PHILADELPHIA (BRN) – After attending the BRN Advance Evangelism Conference as well as the Virtual Exegesis training, pastors from several Philadelphia churches were convicted that the traditional Good Friday services, which both had offered for years, wouldn’t be the most effective way to reach people outside the church walls with the great news of Christ and Him Crucified.
So a plan was hatched to bring the word to the streets‐literally. Beginning outside Ekklesia of North Philadelphia and winding a path 1.8 miles through the streets to St. John Memorial Baptist, members of both congregations paused at some of the most notorious corners of the neighborhood to expound on Jesus’ seven last words.
In between, believers from toddler to age 78 – even the wheelchair‐bound and seeing‐eye‐dog‐led – marched and sang. They were accompanied by a worship team composed of members from both churches who led out from the back of a flatbed truck steered by St. John’s Pastor Nathaniel J. Holder.
When the convoy reached each of the seven stops, saints passed out tracts and Gospels of John to those passing by as the Word came forth.
It was a special treat to welcome multiple generations to minister the Word at several of the locations as well as pastors from several other local congregations. Pastor Holder teamed up with his grandson, Naseem Andrews, at one stop, while teenage Elijah Saxton proclaimed a word in partnership with his dad, Ekklesia’s Pastor Curt Saxton.
Having picked up a number of curious neighbors along the way, the crew enjoyed a fellowship meal at St. John’s to end the night.
The ground was fertilized with prayer walks earlier in the week and a joint prayer meeting that began on Maundy Thursday at 8 p.m. that didn’t let out til 2 a.m. on Good Friday. Both congregations are looking forward to what comes next as they seek to reach their respective parts of the 19133 zip code for Jesus.
