INDIANA—Philadelphia Church of God members from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan gathered for the annual Midwest Family Picnic on August 27 at Armco Park in Lebanon, Ohio. About 100 members traveled to the picnic, including regional director Cal Culpepper, Preaching Elder Victor Vejil and Local Church Elder Larry Walker. The event included a traditional picnic meal, games and an intense softball matchup.

Temperatures hovered in the mid-70s through the day, and many members described the weather as perfect. Dozens of adults and children lunched on hotdogs, hamburgers and abundant side dishes. The Flory family, from the Cincinnati-Dayton congregation, kept with their yearly tradition of treating attendees to multiple flavors of homemade ice cream churned on-site. Member Randy Flory commented, “We’re happy to do it.”

Ryan and Jamie Adams, also from Cincinnati-Dayton, organized a series of children’s games, including relay races. While the young ones enjoyed the games and nearby playground, adults and teenagers took advantage of the softball field adjacent to the picnic pavilion and played a well-matched softball game that included an extra tie-breaking inning. Gabriel, 16, commented, “It was a lot of fun: It was more intense than I was expecting for a Church picnic game. Everybody gave it their all.”