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Party in the Park celebration to bring local churches together

Pastor Casey Dawson of the Sunrise Baptist Church is the moderator for the Parkersburg Baptist Association. He stands in front of the bandshell at Parkersburg’s City Park where the Baptist Association is hosting the “Party in the Park,” which begins at 1 p.m. Sept. 30 with the Jason Lovins Band. (Photo by Jeff Baughan)

PARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg Baptist Association is changing, according to Pastor Casey Dawson of the Sunrise Baptist Church. “The change will become visible Sept. 30,” he said.

“Many years ago churches met and did things together,” he said. “Churches have grown to the point where they do things on their own. Our prayer is to get churches back together again.”

Thus, the idea for the “Party in the Park,” which is sponsored by the Baptist association. “There are 32 churches within the moderate range of Parkersburg,” Dawson said. “Those churches are in Wirt and Pleasants counties as well as Wood County.” The churches are members of the West Virginia American Baptist Convention and the national American Baptist Convention.

“There’s going to be an abbreviated business meeting from noon to 1 p.m. at City Park and then at 1 p.m. the party begins,” he said. “This is going to be a fulfillment of a vision we feel like God has given us. We’re going to be moving outside the walls of the church building to reach people. We’re not going to sit and wait for people to come to us, we’re going to them. We’re going to be working with churches to get the gospel to people, not working against them. And we’re going to reach out to the younger generation in a way they can understand and relate.”

Part of the outreach includes an appearance at the bandshell of the Jason Lovins Band. Name sound familar? The band performed the national anthem at the Food City 300 at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn., Aug. 18. “The band is very relational to the younger generation,” said Dennis Raines, a member of the association’s group working on the event. “They write a lot of their own music. The music will relate to that younger generation we are so desperately trying to reach. And younger generation isn’t necessarily meaning teenagers but younger adults and parents.”

The artist’s website is jasonlovins.com. Besides appearing at the park event, the band will perform at the morning service at New Hope Baptist on Rosemar Road and then provide a free concert that night 6 p.m. at the church.

Raines said among the features of the event are inflatables, praise bands from South Parkersburg and Vienna Baptist churches, free food and a mission fair which will allow local churches to share individual ministries the churches sponsor.

He added, “Smaller churches can find they may not be big enough to do something on their own, but they can partner with a larger church to support the ministry and it can have a bigger impact for the good of those who use and need that ministry.”

“We as churches have to change,” said Dawson. “We don’t change the gospel, but we have to change; we have to change how we reach people. We’re not saying people are doing it wrong. It’s just going to be in a different way.”

Dawson added, “On average, 200 churches in America close the doors a week; 200 a week, think about that.”

“The labels we put on churches are perceived as road blocks within the community,” said Raines, who added he was speaking more along the lines of denominational names on a sign. “We’re looking to build the kingdom, not an individual church.”

“This is not about me, not about us, not about a denomination,” said Dawson. “It’s about coming together to fulfill Christ’s mission, which He sent us to accomplish.”

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