LOUDON, Tenn. — The sweltering heat did little to deter dozens of Loudon County residents from sprawling across the Courthouse lawn in an afternoon of praise and worship on July 14.

Coordinated by Pray4TN, the Loudon County local government issued a declaration at their last Commission meeting to make July 14 a day of prayer — joining dozens of other local counties and municipalities gathering at their house of governance in an effort to, if only for a day, turn it into a house of worship.

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD …


While local pastors and ministers gave prayers throughout the service, things were kicked off by local state Rep. Monty Fritts in front of the county’s house of law. Fritts likened the recent celebration of independence of our nation to the dependence found in Christ through prioritizing a being in power seldom seen in the physical world.

“Our founders understood a creationist world,” Fritts said. “And you can see in their writings, and in the resolution, that people like Adams and Jefferson, Washington and even Franklin understood that it was necessary to stay on God’s side of things.”

The theme of this year’s prayer session was repentance. Plenty of the speakers, including Fritts, molded their speeches to ask for such forgiveness not only for others but the community as a whole when it sways past the will of whom so many County residents deem the highest power.

Speakers noted that it is a word used 22 times in the New Testament to signify a rebirth and new beginning for followers of the Christian faith.

Pastor Nolan Howell from Patriot Church in Lenoir City also led the crowd in worship, singing along to favorites of the contemporary Christian genre like “The Splendor of a King.” … The lyrics of the chorus rang out through downtown Loudon as prayer warriors chanted “name above all names, worthy of all praise.”

But repentance is a tricky subject to preach on, as many of the speakers are acutely aware of from their time behind the pulpit. As easy as it can be to point out the wrongdoings of others, productivity in repentance really comes from recognizing it within yourself, according to Monday’s theme.

Jesse Nelson, a pastor at Church of Christ in Lenoir City, used this line of thinking as the thesis for his speech.

“Repentance always seems to be one of those things that everybody knows somebody else has to do,” Nelson said.

THE NEXT GENERATION OF PRAYER WARRIORS

The crowd, while interspersed with a few youthful faces, was composed mostly of the middle-aged and retirees. Tim Henry, known as “Coach T” by his students in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, highlighted the importance of recruiting that next generation of prayer warriors.

He talked about his time as an in-school suspension teacher in the Loudon County School System to highlight the profound impact adults in teaching and coaching can have on their younger mentees.

“We need to begin to mentor those so that they will be here years from now and we’ll cover this whole area,” Henry said. “So continue to mentor those young ones around you.”

But Henry held hope for the future, closing out his portion of the ceremony with an encouraging message.

“We see revival rising,” Henry said. “We see hope on the horizon as a generation stepping out in faith.

“Because we will be a people on our knees as one before the King, because we believe.”