Come to Marktplatz during the late afternoon on May 2 and join with many of your Gillespie County Christian brothers and sisters as they respond faithfully and hopefully to the presidential proclamation encouraging them to pray for our nation. 

This year, we’re holding our National Day of Prayer event one day prior to the nationally-designated day. Pastor Bobby Vitek will be our emcee, and we will dedicate our time to prayer, testimonies, and some excellent live music. 

New this year: During a portion of the event, we will invite middle school and high school youth to meet in one of Marktplatz’s other pavilions where youth leaders from the community will guide them during a mini-rally designed especially for them.

There will be free West End pizza, chips, and cookies while supplies last. Bring your own seating. For more information: strivingtogether.net/events or call Charles Metzger (830.370.6554).

Preliminary Concept of our Schedule

• The event begins at 5:30 p.m. starting with pizza, chips, cookies and water.
• At 5:40 p.m., Pastor Bobby Vitek will open with prayer.
• Next, award-winning, country music songwriter and entertainer, Bernie Nelson, will sing, "God bless the USA."
• At approximately 5:45 p.m., Pastor Aaron Toli will share a brief testimony and lead us in prayer for those in our community struggling with alcohol and drug abuse.    
• Near 6:00 p.m., Kathy Bauer and Mike Broussard will share two songs
• Next, Pastor Jimmy Pruitt will prayer for families
• Lance Moffett will pray for schools
• After Lance's prayer, middle school and high school students will be invited to move to a neighboring pavilion to have a mini-rally more tailored to their interests and needs.
• Special music and prayer for our community and nation will continue, as led by pastors and other leaders in our community.
• We'll have a time of small group prayer.
• Bernie Nelson will play for us and lead us in song.
• We will close in prayer and dismiss.

Please join us!

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).

Christians throughout Gillespie County are invited to a prayer gathering, which is to be held at Marktplatz on Monday, November 7, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. This is NOT meant to be a political rally promoting any candidate or agenda. It will be a time for us to repent, seek God's mercy and favor and pray for His hand to be upon this very important election. Please bring your own chair or you may kneel before our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For more information, please call 830-456-0416.

Schedule
5:00  Duncan Holmes will lead us in praise and worship
5:29  Trumpet/Shofar
5:30  Welcome and Introduction by Pastor Michael Burdick
Order of Pastor-guided Prayer
5:35   Bobby Vitek
5:40  Tommy Russell
5:45  Curtis Allerkamp
5:50  Jimmy Pruitt
5:55  Michael Meek
6:00  Special Music by Michael & Dawsie Meek
6:05  Close with "The Lord's Prayer"

Thank you, HEB for the bottles of water, and thank you, Dietel & Son Printing, for printing the flyers.

Note: Please respect this prayer event. There will not be any mention of candidates, no signs permitted and clothing with any name of candidates running for office. This is a community prayer to our Savior for guidance.

Please plan to attend Fredericksburg's annual National Day of Prayer event at Marktplatz on Thursday, May 5. In order to gain greater participation from our young people and those prevented from attending due to their 8am-5pm work schedules, we have changed from our usual lunch-time event to a dinner-time event. We will begin with praise and worship at 5:15 p.m. at Marktplatz and conclude around 6:45 p.m. Bottles of water will be provided free of charge. West End Pizza will be providing very affordable pizza, and we believe that we've raised enough support from churches to give one free slice of pizza to each youth. Cookies and chips will also be available.

Joel Griffin, Director of Youth Ministries at Fredericksburg United Methodist Church will be our emcee, guiding us through our time of united prayer. We expect over five hundred people from many area churches to participate. Come, join your brothers and sisters to pray for our community and our nation. Our local theme will be “Pray for our Country and our Youth."

NEAR-FINAL SCHEDULE (this will likely be modified/updated)
5:15 p.m.  Praise & Worship (A.J. Rosa)
5:45 p.m. Welcome (Joel Griffin)
5:50 p.m. "God Bless America" (Donna Jackson and Duncan Holmes)
5:55 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance (One Nation under GOD)
5:59 p.m. Prayer for Youth (Coach Lance Moffett)
6:03 p.m. Prayer for Youth by a Youth (TBD)
6:07 p.m. Testimony by Officer Bradley Durst
6:11 p.m.   Prayer for Military and Government (Pastor Jimmy Pruitt)
6:14 p.m.  Prayer for the Church (Pastor Bobby Vitek)
6:18 p.m.  Prayer for Families (Sandra Weinheimer)
6:22 p.m.  Prayer for Schools (Dr. Eric Wright)
6:26 p.m. Prayer for Individual Faith (Sara Allerkamp)
6:30 p.m. Special Music (Donna Jackson and Duncan Holmes)
6:35 p.m. Smaller Group Prayer (All who are comfortable - no pressure)

Fields of Faith is a student led event.  Students invite, pray for, share with, and challenge their peers to read the Bible and follow Jesus Christ.  The FHS Billies Stadium field provides a neutral, rally point where a community can come together.

The event will start with prayer, and students will be sharing their faith testimonies. After this, students will be challenging their peers to read the Bible and to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Near the end, students will likely gather in small groups for prayer.

Typically a Fields of Faith event lasts about 90 minutes and is open to all people of all ages. Adults praying in the stands sounds like a great idea!

The guest speaker for this year's FBG FoF is Rich Garza, a former offensive lineman with the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL and the Philadelphia Stars and San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL. Garza has been a motivational speaker for 27 years and has delivered his messages everywhere from churches to San Quentin Prison. He currently works with the San Antonio Spurs.

Five student speakers are being recruited and include (so far) Anna Koenig and Cole Bourgeois. The Sonday House Fellowship praise team will be leading us in worship.

Several FBG churches are participating, including First Baptist, Holy Ghost Lutheran, Fredericksburg Methodist, Bethany Lutheran, Hill Country E-Free, South Church, St Mary's, St Barnabas, Sonday House Fellowship, and more.  

To view a two-minute video about Fields of Faith, browse https://vimeo.com/67254276.

What happens in a community when churches, with a diversity of faith disciplines, set aside their differences and come together to celebrate what we have in common?

• The love of Jesus increases, and darkness gets displaced.
• That community becomes a place where God releases a commanded blessing.

When we set aside our egos, labels and logos and embrace the unity in diversity that is the body of Christ, the world will taste and see Jesus in a fresh and different way.

THE GATHERING @ ANTLER STADIUM is an opportunity:

• to spend a day serving and celebrating in the name of Jesus
• to bless Kerr County
• to worship and pray together in an open expression of our faith
• to celebrate what God has done, and is doing, in Kerr County
• to be inspired to be difference-makers in our community
• Lives will be changed. History will be made. We will never be the same.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3: THE GATHERING @ ANTLER STADIUM

Community service projects will start at 8:00 AM; the Celebration service will start at 6:30 PM. More details will be available soon. To browse a brief video invitation, browse https://vimeo.com/138674843. For immediate questions, email: TheGatheringKerr@gmail.com

Please joint with your brothers and sisters from several churches in the area for united Christian prayer. We'll use some picnic tables in the large Pavilion at the corner of North Adams and Austin Streets, but bring chairs if you can.

Your webmaster has been on a two-week vacation and missed postings for the last two Sundays, but brothers and sisters continue to meet at Marktplatz each Sunday. Please join us if you can. We'll use picnic tables, but bring chairs if you can.

We will meet this Sunday, July 5. We enjoy our times together. We use a good microphone and speaker, so each prayer can be plainly heard. It is beautiful to "hear the hearts" of brothers and sisters as they pray.

As mentioned earlier, these Sunday afternoon times of prayer will continue indefinitely. Tomorrow's prayer coincides with Call2Fall Sunday. Probably a couple million of our brothers and sisters across the nation will take time during their Sunday morning service to kneel, pray, and repent. To learn more, browse Call2Fall.

The world has gone astray, to some extent, because we Christians have gone astray. Perhaps we've been too comfortable with our lives, perhaps we've been too quiet about God's truth, and perhaps our faith has been more in our minds than our hearts. May the Great Physician provide His diagnosis clearly to our minds and hearts!

Again, about 20 of us gathered last Sunday, June 14 at Fredericksburg's Marktplatz to pray for Jesus' Church, especially here in the Hill Country but also throughout this nation. These Sunday afternoon meetings will continue indefinitely. So, once again, you are invited to join brothers and sisters at Marktplatz, under the pavilion nearest the corner of North Adams and Austin Streets. We'll begin at the same time (2:00 p.m.) and end at the same time (3:30 p.m.).

Please consider bringing a chair, though we'll try to use the existing picnic tables, too.

Over 20 of us gathered last Sunday, June 7 at Fredericksburg's Marktplatz to pray for Jesus' Church, especially here in the Hill Country but also throughout this nation. Referring to Joel 2:12-18 as inspiration/motivation, Melissa Hughes invited us to a time of prayer, fasting, and repentance. We had a rich time together and were pleasantly surprised at the turn-out.

We decided to continue these meetings indefinitely. So, once again, you are invited to join us at Marktplatz, under the pavilion nearest the corner of North Adams and Austin Streets. We'll begin at the same time (2:00 p.m.) and end at the same time (3:30 p.m.).

Some will be fasting; all will be praying. We will begin with a time of corporate thanksgiving, followed by an opportunity to confess our sin and our need for God.  Then we will move into a time of praying for the region, nation, and world (but especially our Hill Country region).

If attendance is large-enough, we'll break-up into small groups to pray. This is a time for all to pray and for all to hear the heart-felt cry of a neighbor - perhaps someone we've never met before.

Together, we can make a difference like we never could as separate individuals and churches. Many - inside our churches and outside - are worn-out and weighed-down. Hearts are crushed, souls shredded in despair. The answer is old and sure. Jesus says, "Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened" (Matt. 11:28) and "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37). So consider coming with us as we come to Him - for ourselves and for our communities - united in prayer.

(And consider bringing a chair, though we'll try to use the existing picnic tables.)

Over 200 brothers and sisters got together at Marktplatz from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. on May 7, 2015 for the 64th annual National Day of Prayer. Approximately 43,000 events like this took place all over our country. We especially thank those who led us in prayer and worship, and we're grateful for all who attended. To view some photos of our event, browse: FBG National Day of Prayer Photos.

Our theme for 2015 was Lord, Hear Our Cry, emphasizing the need for individuals, corporately and individually, to place their faith in the unfailing character of their Creator, who is sovereign over all governments, authorities, and men.  To further highlight our theme, we chose I Kings 8:28 as our Scripture for this year:  “Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day.” Our schedule was as follows:

11:30 Praise & Worship: Victory Fellowship & Duncan Holmes
12:00 Welcome: Pastor Clint Pluenneke
12:03 God Bless America sung by Russ Hearn

Corporate Prayer (2-3 mins. each)
12:08 Medical: Jason Peet, MD
12:11 Military: Steven York
12:14 Church: Sara Allerkamp
12:17 Family: Sherry Freeman
12:20 Government: Linda Langerhans

12:24 The Lord’s Prayer sung by Donna Jackson
12:27 Small Group Prayer (gather with a few others near you)
 Please limit your prayers to 1-3 sentences.

Corporate Prayer Continued (2-3 mins. each)
12:40 Education: Brooke Rogan
12:43 Media: Sheila Kale
12:46 Business: Penny McBride

12:49 Introducing Hill Country Christians Together: Charlie Metzger
12:53 Closing Song: “Our God is an Awesome God” (Victory Fellowship)
12:58 Closing Prayer: Pastor Clint Pluenneke