‘Loving Our Neighbors’ series continues this month and ‘Love Battle Ground Community Service Project’ is set for Sat., Oct. 19
BATTLE GROUND — Ten churches in the Battle Ground community are joining together this fall to help area residents learn more about “Loving our Neighbors.’’
The four-sermon series began on Oct. 6 and still has two remaining Sunday dates — Oct. 20 and Oct. 27. The series will cover how area residents can glorify God by loving their neighbors and serving others.
“The pastors in Battle Ground have a pretty unique relationship,’’ said Pastor Brad Vos of CrossWay Church. “We all gather every Thursday for prayer and conversation. We are all friends. We root for each other and the other churches. When we moved into Battle Ground, the other churches weren’t threatened at all they actually helped. This series came out of that friendship.
“We did something similar a couple of years ago called ‘Hope > Despair,’’’ Vos added. “This year, we got twice as many churches involved. A few of us got together to lay out the topic. We really thought this ‘loving your neighbor’ aspect was a good topic. Each church preaches their own way. We all cover the same topic. It shows unity in the midst of our diversity.’’
The public is invited to attend any or all of the sermon series at any of the participating churches. The message will be the same at each of the participating churches.
In addition to those two remaining dates, the nine churches will join together for a community-wide service project on Sat., Oct. 19. The “Love Battle Ground Community Service Project’’ will begin at 9 a.m. at Kiwanis Park in Battle Ground, located at 422 SW 2nd Ave. Groups will be formed and then each will head out to another park to help clean them up. Participants are encouraged to bring gloves and rakes. The project is scheduled to last until noon.
“We wanted to reach out to our community with this series and the other community events that are planned (community work day and community Worship and Prayer Service) to show the unity of our Battle Ground-area churches in such a divided culture we are in just now,’’ said Pastor Ed Staton of Landmark Church. “We felt it would be good for people to see the love of God in action through the churches in our community. We have had very positive input from several sources including the city of Battle Ground.’’
The goals of the participating pastors includes changing the perception some members of the community have about churches.
“I personally come in contact with so many people that have a negative perspective of church in general for a variety of reasons, some are valid and others often a misperception,’’ said Pastor Brad Wuori from Church on the Rock. “We wanted to come together as a group of churches with a variety of expressions of worship, to impact our community and hopefully change the perception of what the church, and ultimately Jesus is really like.
“Everywhere Jesus went, He brought life and hope into hopeless situations, we believe that the church is called to do the same, to be the Body of Christ and to be His hands and feet to the world around us,’’ Wuori said. “Our hope is that through this series and beyond, that many would consider the church to be a blessing to the community in practical ways. That we would see a reduction in some of the issues that our city faces on a daily basis, that homelessness would be reduced, that people would find help for addiction, and that hope would be extended into hopeless situations. We want to shine brightly in our community with the love of Jesus Christ.’’
Participating churches:
• CrossWay Church, 311 North Parkway, Battle Ground, WA 98604, www.crosswaychurchwa.com
• Landmark Church, 1504 W Main Street, Battle Ground, WA 98604, www.landmarkchurchbg.com
• Battle Ground Foursquare Church, meets at Chief Umtuch Middle School, 700 NW 9th Street, Battle Ground, WA 98604, www.bgfour.com
• Battle Ground Baptist Church, 1110 NW 6th Ave, Battle Ground, WA 98604, www.bgbaptist.com
• Church on the Rock, 500 SW Eaton Blvd, Battle Ground, WA 98604, http://www.rockwa.com/
• Starting Grounds Church, 203 South Parkway, Battle Ground, WA 98604, www.startinggroundschurch.com
• Prince of Peace, 14208 NE 249th Street, Battle Ground, WA 98604, http://www.princeofpeacebg.org
• Bethel Lutheran Church, 12919 NE 159th St., Brush Prairie, WA 98606, https://www.bethelbrushprairie.org
• Hockinson Community Church, 15918 NE 182nd Ave., Brush Prairie, WA 98606, https://hockinson.org
• Cherry Grove, 9100 NE 219th Street, Battle Ground, WA 98604, www.cherrygrovefriends.org
