Christians will gather under one tent

Corinth's faithful will be under one tent next week, but they won't be camping: Leaders of every church in the rural Saratoga County community hope to draw residents to an ecumenical, five-night, outdoor prayer service.

Held under a tent at the town's athletic field, the June 27-July 1 event is an offshoot of ecumenical prayer gatherings that have been held regularly for more than a year.

"We felt something should happen to bring the churches in the community together," explained Rev. Charles Gaffigan, pastor of Immaculate Conception, the Catholic parish in Corinth, as well as Holy Infancy in Lake Luzerne.

Coming together

Having done a door-to-door census when he became pastor, Father Gaffigan knew many of Corinth's 6,000 residents either didn't belong to a church of any denomination or had stopped practicing their faith.

Now, he said, everyone in town is receiving a leaflet announcing the prayer service, which proclaims "a new beginning for Corinth: Something amazing is happening in Corinth this summer! Corinth area churches are joining together for this great event. The whole community is gathering for these five nights."

Each night, participants will hear presentations from the leaders of many churches -- Catholic, Gateway Apostolic, United Methodist, Free Methodist, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Baptist, Pentecostal, and the Church of the Nations. Afterward, cards with information on all the churches will be handed out.

The goal is to get members of the local community involved in a faith community of their choice.

Shepherd

In his presentation, Father Gaffigan plans to talk about Jesus' description of Himself as a "good shepherd."

The pastor pointed out that, as much as he and his peers want people to join their churches, Jesus "wants people more than we do to have some faith connection -- and He'll bless our efforts."

Father Gaffigan also noted that the community needs healing, having been split by controversy over the plastics industry coming into the town.

Those arguments "have been going on for three years," he said. "It's a divided community. We [pastors] feel coming to this event can heal some wounds, restore some civility."

Miracle time

The leaflet describing the gathering notes, "Come expecting a miracle," and Father Gaffigan believes that miracle will be "conversion, change of heart. If there's no change of heart when you come to a religious prayer service, you're wasting your time."

He is particularly proud that every church of every denomination in Corinth has chosen to participate. A proponent of evangelization, Father Gaffigan said that one parish can accomplish something in drawing new members, "but together with other churches, we can do more."

("Under the Big Tent" will be held June 27-July 1, at 7 p.m. each night. A Sunday service will be held at 10 a.m., July 1. There is no cost. To learn more, call John Marsi, 696-2569.)

(6/21/07)