Worship service inspires unity
OTTAWA, ON–Christians across the nation's capital are uniting in the name of worship and prayer. "The Gathering," held April 20 at Woodvale Pentecostal Church, was a night dedicated to worshipping God and praying for Ottawa, in an effort to foster unity among the different streams of Christianity.
"We want to see Christians coming together from across the city to worship and pray," says Steve Outhouse, ministry coordinator of City Wide Worship and Prayer (City-Wide). "In His final hours before going to the cross, Jesus prayed that we would have unity and that unity would send a message to people around us. We get to be part of answering that prayer."
For more than a decade, City-Wide held monthly worship services throughout Ottawa, including annual events, called The Gathering, with up to 4,000 believers at Scotiabank Place, home of the Ottawa Senators hockey team. Services have been on hold for the past three years, but City-Wide and Love Ottawa, a ministry that works to unify believers in demonstrating Christ's love, felt God calling them to relaunch The Gathering.
"I think [City-Wide] is missed," says Paulo Mugarura, one of many worship pastors involved in City-Wide. "There hasn't been a gathering of believers [in Ottawa] that wasn't around a big name. The Gathering brings Christians together in a way that not much else does."
The event was led by worship pastors from several churches, with members of Love Ottawa leading prayer times for church leaders and the city of Ottawa.
"At first, City-Wide was a community of people who liked to worship," says Mugarura, "but I saw it has an ability to have a real impact in the make-up of the body of Christ."
Mugarura says City-Wide has helped many believers grow in their faith. Organizers have heard testimonies of dramatic answers to City-Wide's corporate prayer times and even of people who became Christians during services.
Outhouse explains, "when we make unity a priority, we put God first and it impacts the community around us—that Jesus is real."
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