{"id":424906,"date":"2025-12-04T21:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/424906\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T21:00:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:00:33","slug":"saints-in-unity-devotional-bridges-faith-and-community-church-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/424906\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Saints in Unity’ devotional bridges faith and community \u2013 Church News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celebrating faith, culture and community, residents from across North Texas gathered Nov. 16 in a Fort Worth chapel for the latest of the \u201cSaints in Unity\u201d devotional series.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cChildren Are an Heritage of the Lord\u201d (Psalm 127:3<\/a>), the devotional celebrated faith, fellowship and the power of service in strengthening families and communities. It is part of the ongoing \u201cSaints in Unity\u201d devotionals and events \u2014 an effort by Latter-day Saints across North Texas to build understanding, celebrate shared values and strengthen local communities through service and faith.<\/p>\n

\"OneVoiceOneVoice Community Choir sings \u201cThis Little Light of Mine\u201d at the “Saints in Unity” devotional in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 16, 2025. | Julianne Winzenz <\/p>\n

The series seeks to foster friendship, connection and shared service among people of all faiths, with a particular focus on outreach to and fellowship with members of African heritage. Previous events have included devotionals, participation in the 2024 Opal Lee Walk for Freedom<\/a> and Juneteenth celebrations highlighting faith, culture and service in North Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve loved building relationships with pastors and community leaders,\u201d said President Brandon Ellison, president of the Dallas Fort Worth Stake. \u201cIt helps us look beyond our own walls and recognize the good others are doing. It\u2019s opened my eyes to how we can connect and lift our neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hosted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the event honored two local organizations. Hope Farm<\/a> and the Fort Worth Save Our Children Learning Center<\/a> each received Exemplary Service Awards for their dedication to mentoring, education and character development among Fort Worth youth.<\/p>\n

\"VernonVernon and Linda James accept their service award and speak about the 40 years of the Fort Worth Save Our Children Learning Center at the “Saints in Unity” devotional in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 16, 2025. | Julianne Winzenz <\/p>\n

Hope Farm is a leadership program that guides at-risk boys to become Christ-centered men of integrity.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hope is to change the trajectory of our community, and that takes all of us,\u201d said Sacher Dawson, executive director of Hope Farm Inc. \u201cWe can\u2019t do it alone. We\u2019re grateful for churches and nonprofits walking with us to reach that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dawson received a service award recognizing Hope Farm\u2019s impact on fatherless boys and their single mothers. Vernon and Linda James, founders of the Fort Worth Save Our Children Learning Center and longtime faith leaders, were also honored for their decades of service to local children. <\/p>\n

\"SacherSacher Dawson, Hope Farm executive director, accepts his service award for the work Hope Farm does for fatherless boys and their single mothers in the community at the “Saints in Unity” devotional in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 16, 2025. | Julianne Winzenz <\/p>\n

The center, which offers a safe and supportive environment for youth, is celebrating 40 years of community service this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do this for the children \u2014 to see their potential and watch them blossom. It reminds us that the work matters,\u201d said Vernon James.<\/p>\n

\"SabraSabra Stewart-Johnson presents Vernon and Linda James with a service award for all their work with Fort Worth Save Our Children Learning Center at the Saints in Unity devotional in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 16, 2025. | Julianne Winzenz <\/p>\n

The devotional also featured several musical performances. Children from Save Our Children sang songs they use to memorize scriptures, planets, continents, oceans and more. The OneVoice Community Outreach Choir, joined by church vocalist Bekah Sumsion, performed spirited renditions of \u201cThis Little Light of Mine\u201d<\/a> and \u201cOh Happy Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing part of \u2018Saints in Unity\u2019 has been an incredible blessing for our choir,\u201d said Trish Hodge of OneVoice. \u201cOneVoice is about building bridges and reminding people of God that we are one. This event embodies that spirit \u2014 people coming together despite differences. It\u2019s a beautiful opportunity to unite as one in God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChildrenChildren from the Fort Worth Save our Children Learning Center sing songs they learned at the Learning Center that help them memorize scriptures, planets, continents and oceans at the Saints in Unity devotional in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 16, 2025. | Julianne Winzenz <\/p>\n

Following the meeting, guests toured a Black History and Family Heritage exhibit, along with displays highlighting the work of Hope Farm and Save Our Children. Attendees viewed African heritage artifacts and learned about their origins and significance.<\/p>\n

With music, messages of faith and a shared commitment to service, the devotional marked another milestone in the \u201cSaints in Unity\u201d initiative as it continues to strengthen friendships and promote service across North Texas.<\/p>\n

Sharisa Lewis, assistant director of media for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Dallas Fort Worth area, contributed to this report.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celebrating faith, culture and community, residents from across North Texas gathered Nov. 16 in a Fort Worth chapel…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":424907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,7371,7372,197993,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-424906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fortworth","11":"tag-living-faith","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115663317020823689","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}