Since a decade before the end of the Civil War, Christ Episcopal has been the church on the corner of Park Avenue and Fifth Street, across from the bustling courthouse and near the various business and professional offices downtown.

It’s that location that has inspired the congregation of the church to reach out more to the community. One such way will be through its inaugural Free Community Prayer Breakfast starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the church’s parish hall.

“I think this starts with our location,” the Rev. Sallie Schisler, vicar of Christ Church, said. “We are right in the heart of downtown, right at the crossroads of the community. We are called to love our neighbors and our neighbors are the people who work at the courthouse and the offices and businesses downtown.”

The free breakfast will be served buffet style with a menu of egg and sausage casserole, bagels, fruit, coffee cake and tea and coffee.

“This will be a chance for people to visit and connect and network and from our perspective we will offer a take-home meditation and a prayer at the end of the breakfast for a productive day,” Schisler said. “The primary mark of the Christian community is hospitality. What better way to show our neighbors we care for them than to offer a good hearty breakfast and the start for a good day.”

The goal of the church is to offer the community breakfast on a quarterly basis. The event is open to all denominations and philosophies.

“This is more about hospitality than it is about any kind of denominational thought,” the vicar said. “This is to ask for the protection and care of God as we go about our daily work.”