Passersby paused Thursday evening to pray for the city of Texarkana with members of Church on the Rock as the church's praise and worship band played live contemporary Christian music at the top of the stairs of the Downtown Post Office.
About 7 p.m., Texarkana residents and church members lined the stairs of the courthouse, waving their hands and singing along with the praise music while praying that "God Bless Our City," as one banner proclaimed, along with the social media hashtag #BlessOurCitytxk, for those who want to learn about the event, which is going on in various cities until July 24.
Much of the prayer was for the safety of Texarkana's police because of recent shootings that killed five Dallas police officers and left three dead in Baton Rouge, La.
"We've done a couple of these (Bless Our City prayers) this week," said church member Krista Collmorgen as she and her husband enjoyed the music at the base of the court house.
Collmorgen is originally from Oklahoma City, but her husband, Jason Collmorgen, is a Texarkana native.
The Collmorgens said the church brought coolers with water, free for those who walked up from the heat and needed a drink to cool off.
Tracy Lilly sat on some steps above and behind the platform where the praise team played, tucked away from the crowd as she praised God to the music with her two young daughters, Austyn, 9, and Landyn 5.
"I see a lot of new faces," Lilly said. "I see a lot of homeless people who attend Church Under the Bridge, and I see a lot I don't recognize, too."
Lilly said she was proud of the turnout and there were more than just church members at the event, praying for the city-which she said is important at this juncture.
"This is so important now," Lilly said. "It is such a critical time to bring church out to the people."
Lilly said that the purpose for the Bless Our City mission is for church members to go out and worship in the open, freely, where they can invite others and have it set up so that passersby can stop and worship and feel welcome.
"It is easier to go out and worship and let people join in It's like 'Let's make it happen. Let's worship here and now and freely," Lilly said. "If they won't come to us, we will go to them, and what better place than here in the center of town."