SELMA - The folks at Faith Baptist Church on Ricks Road have spent so many months planning a crusade, it's become known simply as "The Big Event."

The project comes together this week in a three-night program at Selma Elementary School. More than a half-dozen other churches have joined with Faith Baptist to bring the town's Christian community together in music, preaching and testimonials, said Faith's pastor, the Rev. Eddie Jordan.

"Everybody seems to be real excited," Jordan said, his own excitement and energy evident. He's been leading weekly prayer meetings about the event since last summer. "I tried to break all the barriers, tried not to exclude anyone in this," Jordan said. "Denominations separate us, but the Lord didn't develop denominations."

As with any crusade, a chief goal is also to bring nonbelievers and non-practicing Christians closer to God. That's where the event's setting is important, Jordan said. Having it on the "neutral ground" of the school makes people more comfortable with attending.

"Sometimes it's a little harder to bring people to the church," he said. "We're hoping all the Christians in Johnston County will come, but also bring a friend or family member that needs to know about Jesus. The whole thing is based on sharing our faith with somebody that doesn't know about it."

Jordan said the recession is an ideal time to take the gospel outside the church walls. "The times are harder, and we come to realize we can't always rely on ourself and on man," he said.

Perhaps the hardest part of getting a crusade together, Jordan said, is getting a wide variety of churches on board. Selma hasn't had a crusade in recent memory, and some pastors were hesistant about bringing their congregations, unsure of what message Jordan might be preaching.

"I had to meet with a lot of them one on one," he said. "What I've tried to relay to them is the only thing that I'm going to be preaching is the saving grace of Jesus Christ."

Reaching out to other churches has been an educational experience for Jordan, who served in the military before taking the pulpit at Faith Baptist four years ago. "It's a big learning curve to see how other people do some things," he said.

Jordan hopes the connections made through the crusade will continue and that Selma-area churches can work together on other projects. And through his outreach organization, Eddie Jordan Ministries, he wants to hold similar crusades in other communities.

"I'm hoping this will just be the first of many," he said.