Alabama churches unite for Thanksgiving services

To celebrate Thanksgiving, many Baptist churches across Alabama gathered with other denominations in annual communitywide worship services. Ministers said these services were a way to celebrate the common blessings all members have as Christians.
   
In Tuscaloosa, members of First Baptist Church gathered with members of the other “downtown” churches to celebrate at the city’s annual community Thanksgiving service. 
   
The service was held Sunday evening, Nov. 20, at Tuscaloosa’s First United Methodist Church. The new rector at Christ Episcopal Church preached the message. 
   
According to Gil McKee, pastor of First, Tuscaloosa, the service also includes worshipers from First Presbyterian Church and First African Baptist Church.
   
McKee said because the place of the service switches between downtown churches each year, the service provides participants with a chance to worship in different settings. 
   
It also helps churchgoers see the similarities among believers. 
   
“We have the opportunity to experience the various worship traditions of each congregation and the opportunity to hear the pastors from each church,” he said. “It is a good vehicle for rubbing shoulders with believers from other faiths. 
   
“We certainly would not agree on every doctrinal issue with a number of these churches, but it is an opportunity to put aside our differences for an evening and concentrate on the things we have in common.”
   
In addition to the worship experience the service affords, it also gives the various church members a chance to work together for a common missions project — the Community Soup Bowl ministry that all five churches support. 
   
“Each church donates $10,000 each year, as well as volunteers to serve on the board and volunteers to actually do the work each day,” McKee said. “We take a special offering during the Thanksgiving service for additional financial support.”
   
In Hueytown, Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church joins each year with the city’s First United Methodist Church to celebrate with a special Thanksgiving worship service. 
   
The churches take turns hosting the service and providing music for the evening, while the other church’s pastor presents the message. 
   
This year’s service was held Tuesday, Nov. 22, with the Methodist church hosting and Pleasant Ridge Baptist Pastor Rick Patrick presenting the message. 
   
According to Chris McWhirter, a member of First United Methodist, she looks forward each year to the joint service because it provides her a chance to slow down and see how Christians can work and worship together. 
   
“When our churches come together for worship, it puts our lives and priorities into alignment with what God calls us to be and do — the body of Christ in action,” she said. “I love to see a community come together for worship.”
   
First Baptist Church, Jasper, put that thought into action as it hosted the community Thanksgiving service for its area Sunday, Nov. 20.
   
A similar communitywide service had been held in Pleasant Grove for years, but churches this year decided to hold instead a joint children’s choir program, “In God We Trust,” Tuesday, Nov. 22.
   
Joe Godfrey, pastor of First Baptist Church, Pleasant Grove, said,  “In past years, we rotated between three or four of the area churches with one of the pastors preaching. This year, we decided to take this different approach.”
   
The program, which included children from various churches in the Pleasant Grove area as well as unchurched children, was organized by Brenda Odom, music associate at First, Pleasant Grove.
   
“We sent out a brochure to every child in the elementary school, telling them about the program,” Odom said. “We ended up having children from First Baptist Church (Pleasant Grove), Bethel Baptist Church, First Assembly of God, First Nazarene Church and others.
   
“We also have several children who don’t go to church anywhere, so it’s been a wonderful outreach opportunity,” she said. “We received permission to rehearse at school and [did] that every Tuesday after school for more than a month.
   
“I had a lot of help, in particular from Richard Metts at Bethel Baptist and Jason Smock at First Assembly of God,” Odom said.
   
Godfrey said, “We hoped to really reach out to unchurched people. The program is patriotic in nature, which perhaps was more accessible to the unchurched.”
   
In Alabaster, members of First Baptist Church organize an annual Thanksgiving service and luncheon for senior adults from different community churches, as well as for those who are homebound or living in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities. 
   
According to Mike Byars, minister of music and senior adults at First, Alabaster, the service is a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the community during the Thanksgiving holiday. 
   
“It has always been a blessing to the senior adults all around our area, and as we lead them in worship and serve them, we are the ones who are truly blessed,” he said.
   
This year’s service and luncheon was held Tuesday, Nov. 22, in the church’s family life center. 
   
Bill Johnston, minister of education for First, Alabaster, said the service also involved local civic leaders and guest speaker Charles Stroud, the soon-to-be-retired Shelby Baptist Association director of missions. 
   
It also is a wonderful chance to minister to those seniors who are unable to attend church regularly, he said.
   
“We invite several of the local nursing homes and living facilities to bring their residents who can get out,” Johnston said. 
   
“Following the meal, we deliver takeout plates to a number of shut-ins.”
   
Community-based Thanksgiving services take place in several areas around the state each year.  
   
According to McKee, this time of year affords the perfect chance to “worship together and concentrate on the things about which we do agree.”