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By LIZZIE BOWEN | Staff Writer

HELENA — Snowballs were flung, hot dogs were eaten and bouncy houses were enjoyed as the second annual Winter Wonderland event was held at the Church at Cahaba Bend on Sunday, Feb. 5.

Pastor Patrick Friday discussed why events like this are important for the church.

“We found a lot of people in the community, especially in this time of year, are looking for an outing with their kids,” Friday said. “We are all about faith and family. That is our focus. So, we want to have family events where kids can come, be welcome, play and make snowballs. That’s been the goal, something that will be unique, special and exciting for Helena.”

Friday said that coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, events such as Winter Wonderland where members of the community are able to engage with one another became scarcer.

“We couldn’t have events like this as much,” Friday said. “I think for us, it was one of our first big events coming out of COVID where we could be together. We are just so grateful. We see people who join us for this, and then want to come back to other events we have with the church.”

The Church at Cahaba Bend also has a day school called “The Day School at Cahaba Bend.” Friday said some members of the community who were originally drawn in by fun events such as Winter Wonderland will also decide to enroll their children in the day school as word spreads and the church grows.

“We have a steady stream of people who show up and have heard about it,” Friday said. “We welcome them not only here, but we’d love for them to be a part of our church too at some point. It is really about the community engagement.”

Friday said an enjoyable part of events like these is seeing the children playing on the inflatables, throwing snowballs and doing the crafts set up by the church.

“Christ tells us to welcome the little ones also,” Friday said. “So, that is our focus.”

Big Boy BBQ food truck was present at the event and offered lunch to those in attendance.

“Sometimes people are hesitant to come to church,” Friday said. “Maybe they haven’t been in a while, maybe because of COVID. Maybe they just got out of the rhythm of coming to church and this (Winter Wonderland) that can help people feel welcomed, loved and cared for. It is to have some fun. Jesus wants us to smile and be joyous. We love being together and having good. We are grateful for our food trucks that always come out. Big Boy BBQ always comes out and joins us. We are very, very fortunate.”

Patrick said he would like members and potential members of the church to know that The Church at Cahaba Bend desires to help families of all shapes and sizes to connect to the healing power of Jesus.

“We want to be a vessel for that,” Friday said.

More information about the Church at Cahaba Bend can be found at Cahababend.org.