Labor Day Worship Celebration Draws Dozens to OrlandoAugust 30, 2018 • Jeff Gardenour  • DIOCESAN FAMILY • EVENTS • REACHING OUT

The Gospel is alive, well and being heard in Orlando as evidenced by a nice turnout for a special service this week, a “Labor Day Worship Celebration.”

Approximately 35 people from numerous area churches attended the special service on Wednesday, Aug. 29, at First Presbyterian Church’s Reformation Chapel in downtown Orlando, according to the Rev. Canon Dr. Justin Holcomb, Canon for Vocations for the Diocese of Central Florida.

The event was put on by Made to Flourish, a group of clergy from different Christian denominations who are working together to teach others how to effectively spread the Gospel, according to Sarah Caprani, executive assistant to Bishop Greg Brewer in the Diocese of Central Florida. It marked the first time that the Diocese of Central Florida partnered with other groups to offer this service.

“The service was 45 minutes,” Holcomb said. “Service was music, confession and assurance of pardon, time prayers using prayer from the Book of Common Prayer, scripture, and sermon.”

The Rev. Damien Schitter of New City Church in downtown Orlando delivered the sermon.  Schitter has been on staff at New City Church for four years and is currently the primary preacher.

Holcomb said the sermon centered around four bullet points:

  • God is the first worker in Genesis.
  • We are invited to work with God in cultivating and creating and ordering.
  • Sin in undoing that.
  • In Christ, God is redeeming and restoring … and he invited us to participate in being agents of that redemption to the entire world.

Made to Flourish is a national organization that is doing well in major cities across the U.S., Holcomb said. The organization helped fund the special Labor Day worship service with the Collaborative, led by the Rev. Dr. Case Thorp, a senior associate pastor at First Presbyterian.

Thorp and Holcomb are the City Directors for Made to Flourish, with Holcomb representing the Episcopal Church in events.

For more information on Made to Flourish, access the site https://www.madetoflourish.org on the internet. For details on the Collaborative, visit https://collaborativeorlando.com on the web.