Community Thanksgiving service set for Sunday
By From staff reports
Published in News on November 20, 2015 1:46 PM
A community Thanksgiving worship service will be held Sunday in the sanctuary of Madison Avenue Baptist Church. It will start at 7 p.m.
The tradition of the Thanksgiving service began more than 40 years ago, said Madison Avenue's pastor Bob Fulkerson.
"As it was two years ago, this year's program will be less about preachers and more about lay people -- specifically lay people who are city workers and individuals from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base," Fulkerson said. "One thing will be unchanged. An offering will be taken to help support the Community Soup Kitchen of Goldsboro."
In addition to Madison Avenue, other churches sponsoring the community Thanksgiving service are St. Luke United Methodist and First Christian.
"These congregations have held neighborhood Thanksgiving services for more than four decades," Fulkerson said. "Since 2010, these three congregations have been joined by other churches that are affiliated with a community-wide fellowship of churches whose pastors are members of Clergy Living in Faith and Fellowship (CLIFF)."
Fulkerson said the ministers of CLIFF decided to broaden the participation and have invited employees of the city of Goldsboro and airmen from the base to lead the service.
Goldsboro Fire Marshal John Morton will be the speaker. Employees from Goldsboro police and fire departments will help lead the service, along with those from the planning department, public works and administration office.
The Starlight Dance Band and other instrumentalists will provide music for the service.
"The theme of the evening comes from Philippians 4:4-7: 'Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice!'" Fulkerson said. "Four years ago, $1,637.22 was given to assist the Soup Kitchen and two years ago, members of the Goldsboro community donated $1,833.47. I pray the trend would continue."
It takes $300 per day to feed 150 hungry people at the Soup Kitchen. Since 1980, the Soup Kitchen has served more than 945,331 meals to the hungry people of Wayne County.
Those sharing in the Thanksgiving service offering should make their check payable to the Community Soup Kitchen, which is a nonprofit organization.
For more information about the service, call Madison Avenue Church at 919-734-3761.