T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Desten Gutierez, Stephen Hernandez and Alexis Sebastian with the New Life Pentecostal Church youth band sing and dance for the Lord during Praise in the Park on Saturday. The event was organized by multiple Marshalltown churches and was held at the Cartwright Market.

Hundreds of people came and went, bands played and prayer was done during Praise in the Park at Cartwright Market on Saturday.

Crystal Gassman, who had the vision for the event, said she wanted to see people worshipping in the middle of Marshalltown and wanted to give away free items, such as bags of bread and peanut butter.

“We wanted to serve our community and get out there,” she said. “Rather than talk about it and pray about it, go and do it. It’s an act of obedience.”

Planning for the event began in June, and pieces just fell into place.

According to Gassman, the right people were able to accomplish things such as getting the proper permits from the city and obtaining the bandshell. She said she organized the music.

“I wanted to make sure we had a youth band to represent our kids, because they are our greatest treasure in this town,” Gassman said.

In addition to a youth band from New Life, other bands included 5 for 1 and one from Vineyard Christian Fellowship. As the bands played, attendees gathered close to the bandshell, arms raised in praise or seated to simply listen and enjoy the music. Under a tent, “prayer warriors” were available for anyone who wanted prayers.

The empty green space next to Cartwright was chosen for a couple reasons.

“This area is not where everybody is seeking to live and we wanted to give people an opportunity to bring worship to our community,” she said. “But the whole key to this was unity.”

Plus, the Cartwright Farmers Market and craft fair helped bring additional people.

“There’s a lot of little things that organized themselves,” she said. “We were able to bring something to them as well, not just ourselves.”

Several churches were involved in putting the event together, such as New Hope, New Life, Vineyard Christian Fellowship and Great Commission. Gassman loved to see the churches glorify God, and not themselves.

“It’s all about the fact we are a body of Christ and we’re doing this to glorify God and bring glory to our city,” Gassman said. “That is the heart of this. If this happens again, it’s because people had the vision and desire to make it happen.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.