ORLANDO — Many of the Florida Conference United Methodist churches planning services or activities to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania are working with their communities to make these events inclusive of all people.

Several churches will hold their memorial services Sunday, Sept. 8, the date set aside by Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker at the 2002 Florida Annual Conference Event for remembering last year’s events. Churches are preparing special multimedia presentations or featuring special music.

Other churches have chosen to commemorate the events on the day they happened. St. Luke’s United Methodist Church here will be in prayer at the minute the first plane struck the World Trade Center. The church’s United Methodist Men are inviting the community to begin its day with a prayer breakfast and worship service. The event begins at 7:30 a.m. and will lead up to a nationwide time of silence and prayer at 8:46 a.m. Steve Nolan, a local firefighter and candidate for the ordained ministry, will share the story of his trip to New York last fall.

The St. Petersburg District is holding a districtwide worship service at St. Paul United Methodist Church at 11 a.m. Sept. 11, according the Rev. Dr. Kevin James, the district’s superintendent. The event is called “One Nation Under God” and will be a “patriotic worship service,” James said. It will feature active and retired clergy who have served the military, bag pipes and a color guard. Belinda Womack will provide music, and the Rev. Don McMillan, retired United Methodist elder and veteran, will be the featured speaker.

Beymer United Methodist Church in Winter Haven is planning an outdoor service on the church’s dock, where it holds regular Sunday services for the area’s boating community, according to the Rev. Bob Hornback, the church’s pastor.

“Word got out and spread, and thanks to our initial energies, the whole city will be holding a remembrance… ‘Reflection’ they call it,” he said. “It will be at a downtown city park on a small lake. Beymer is still the bulk of the leadership team for this event, though the chamber of commerce and the city are involved.”

Grace United Methodist Church in Merritt Island is holding a communitywide service Sept. 11 at 6:30 p.m. It will include music by the church’s praise team and chancel choir and a slide show of “remembrance and hope,” according to the Rev. David Baldridge, the church’s pastor.

The Rev. John Denmark, pastor of First United Methodist Church, Seminole, is organizing a county-wide memorial service Sept. 11 for all Pinellas County fire, law enforcement, emergency medical service and military personnel. Denmark is coordinator for the Pinellas County Chaplain Response Team and chaplain for Seminole Fire and Rescue.

“As chaplain for the fire department, I have counseled with family and friends of firefighter victims and was involved in debriefing Salvation Army workers who worked Ground Zero,” he said. “This Sept. 11 will be most significant…”