Hundreds 'blessed' by perfect weather, meaningful sermon at True Life Church in the Park

Posted 3/7/24

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Bright streaks of sunshine during a morning of worship that attracted parishioners and onlookers alike erased concerns about rain at the first True Life Church in the Park on …

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Hundreds 'blessed' by perfect weather, meaningful sermon at True Life Church in the Park

Congregation members were happy to pray with strangers who were passing through the park last Sunday.

PHOTOS BY DANIELLE GARNER

True Life Church pastor Billy Register spreads the word of God to nearly 500 at Spring Park.

PHOTOS BY DANIELLE GARNER

There were a lot of new faces attending True Life Church in the Park, pastor Billy Register said.

PHOTO BY DANIELLE GARNER

Hundreds rejoiced in fellowship and prayer at the first True Life Church at the Park last Saturday.

PHOTO BY DANIELLE GARNER

Part of the service was serving 350 meals to anyone in the park.

PHOTO BY DANIELLE GARNER

Posted Thursday, March 7, 2024 12:30 pm

By Don Coble don@claytodayonline.com

Inviting musicians from last May’s Riverfest at Spring Park to perform at the church’s sanctuary on County Road 220 evolved into bringing church service to the park.

“A group of us from the church were there,” Register said of the annual Memorial Day celebration. “We were sitting there watching some people sing in the gazebo. Somebody said one of the singers had talked to him and said something they were in their youth group at church. I thought that would be great.

“Then somebody said we could do church here. That’s how it got started.”

Register said the True Life congregation has about 375 people. While it’s impossible to differentiate the morning walkers and parishioners, Register said there were more than 425 stopping to hear the service. He said as many as 100 who weren’t connected with the church participated.

Afterward, the church handed out 350 free lunches.

“I know a lot of (the lunches) went to a couple dozen people who didn’t go to our church,” Register said. “We sat and talked with some of them. We listened to their stories. A handful said they were homeless and they were just coming through. We gave them barbecue chicken, talked with them, and prayed with them about things.”

Register said the church had lofty expectations about moving a service to the park, but they were “overwhelmed” by the number of people who joined part or all of the service.

“It far exceeded our expectations,” he said. “The venue was a big part of that. The heartbeat of our church is to be an instrument to serve our community. We got to meet people and share fun like face-painting, free meals and kindness.

“Some people said they were considering coming to our church. We brought the church to them. We were so fortunate to be in a place, as a church, where we could do something like this to love our community. It was a great success.”