A desire and vision to bring people of Marshalltown together to worship and pray for one another led to the creation of Praise in the Park.

The event will be held Saturday at Cartwright Market. Members of New Hope, New Life, Vineyard Christian Fellowship and Great Commission churches will be present.

Sarah Rodriguez said it is the first time these churches have offered such an event.

“The Vineyard church started this community activity, but it is a combination of many different churches,” she said. “The focus has never been on who the church is, but that we are all working together to bring praise and glory to Jesus.”

Whether or not organizers intend to make it an annual gathering depends on how well the event goes and if other churches would like to participate in the future.

“When we all work together for events like this, we can spread the love of Jesus to the community,” she said.

Since the event is occurring at the same time as the craft fair at the Cartwright Farmers Market, Rodriguez said they wanted to have it at the market. Plus, it is centrally located to the heart of Marshalltown.

The three-hour event begins at noon with music collaboration from the Vineyard group. The band 5 for 1 will begin at 1 p.m., and at 2 p.m. a praise team from New Life will be present. She added there will be testimonies given by a few community members in between groups.

In addition to bringing the community together, Rodriguez said there will be giveaways — specifically 100 bags with peanut butter and bread. Unity in the Community will hand out school supplies and there will be free popcorn and water while they last.

The organizers do not have a goal for a specific amount of attendees.

“It’s not about numbers, but worship,” she said. “We can do this anywhere, but choose to worship in the park with others. We want to bring hope and joy to the community and worship together.”

Rodriguez thanked everyone who stepped up to help organize, donate and participate in the Praise in the Park to give people an opportunity to get whatever prayer they need.

“We want to bring joy to the community,” she said.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

bradstream@timesrepublican.com.