Thursday Night

(This article is in The Paris News Today.)

An annual community Thanksgiving worship service is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday.

Presented by the Lamar County Christian Ministers Association and Paris Ministerial Alliance, this year’s host is Breakthrough Church, 1225 NW Loop 286, on the south side of the Loop between Highway 271 and Highway 79.

The Rev. Gordon Barnes, pastor of Breakview, will bring the message.

“At a time people are struggling day to day, we as believers need to pause to offer God thanks for blessing us abundantly, and join us this coming Thursday as we gather as a Christian community to give a good God real thanks,” said the Rev. Lance Mann, pastor of Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church and president of the Paris Ministerial Alliance.

Father Craig Reed, pastor of Holy Cross Episcopal Church and president of the Lamar County Christian Ministers Association, spoke about the blessing of diversity.

“Paris and Lamar County are blessed with a diversity of churches and faithful Christians,” he said. “The Community Thanksgiving service allows us to gather together for worship and fellowship. It is a wonderful reminder that the Church is more than our own congregation.

“St. Paul tells us ‘You are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it,’” the pastor noted. “We have this opportunity to bring the various parts of the ‘body’ together. It is a great witness to the community about the whole body bearing witness to the Gospel.”

An offering collected during the service will go to a number of community service agencies to be announced by the two sponsoring groups. In the past, those agencies have included Texas Dream Center, New Hope Family Center, The King’s Daughters, Paris Pregnancy Care Center and Christians in Action, among others.