For more than 25 years, Temple Baptist Church has spent one day each year thanking God for living in the United States. Worship Pastor Paul Koonce said this year’s day to Celebrate America is Sunday, June 30.
“We schedule it on the Sunday before the Fourth of July,” he said. “We come together that day to celebrate that basic principle – the freedom that we have was God’s idea.”
Paul Koonce, Associate Pastor of Worship
That Sunday will be spent with a 10:30 a.m. service to honor the United States, its freedoms and the people who protect those freedoms. At 6:30 that night, a community picnic with live entertainment ends with a fireworks display.
The morning service will also be highlighted by the first public appearance of Temple Baptist Church’s new pastor, Dr. David Whitten.
Koonce said the event is designed to Celebrate America and its freedom.
“Each year at Temple, we set aside this time to celebrate the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the United States of America,” he said. “We are truly blessed people to live in this great nation. It is good, and it is right to give praise to God for this greatest gift that is ours as Americans. America, unlike any other country in the world, was founded on a unique idea, a biblical idea that men and women can live in freedom. We get to express that freedom every day.”
The freedom that Americans celebrate allows churches to tell others about their faith, Koonce said.
“This nation – as young as it is – is just a blessed nation,” he said. “We’ve been allowed to send missionaries or whatever all over the world to spread the good news of Christ more than any other country in the history of man. No other country has been able to do what we’ve done, to spread the Gospel in other parts of the world.”
The history of America is based on scripture, Koonce said.
“Our Constitution and other founding documents reflect that truth,” he said. “With that in mind, we do not consider ourselves to be better than any other nation, but we are humble to be Americans. The scripture is clear; the Bible says in Psalm 33:12: ‘Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.’ We understand and realize that our freedom is a gift from God.”
Koonce said the morning service will focus on thanking the men and women who guard the nation’s freedom every day and those who have guarded it in the past.
“In our Celebration, I will be focusing on the 75th anniversary of D-Day,” he said. “After that narration, I will recognize our World War II vets; there aren’t many of them around. I know two in our church right now. Purple Heart recipients will also be recognized like they were last year.”
Presenting the colors will be the University of Southern Mississippi ROTC color guard.
“We will also focus that morning on active and inactive personnel,” Koonce said. “We will play their song, they will walk forward, and they will be recognized by the people. We’ll have things falling out of the ceiling, we’ll shoot streamers off, and it will be a lot of fun.”
On a somber note, “Taps” will be played to honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.
Koonce said, “I’ll have some quotes in there from George Washington, Ben Franklin, Daniel Webster, and this will transition into focusing on a prayer that David Jeremiah did a couple of years ago asking God to bless our nation once again. I’ll have a serviceman doing our Offertory prayer.”
After a song, Koonce said Whitten will be introduced as the new pastor.
“He’s not here yet,” he said. “He’ll be here that day. This will be his first actual Sunday here as the new pastor. Whitten is coming from the Tampa, Florida, area at Fishhawk Fellowship Church.”
Dr. David Whitten and family. Whitten is the new pastor and will make his first public appearance at Temple's morning service on Sunday.
Koonce said the morning program will highlight what it means to be an American citizen.
“(Senior U.S. District) Judge Keith Starrett will be here that day to do a testimony on the significance of citizenship because he does a lot of the citizenship swearing-in ceremonies,” he said. “In my orchestra, I have many international students from other countries who play here. One of them, Jorge Gonzales, has been here 20 years and got his citizenship.
“He’ll give a brief testimony of how he came to America from Mexico, how much it meant, and the sacrifice he made to leave his home and family. Now, he has his wife and children here with him.”
Koonce said Temple Baptist Church honors America and reaches out to people who may not attend a church.
“There will be people who come to this who typically may not go to church or something like that,” he said. “They have a sense of patriotism, and then they’ll hear about the love of God. It’s an outreach thing; everything we do is outreach.”
One Nation Under God Service @ 10:30 a.m.
Community Picnic and Fireworks @ 6:30 p.m.
In the evening celebration, the community-wide picnic on the south side of the church will have a stage and two bands. The two bands that will perform are the Travis Clark Band and Wreck the House with Praise Band from the Rock of Ages Christian Fellowship Center.
“We’ve got hot dogs, sausage dogs, and hamburgers for sale,” Koonce said. “There will be bounce houses for the children. It’s a major community effort. We have firetrucks on display, and they cover the fireworks, which begins at 9 p.m. The activities start at 6:30 p.m.”
Koonce said people should bring their lawn chairs. Thousands of glow sticks will be given to the kids. “It’s just a fun time.”
Polk’s Meat Products sponsors the fireworks, Koonce said, while the Lamar County Board of Supervisors is a co-sponsor.