The Agawam Congregational Church will host its second Praise and Pizza event Nov. 14 at 3 p.m.
Reminder Publishing photo by Mike Lydick
AGAWAM — Dennis King was excited when the Rev. Daniel Aaron Cohen, pastor of the Agawam Congregational Church, told him he was thinking about adding a more modern type of service at the church.
“I believe that times have changed and people still go to church, but they want something different,” King said. He and his wife have had a long-standing relationship with the church — she was baptized there and they were married at the church in 1992.
When Cohen approached King with his proposal to use contemporary music to bring more people into the church, the president and owner of King Gray Coach Lines enthusiastically endorsed the concept. King offered to provide a bus at no charge to bring people to the church and also donated $100 toward pizzas. Cohen’s idea for what he called Praise and Pizza Night became a reality on the evening of October 16. It was the first of what Cohen hopes can become regular monthly contemporary services featuring live music, singing, prayer and free pizza.
According to Cohen, the event was designed to be a unifying event for people in Agawam as well as Springfield and surrounding communities. The event was open to everyone — not just members of the church.
Cohen said his goal is to bring together people of different ages and backgrounds to a special event to “worship and break bread together, uniting folks from different towns and walks of life.”
The church’s pastor for the past 18 months, Cohen hoped to get about 50 people to attend his first contemporary service. The event exceeded his expectations — nearly 80 people showed up. Almost two dozen of them were from the Springfield Rescue Mission and the Open Pantry’s Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen in one of King’s buses.
“We were able to transport over 20 people to our church service,” said King. He added that he will provide that transportation again for the second Praise and Pizza event in November, along with the pizza. “We are looking forward to another service and hopefully will fill the church.”
Darleen St. Jacques, program director of the Open Pantry’s Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen in Springfield, said her “guests” from the kitchen looked forward to an evening of music, fellowship, a short sermon and pizza. “They were excited about going and spoke about it during the week. It was wonderful hearing about the fun they had,” she said.
“They were feeling special with this invitation to join members of the Agawam Congregational Church and other invited guests. It was great to witness the excitement of them boarding the bus,” St. Jacques added.
Church members have been providing a monthly meal at the kitchen for many years. “We are most grateful for their concern, continued support and thoughtfulness for the people that we serve. They truly care about their fellow human being’s happiness,” said St. Jacques.
Cohen said Praise and Pizza Night was a challenge for the church’s congregation. He said they “tend to be a fairly homogenous group from Agawam” who are used to a much more traditional service.
“Yet they were gracious and helpful, and while they might have been a bit nervous given all the new faces from different walks of life, they came through like champions,” he added. “I am so proud of my church members — they really stepped up.”
The idea for Praise and Pizza Night, said Cohen, came from God and a friend, the Rev. Jean-Fritz Guerrier, pastor of a church in East Lyme, Connecticut, who has had success with a contemporary second service.
“I had been thinking about how we could bring some younger people into the church. We have a wonderful congregation, but it’s an older congregation, and most of them love the traditional hymns we sing on Sunday mornings,” said Cohen. “I wasn’t sure that changing what we’re already doing on Sunday morning was either necessary or fair to them.”
When people at the church asked him to start wearing a microphone instead of using a handheld mic, Cohen began thinking more about adding a contemporary service. It was an idea he had kicked around for some time.
Cohen said he was encouraged by the feedback he got on forms he passed out after the event. They gave him a sense of what people liked. “While some mentioned they’d come for the pizza, not one of them said that the pizza was what they liked best. Instead, it was either the sermon or the music. Everyone had a great time, and almost everyone said they’d want to come to the next one.”
Cohen said the church’s next Praise and Pizza event is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14. He said it was changed from the previous 6 p.m. time to the earlier hour so people who want to attend won’t have to worry about driving in the dark.
The church is located at 754 Main St. While advance notice is not required, anyone planning to attend or who needs more information, should contact the church office: 413-786-7111 or office@agawamcong.com.
