Love Out Loud scheduled to begin Monday

Published 10:30 am Thursday, July 16, 2020

The ninth annual Love Out Loud Meridian, a weeklong mission event in the city of Meridian, will begin Monday, with major changes due to COVID-19.

Wade Phillips, executive pastor at Northcrest Baptist Church, said the event will go forward next week with plans to serve and love our community despite the pandemic, but with major precautions planned.

“We considered canceling it completely, but we didn’t want to send a message that the church can only serve when it is 100 percent safe to do so,” Phillips said. “While we want to keep everyone safe, and we urge everyone to make wise decisions about whether or how they can serve, we don’t want to let fear prevent us from serving.

“We will be asking volunteers to follow CDC guidelines about masks and social distancing. All of those will be different depending on the particular mission they’ll be taking part in. We certainly wouldn’t want any parent who didn’t feel comfortable having their kids serving to do it.”

This year’s Love Out Loud will forego the usual large worship services that took place in the morning and evening and instead focus on serving.

The projects will be mostly outdoor projects designed to serve the community:

• Agape (Random Acts of Kindness).

• School cleanup.

• Sleep in Heavenly Peace (building beds for kids).

• Free car wash with drive-through prayer.

• Prayer walking.

• Habitat for Humanity.

Participants can sign up in advance for the days and ministries where they’d like to serve at www.lolmeridian.com or call 601-265-1034.

Teams will meet on the sites each morning where they are to serve.

Phillips said, “We believe that now, more than ever, the church needs to be the hands and feet of Jesus and show our community that God still loves them despite everything that happens.

“One of the things that separated the early church from the rest of the world was its willingness to help and love people where others refused to go.

“It’s still a marker of the church all over the world. We are going to serve and love our community next week because we believe that’s what Jesus would have us do.”