By John Fletcher
The 35th Annual Fort Worth/Tarrant County Christian Prayer Lunch will be held Thursday at the Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Building at 3401 West Lancaster from noon to 1:10 p.m.
Note the word “Lunch” – it’s important because the first 34 editions of the event were breakfasts.
“We felt that we needed a change for several reasons,” said Terrence Butler, chairman of the event. “First, we were missing young parents who were preparing their children for school, so the noon start works for them. Next, we knew that we were missing college students with the early start, so this time will work for their schedule. And we have friends from outlying communities who have wanted to attend but the early breakfast was not workable for them.”
The final reason was to reach out and create a more diverse audience, Butler said. The registration drive has resulted in a significantly more diverse audience than in the past.
A string of 33 consecutive events was interrupted in 2020 when the prayer breakfast was canceled because of COVID-19. Last year’s event featuring Cy Young Award winning pitcher Barry Zito was held via Zoom.
“We wanted to celebrate our environment opening back up this year, so we recruited Christian comedian Michael Jr.,” Butler said. “With so much frustration and pain behind us as a nation, we felt the need to smile and even laugh. Michael Jr. brings a positive perspective to a faith message on this week following Easter. We’re convinced that he’s the right speaker at the right time.”
Michael Jr.’s humor shares insights on living the Christian life and many of the challenges that people face day-to-day, Butler said. “Be prepared to see yourself in some of his real-life examples and walk out with a smile on your face as you hear a faith message among close to 1,400 fellow gatherers.”
The prayer lunch will also offer an additional event on Wednesday, April 27, called Follow-On… an opportunity that, after two years of difficulty, allows participants to ask questions and receive answers about life and how to move past adversity and flourish. These questions include: Is God real? Is there life after death? Why do we experience suffering on earth? Why is there evil?
The Follow-On program will invite attendees to participate in a group discussion about these questions and others.
Butler has been a member of the Christian Prayer Breakfast committee for the past five years. “We strive to provide information that will impact our community, so we attract notable speakers and create follow-on events,” he said. “We want our attendees to smile, laugh, celebrate, and realize that they can live a bigger life.”
Tickets are still available at www.fwcpb.org. For more information, call Terrence Butler at 817-913-2974.