STREET TACOS AND RETHINKING "RALLY DAY"

For many of us Rally Day functions as a sort of feast day for the fall to get the program year kicked off. Usually, we celebrate around the time that school starts back, and we have a big weekend and showcase all the ministries that are happening in our parishes. It is a good model, and it works great in most parishes, but I wanted to try something else this year. I wanted to trade Rally Day for Homecoming.

Homecoming is the feel-good Texas staple of the fall. Homecoming is mums, and cooler nights, and it marks the end of vacation cycles and the beginning of a season that is lived close to home. There are very few programs here at St. Stephen’s that do not run year-round and so the focus this year was not so much about programming and recruiting volunteers (although this is still part of it), but we focused more on a community event and a shared ministry.

The event that we coordinated is called “The Street Taco Showdown.” We began recruiting teams back in the summer and putting the pieces together to have a street taco festival and fundraiser that would benefit St. Benedict’s Chapel and their food ministry in Lubbock. Support for St. Benedict’s is ecumenical with a different church serving food every night of the week. All three Episcopal Churches in Lubbock are involved at St. Benedict’s. 

When we began asking for teams to participate, we asked the other churches if they would like to enter a team and to my surprise, most of the churches were interested. On September 23, we hosted our first Street Taco Showdown and the first big fundraiser at St. Stephen’s since before Covid. We had six teams compete, over 200 people in attendance, and we managed to raise over $3000 for a shared ministry. The local brewery donated adult beverages, the kids played in the bouncy house and everyone else ate their fill in tacos and listened to live music on a sunny patio. It was a beautiful day and an event that I hope to see again next year. 

I don’t know if I can get “Homecoming” to catch on in the church as a replacement for Rally Day, but it felt great to plan an event with a team of excited church members. It felt so warm to open our space and invite other churches to come play with us. And it always feels good to come home again.

The Rev. Justin Gibson

Rector, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

Lubbock, Tx.