The Brecksville United Methodist Church Pumpkin Patch will be open from September 28 – October 31.
On Sunday, September 27, 2026 a semi-truck will pull onto Stadium Drive filled to overflowing with pumpkins and decorative gourds of many shapes sizes and colors. With your help, our church lawn will soon be full of orange gourds, friendship and fun!
Once the pumpkins are unloaded, the patch will open. Invite your friends and family to this “soft opening” on the afternoon of Sunday, September 27.
Our Pumpkin Patch is an opportunity to bring the whole community together to enjoy the gifts of the season and to invite people who may not know about us to learn about our church in a comfortable way. It’s also an “all hands on deck” fundraiser to help support our efforts to saturate our community with connection and belonging, on the square and everywhere!
There are many ways to help!
The Pumpkin Patch is a great place for families and friends to serve together. Whether you’re someone who enjoys connecting with strangers or you’re someone who prefers serving behind the scenes, your gifts are needed!
- If you have a truck, volunteer to pick up pallets for our pumpkins on Saturday, September 26.
- Be part of the decorating and set up crew, Saturday, September 26.
- Help unload the truck Sunday, September 27. If you’re able bodied, help unload the pumpkins. It was a lot of fun last year! All hands on deck!
- If you have time to serve in the patch, sign up for sales shifts throughout the month. There are many shifts to fill.
- On the weekends, we will offer refreshments. Volunteer to bake or bring donuts on a Saturday or Sunday.
- We need trusted volunteers (in teams of two) to count and report our sales daily (read more about that below!)
- Buy your fall decor at our Pumpkin Patch — and tell your friends about it!
- Surround the whole effort with prayer. May our pumpkin patch be a safe and welcoming space where all people can feel loved by God and included in welcoming community.
Volunteer Incentives this year!
ANY help you can provide is appreciated, and we have some fun incentives for pumpkin patch heroes:
- Sign up for at least 10 hours = a mini pumpkin.
- Sign up for at least 20 hours = a pumpkin pie.
- Sign up for 30 hours = FREE pumpkin patch t-shirt
- Be the person to sign up for the most shifts = $50 gift card to Jollys pizza!
Fall Festival, October 17
Save the date for a time of family fun in the pumpkin patch. Games, photos, food, music and more! Details coming soon!
More ways to help!
- Interested in the counting team? Before our Pumpkin Patch can open for business each day we need help preparing the cash box and credit card machine. (Two people must always be present when handling cash at Brecksville UMC.) Can you spare 45 minutes to be a “second set of eyes”? The cash box start time is flexible each morning. Meet Sue Ellenberger at the church before heading to work, or on the way to the grocery store, maybe after an early appointment. Forty-five minutes just once, or once a week during Patch season—what works for you? Connect with Sue.
- Serve as volunteer coordinator for a week. Your job will be to look at the sign up for the week, and find folks to help fill any open shifts. We already have a list of willing helpers. We just need help helping people plug in where they’re needed.
- Join the Pumpkin Patch Work Team. Matt Gabor and Kim Vann are team leads. Join the team to learn how the pumpkin patch works, share your ideas, and help plan for 2027!