Community worship service calls all together to ‘give thanks’

Published 9:15 pm Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Brundidge is a proud and thankful community. Proud of its heritage, proud of how far it has come and thankful for the bright hope for its future.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday at County Line Baptist Church the community will come together in a time of thanksgiving.

The Community Thanksgiving Service is not unique to Brundidge but neither are community services common in this day and time.

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“As a matter of fact, I’ve not heard of many community Thanksgiving services around our area,” said the Rev. Herbert Reynolds, pastor of Greater New Zion Baptist Church in Brundidge. “We’ve been talking about our community Thanksgiving service and how well it works and, from what I understand, we are going to have some visitors who are coming to see how it is that our community comes together at this time of year.”

Reynolds has been active in the Community Thanksgiving Service for about three years. This year, he will be the guest minister for the holiday service and his topic will be a coming back to thankfulness.

“I think that we are becoming more thankful people,” Reynolds said. “Circumstances are such that we are coming to realize how blessed we are. We are moving in the direction of the ‘old ground’ tradition.”

Reynolds said the Community Thanksgiving Service reminds him of how the Pilgrims and Indians came together on that first Thanksgiving.

“They had very little but they were thankful for what they had,” he said. “That’s the way we come together as a community – thankful for what we have and with an appreciation of those who came ahead of us and laid the path for us. And, we come in a united front to celebrate with thanksgiving.”

The Rev. Bobby Hood, pastor of Salem Baptist Church, said it is important that people who believe Jesus as the Redeemer and Savior and no matter what brand they wear, get together and show the world that He is the unifying factor for all who believe.

“Those who know Jesus should let Him live through them so that others might see Him, love Him and come to Him,” Hood said.

“The differences in us are insignificant. A preacher once said that there are big things and there are little things but it’s Christ who is the big thing. His blood washes away our sins and we can rejoice when our sins are forgiven. That is such a precious thing as is the opportunity to come together as a community at Thanksgiving.”

The Thanksgiving service will include special music by the County Line Baptist Church, Pike County High School and New Hope Independence Holiness Church choirs and Nicholas Cooper.

Six Brundidge area churches will participate in the program with several others in attendance.