By Thad Williams
Yesterday, First Baptist Ruston hosted an annual community Easter service organized in collaboration with several local churches. While the service was held on the First Baptist campus, the event was actually put on by eight different local churches.
Starting in 2012, these churches all agreed to gather together once a year in order to build unity amongst themselves and to better serve the community. This Easter service also helps the churches show openness amongst each other.
The Rev. Dr. Chris Craig, senior pastor of First Baptist Ruston, was one of the original ministers who decided to start this annual gathering.
“I called together a group of ministers in 2012 and wanted to see them do something together,” Craig said. “This is a way (for us) to come together and honor Jesus.”
In the past years, this event has been hosted at various churches in Ruston, but the ministers are all assigned to certain parts within the service in order to make sure it runs smoothly. This also helps to take some burden off of one single church and let all the pastors contribute to the event in some meaningful way.
The Rev. Bill Reid, senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, was one of the other ministers who participated in the community service and helped to spread the word about the event throughout his congregation and encouraged them to invite other members of the community.
“You (see) different cultures all coming together for the same purpose,” Reid said. “It’s healthy for the community and shows that we aren’t all divided.”
The event offered worship music, times of prayer, a diverse community and a message from the Rev. Chris Witt of Life Church Ruston.
