Community of Faith United Methodist Church in Franklin Farm has thrown an annual art and craft fairs in years past, but this year’s event, staged Saturday, Nov. 7, drew more vendors and more customers than in the past, said Beth Fisher, who helped organize the fair. "I think we’ve had a pretty successful turnout this year because we moved it to the fall," she said. Previously, the art and craft fair took place in the spring, when there were no major gift-giving holidays.

About 18 vendors participated, as opposed to the usual 12 or 13, and Fisher said the customer turnout was steadier.

The event is one of the church’s major fund raisers to support its mission work, which is primarily local. Natalie Gohrband, chair of the church’s mission committee, said next year’s mission work had not yet been planned, but past efforts have included work with Rising Hope Methodist Church, which works with the homeless in the Route 1 corridor; the Pathways program in Richmond, which works on affordable housing; and the Society of St. Andrew, which feeds the poor in West Virginia.

The church also sends money to a Methodist missionary at Bethlehem Bible College in Palestine.