Disciples of Christ Christian Fellowship Church invites the public to drop off prayer requests at the community prayer box located at 11116 Rhodine Rd. in Riverview.

God promises us in the Bible that He hears every word that we pray to Him. In the spirit of community and prayer, Disciples of Christ Christian Fellowship erected the Community Drive-Through Prayer Box soon after it opened its doors as a new church last year in Riverview.

“We wanted to let the community know that we are here for them and that they didn’t have to be a member to get prayer,” said Mary Jo McKay, co-founder of the church and wife of the church’s pastor, Reverend Kenneth McKay. “We increased the advertisement of the prayer box during COVID as a reminder to the community that Jesus is the answer and prayer is the key.”

Prayer forms are available at the prayer box site, or people can come with their prayer requests already written. They can drive up or walk up and simply drop the prayer in the secure box. The prayers are collected each day.

“We pray over them daily,” said McKay. “Our church has always had a strong focus on prayer. We truly believe that prayer will heal our communities and our nation.”

Currently, the Disciples of Christ Christian Fellowship is conducting all of its regularly scheduled services virtually and added three additional daily services, Monday-Friday, during COVID-19. The new services are: 9 a.m. morning devotion, 12 Noon prayer and 7 p.m. words of encouragement.

“We wanted to ensure we kept in touch with our members, offered sufficient tools for them to maintain their faith, encouraged trust in God and assuaged fear,” said McKay. “We also sped up the completion of our prayer garden to provide members the opportunity to safely leave their homes, enjoy nature and pray alone or with their families.”

Regularly scheduled church services are all being held virtually: Bible study on Wednesday at 7 p.m., intercessory prayer on Saturday at 9 a.m. and Sunday morning worship service at 11 a.m.

“We will resume in-person services once the CDC and local health professionals indicate it’s advisable to do so,” said McKay. “In the meantime, we’re installing hand sanitizer stations, and once reopened, we will frequently sanitize highly utilized areas, we will require masks when we’re unable to maintain 6 ft. distance, allow only families to sit together, discontinue breakfast and luncheons and discontinue group socializing before and after church.”

For more information or to watch the online services, visit www.doccf.org. The church and prayer box is located at 11116 Rhodine Rd. in Riverview. You can also call 677-8600 to reach the church office.

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Kelly Wise Valdes
Kelly Wise Valdes has been writing for the Osprey Observer since 2008. She graduated in 1989 from Florida Southern College with a B.S. in Communications and enjoys writing and traveling. She currently resides in northern Hillsborough County with her husband, David. When not traveling and writing, Kelly and her husband enjoy spending time with their five grown children (as well as their grandchildren) that still keep them very busy.