Today is Pentecost Sunday so it was fitting that hundreds of the followers of Christ in Bowmanville were gathered in one place for worship on the birthday of the church. The annual ecumenical service took place in Rotary Park, an event that began with the 175th anniversary celebration for the comunity a couple of years ago. We decided to continue this outdoor service with eight congregations and the Christian schools participating. The offering goes to support chaplaincy at the Bowmanville hospital.
The service is a positive Christian witness in the community and I appreciate the commitment of the ministerial to make it happen. We even managed to keep the service to just over an hour this year.
Two of the recent additions to the ministerial roster are Rev. Anita from St. Andrew's Presbyterian and Pastor Antonio from the Seventh Day Adventist church. Anita's first language is Hungarian and she was a little nervous about praying in English before a large congregation. Antonio's first language is Spanish, so there really was a Pentecostal flavour to the gathering. They both led well. Now if we can get the Pentecostals to join us...
Were you able to attend this year? Would you agree that it is worth our while to gather in this way to bear witness to Christ and to Christians cooperating with Christians?
I was there and found it very impressive. Quite the turnout! I see that Trinity was the alternate location should there be rain; I'd be curious to see if that huge crowd could have fit in there.
ReplyDeleteI thought Rev. Anita did a great job. I admire people who can do so well speaking their second language.
I was there, and found the service meaningful. It is so nice to see so many denominations working together to celebrate Pentecost. Well done to the organizers and all who were involved. We all benefit from hospital chaplaincy and what a better way to support them, then through a community service!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that the two of you were there. With such a large crowd I didn't see a lot of our St. Paul's folk but a number have let me know that they attended and how positive the worship was for them.
ReplyDeleteThanks!