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Religion

Good Friday service is planned at band shell

The open, ecumenical service is planned for noon so people who have to work can attend during their lunch hour.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published March 23, 2005

PINELLAS PARK - The Rev. Dale Schlafer, a former leader in the Promise Keepers movement, will be the keynote speaker at an ecumenical Good Friday service at the England Brothers Bandshell.

This is the fourth year for the service in the park just north of City Hall, 5141 78th Ave. N. Open to all, the service is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m.

The timing gives folks a chance to attend during their lunch hour, said the Rev. John Hartnett, pastor at St. Giles Episcopal Church.

"It's a show of Christian unity and support for the city," Hartnett said. "It's going to be really nice."

It will open with a presentation of colors by the Pinellas Park Police Department honor guard. Music will be provided by Praise Cathedral. Readers will tell the story of the Passion as described in the New Testament book of John. Then Schlafer will speak about Good Friday.

Schlafer was chosen, Hartnett said, because of his work with Promise Keepers and the Center for World Revival and Awakening. The center, which Schlafer founded, is in Bradenton.

Schlafer could not be reached for comment, but a Mission America Web site described the center this way:

"The center is a worldwide ministry dedicated to building the local church by promoting the revival of the church, the awakening of the lost and seeing reformation come to the society.

"By working with existing groups and organizations, especially with pastors and church leaders, the center hopes to see the church of Jesus Christ come alive, and as a result see the greatest harvest of the lost in the history of the church.

"As Pastor Schlafer says: "When revival is the experience of the church, evangelism becomes the expression of the church. When evangelism is the expression of the church, a changed society will be the evidence of those changed lives.' "

Schlafer, 63, was the vice president for revival and awakening at Promise Keepers from 1996-1998. He also served as chairman of the board from the group's inception until June 1994.

He was senior pastor of South Fellowship in Littleton, Colo., for 22 years. For six years, he was a senior pastor in New Jersey. He has served as director for Clergy 96 - Fan Into Flame, a conference of 40,000 pastors held in Atlanta. He was also director of Stand in the Gap, a Sacred Assembly of Men, which attracted 1.3-million men to Washington, D.C., in 1997.

Schlafer wrote the book A Revival Primer and contributed to Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper, The Lighthouse Movement and Effective Men's Ministry.

Pinellas Park's ecumenical Good Friday service began in 2002 as an outgrowth of a breakfast conversation among several ministers. The first year, six churches and two community groups gathered to mark the crucifixion of Jesus. This year, 10 churches and several businesses and community organizations are working to stage the event, which attracts 300 to 400 worshipers.

[Last modified March 23, 2005, 01:02:04]