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Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the  annual Law Enforcement and First Responders Appreciation Day at Crosspoint Church.

This was sponsored by the local churches who came together to show appreciation to the people who put their lives on the line for us every day. This includes the Dallas County Sheriff Office (DCSO), Selma Police Department (SPD), Selma Fire Department (SFD), Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) Highway Patrol Division Troopers and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) along with volunteer firefighters and first responders.

The first thing that they did was welcome them into the church with open arms. They showed the same care and that the officers, firefighters and EMS would provide to the people. This includes giving them medical checkups provided by Vaughan Regional Medical Center, provided food for them and even checked on their spiritual needs.

Team members would pray with each person about special needs or issues that they were dealing with. Maybe they didn’t have a special prayer request, but they still prayed with them for blessings and protections as they serve our community.

After the meal, they held a special service to recognize our local heroes of the year. Bill Hamner (DCSO), Adric Reed (ALEA), Walter Curtis (SPD), Aeneas Pettway (SFD), Christina Smith (EMS) and James Peters (volunteer firefighter) were the six special heroes honored.

Even if they weren’t one of these six, the first responders who were there were given a Gideon’s New Testament and other gifts to make them feel special. Firefighters were also given gift cards to help repay them for some of the fuel expenses they’ve paid out of their own pockets responding to calls.

The greatest thing about this event was that people from every type of church both in the city, in the county and surrounding areas came together to make this happen.

Kathy Smith, one of the coordinators of the event, took me around and introduced me to all of the volunteers. Every person told me their church, and of the numerous people who put on the event, all but maybe one or two were from the same church.

This is a great example of what the body of Christ should look like. We don’t have to agree on politics or sports teams or many of the other issues that really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

The church represented here was united by service through Christ. And that’s something that’s very encouraging to see here in Selma.

Thank you for letting me come out to this event. I hope our community can come together through the churches to do good work here and beyond.

Brent Maze is the publisher of The Selma Times-Journal. He can be reached at brent.maze@selmatimesjournal.com.