"I am happy to be counted among the Grateful Dead!" Those are the words Pastor Greg Nettle of RiverTree Christian Church told the combined crowds of nearly 2,000 at the third annual Community Night of Thanks hosted at First Christian Church on November 25, 2009. Dozens of churches were represented by their pastors and church members who participate in the GoStark church collaboration initiative. The Community Night of Thanks services act as a rallying point for over 30 churches who seek to serve Stark County together in Jesus’ name.
 
A key focus for this year's GoStark gatherings was to celebrate and commission hundreds of people in GoStark churches who will be investing themselves in the One Life, One Year project. Jason Lantz, of the Love Canton church in downtown Canton, spearheaded this effort to help believers "imagine what would happen if every Christian in Stark County chose to invest in just one life for the next year." So far, over 600 have more than imagined: they have signed on to make a difference in someone else's life. Community organizations that link mentors up with kids, teenagers, women, men, and the elderly are partnering with our GoStark churches to provide meaningful life-on-life connection to take place.
 
A financial offering of $8,363.83 was also received at the Community of Night of Thanks services. These funds help give needed support to making GoStark projects happen. Thank you to all who gave generously. We appreciate your investment in our community.
 
Next year's Community Night of Thanks service is scheduled to move to the new church campus of Faith Family Church, located along the I-77 and Shuffle exit. Plans call for this beautiful new ministry facility to be completed early in 2010. The Worship Center will seat over 3,700 and can better accommodate the crowd created by bringing over 30 churches together. More details of that service will be made public closer to that date.

A Brief History

GoStark is a community transformation initiative sponsored by many churches from all over Stark County. For the past several years pastors from area churches have been meeting together regularly to pray, encourage and build relationships with each other. Last year, a major step was taken in this process as dozens of churches met together for a community night of thanks and worship on the night before Thanksgiving. Over 2500 people attended this historic and exciting event held at First Christian Church located in Plain Township, and led by several area pastors.
 
Immediately after the service was completed the question was asked by local pastors and members alike, "What will we do next year?" The idea to have another time of worship together on the night before Thanksgiving again was a given—albeit there will need to be two services this year because of crowd size (get details here)—but a worship service alone seemed unsatisfactory and incomplete to meet the outpouring of support expressed by churches to partner together in Stark County to make "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven."
 
After prayer and discussions were held by many of the leading pastors in the area, GoStark was born. The idea was to take not just a night in November, but every Sunday in November 2008 to emphasize the foundational principles of spiritual formation and community transformation: Prayer, Service, Love, Giving, and Unity. These themes were the focus of sermons in the month of November in over 30 Stark County churches, beginning November 2. Each message was a call to engage our community in these fundamentals of building the Kingdom of God.
 

Purpose

GoStark is made up of over 30 Stark County congregations and does not have a formal organizational structure or officers. GoStark exists not to create new events or activities, but to provide a rallying point for the congregations of Stark County to pool their resources and efforts at making our communites and neighborhoods better places to live. The work of GoStark is primarily contributed by members of the congregations who share a common vision to see Stark County grow into the healthy, vibrant, and positive community that we believe it can be.