Jackie Payne
Children line up for their turn to go through a bouncy house obstacle course during an MAC Family Night. The monthly events serve as opportunities for members to bring family, friends, and neighbors who don’t have a connection to the church.
Jackie Payne
Children enjoy a foam party during an MAC Family Night, held at the Marietta, Ga., Church. The monthly nights of fun, food, and fellowship help connect the Marietta members, Carman Adventist School parents, families, and community.
Jackie Payne
Gathering people at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday with Atlanta traffic is no easy task, but on the fourth Wednesday of most months, the members of Marietta, Ga., Adventist Church (MAC) come out to be a part of MAC Family Night. Having started in January of 2020 (and taking a brief hiatus due to COVID-19), they have become a part of doing church outside Sabbath mornings. The purpose is to create fun, family- friendly events where members can get to know each other and even bring family, friends, and neighbors who have no connection to Marietta Church.
Along with food and/or dessert, there have been many themes over the years, from LEGO challenges, where groups rotate between four different stations, each with its own challenge (tallest tower, work together to build a Bible story that everyone has to guess, create a boat that floats, and more) to a bonfire with hotdogs and s’mores, to water slides and water balloon fights in the hot summer months, to a campus scavenger hunt and junk scramble.
“MAC Family Night is an opportunity for the church family to come together, to invite neighbors and friends, to a time of food, fun, and fellowship,” said Joseph Wamack, Marietta Church senior pastor.
Carman Adventist School, MAC’s elementary school that shares the campus, has also gotten on board by taking charge of coordinating two MAC Family Nights a year. There have been bouncy houses and obstacle courses, and a well-loved foam party on the ball field. This has been a great chance for Carman families to interact with teachers and members of MAC, and catch the bug to come to other MAC Family Nights and church events.
The connection between the church and school has grown stronger over the years, one of the ways being with MAC Family Nights. Approximately 25% of the student population doesn’t attend MAC but does attend other area Adventist churches, and 10% are not Adventist students. MAC Family Night attendance has steadily increased over the years, especially with the addition of Carman families. These events have become something the students talk about among themselves as they look forward to particular themes, and are a gathering that the parents are routinely notified about through the school’s weekly newsletter.
With so many things going on and the overabundance of busy schedules, it is nice to have events that exist simply to promote fun and connecting with each other.
Georgia Cumberland | August 2024
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