The church community in Dresden is inviting the public to join together once again this year for an annual celebration and family event.
The Dresden and District Christian Ministerial Association will be holding their 4th “We Believe In Dresden Day” on Saturday, May 30 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“Basically it’s just an opportunity for all the churches in town to get together and show the wider community that churches are not at odds with ones another,” said Rev. Andy Cornell, one of the organizers and the pastor at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
“We have a lot in common and don’t believe what you hear and see in other places. We want to work together. We are all united in Christ. We want to do as Christ commanded us and that is to love the world and show people a better way.”
The free event in Dresden will feature an assortment of activities, including:
– A professional esthetician and a hair stylist donating their time and talents
– Hot dog barbecue
– Neighbourhood Watch Bike Rodeo (11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.) and free bike draw
– Free bike tune ups by SportChek
– Inflatables, games, popcorn and candy floss
– Puppet show
– Petting zoo
– Street hockey
– Crafts, corn sandbox
– Fire trucks on display
– Free comics and gift bags
“One thing we are really keen on doing here is reaching out into young families<” Cornell said. “You will see the events here it’s aimed at young families.”
Cornell said many of the churches in the area struggle to get young families out.
“There are probably in the 13 churches in the Dresden area, 1/3 of them really don’t have any families, any young kids. So we are trying to do what we can to show them that ‘hey, we are still here.’ It’s not easy when so much these days is seven days a week. Sunday is no longer this special day where the whole system shuts down.”
Cornell added the Ministerial Association does have a mission with this event.
“There is an agenda here. We want people to know Christ and to know God. We want their lives to be transformed for the better because we know that there’s so much to be gained from that. So much strength, hope and direction that we need that in our lives, especially in the world we live in today. We are handing out little gift bags to the kids with gospel story told in comic book fashion. A little bit of a low key message but we want to send them off with something to think about. Hey, maybe they will come back to one of our churches. There are 13 churches in the area and each one is a little different.”
Cornell said he is thrilled to work with the different church groups in Dresden, despite having some different views individually.
“From what Ive been told, by ministers in other cities, this is not completely unique but it is a lot different than experiences in other cities. A lot of churches have different theologies, different beliefs, different positions on certain issues and they only like to work with the churches that think like them and believe how they believe,” he said.
“So what they do is create a division. There are some cities who have the Evangelical churches, which might be considered the Baptist, Pentecostal. Those churches stick together but they don’t have anything to do with the main liner like the Presbyterians, Lutheran, Catholic Anglican because they have beliefs.”
“What we say is ‘Okay we know we have differences.’ Some of us are fully inclusive and others are not, but let us put all that aside and be united in the fact that God loves us and we are to love each other, end of story. So, no you don’t often get churches who are willing and able to put their differences aside and just work together. Its fantastic, it really is.”
