Correspondent photo / Tristan Hostetter
Coria Brock, a board member of Life with Christ Ministries, raises her hands in worship at the June 21 Joining Voices for Jesus event at Sebo Stadium in Salem. More than 50 local churches and organizations attended the inaugural event, which drew an estimated 1,000 people. It was hosted by Life with Christ Ministries.

SALEM — What do you get when dozens of local churches come together to sing songs of worship? One united voice for Jesus.

Sebo Stadium in Salem welcomed more than 50 local churches and organizations for the first-ever Joining Voices for Jesus event June 21. The event was hosted by Life with Christ Ministries, a Lisbon church, and welcomed believers from across Columbiana and Mahoning counties to join in worship and praise.

It is estimated that nearly 1,000. attended

“Why are we here today? We are here to glorify the name above all names,” Christopher Brock, the lead pastor of Life with Christ Ministries, said. “The only name that can save. The only name that has authority and power is the name of Jesus Christ.”

Ten minutes into the event, it was announced that three individuals had already been baptized in the name of the Lord at the event’s entrance, where the team’s baptismal was located. Ten people were baptized at the stadium Saturday in total.

Four adult worship music leaders and one youth worship leader oversaw keeping the event on time and on pitch, with all of them encouraging believers in attendance to sing along. One of the adult leaders was Lisbon Assembly of God Pastor Greg Pennington.

“What is unique and special about Joining Voices for Jesus is that we all come together from our local weekly meetings and gather together in one location to lift up Christ Jesus,” Pennington said. “Christians aren’t divided. Rather, we are one united people in Christ.”

Josh Pennington, 16, youth worship leader and Greg’s son, played many different instruments in all music groups of the day. Josh is also part of the Lisbon Assembly of God worship team and plays music in many local church events throughout the year.

With the Penningtons keeping worship in the family, this event was full of brothers and sisters in Christ joining in unison for Jesus.

“Today we are making this football field a field of worship. A place to unite,” Chloe Morrow, another worship leader for the event, said between songs during her time on the Sebo Stadium field.

Morrow serves as a member of the worship team at SOZO Church in Alliance. She said she was shy at first, but quickly found her voice and passion on the church’s worship team. During the event, she was never afraid to give it her all even if that meant there may be a few hiccups along the way.

“The church needs to wake up from all the lights, cameras, and shiny things of the modern worship,” she said. “Just like today, we worshiped on a football field, nothing fancy, and I even missed the intro to a song. It was silly, but it all came together for His glory, and none of those mistakes or where we stood mattered.”

Attendees didn’t mind the hot summer day, and the worship music kept people dancing and praising the whole afternoon.

“This is Jesus’ sound system. This is Jesus’ worship team,” Brock said between sets of worship. “This is His event. This is His day, and we are His people.”