The Barton County Association of Churches is planning its annual Christian Unity Service. It will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18 in the Central Kansas Dream Center Chapel, 2100 Broadway Ave. The chapel is located in what was formerly the gymnasium when the building housed Roosevelt Junior High School.

This year’s theme comes from the Bible verse John 4:7, “Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’”
An offering will be taken for the Barton County Emergency Aid Fund. Tours of the Dream Center and a social will follow the Christian service.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

At least once a year, Christians are reminded of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples that “they may be one so that the world may believe” (see John 17.21). According to the World Council of Churches, hearts are touched and Christians come together to pray for their unity. Congregations and parishes all over the world exchange preachers or arrange special ecumenical celebrations and prayer services. The event that touches off this special experience is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Each pastor in the approximately 38 churches in Great Bend will receive an invitation to the Jan. 18 service. The goal is to have at least one representative from every church.

The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity began in 1908 in New York. The theme is chosen by an International Ecumenical Committee.
Although the work toward Christian unity is something that takes place throughout the year, the highlighted week of Jan. 18-25 (feast days of St. Peter and St. Paul) focuses one’s attention in a particular way on the call and vision of Christian unity, and celebrates the truth that what unites Christians is greater than what divides them.