INSIGHT Magazine August 2018 | Page 6

by Kelsey Butler The second annual We Love Oxford event returns August 10. You are invited to Choccolocco Park in Oxford to enjoy fun for the whole family including inflatables, cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones, live music, and more between the hours of 5:30 and 8:30 pm. So, we want our community to know that the church is FOR them and loves our community.” We Love Oxford is hosted by Parker Memorial Baptist Church DeArmanville Campus. However, Pastor Joey Bentley says this event isn’t about the church, but something much bigger. “From our perspective, the world is more divided than ever before with tensions, hatred, violence, etc.,” he explains. “Caught in the crossfires of this, the church in America is wrongly labeled by what we are ‘against’ more than what we are about as followers of Jesus. “I am always amazed by the great conversations that I get to have at events like this,” Bentley continues. “These ‘hang out’ moments promote unity and love beyond barriers that can so easily bring division. It’s also great to see families play together and laugh together. We want to encourage family time!” 6 Bentley says, “We want to help build bridges to unity and community here… We believe that the way to impact the world is to love like Jesus. We Love Oxford is just one expression of that conviction. We call it ‘Living Love’.” Approximately 500 people attended We Love Oxford last year, and Bentley expects a “much larger crowd this year”. He says August 2018 INSIGHT