Churches plan host of Sept. 11 services
CALVARY CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE, 777 Promised Land Drive, California, will be the site for a community service marking 9-11 on Wednesday, September 11 at 7 p.m. The service will be built around the theme of “Reflection and Hope.’ The community choir, directed by Darla Pepper Miller, will sing musical selections. Mayor Gerald Gardner will read a proclamation. Fire, police and armed services personnel will be recognized. A Boy Scouts color guard will also participate. The ministers and priests of the community will participate in the service with Scriptures and prayers. CENTRAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 23 S. Gallatin Ave., Uniontown, will include a special tribute in remembrance of September 11 in its Sunday worship service at 10:30 a.m. The Rev. Art Mace, interim minister, will give the sermon “When Towers Fall.’
CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 319 Church St., Brownsville, announces special services to mark the first anniversary of the attack on America will take place on Wednesday, September 11. There will be a community memorial prayer service at the flagpole in Brownsville-Luzerne Park from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. There will be no morning service at Christ Church. There will be a midday prayer service for the nation at Christ Church from noon to 12:30 p.m.
CHRIST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, Uniontown, will honor the tragic loses of September 11 with a Memorial Service of Remembrance at Sunday’s 10:45 a.m. worship service.
CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE, 8 Jeffrey Lane, off Route 857, Uniontown, will offer A Day of Remembrance for 9-11 with the theme “May We Never Forget’ on Sunday at 10:50 a.m. There will be prayer, song and message in this time to remember the unforgettable attacks on the nation on September 11. The Rev. Howard Foust is pastor.
DIOCESEAN COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN announces its annual pilgrimage to St. John the Evangelist Church in Latrobe on Sept. 11. The evening will begin with a remembrance Mass at 6 p.m. It will conclude with the Chaplet of Divine Mercy to end the nine-day novena conducted by St. John Church. Following Mass, the Rev. Thomas Lukac will lead a tour of the new church and Mary’s Garden. Refreshments will be served in the social hall.
FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF REPUBLIC has folded 3,006 origami peace cranes to hang in the sanctuary – one for every victim of Sept. 11. The crane is an ancient symbol of peace. First Christian hopes to focus on the idea of peace during its observance of the first anniversary of the attack – both during the 10:55 a.m. worship service on Sunday and at a special Service of Peace and Remembrance the church is hosting on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. The latter service will feature songs, prayers, stories, candlelight and a special performance of the Dunlap Creek Village children’s Bell Choir, directed by Sister Mary Bassick and the Rev. Rebecca Hickok.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, located at Towne Square at Fourth and Liberty, California, will hold its own special tribute to those killed on September 11, 2001 by recruiting members of the congregation to ring the church bells at five different times on Patriot Day, September 11. The first four series of rings will honor all those killed in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Somerset County. The last series will honor all those lost to acts of terrorism.
GRACE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, 420 California Drive, Coal Center, will host a Service of Remembrance on Wednesday, September 11 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the sanctuary. It will include patriotic songs, tasteful images of that day, a video testimony from New York City firefighters, special music and a message on how God has brought good out of the evil that occurred one year ago. A nursery will be provided for children not yet in kindergarten.
GREENSBORO’S GOD AND COUNTRY HO DOWN, sponsored by New Hope Free Methodist Church, will take place on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event begins at 11 a.m. with a parade through Greensboro and will include a recognition and memorial service at Mon View Park. The Rev. Ginny Eberhart reported the ceremony will include a 21-gun salute and the playing of “Taps’ to honor those who were killed because of terrorism this past year. They will also honor all Greene County public servants, including fire departments, police departments, armed forces and veterans.
The day will include special music by Three Rivers Gospel Group, a petting zoo, food, pony rides, shows and demonstrations, community booths and the landing of the Stat Medovac helicopter. For more information or participation, phone Rev. Eberhart at 724-737-5455.
HOPWOOD FREE METHODIST CHURCH, 114 Hopwood-Coolspring Road, just off Route 40 in Hopwood, will have a special service of remembrance on September 11 at 6:30 p.m. for all ages. This service for the community will have special singing and many memories of a year ago. For more information, phone 724-439-1339.
LITTLE REDSTONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 335 Central School Road, Fayette City, will offer a candlelight vesper service on Wednesday, September 11 at 7 p.m. in memory of those who died in the World Trade Center incident a year ago. Prayers will be aid for their families and prayers will be said to end all terrorism and to bring the world to peace. People of all faiths are welcome.
LOVE OUTREACH CHURCH, 101 Peach Lane, Village of Phillips, Uniontown, will ring its church bell on Sunday in honor of the families, friends, victims and heroes of September 11. The congregation will offer a moment of silence. Worship will begin at 11 a.m.
MOUNT PLEASANT CHURCH OF GOD has reserved a bus to take people to Shanksville, Somerset County, to the observance of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11. Details are being finalized but departure time will be released to all who register for the bus. The service will be held early in the day. To register, phone 724-547-7110. There will be a small fee to offset the cost of the bus and driver. The bus will leave from the Mount Pleasant Church of God parking lot at 936 W. Main St.
MOUNT PLEASANT MINISTERIUM will host a 9-11 Candlelight Memorial Service at Veterans Park gazebo on South Diamond Street at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11. The Mount Pleasant High School Tower of Power marching band will participate. Emergency response personnel and armed services will be recognized. Lives lost as a result of Sept. 11 will be remembered. There will be candle lighting, prayer and a public Pledge of Allegiance as well as community ensemble of various congregations to lead in the public singing of the “The Star Spangled Banner’ and “God Bless America.’
PERRYOPOLIS MINISTERIUM is planning a special worship service on September 11 at 7 p.m. at Frazier High School Auditorium to commemorate the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on the nation. An offering will be taken that will be donated 100 percent to the memorial that will be erected in Somerset, site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93. Children are currently saving coins as a part of their contribution to the memorial. Participants include all local clergy, mayor of Perryopolis, police department, Veterans of Foreign Wars, volunteer fire department, Perryopolis Ambulance Service, Boy Scout Troop 625, Girl Scouts, Frazier High School Band, First Christian Chime Choir. A bell will be run after each of the 84 nations who lost citizens in the tragedy is read.
ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF GREENSBURG on Sunday, September 8 broadcasts “One Year Later’ commemorating the events of September 11, 2001 on its radio program, “Accent on the Air.’ The program is heard locally Sundays at 6:30 p.m. on WMBS-Radio in Uniontown and at 11:30 p.m. on KDKA-Radio in Pittsburgh. In “One Year Later, Bishop Anthony G. Bosco discusses the nation’s progress over the past year, wondering if those who practice Christianity, Judaism and Islam have grown closer together. In addition, five panelists of The Genesis Project, which took place in the Diocese of Greensburg four years ago, regroup to discuss how those conversations may have helped deal with the events of Sept. 11 and provide perspective regarding where the country now needs to go. This is the first of three special programs dedicated to the September 11 anniversary.
ROSCOE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Main and Underwood Streets, will host a community Service of Remembrance on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m. Led by the Rev. Dr. John Rankin, the service is being planned by the Church Session in cooperation with the Roscoe American Legion Post 801, area fire companies and municipal officials who will participate. The service will include patriotic songs, readings and prayers for those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks and the heroes who strived to save so many. It will include the sacrament of Holy Communion, which is open to all who attend.
ST. GEORGE MARONITE CATHOLIC CHURCH, 6 Lebanon Terrace, Uniontown, announces a special Maronite memorial Divine Liturgy will be celebrated on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 9 a.m. in remembrance of all the victims, both living and dead, of the 9/11 tragedies. The Rev. Joseph R. David, pastor, will be celebrant. Appropriate prayers will be recited in tribute for those who died in that 2001 tragedy. The ancient traditional incense hymn “On These Clouds of Fragrant Smoke’ will be chanted for the deceased as incense is burned at the end of the liturgy.
ST. PETER’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA, 121 Walnut Hill Road, Uniontown, will hold a service of remembrance on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Wednesday, September 11 at 7 p.m.
ST. RITA ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 116 S. Second St., Connellsville will hold its annual Homecoming Parish Outdoor Mass on Sunday in conjunction with an observance commemorating September 11. Police, firefighters and emergency personnel are invited. The Mass will be held under the tent along with a family picnic. Three vigil candles will be carried in the offertory procession to represent New York City, the Pentagon and Shanksville. Prayers will be offered for all deceased victims, their families, survivors and volunteers who responded and local emergency personnel. The following units are invited: Connellsville Police Department, state police at Uniontown, Kevin Karwatsky, John Irwin, and John Maczko, parishioner/state police officers; Dunbar police, South Connellsville police, firefighters from Connellsville, New Haven, South Connellsville, Morrell, DL&V (Dawson, Liberty and Vanderbilt), Dunbar, Connellsville Township and Bullskin Township fire departments and Fayette EMS and Fayette County Emergency Management/HAZ-MAT units.
UNIONTOWN AREA CLERGY ASSOCIATION will sponsor a September 11 memorial service for the community on Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. at the State Theatre Center for the Arts, Main Street, Uniontown. A dozen pastors and clergy members are expected to participate. A mass choir, composed of members of several churches, will perform. Local services organizations and fire departments are invited to participate. Public servants and the military will be honored. The program will include traditional hymns, and a human video of “God Bless the USA’ while David Nehls, a New York entertainer, will show a video called “The Day Apathy Died in America.’