Wednesday a.m. service meets need for Oxford seniors

Wednesday a.m. service meets need for Oxford seniors

Wednesday night prayer meeting has long been a tradition in Alabama Baptist churches. Coldwater Baptist Church, Oxford, has tweaked the tradition just a bit in order to make this ministry friendlier to the senior adults who enjoy it the most.

For almost a year, Wednesday night prayer service at Coldwater Baptist has been held at 10 a.m. rather than in the evening. Pastor Jacky Morgan said that after God gave him the idea for the morning prayer service, the change just seemed to make sense. “What we were dealing with on Wednesday night was that many of our folks were getting older and not able to come out,” Morgan said. “For many, it was a burden on them to drive after dark.”

Another concern, he said, was the fact that since the church was ministering to more than 100 youth and children on Wednesday evenings, finding a balance between contemporary and traditional music and worship styles was becoming a challenge.

“A lot of our senior adults have deep convictions about traditional music and worship,” Morgan said. “I realized there was a hunger for singing the old songs, and I thought if we could keep the traditional format, it would be more effective for them in terms of ministry.”

He shared the idea for the morning service with the senior adults and told them they could vote by coming to the service.

“I told them, ‘If you come, we’ll do it; if not, we’ll assume God wasn’t in it,’” Morgan said.

The members voted in favor of the new practice by showing up in strong numbers from the beginning. The service averages about 30 in attendance, and many of those who come to the morning service were not coming at all on Wednesday nights. Morgan said he and other members have simply fallen in love with the morning service.

“The Wednesday morning prayer service has become the most anticipated service we have,” he said. “The folks who come are appreciative and committed, and it’s making a difference in the life of our church.”

Because the traditional format of the evening service was working well, Morgan kept the same format for the morning version. The service begins with 30 minutes of music and singing, which usually includes favorite hymns suggested by members of the congregation.

Coldwater member Don Reynolds said he especially enjoys the southern gospel songs.

“To me, gospel music is a spiritual thing,” said Reynolds, who enjoys the older hymns especially because of their focus on praising God.

Morgan follows the singing with a brief devotional, and the congregation spends the rest of the hour sharing testimonies, taking prayer requests and praying. Reynolds said the prayer service is especially important because it makes members more aware of the needs of church and community members.

Murrah Young Wilson is another member of Coldwater who is a regular at the morning service. At 83 years old, she doesn’t drive herself anymore and relies on a neighbor to bring her to church, but she makes a special effort to attend on Wednesday mornings.

“It’s a wonderful service,” Wilson said. “I think that everybody who participates is just being so blessed.”

Morgan said he can’t credit the success of the service to anything other than God’s leadership. “He put it on my heart, and we just followed His leadership,” he said.

Reynolds echoed the pastor’s praise for the morning service.

“We didn’t know how it would be when we started it but it has really bloomed,” he said. “It is just a great thing to be able to go in the morning and get that spiritual uplift during the week.”