For the past three years on the night before Thanksgiving, thousands of Stark County residents gathered to celebrate God’s goodness and give thanks. On November 25, Stark County's thankful joined together at the Edgewood Campus inside the First Christian Church Worship Center.
There were two services, one at 5:00 pm and another at 7:30 pm. They came from all over Stark County to kick off their season of thanksgiving together. First Christian's John Hampton welcomed Stark County's thankful and Brother Dave Lombardi of Trinity Gospel Temple shared the message. Pastors Bruce Mont of First Church of the Resurrection and Stan Hinhaw of First Friends Church, facilitated the sharing of communion as one great Stark County church.
At this year's Night of Thanks, there were two opportunities to give: Pastor Greg Nettle of Rivertree Christian Church led the services in the offering of resources to support GoStark's ongoing initiatives including One Life One Year and the Community Night of Thanks; and Jason Lantz, this year's GoStark Coordinator, asked those who felt God's leading to also give of their time for the coming year by committing to invest in one other life in 2010.
Of course, the idea of coming together as one body in worship is not a new idea. Since biblical times people have come together to establish unity in their communities, care for each other, and thank God for his blessings. Thank you to all who played a part in making this year's Night of Thanks another kingdom (and community) building sucecss.
