After praying at the flagpole in front of the high school and middle school, participants walk toward the elementary school in back. (W.C. Mann for The Tribune)
HANCEVILLE – Early Sunday evening, members of Hanceville’s First Baptist Church, First Methodist Church and Bethlehem East Baptist Church gathered together to pray for students and faculty at the city’s high school and middle school, then walked to the elementary school to pray there as well.
Tim Wallace, a member of Hartselle First Assembly of God who lives in Hanceville and has kids in the Hanceville system, organized the event.
Shared Wallace, “The Lord spoke to me in service, and kind of said, ‘I want you to do the same thing here at Hanceville.’ And He says, ‘I don’t care if anybody shows up or don’t show up.’ He says, ‘I want you to be there and pray over the schools.’
“So, then I contacted (First Methodist Church Pastor) Paul Campbell, and me and him, through finding things out from (Cullman County School Board representative) Kenny Brockman and different people that they weren’t going to have one. So we got the ball rolling and contacted three or four churches, and we got this little group together, and the Lord has just blessed it.”
Wallace’s children attend Hanceville Elementary School, and he had high praise for the school’s Principal Tony Johnson.
“The principal here, he is a man of God. And I know that this elementary school–and I know the principal at the high school, and he’s a good man, too–but I know that these children will be taken care of; their education is important to him, and I know that they’ll be prayed over daily. And that’s important as a parent, that I know that he is looking out for the best interest of my children, because my children are going here.”
Days of prayer
Other churches and organizations around the county have held similar events. On Sunday afternoon at about the same time as folks gathered to pray in Hanceville, Cullman First Baptist Church’s student ministry was holding its own school prayer event in town. On Saturday, the Sons of Liberty Riders and Christian Motorcycle Association sponsored a ride around the county, praying at schools and promoting students’ rights to religious expression.
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