Philadelphia Event Offers Alternative Focus on Family

September 12 an army of Seventh-day Adventists will walk through and pray for Philadelphia, going house to house leaving door hangers that offer Bible studies and information on growing stronger families.

Story by Tamyra Horst, Pennsylvania Conference

Pennsylvania Conference pastors from Philadelphia and surrounding areas, led by Tim Bailey, director of leadership and spiritual growth, and Jeanne Hartwell, associate ministerial and family life director, are planning this event to take advantage of the tremendous interest and publicity around faith and family sparked by the Roman Catholic Church’s World Meeting of Families event in Philadelphia, September 22-25.

The Catholic Church’s event will focus on strengthening family bonds and include a visit by Pope Francis. The Pennsylvania team wants to offer something that ties into this focus on family and have created a website, faithforfamily.org, while also planning family-related events at local churches.

“In anticipation of the pope’s upcoming visit, the Pennsylvania Conference is eager to reach out to the residents of Philadelphia with a positive message of faith and family,” says Ray Hartwell, president. “Rather than attack things the people of the community may not understand, we follow the counsel in Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 299: ‘(People) are to be turned from their false worship, not by hearing denunciation of their idols, but by beholding something better. God’s goodness is to be made known.’”

Area pastors and churches will follow up the one-day event by offering small groups and seminars on family topics. The campaign will culminate with Spanish and English evangelistic meetings November 13–15 in Philadelphia and Reading.

Click here to see what the Allegheny East Conference is planning.