Services were held on-site at the hotel where most brethren tabernacled, which facilitated a friendly, camp-like feeling of togetherness. Any time of day or night, one could walk through the lobby or restaurant areas and find familiar faces rejoicing in fellowship.

Daily, about 300 brethren kept the Feast at a new venue in Florence, Kentucky, just 10 miles from downtown Cincinnati, with a peak attendance of 360 on the first Holy Day. We held catered meals on-site on both of the Holy Days, as well as a senior lunch.

Of course, spiritual food was also served fresh daily! Strong themes of family and Christ-like service carried through the entire week. In addition to the excellent messages at services, we held a combined teen and young adult Bible study on the morning of the first Holy Day on the topic of God’s Church as a family and how to fulfill the instruction to be “joined and knit together by what every member supplies.” On Friday evening, Randy Stiver presented a Bible study on the evangelistic journeys of the 12 apostles, followed on the morning of the Sabbath with a seminar about the whereabouts of the tribes of Israel in modern times.

For family day, we transformed the auditorium into a western-themed carnival with prizes for all ages. Feastgoers competed for a grand prize in pin the tail on the donkey, which was surprisingly more popular with the adults than children! Many others also enjoyed board games and corn hole. Our family day fun continued with a country music show featuring performances from some of our musically talented brethren.

The teens visited an escape room as a team challenge. Later in the week, we continued the Cincinnati tradition of a classic movie night with popcorn and a screening of a black-and-white comedy from 1936, “My Man Godfrey.”

We welcomed the Eighth Day with an inspiring evening hymn sing. As coordinator, this was the highlight of my Feast, joyfully singing praises with God’s people as we looked forward to that final step in God’s plan to reconcile humanity and wipe away every tear.