Although a number of churches in Battle Ground have gathered on the night before Thanksgiving for around 35 years to show unity in the community, Landmark Church Pastor Ed Staton understood the significance of this year’s gathering.
Less than a month removed from a very turbulent election, Staton and the leaders from the other 15 churches who joined together knew that the divisions on a national, state and local level needed to be addressed in a indirect manner and the focus needed to shift back to unification.
The sponsoring churches included Battle Ground Baptist Church, Battle Ground Foursquare Church, Battle Ground Pentecostals, Battle Ground United Methodist Church, Cherry Grove Friends Church, Church on the Rock, CrossWay Church, Church of the Holy Spirit, Episcopal, Hockinson Community Church, Household of Faith Community Church, Landmark Christian Assembly Church, Meadow Glade SDA Church, North Creek Church, Outreach Community Church, Sacred Heart Catholic Church and Starting Grounds Church.
The speaker for the evening, Arden Kinser, pastor of the Cherry Grove Friends Church, attempted to turn the focus away from the divisions in society, focusing instead on peace and hope. The goal of the message was to shine a light on what “unites us, not what divides us.”
Staton said that although they did not address the divisive nature of the election directly, because they do not want the combined services to be political, he felt that their message that although “we may have different views politically, what unites us is Jesus Christ and the hope that he gives, not only to our nation and our world, but to our community as well” was appropriate.
The service, which was held at Hockinson Community Church, also served as the conclusion of the Hope > Despair series which has been going on in a number of area churches to help combat teen isolation and suicide.
The uniqueness of churches in a community uniting is not lost on Staton. While not all churches in the area participated, having 16 churches come together for events such as the Thanksgiving eve service, a sunrise service on Easter and a gathering on the National Day of Prayer is “remarkable.”
“It’s pretty amazing,” Staton said of the number of churches that come together on a consistent basis. He added that while he has seen a few churches doing work together in other communities, he’s never seen anything compared to the magnitude of the Battle Ground area. To spur on that unique culture of unity, Staton said that when a new pastor comes into the area, the churches share with them that “in Battle Ground, you don’t just pastor a church, you help pastor a city.”
Along with unifying the community, the Thanksgiving eve service always takes an offering for the food bank. This year, the offering raised $806.
