Churches unite in anticipation of second annual Love Loud effort

 A four-day, community wide effort to "communicate the love of Christ in a practical way" is ramping up this week, and organizers say the event is shaping up to be bigger, better and even "Louder" than its predecessor.

"Love Loud" is the combined effort of over 30 local churches to spread goodwill and Christian charity to the area through a host of different events and random acts of kindness – everything from free oil changes to home improvement projects.

"We have a lot of needs in our world and our community," said Immanuel Baptist Church Pastor Allen Bonnell, one of the principal organizers of the event.

"We are trying to meet some of those needs and hope it will open up the door to some more significant conversations about where people are spiritually."

Love Loud is set to officially start Sept. 19 and will culminate Sunday, Sept. 22 with a community celebration at the Corbin High School gymnasium that will feature a community choir, and special speaker Rev. Richard Gains of Consolidated Baptist Church in Lexington.

Sept. 19 and 20 of Love Loud will mostly consist of random acts of kindness: block parties, free lunches for first responders and others, surprise at-the-pump gas buydowns, etc.

On Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at Corbin High School, volunteers will provide a long list of services to those in need: free hair cuts, a food giveaway, financial planning, free oil changes, health screenings, car washes, dental health exams, legal advice, and more.

Chad Fugitt, Pastor at Central Baptist Church in Corbin, said heÕs pleased that more area churches have decided to officially take part in Love Loud. He anticipates that the number of volunteers will eclipse the roughly 800 people that actively took part last year.

"It’s really an interdenominational event," Fugitt said. "I think the churches of the community have sort of risen up and kind of taken ownership of it now."

"I think we saw a lot of fruit from what happened last year," Fugitt added. "As much as anything, I think it changed the perspective of people in our own church and opened some eyes to see that there’s a world of people out there that need to experience the love of Christ – I think because of Love Loud there’s an overall greater openness to our churches now."

Last year, the weekend Love Loud events were held at The Arena in Corbin. Bonnell said that while it was a good location, moving things this time around to Corbin High School would be better.

"It was great, but it was probably more than what we needed," Bonnell said. "People know where The Arena is and its great, but everybody knows where the high school is and I just think it fits our mission a little better. It seems more accessible to people."

The 2012 Love Loud ended with a performance at The Arena by contemporary Christian rock band Rush of Fools and nationally renowned speaker Brent Crowe.

While great, Bonnell said this year’s community choir, made up of members of all the churches involved in Love Loud, more adequately sends the message of local unity.

"I think it communicates that we can come together for one worship service even if we have different worship styles," he said. "We are one. At times we get too distracted by those things that are really small things that separate us as opposed to the big things that connect us together and unify us."