Area clergy team up to distribute Thanksgiving turkeys

MANSFIELD — As families face challenges staying together, two clergy took the opportunity to make a difference during the Thanksgiving season.  Each pastor gave out twenty-five free turkeys to the community, one pastor from the north side of town, the other from the south side.

“This is the first time we have partnered together in community outreach” said Reverend Randy Raynes of Mansfield Fellowship Baptist, located at 424 South Main Street.

“It is amazing how relational equity occurs when you have a common mission.”

Reverend Mark Cobb is stepping into a new role as senior pastor of Providence Baptist, located at 112 West Sixth Street.  Cobb will officially become the new pastor at a special commissioning service on December 1^st at 3:30 PM.   

Cobb is also owner of The Blessed and Anointed Barbershop at 15 East Third Street.

“We have a giving community,” says Cobb.  “While society has a general apathy for others, in Mansfield we give back to the community and help those in need,”

“Our hope is that these turkeys we are giving will bring families together to the dinner table.  There needs to be face to face family time, thanking GOD for the blessings He has given us.  Family time is vital and missing in our culture.”

According to Raynes, “One family in our neighborhood recently lost a mother to a tragic illness.  They don’t go to church, but we wanted to give them a Thanksgiving turkey to bless them.  We want to stand with them in this season of loss and let them know they are not alone.”

Both pastors believe that the GOD who keeps families together is greater than the cultural forces trying to separate.

Raynes adds, “The Pilgrims came to America to have religious freedom.  This is a great opportunity (giving free turkeys) to exercise our religious freedoms during the Thanksgiving season.”