Rock Port God and Man Services Dec. 13 – 17

This year will mark the 63rd anniversary of Rock Port’s God and Man services. This year’s services will be Monday, December 13, through Friday, December 17, and will start at 7:00 a.m.

Everyone is welcome to join them at the Rock Port Baptist Church. The schedule for the week is: Monday – Rock Port Baptist Church, Tuesday – Grace Community Church, Wednesday – First Christian Church, Thursday – First Lutheran Church, and Friday – United Methodist Church.

Following services all participants are welcome to join in a time of fellowship. Refreshments of coffee, doughnuts, milk, and juice will be served.

Tarkio/Westboro God & Man Services

By Beverly Clinkingbeard

This year, the men are gathering Monday, December 6, 2021, at 7:00 a.m. at the Tarkio United Methodist Church for their God & Man Services.  The services will continue there through Thursday, December 9. Services on Friday, December 10, will be at the Westboro United Methodist Church.

This special week of worship is a bit like the spring season bulbs that come to life. They bloom and then vanish for the remainder of the year. So goes the God & Man Services. Come the first week of December, it is time. Perhaps the uniqueness of these informal worship services, sponsored by the Ministerial Alliance, is that they are led by the men of the church.

It is a time to meet others of like faith and worship together, all the while meeting old acquaintances and making new friends. The format is “come as you are” or as “you go to work.” Fathers bring sons, grandfathers bring sons and grandsons, neighbors bring neighbors. All are welcome. The service opens with prayer and singing of Christmas carols. The speaker may be invited from elsewhere or someone from among their midst.

Hardin Cox of Rock Port was instrumental in starting the first God & Man Services in Atchison County. In 1960, the news reported, “Rock Port planned for their second annual meeting.” Shortly thereafter, Harold Boatman rallied the men of Tarkio to begin their week of worship and it’s been going ever since, except when COVID-19 interfered last year, 2020. The churches in town host the services on a rotational basis, with the Friday meeting ending at either the Westboro Methodist or St. John’s Lutheran Church.

Calling the men to God & Man Services is word of mouth and each church alerts their membership to the occasion. Some years additional methods were employed – Tarkio’s fire whistle would blow to remind participants they needed to be at God & Man Service. James Clifford Smith was a school bus driver for years and he took a church bus to round up worshippers. It’s an hour set aside for men to set aside an hour of their daily routine and worship with others in their community.

Churches providing each day’s message are: Monday – Tarkio First Baptist Church; Tuesday – St Paul’s Catholic Church; Wednesday – Tarkio Christian Church; Thursday – Tarkio Presbyterian Church; and Friday – St. John’s Lutheran Church.

Each morning, a light breakfast will be served. After an absence of services, it is good to think of being together again. The churches are decorated and festive for the Christmas holidays. It’s really something very special for the community and you are invited.