New Program Seeks to Strengthen Christian Unity

Local pastors have designed the eight-week program, called Walk This Way. Each week, the churches will concentrate on a central theme and service, says Jeff Woods, pastor of Turlock Covenant Church. Cornerstone Covenant Church also is participating in the program.

A different theme will be emphasized each week. The first week was unity. In coming weeks, churches will focus on topics such as walking in grace, compassion, integrity and thankfulness.

Pastors brainstormed and agreed on which texts are to be incorporated into the worship services. To honor each church's identity, as well as the group's unity, churches will address the themes according to their own traditions, Woods says.

The group of pastors - Turlock Evangelical Area Ministries (TEAM) - has been meeting together for decades and their congregations have celebrated a special Thanksgiving service together. Still the pastors wanted the churches to draw even closer. "We asked ourselves, how do we continue to build bridges with each other?" Woods says.

TEAM members got the idea for the program after reading the book The Church of Irresistible Influence by Robert Lewis and Rob Wilkins. The book describes the efforts of uniting a community by churches in Little Rock, Arkansas.

A daily devotional similar to the Covenant Home Altar was written by church members and distributed through each of the churches, Woods says.

The program actually began September 29 with a three-evening event that brought several hundred teenagers together to worship. Each evening featured a different worship band, preacher and worship leader, Woods says. The pastors developed the idea and began planning the program in April.

That planning included developing three different Sunday school models for each church to use. Each class is meant to be intergenerational, Woods says. Participants can choose to attend an activity based group, a discussion group, or a group that has a lengthier time of formal teaching but builds in time for questions. Naturally, the children gravitate to the activity based group, Woods adds.

To learn more about the unity program, how it was developed and what it hopes to accomplish, contact Woods by telephone at 209-667-1191 or by email at turlockcov@sbcglobal.net.

Printable version of this page.