HUMBOLDT — Pastor Jerry Neeley is cautiously optimistic that a recent appeal for help with Humboldt’s annual Biblesta celebration has fallen upon receptive ears.
“The last couple of years have been a struggle,” Neeley said.
The Biblesta Committee has dedicated volunteers, but those numbers have slowly dropped, and as the existing members get older, “putting this together gets more than routine,” Neeley said. “It gets to be a challenge. They’re not able to get out and run things like they used to.”
The challenge appeared so daunting that Neeley met with a Humboldt Union reporter with a simple, but foreboding, message: without new volunteers, Biblesta may disappear after this year’s festival concludes.
“The question at that point, is this a sign to discontinue?” Neeley asked. “Without more support, we may have to.”
Message received.
When he arrived at the committee’s most recent meeting June 16, there were seven new faces wanting to help, roughly doubling the size of the committee in a single day.
“It’s an encouraging sign the community would like to keep it going,” Neeley said. “With that kind of support, we can.
“It’s a sign the community needed to be aware of this concern,” he continued. “Without awareness, they couldn’t respond.”
Another encouraging sign: Despite the dearth of volunteers, the community continues to aid Biblesta financially through various fundraisers through the years.
“Funding hasn’t been a problem,” Neeley said. “We just need workers.”
THE JUNE 16 meeting, while productive, also revealed challenges facing more than just the Biblesta Committee.
“We had a couple of people attend who didn’t join the committee,” Neeley explained. “Their opinion was they also need younger ones to help them in the church. If they can’t get that, they’d be inclined to vote to discontinue Biblesta, because they just can’t do it anymore.”
The message was sobering, but necessary, Neeley said. “We need to hear that.”
Bringing in younger voices would aid the celebration in several ways.
For one, the committee’s current musical taste favors stars of yesteryear, such as the Oak Ridge Boys or Larry Gatlin, Neeley said.
