Churches hold unity service
There was no punch-line this cold Monday evening, as more than 60 devout Christians sat in the First United Methodist Church of Santa Monica, singing hymns and praying to God in unison. Except this wasn’t a room filled with just Methodists. Rather, the audience was comprised of followers of varied congregations from across the city — Saint Monica Catholic Community, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica.
It was a day for Christians of different denominations to put aside their differences and unite for their common love of God — a tradition of the city’s Christian churches that dates back more than 20 years.
“It’s a symbol of our hope that one day, full communion between all of our denominations will be restored,” said Rev. James Boline of St. Paul’s Lutheran, who co-officiated the ceremony.
Unity Day, which has occurred worldwide in the larger Christian community since the early 1900s, was brought to Santa Monica by Rev. Don Shelby at the First United Methodist Church more than two decades ago. He found it as an opportunity for followers of all faiths to gather and celebrate a prayer for unity, said Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson, of Saint Monica.
“We certainly recognize and honor and respect our differences, but there are many issues at the core of all of our missions,” Torgerson said Tuesday.
The service is held at a different church every year and participating churches also change every year, said Rev. Patricia Farris, of the United Methodist Church.
About nine years ago, the First Presbyterian Church joined in on Unity Day at the urging of its pastor, Rev. William Wood.
“We are, in fact, one, even though sometimes our ways of going about it are different,” Wood said.
Materials used for Unity Day are published through the World Council of Churches every year. Christian communities in different parts of the world plan the service every year. This year, the service and worship materials were planned by Christian churches in South Africa, according to Farris.
The Unity Day service was planned in conjunction with the presentation of the Keiskamma Altarpiece at the United Methodist Church this year. The focus of the service was the altarpiece and the AIDS pandemic in Africa, where the Saint Monica community has sent out a small group of parishioners every year for the past few years to assist in the building and restoration of HIV and AIDS clinics in Kenya.
Created by 130 women and men, the Keiskamma Altarpiece tells the story of devastation from AIDS in the village of Hamburg in South Africa. Unity Day is traditionally held in Santa Monica during the third week of January, but local church leaders decided to postpone it until March in hopes of incorporating the altarpiece with the church service.
In the spacious church, followers of the four Christian denominations sat as they listened to sermons by the clergy members from the Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist churches talk about the devastation in South Africa.
First Presbyterian parishioner Charles Doak, of Santa Monica, was among those who participated in the service, something he has done for the past few years.
“Our lives are so fragmented that any event that brings us together is powerful,” Doak said following the service.“Any service for Christian unity draws me.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 21, 2007. Read the original PDF.