The Valley Pastors Network’s ninth-annual Valley Ecumenical Thanksgiving service at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Word of Life Fellowship, 565 Lovers Lane, Steubenville, will feature the Rev­. Ashley Steele, executive director of Urban Mission Ministries, as the keynote speaker. With her is the Rev. Gary Hallberg of the VPN, who said the service will be unique this year with the recognition of and prayer for local school administrators, teachers, staff and students. — Contributed

STEUBENVILLE — Giving thanks and prayers for the next generation will be the thrust of the ninth-annual Valley Ecumenical Thanksgiving service set for 4 p.m. Sunday at Word of Life Fellowship, 565 Lovers Lane.

“You’re A Good, Good Father,” the title of a contemporary Christian song, is the theme of the service organized by the Valley Pastors Network that will have a new element to it, according to retired Pastor Gary Hallberg, VPN spokesperson.

The service will include the recognition of and prayer for school administrators, teachers, support staff and students throughout the Valley in addition to special video multimedia presentations.

And the special attention is warranted, according to Hallberg.

“We don’t realize the challenges of the next generation coming up, and I think the goal of the group is to kind of reconnect perhaps the faith community with the academic community that are in our areas, that we can remember to pray for them and give thanks for the effort they are involved with daily,” Hallberg said.

“We want to recognize them and recognize the schools and say to our faith community, do you realize they’re out there, and they’re serving as it were the needs of our younger generation, but they need to be lifted up in prayer. That’s what we do as a church — pray,” Hallberg said.

Administrative leadership to be on hand for special recognition will include Melinda Young, Steubenville City Schools superintendent; Mark Masloski, director of the Jefferson County Alternative School; Fred Burns, superintendent of Toronto City Schools; T.C. Chappelear, superintendent of Indian Creek Schools; Rich Wilinski, principal of Catholic Central High School; Diane Hutchinson, director of the Jefferson County Christian School; Dana Snider, superintendent of Harrison Hills Schools; Scott Celestin, interim superintendent of Buckeye Local Schools; Michael Mehalik, superintendent of the School of Bright Promise; James Baber, vice president of Eastern Gateway Community College; Bill Beattie, superintendent of Edison Local Schools; and Mark McGuire, graduate school representative of the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

The Rev. Ashley Steele, executive director of Urban Mission Ministries in Steubenville, will deliver the keynote address, and her sermon topic is “People of Possibility.”

Other clergy representatives participating will be the Rev. Vaughn Foster, Christ Community Church; the Rev. Michael Mantos, Wintersville Community Chapel; the Rev. David Shores, Word of Life Fellowship; Pastor Benjamin Calvert, Mount Carmel Community Baptist Church; the Rev. Everett Mitchell, Tower of Power; the Rev. Sharon Miller, Rose of Sharon Ministries; the Rev. Bobbyjon Bauman, Valley Youth Workers Network; and the Rev. John Kotsanos, Calvary Church.

Special music will be led by a 20-piece band comprised of instrumentalists and singers from throughout the valley.

A love offering will benefit Urban Mission’s Child Homeless and Hunger Initiative.

A light reception will follow the 75-minute service.

For information on the service, contact Hallberg by phone at (740) 381-4220 or by e-mail at garyhallberg92@gmail.com.

“The school leaders will be recognized, but they’re not really giving speeches,” Hallberg explained. “They will have a presence there, and we will acknowledge and tell a little about them. We’ll have video of some of the school activities and give some bullet points about them and pray for them altogether,” Hallberg said.

“We’re giving prayers and thanks for the next generation,” Hallberg said of the service of thanksgiving “to God for his goodness to us — ‘He’s a good, good, father.’

“I would hope people would see that these people are molding the next generation as a part of that team of people molding the schools, the churches, the families, and all of them are part of it, and sometimes we pray for the families, which we should, but we also need to pray for these schools that have significant challenges today,” Hallberg said.

The VPN is a group of pastors who meet monthly, typically the first Wednesday of the month at 8 a.m. at Word of Life Fellowship Church primarily for fellowship and prayer support. Average attendance ranges from 15 to 25 and offers an opportunity for pastors to talk and pray for one another, according to Hallberg.

It is open to all clergy representatives.

(Kiaski can be contacted at jkiaski@heraldstaronline.com.)