Faith Encounter, a three-night community praise, prayer and worship experience for Christians of all denominations, will return to the Gloria Theatre in Urbana for the third year in a row, 6:30-8:30 p.m., Sept. 17-19.
Dr. Terry Teykl, nationally recognized author of 15 books on prayer, including Acts 29: 50 Days of Prayer to Invite the Holy Spirit, will present a series of messages on the work of the Holy Spirit and Christians’ duty to pray for the completion of Christ’s church in today’s world.
Faith Encounter, organized by about 25 Champaign County churches, is free and open to all community members at the Gloria Theatre, 216 S. Main St., Urbana.
The program each evening will also include inspirational music by local praise and worship teams, prayer led by local pastors, testimonies of community members and a time for fellowship.
“Through Faith Encounter our individual churches are coming together as one church to unify and strengthen Champaign County in Christ,” said Dr. Steve Polsley, who leads the Faith Encounter planning team.
“We encourage members of all churches to attend and to bring friends and family who may not attend church regularly. Faith Encounter enables us all to renew and strengthen our faith and invite and introduce others to Christ.”
Offering to support addiction ministry
A freewill offering will be collected each evening to support the Isaiah 61 Project, a local drug addiction recovery initiative to help transform and restore to wholeness individuals and families, from the inside out. Isaiah 61, headed by Pastors Kyle Peters and Sheila Clarkson of Crossway Vineyard Church of Urbana, is a Christ-centered ministry that offers:
· Healing of the heart through formational prayer
· A network of support and coaching
· Codependency workshops to restore families
· Training to equip the faith community to help individuals and families struggling with addiction
About Dr. Terry Teykl
In addition to writing about prayer, Teykl is a prayer pastor for Faithbridge United Methodist Church in Spring, Texas. And as chaplain for KSBJ radio of Houston – one of the world’s largest Christian stations, with more than a million listeners – he helped start the station’s daily practice of inviting listeners to join in the Lord’s Prayer at noon.
The success of this ritual in Greater Houston led to writing his latest book, Praying the Lord’s Prayer at Noon, and taking the practice to churches in every time zone. “He believes if we can wrap the world in the Lord’s Prayer, God’s will will be done and evil will be curtailed,” Polsley said.
Teykl has taught hundreds of workshops to help people and churches pray more effectively, mixing his presentations with humor and real-life stories of people improving their communication with God.
Volunteers needed
Community members who want to help with Faith Encounter may call 937-508-1691 or email [email protected].
