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After a one-year hiatus community worship services will resume on Sunday evenings this August in response to popular demand. These services are jointly sponsored by the Northwest Christian Alliance (NCA), a consortium of local churches and ministries dedicated to fostering greater cooperation across denominational and cultural lines.

This is the third summer in four years that such gatherings, called “Sunset with the Son,” have been held. Each week a different local church or ministry “hosts” the service, injecting its own flavor to the event. In the past these services have incorporated traditional and contemporary music, personal journey stories, and brief messages explaining important texts from the Bible.

In contrast to previous years there is no unifying theme for the 2009 series. Each host group is thus free to bring a distinctive emphasis in both content and presentation as it serves the community. Each service will begin at 6:30pm and last approximately one hour. This year’s host organizations are:
August 2, Pilgrim Church
August 9, Church of the Living Saviour
August 16, “With His Love” Christian Ministries
August 23, Liberti Church

The concluding event to the worship series will be a Community Picnic and Ministry Fair at Gorgas Park on the afternoon of August 30. The picnic and fair will feature food, games and activities, and opportunities to become acquainted with various service organizations. The host for this year’s event is Ridge Avenue United Methodist Church.

The summer series was conceived in the autumn of 2005 as one facet of a vision that emerged among area pastors and other spiritual leaders who meet weekly for prayer and mutual support. This gathering gradually morphed into the informal but more cohesive NCA. Besides this year’s hosts other NCA organizations include the Salvation Army Roxborough Citadel, St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Leverington Presbyterian Church, Roxborough Presbyterian Church, the Philadelphia Bible Society, and Harvest USA.

In addition to the Gorgas Park events these churches meet periodically throughout the year for “Community Nights of Praise” at various locations. Occasional breakfast banquets feature notable guest speakers who address subjects of urgency rather than mere interest. In June the NCA conducted a “Day of Blessing” at Roxborough Memorial Hospital, bringing gift baskets and words of encouragement to both patients and staff. Participating churches actively promote each others’ ministry efforts in recognizing that people’s spiritual and material needs trumps ecclesiastical territorialism.

Furnished seating at the services is limited to approximately 80 people so lawn chairs are suggested. In the event of inclement weather the indoor venue will be Leverington Presbyterian Church, located across Ridge Ave. at the Hermitage St. end of the park.

[gagagaridze]

at our rain venue, Leverington Presbyterian Church (across the street from the park). The ground was very soggy from the t-storms and there was fear of a shock hazard from the electric instruments. About 90 people attended - pretty good number given the aftermath of the extreme conditions.

Lord willing we will meet at Gorgas Park, near the war memorial, this Sunday at 6:30pm. Church of the Living Saviour, located at Fountain and Silverwood Sts., will host the gathering.

Do please come!