OCTOBER 24, 2005

WHY HOMECOMING SUNDAY?
By Pastor George Van Alstine

ABC’s Homecoming Sunday tradition was started over twenty-five years ago. Hopefully, our spiritual descendants on the corner of Calaveras and El Molino will still be carrying it on a hundred years from now.

I was already on the scene as pastor when the tradition began, but I honestly can’t recall who came up with the idea or what our motive was. However, I have noticed over the years that this annual event has at least three important values to the church, each one giving a different meaning to the word “homecoming.”

From the beginning, this event was an opportunity for people who have moved away from Altadena to come back to check up on friendships in their former church family. Many of these people live within an hour’s drive or so, and for them coming to the celebration is a pleasant day’s outing. But others have arranged their vacation plans so they can be with us, and they have in recent years come from as far away as Michigan and Minnesota. These reunions with former ABCers have been a great encouragement over the years.

Also, we have purposely planned the event for the fall to mark the end of the summer, when many in the congregation are on vacation or involved in family reunions in other parts of the country, and have not been as regular in church attendance. Some people seem to drift out of the church habit, and before they know it, they’ve missed a few weeks in a row. Homecoming in this case means renewal—renewal of commitments and renewal of relationships, including the relationship with God.

Finally, homecoming means coming home to our spiritual roots. Our tradition is to celebrate this event on the first Sunday of November, which is a Communion Sunday. Around the Lord’s Table, we renew our commitment to him, to his gospel, and to the faith that has been entrusted to us. Homecoming Sunday serves as a reminder of our spiritual heritage and calls us, as a church, back if we have drifted away.

One of these three meanings of homecoming applies most directly to you. If you are an ABC alum who has relocated, consider coming back for the day so we can show you love and hospitality. If you have drifted away from your previous active participation in ABC, make November 6 a day of renewal, the opening of a new phase of spiritual growth. If you are still an active part of the ABC family, use Homecoming Sunday as a time to come home to the reviving truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

See you there!