Unity Week: Keeping the Dream Alive

From the edge of the Linconia Tabernacle parking lot, it was obvious that hundreds of people had come out to attend the kick-off celebration for , a Building a Better Bensalem (B3T) event.  There were so many cars in the parking lot, several people parked on the street next to the worship center. 

B3T’s table, flyers and handouts providing information about the organization, was placed in the main entrance.  Inside the sanctuary, Linconia Tabernacle’s praise team, a quartet of women, sang “How Great Is Our God.” 

Song and Dance as Inspiration

Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo and members of his staff attended the service, sitting on the front row.  Area residents, about 200 people, of various cultures and ethnicities filled the worship center. Ages of the attendees were as diverse as their cultures.  One song, “You are Alpha and Omega,” was sung in English and Spanish by the praise team. 

After formal introductions of senior guests, Bishop Kenneth White invited everyone to cross the aisles and greet each other, at which time people who’d attended Unity Week in years past waved at and hugged one another.  New comers shook hands with people sitting near them.  By the time everyone sat back down it was hard to feel like a stranger. 

A favorite occasion was when Linconia Tabernacle’s Dancing Angels of Praise & Wings of Praise team took center stage.  They danced to a heartfelt gospel song that found the audience clapping.  By the time they took their seats, everyone in the audience was standing. 

 Keeping the Dream Alive

Reverend Gregory Holston, of Saint Matthew United Methodist Church, delivered words of inspiration.  His message, “Keeping the Dream Alive,” was delivered with passion and conviction.  Reverend Holston shared that, “We come to proclaim that the dream is alive.”  He told the audience that, as previous generations had done, we must do our part to make the dream alive and not a dream deferred.

Before closing Reverend Holston encouraged each attendee to stand up and to speak up when they see injustice anywhere.  He shared words of inspiration, asking attendees to hold leaders and peers accountable to the words in the great documents (e.g. Declaration of Independence) America’s core is rooted in. 

Refreshments were served after the service, allowing attendees to talk and fellowship with one another more openly and fully.  Trevose United Methodist Church, Assumption BVM Church, St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Scottsville United Methodist Church and St. Matthew United Methodist Church participated in the Bensalem Unity Week kick-off event.  Linconia Tabernacle served as the host worship center. 

The schedule for the rest of Unity Week includes:

• Tues., January 18 @ 6:30 p.m. – BAPS Swaminarayan Temple, 1561 S. Woodbourne Road, Levittown
• Wed., January 19 @ 11:30 a.m. – Mongkoltepmunee/Buddhist Temple, 3304 Knights Road, Bensalem. Then @ 6:30 p.m. – Faith Unity Islamic Organization, 5961 Bensalem Blvd., Bensalem
• Thur., January 20 @ 12 noon – St. Ephrem’s Church, 5340 Hulmeville Road, Bensalem. Then @ 6:30 p.m. – Tifereth Israel Synagogue, 2909 Bristol Road, Bensalem
• Fri., January 21 @ 12 noon – St. Katharine Drexel Shrine & Mission Center, 1663 Bristol Pike, Bensalem