BERLIN, CT (August 30, 2013)—Three Evangelical Covenant Churches are among more than 100 congregations and organizations sponsoring 40 Days of Worship across the state.
The initiative is organized by Impact Connecticut, which describes itself as an ecumenical “relational network of leaders, churches, and ministries.” It will involve 40 gatherings over 40 consecutive days at more than 40 locations.
Covenant churches participating are Bethany Covenant Church in Berlin, the Covenant Church of Thomaston, and Trinity Covenant Church of Manchester.
Bethany will co-sponsor the first night of worship on Wednesday at Wellspring Church, a Baptist congregation in Berlin. Trinity will host the Thursday, September 12, service. The Thomaston congregation will participate in the Monday, September 16, gathering at Advent Christian Church in Torrington. Bethany will host the final worship service on Sunday, October 14.
Impact Connecticut grew out of the Hartford Project, an interdenominational urban ministry immersion experience for teenagers in New England. Church youth groups are invited to come and live in Hartford for four days in the summer doing service projects and learning about social issues.
Relationships built through that project led to the creation of Impact Connecticut, says Phillip Beatty, pastor of student ministries at Trinity.
Several churches will participate in each of the worship services, says Beatty. “It’s about saying that we’re coming together in more than name only.”
“God is always trying to get Christians—who are diverse in all ways—to come together and pray,” says Tim Olsen, pastor of the Thomaston congregation. “The goal of these committed pastors and lay leaders is that God would send another revival, another great awakening. Connecticut is where great awakenings have happened in the past.”
The services will vary from traditional to contemporary depending upon the church hosting each service, Beatty says. The same opening and closing liturgies will be used in each of the services, though. “It brings all the services together.”
Part of the opening liturgy states, “We come to present the Lord with an extravagant offering of worship. We gather in a spirit of repentance, for we are a needy people and our families and communities and our state and nation are desperately in need of the Lord’s mercy, grace, and healing. We yearn for revival in his church and awakening among the populace that salvation and reformation might come to our land. And we come in unity of heart and spirit that Christ’s church might become one in love and in purpose so that the Lord might indeed command his blessing to our state.”
