The sun shone brightly in a bright blue sky for the Sunday morning worship service at Brat Fest. Last year, that is. This year, not so much.
A small crowd of about 75 was welcomed by Never Claim, a Christian band from Portland as the worship service began at the Lifest stage. By the end of the service two, maybe three times that number had gathered, huddled under umbrellas. Last year the first community worship service at Brat Fest drew a crowd of about 1,000.
Troy Murphy, pastor of Green Bay Community Church and chaplain for the Green Bay Packers, offered some new perspectives on the Parable of the Good Samaritan, while supplies for some of the Brat Fest vendors were being noisily unloaded nearby.
Murphy explained that the parable contrasted religion with true faith in God. Like the man to whom Jesus told the parable, many of us want to know who’s in and who’s out. Instead of drawing a line, like we would do, Jesus created a story to show not what we should do but who we should know.
Murphy said that each year the Packers add a new crop of rookie football players. Some are interested in talking about faith and some, by their lifestyle, don’t seem to be interested in talking about faith. But one day Murphy was confronted by a player he had not talked with before, who asked him if he could sit down with some of the players and teach them how to have a godly marriage.
Murphy acknowledged his inclination to draw lines amongst the people he meets. “I love this story because it tells me what Jesus really wants from me,” he said.
Despite this year’s meager turnout, it’s likely that the community worship service will continue to be a Brat Fest tradition. Dave Romanesko of Lifest Promotions told the story of how Brat Fest director Tim Metcalfe attended Lifest several years ago and had his life transformed by the Christian message of the music. “Tim’s heart was transformed at Lifest that year,” he said.
The fact that a slice of the free music available at Brat Fest is now a Christian music festival within a festival may have gone unnoticed by many but more developments featuring Madison’s Christian community, beyond an interdenominational Sunday morning worship service, were in evidence at Brat Fest.
The Madison Christian Giving Fund had a booth promoting the Fund’s launch coming up June 18th. The Fund’s goal is to create a “growing community who supports Christian organizations and initiatives that are effectively meeting human needs and providing solutions to our community problems.”
More information on the Madison Christian Giving Fund is available at www.madisongiving.org.