SPIRIT OF AMERICA - July 4th celebration

For many years at Church on the Hill, July 4 has been a day of celebration with a festival for our community that has been listed in the Mercury News as the best “free, family friendly event in San Jose." We have truly given a gift to San Jose. Our Spirit of America with its fireworks show, Kidz Kountry, and stage performances has entertained thousands of families. We’ve been blessed to offer a safe way for families to spend their July 4th evening.

After much discussion and debate, we decided that we should not hold our Spirit of America event in 2010. The event in the past has cost us nearly $20,000, even after collecting the free-will donations at the door. In addition, the Fourth of July is on a Sunday this year, which would make set-up and preparation for church on the same day extremely challenging for us. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, we would like to position our resources to connect with our community in more personal and tangible ways.

The cost, day of the event, and our desire to impact our community drove this decision. It was agreed that the moneys spent on entertaining our neighbors in this type of an event could be used for projects like Kids Club, an after-school program at an elementary school where we teach kids about God, and other off the hill projects like helping people in our nearby community who are unable to help themselves.

So, this year, enjoy your family and your backyard BBQs, knowing that our church has merely adjusted our focus from one day of offering entertainment to our community to “Serving our Community Off the Hill” in ways that will last for years. We would love to see you here in the morning on the 4th of July at one of our worship gatherings-- 9:00 am or 10:45 am. Have a safe and happy Fourth!

For more information, email info@churchonthehill.com or call (408) 265-9000.