Dates of the Festival

First, a discussion of the dates for the festival in 2015, then following that (scroll down) is the information about the daily schedule. The dates are based on the confirmed sighting of the first sliver of the new moon of the 7th month. We don’t set the dates to begin the months. The new moon potentially may be first visible on the evening of 9/14th, but is not considered “easily visible” by the naked eye.

UPDATE: The new moon was not seen on 9/14. It was seen on 9/15. This means we will follow the “B” schedule. The other scheduled is being removed and information edited to avoid confusion.

Sukkot NW has reserved the campground from 9/28th through the morning of 10/8th, which covers both possible dates for the Feast and Shemini Atzeret. The policy of Josephine County Parks mimics that of Oregon State Parks where they no longer allow you to cancel only the first day of a reservation, so you will get an extra night of camping at the beginning of the Feast. This will give you an extra day to explore the area, do your grocery shopping, and to relax as we enter the Feast! Those camping may check into their campsites on M 9/28 anytime after 2 pm.

Chag Sukkot = Feast of Tabernacles is a 7-day Feast, an appointed time of YHVH from the 15th through 21st days of the 7th month. The first day is a Sabbath and commanded assembly. This prophetically points to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb and the Millennial Kingdom.
B: Sunset 9/29 through sunset 10/6/15.

Shemini Atzeret = 8th Day Assembly is a Sabbath and commanded assembly immediately following Chag Sukkot. It is an appointed time of YHVH that prophetically points to olam haba (the world to come), which is the New Jerusalem.
B: Sunset 10/6 through sunset 10/7/15.

Sukkot NW celebration will end after Sabbath on10/7/15. We’ll pack up the meeting facilities after sunset 10/7 and travel home on 10/8/15. Check out time at the campground is noon on Th 10/8/15.

Here are graphics that hopefully clarifies the dates:

Festival Schedule

Every day (except the one day we keep the schedule free all day so you have all day to explore the area) starts with live praise, worship and a teaching to help us keep our spiritual focus and priorities straight. Sukkot is about YHVH Elohim, and we don’t want to forget that. Nearly every day (except on the weekly Sabbath and the two festival sabbaths), the afternoons will be free for people to rest, recreate or fellowship. On some of the evenings, there will be scheduled sukkah parties around the campfire with food, fellowship and music. On several other evenings, we have some fun events planned for everyone including our erev Shabbat dinner.

With regard to the speakers, Sukkot NW is not a personality-driven event. We are careful to select speakers who hold to the core tenets of our faith and adhere to the Hoshana Rabbah statement of belief listed in our Credal Statement. Our teachers — Natan Lawrence, Joseph Dombek, John Herlihy, Bill Birdsong, and Clay Baremore — are born again, Spirit-filled, love Yeshua, live Torah-observant lives, are well-studied Bible students and are able presenters who have years if not decades as such.

We have done our best to put together a schedule that is a balance between spiritual instruction, fellowship and fun activities, and at the same time one that gives people plenty of space for rest and free time. The Bible says that our Elohim isn’t the author of confusion, so some structure is necessary to help keep our spiritual focus. Beyond that, there’s lots of flexibility and freedom. So come and enjoy!

Youth

We value that children and parents are together as a family during services and a separate youth program is not offered during the morning services. All youth are invited to participate in the worship and dance. Please bring quiet activities for your younger children during the teaching times. There is a playground directly next to the Meeting Shelter for the younger set who need to get out and stretch their legs a bit.

Your children (and grandchildren) will be making many friends at Sukkot and there is much to do and see in the area that interests the youth as well as adults. Families may participate in suggested activities during the free times or venture out on their own or with new friends to enjoy the area’s outdoor recreation or sightseeing.

Youth who attend school bring their homework with them to Sukkot NW. If you make arrangements in advance, most schools will provide homework for classes missed during Sukkot and then provide time after to catch up. Be sure to communicate with your schools and teachers beforehand. You’ll notice on the schedule below that 2 afternoons have been set aside for time at the library to do homework, if desired. The Josephine County Library in Grants Pass has wi-fi and reservable computers with internet access available. The library is open on both Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 2–7 pm. It is closed on Sunday and Monday. Most afternoons are free of scheduled activities and youth may study at their campsites, cabins, or motel rooms during that time as well. We’ve also compiled a handy list of all the local libraries and their hours.

Daily Schedule

Our planned schedule is as follows (with the usual caveat that it is subject to modification). Not all activities are shown on this schedule. A final detailed schedule will be provided to you in your welcome packet. To open a printable pdf file, click on the graphic below: