Members of 19 Cobb-area churches came out to join hands in prayer around the Emory-Adventist Hospital campus Friday evening as part of the hospital’s rededication ceremony.
Staff/Erin Gray
Staff/Erin Gray
The event drew about 250 members of 19 churches around town to Cobb County’s only faith-based hospital. They held hands, prayed and sang “Amazing Grace” together.
While the hospital conducts a rededication ceremony every year, this is the first time any of the hospitals in the Orlando-based Adventist region have had an event like this, Chief Executive Officer Dennis Kiley said.
“We felt that this was a nice combination of being able to get rededicated and get people from the community praying for the staff and patients in the hospital,” he said.
The Rev. Moses Edwards, pastor of Shiloh Seventh Day Adventist Church in Smyrna, was pleased to see the diverse group of people at the event.
“This is an example of what Heaven is going to be like,” he said. “All of God’s children coming together for a common cause.”
Past rededications have been conducted inside the hospital building and mainly involved hospital staff. But new Chaplain Casey Leno said he wanted to get others more involved this year.
“Our hospital is trying to be more active in the community,” Leno said. “We want people to not only feel better but be emotionally and spiritually better.”
The prayer circle made it about halfway around the 1,200-foot circumference of the hospital.
“I didn’t care if there would be 20 people who signed up,” Leno told those standing outside in cool, windy weather. “We believe that prayer is powerful.”
Robert Miles of Smyrna, whose wife, Belinda, is an employee at Emory-Adventist, said the outdoor event was more meaningful than past dedications.
“Maybe it will reach somebody out there in the community, somebody that’s lost,” said Robert Miles, a member of Hurt Road Baptist Church. “Maybe some patient that doesn’t know the lord and savior will see that someone cares.”
Along with Edwards and Miles’ churches, those participating included: King Spring Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Smyrna, First United Methodist Church, Cumberland United Methodist Church, Cross Point Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Christian Center, Smyrna Christian Church, Smyrna Assembly of God, Sharon Baptist Church, Brazilian Seventh Day Adventist Church, St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, Faith Christian Church and the Self-Realization Center, all of Smyrna; the Cathedral of Turner Chapel and Marietta SDA Church of Marietta; Lakeview/Hiram SDA Church of Powder Springs and Atlanta North SDA Church.
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I'M THE GUY THAT HELD MY HANDS/ARMS UP IN A continuous posture of worship and praise.
NEXT MONTH(13TH OF March) WILL MARK SIX YEARS SINCE God TOUCHED ME WITH an instantaneous miracle AND,SINCE THAT DAY I'VE WORSHIPPED Him IN LIKE MANNER.
I'M Not some "whack-job";
I Love Jesus,AND BELIEVE He should always be worshipped! This is my own personal style(Walking In Victory), NEVER TELLING ANYONE they should DO IT,BUT,I SURE WISH PEOPLE(that ridicule,harass,and unrighteously judge me for doing this) WOULD grow up and "get a life"(In Christ)!
What is a faith-based hospital anyway...does that mean patient treatment plans include things like "prayer requests" and the "laying on of hands?"
I'm not denying the effectiveness of the placebo effect, but ask Alayna Wyland and Kara Neumann and David Hickman how well their prayer healing worked out.