Feast of Tabernacles 2013 .  .  .

Wednesday Evening, September 18 - Thursday, September 26

the Season of Our Joy Festival Site

Who are these guys?

Season of Our Joy is blessed to again be able to host this year's Sukkot Festival, the Feast of Tabernacles. Since 1999, the founders and leaders of SOOJ have striven to provide a unique festival experience, unshackled by the confines of corporate church dogma and hierarchal church organization. Instead, we have chosen to operate with a rather 'open' structure, with few guidelines and rules - expecting those who attend to live the 'Hebraic' walk they profess to uphold (at least for those 8 days) instead of being policed into following a litany of rules. For many years now it has worked pretty well!

So who is Season of Our Joy?  Quite simply - it's the combined effort of a number of men and their wives who believe Yeshua is Messiah and that God's Law, the Torah, is applicable to the people of God today.  These families have decided to dedicate much of their time to providing this unique festival site for those who wish to observe God's festivals in a more 'Hebraic' fashion.  Founded by two families from the East Texas area (see History) back in 1999, SOOJ is now led by a team of men and women from all over the United States who have simply been willing to serve.  Many of the leaders did not know each other until they attended the festival for the first time, and after seeing the impact the festival had on their own lives, as well as the lives of those in attendance, they decided they wanted to be a part of it.

Other than its association with the Ami Yisrael Ministry, which acts as the official sponsor of the festival, SOOJ has no ties to any other group.  YOU WILL NEVER BE ASKED TO JOIN ANYTHING!   We are not financially dependant on a parent organization, and all donations made to SOOJ are used exclusively to fund the operations of that year's and the next year's festival.

All the leaders of SOOJ are unpaid and freely give of their time and talents. The former and current Organizational Leaders of Season of Our Joy include:

The leadership team is not closed.  If you have specific talents or organizational skills that would benefit the festival and would like to be a part of making Season of Our Joy a JOY for more and more of God's people, just let us know - we'll be glad to make you a part of it!

What you can expect at Season of Our Joy >>

Who Pays for This?

One of the most common questions we get from those who are interested in coming to the festival is "why don't you charge a registration fee or take up collections at the festival?"  The answer is quite simple.

SOOJ has never been about money.  From the beginning the founders wanted to provide a place for anyone - rich or poor - to be able to enjoy the festival together. They knew that charging a fee of sufficient amount to pay all the festival expenses would prohibit some from being able to attend.  Thus, they decided to front the cost of the festival themselves and hope enough people would donate so they could recoup much of what they invested.  Their plan worked well enough that first year that they decided to adopt the same plan for subsequent years.

For the past few years, about 80% of the costs have been paid for through direct donations at the festival, with the other 20% coming from sales of CD's and DVD's at the SOOJ table in the Marketplace.

What about taking up a collection or an offering.  Some believe that Deuteronomy 16 authorizes us to collect an offering.  We don't believe that's the case since we don't believe we fit the profile of those who were authorized to receive the prescribed offering.

So, for now we plan to continue with what's been working.  We'll mention a couple of times during the festival that there are expenses and that there is a need.  We'll make a donation box available for those who want to contribute, then trust that Abba will provide. 

So far, we've been blessed!