Council blesses outside church services

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 16, 2014

After a noise complaint, members of Revival Center Church appealed to the Opp City Council for permission to continue their street service.

“At the last service we had, we had one lady that complained and an officer came out and asked us to turn it down,” Rebecca Stephens, a member of the church, said. “And we do apologize for that.”

The church has been holding street services outside Dyess Music Center for the past two or three months.

Stephens and her congregation came to the council for permission to continue using microphones and other equipment that she said is integral to preaching the gospel.

“It is our desire to get out and preach the gospel,” she said. “It’s very helpful to have the mics and the instruments that we need because we just get out there and have church.

“And it draws people in that aren’t comfortable going into a church,” she said.

The church collected more than 100 signatures from Opp residents who support the street service, something Councilman Arlin Davis “praised the Lord” about.

Stephens assured the council that the services do not last long and do not exceed the noise ordinance, which was a concern of the mayor’s.

Mayor John Bartholomew and the other council members granted the church permission to continue as long as it stayed within those limits and that they had the permission from the owner of the music store.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Councilman T.D. Morgan said about the street service.

Twelve members of the church attended last night’s council meeting.