Together, Like Heaven: An evening of unity in worship

Springfield, MO— On January 15th, a unified worship service was hosted by Sanctuary of Praise, COGIC. An event with guests made up from surrounding black congregations and Central Assembly, one of the larger and predomately white congregations in Springfield.

Coordinator, Pastor TJ Appleby said, “the joint worship service was an opportunity for black and white men and women to come together in the presence of Almighty God to worship him inSpirit and Truth.” The theme was “Together, Like Heaven.”

“How can we expect to worship together in heaven when we can’t first figure out how to worship together here on earth?”

There were about 500 people in attendance at the event that included a 9 minute video on the Rev. Dr. Martin L King, several inspiring messages from area ministers and a combined group of singers from Central Assembly and Sanctuary of Praise.

John Rudolph Hatcher was born February 8, 1928, in New Madrid, Missouri. He was the only child of John Rufus Hatcher and Adeline Riley Hatcher. After having passed the 8th grade examination early he moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to live with his aunt, Mable Riley, in order to attend the high school there. At the age of 15 years old he graduated from high school and was admitted to Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees. In 1949 he was accepted into the Ph.D. program at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Although he completed the requirements for his Ph.D. in 1952, his degree was not conferred on him because of the racial climate at the time.

Before beginning his teaching career John traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to bicycle through part of Norway and was interviewed on a Norwegian radio program. He was an accomplished musician; he played the piano and the saxophone. He would practice for hours to perfect some of his