Community churches worked together to organize two prayer walks Sunday – one at Tharptown High School and the other at Russellville High School – as the new school year nears.

Travis Flannagin, student minister at Tharptown Baptist Church, led the Tharptown group in a prayer before dismissing them to walk around the outside of the school and pray when and how they felt called to, individually or in small groups.

Flannagin said the event was not about one particular church but rather about coming together as a community of different churches to “bathe the school in prayer” and “to be faithful in praying for the teachers, administrators and students to help with all the challenges faced over the course of a school year.”

“We gather together as a group of believers,” said Flannagin. “They definitely need our prayers.”

Nick McSpadden, pastor of Gateway Church, led the group that assembled at Russellville High School. “Even though we have some differences in how we believe,” said McSpadden, “we can at least do something like this together. We have one goal, and that is for people to know Jesus Christ.”

McSpadden said he thinks going out and being together in this way is a “boost” to the students and teachers. “It’s a way to let everyone know that we can do something together and to remind everyone about what we have in common.”

A number of people attended both events.