Since 2010, Houston area churches have provided an alternative to frenzied Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. Continuing this tradition, Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Beacon of Light Christian Center, St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, St. Francis Episcopal Church, and The Woodlands Community Presbyterian Church, are each scheduling community service projects on Friday, November 29. These churches ask families and individuals to celebrate Bless Friday® as an alternative to Black Friday.
Chuck Fox, founder of Bless Friday, states, “I am excited that The Woodlands Community Presbyterian Church and St. Francis Episcopal Church are joining Bless Friday this year. People get our message that when we focus too much on buying things, we lose sight of the real reason for Christmas—remembering and honoring Christ. We want to begin our Christmas celebration by serving others just as Jesus did.”
Bless Friday will be more visible to the public this year with a post located at City Centre, a mixed use development in west Houston. While City Centre patrons are shopping on Black Friday, Bless Friday will have a station in the plaza where shoppers can stop and assemble bags designed to bless the homeless. Passersby are invited to take one of the bags to keep in their cars and hand out to the homeless. PastorBrandon Gaide states, “On the most consumer-oriented day of the year, we want to offer a way of being constructively countercultural.”
CLICK HERE to read story
article courtesy of Joy105.com
