Prayer Brunch presented by Knouse Foods/Mussleman’s

The lovely multi-purpose sanctuary at Fellowship Bible Church features banquet seating for 600 and is located a short distance from Valley Avenue.  Ample parking, handicap access, and indoor reception are located on-site.

Come join the enthusiastic crowd that gathers to “Bless the Bloom”!  The interdenominational event has been a dynamic success with each Festival year since 2000 welcoming notable guest speakers Linda Davis, Ruth Graham McIntyre, Lisa Welchel, Kirk Cameron, Truitt Cathy, LaDonna Gatlin, Gigi Graham, and Trudy Cathy White.

Celebrating the 19^th Prayer Brunch with attendees will be state and local dignitaries with appearances by Festival celebrities and the Queen Shenandoah XCI-designate who will be escorted on The Trail of the Pink Petals.  Opening ceremonies will include a salute to the American flag by the U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard. In addition to Knouse Foods/Musselman’s, this special event is also presented by the Willows at Meadow Branch.

This year’s speaker is Ruth Graham; who is presented by Chick-fil-A, First Bank and Water Street Financial. Ruth is the author of many books including the best-selling, In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart and the award-winning Step into the Bible. Her passion is to motivate people by God’s grace and loving acceptance from a place of wounded-ness to a place of whole-ness. As the third child of Ruth and Billy Graham she has her own unique voice addressing critical issues of the 21^st Century: the struggle of forgiveness, the value of doubt, loneliness, being single in a couple’s world. No stranger to heartache, she provides a Biblical perspective as she shares her journey of faith, pointing to the faithfulness of God in her own life’s heartache. She is transparent and true as she talks about: her spouse’s infidelities, her divorces, her teenage daughter’s pregnancies, another daughter’s struggles with bulimia, and her son’s battle with drugs. She shares the on-going struggle of having a special needs grandchild, and the life-threatening disease of her youngest daughter.

Ruth Graham is an experienced conference speaker. She has appeared on “Good Morning America,” “Fox and Friends,” and been interviewed on “Moody Radio,” and “Focus on the Family,” among others. She contributed to the series, “Divorce Care,” and hosted a video series on “Living Free” on life-controlling issues. Ruth went back to college at the age of 50 and graduated cum laude in 2000. She has an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Eastern University, and is ordained by the Cooperative Baptist Church. Ruth has 3 grown children and 9 grandchildren and lives in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Ruth Graham’s appearance as the 2018 Prayer Brunch Speaker is made possible by Chick-fil-A and Water Street Financial. In addition to Knouse Foods/Musselman, this special event is also presented by First Bank and The Willows at Meadow Branch.

The Graham Family’s Festival history is long and fascinating. The Reverend Billy Graham himself thrilled the Bloom Nation by appearing as the Grand Marshal of the 1972 Festival. Ruth Graham’s daughter, Noelle Dienert, filled the role of Queen Shenandoah LXVI in 1993. Noelle’s first cousin, Cissie Graham, Franklin Graham’s daughter, was Queen Shenandoah LXXX in 2007. Ruth Graham was the Featured Speaker at the Prayer Brunch in 2001; and, her sister, Gigi Graham, was the Featured Speaker at the Prayer Brunch in 2016.

Featured performing guests will include The 6^th Dimension hand bell ensemble  performing prelude and postlude music,  and “Apple Blossom’s Got Talent” 2018 participant.  Soloist Scott Orndorff will also precede the speaker.  Include a refreshing, inspirational dimension to your “Bloom Weekend”!