The pastors and congregation of Fellowship Bible Church in Shenandoah Junction will welcome and honor first responders at a special service this Sunday. The church, located at 160 Daniel Road, extends an invitation to all first responders: fire, rescue, police and dispatchers, to attend a service in their honor at 11 a.m. Oct. 12.

Van Marsceau, senior pastor of the church, explained that he has thought of the idea for a while and, working with church attendee Doug Pittinger, who serves as the county’s Emergency Services Director, the Oct. 12 date was set.

Pittinger shared that while it was not intentional, the date does fall at the end of National Fire Prevention Week.

Marsceau said that through the years, there have been many times at the church when alarms have gone off, and, regardless of whether it was caused by a faulty alarm, insects or animals in the wiring or other reasons, the first responders of Jefferson County have been there at all hours to provide their service to the church.

On a more personal note, Marsceau shared that several years ago he and his family were involved in a vehicle accident on Route 9 near the Shenandoah River bridge.

“The members of Blue Ridge Fire Company responded as did police, and took excellent care of us,” he said.

“We hope to encourage these first responders,” Marsceau said. He will present a sermon that will hopefully spiritually assist them as they serve the community.

“They deal with so much crisis,” Marsceau said. His hope is that Fellowship Bible Church can provide that encouragement and sense of community to those first responders in attendance.

Those wishing to attend the service are asked to come in uniform or company shirt so that they may be recognized for their service.

A welcome reception will be held at 10 a.m. with refreshments with the service following at 11 a.m. Each first responder attending will receive a First Responder Bible. Those wishing to arrive in emergency vehicles are asked to bring only one vehicle per company due to parking constraints. Attendants will be on site to direct where to park the vehicles.

For additional information on the service or about Fellowship Bible Church, contact the church office at 304-728-3700. Services are held each Sunday at 8:30 and 11 a.m. with Sunday School at 10 a.m. Wednesday night family services are held at 7 p.m.