Published: July 03, 2008 07:52 pm         

Picnic at The Place

Public invited to free summer worship, meal

Words of Hope Ministries, under the direction of Gus and Debby Farris, will host a summer worship and picnic July 12 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at The Place.

“We wanted to offer the community an opportunity to come and join with us for a Saturday evening of worship, food and fellowship,” Debby Farris said. “Saturday Nights at The Place” are an outreach ministry of United Methodist Temple, and we stress the fact these events are for people from all churches or for people who don’t attend church at all. It’s a wonderful way to bring people together.”

Special speaker will be Dr. Chuck Pullins, who assumed the role as pastor of UMT this week.

“We thought this would be an excellent way to introduce Pastor Chuck to the community and to let the community fellowship with him and his wife Vickie,” Farris said.

Coming to UMT from his role as district supervisor for the Midland South Division, Pullins is a West Virginia native and a pastor with a vision to bring greater unity among believers.

“All people connected to Christ is a vision that launches us into the next step in God’s dream for the United Methodist Temple and The Place,” Pullins said in an open letter to his new congregation. “We are blessed to be called of God to connect all people to Christ, and we have the joy of reaching the Beckley community for Christ.”

Those who come for the free event are asked to dress casually and to plan to enjoy a relaxed evening.

The UMT church choir, under the direction of minister of music Daniel Spurgeon, will provide special music for the worship service, and members of Unity Through Red Tape will be greeters and servers for the meal.

“This is part of their outreach ministry as well,” Farris said. “They enjoy meeting those who come and those who have attended our other free meals at Easter and Thanksgiving have told us how much they enjoy meeting these young people and talking with them.”

The indoor sit-down meal will feature barbecue and other kinds of typical picnic foods prepared by church hostess Virginia Amick and her kitchen crew.

Following the meal, there will be plenty of time for mingling and fellowship, Farris said.

“We want people to come and have a good time. We especially invite those who may never have come to one of these free events or to one of our regular Saturday night services before,” Farris said.

A youth lock in will be held following the service. Guest speakers and different bands are featured all night long, with lots of food, including breakfast on Saturday. Pick-up time is 7 a.m. Adult chaperones are present for the entire lock-in, and the doors are locked. No one can come in or leave once the lock-in begins.

Area youth are invited. Those who plan to spend the night should register ahead of time by calling Pastor KassiJo Farris at 252-6213.

Regular 7 p.m. Saturday Nights at The Place will resume July 19. Each week, the format of the worship service is different, Farris said.

“It is always different, and it’s certainly never boring,” Farris said. “We invite different speakers and different groups to sing and to provide music. The worship is for people of all ages, and we encourage people who’ve never been to one of our services to come and visit with us.”

Any churches who have dance teams, choirs or speakers who would like to be part of Saturday Nights at The Place may call Debby Farris at 252-6213.

— E-mail:

bdavis@register-herald.com