Local church strives to “Be the Light” for their community

LEXINGTON, Tenn. — While some attended Bible Study inside, one local church took the praying outside.

“We are to be the light of the world,” said Clay Hallmark, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Lexington.

A light on a dark night like Wednesday, members of the First Baptist Church in Lexington spread out in clusters to pray.

“It allows all the members of First Baptist Church to come up here on the courthouse square, to literally pray for the people of our community,” Hallmark said.

Hallmark said each prayer station has a specific prayer: prayers for veterans, schools, local business, churches and people from around the world.

“But primarily to pray for the people of our county,” Hallmark said.

“We got to remind ourselves that we are the light, as Jesus is the light during the holidays,” he added.

This is one reason why Hallmark decided to have the event at night.

“Because it’s a visual demonstration of the darkness of our community, in the sense that there’s a lot of loss, there’s a lot of people hurting, there’s a lot of people that are suffering, a lot of people who have needs,” Hallmark said.

To get rid of this darkness, members held hands in a circle around the Henderson County Courthouse for one big prayer for their community.

This is the third year for the “Be the Light” event.