2 days ago
March for Jesus scheduled for Saturday
Joplin's annual March for Jesus will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday, starting at Seventh Street and Joplin Avenue. It will continue to Third Street, cross over to Main and then finish at Sixth and Main streets, where there will be a worship service, prayer tents, baptisms and dancers.
Organizer David Pizinger, senior pastor at Glorious Church Training Center, said everyone is welcome.
'We're calling everybody out into the streets,' he said.
This year's theme is 'Jesus Christ Our Only Hope,' and it will be reflected in the message, songs, banners and prayers at the event, Pizinger said.
Parking is available downtown between Seventh and Fifth streets. If people aren't comfortable walking, they can meet the march at its final destination for the worship service. People should bring seating for the event.
The Joplin March for Jesus resumed about three years ago after a pause. Last year, around 900 people participated, and based on responses, organizers are expecting upward of 2,000 attendees this year. Pizinger said he has been fielding calls about the event from all over Missouri and Kansas.
'I'm hoping to get the church outside of the walls of the church,' Pizinger said. 'Second of all, we're hoping to gather the body of Christ because John 17 says we're just one body. Third of all, we're inviting God to our city.'
The march is connected with the worldwide March for Jesus taking place on Pentecost weekend, marking the birth of the church.
According to the event's website, the march's vision is to see the churches united in public worship and working together.
Pizinger said the march traces its roots back to social action churches took in 1885 in England. The Salvation Army and the Methodist Church marched to Parliament with a petition of 343,000 signatures, demanding that the trade in child prostitution be stopped and the age of consent be raised from 13 to 16 years old. They succeeded, and laws were passed to prevent the mistreatment of minors.
'They went back to Joshua 6 and did the Jericho march,' Pizinger said. 'From that, it started developing in other places. In the 1980s, Austin, Texas, brought it here. It's been going on ever since. I did some research on it, and there's over 60 million people since the conception who have marched.'
Pizinger said he's excited for Joplin to join in this movement.
'My heart when we started this was to not only get outside the walls, but how do you unify the body of Christ?' Pizinger said. 'You do that by calling all of the churches and all the worshipers, and it's been fantastic.'
People can find more information about the event on their Facebook page, March for Jesus Joplin.
