NATCHEZ &045;&045; A week of worship at New Hope Baptist Church will bring together congregations from five different Natchez churches &045;&045; a kind of celebration, said Bishop Stanley Searcy, pastor at New Hope.

&uot;We should not look at the differences of one another but celebrate the uniqueness of each other,&uot; Searcy said, as he explained the inspiration for organizing the services, beginning on March 15 and continuing through March 19.

&uot;All the pastors said yes when I called to invite them,&uot; Searcy said. &uot;They’re bringing their choirs and congregations to our church. And we welcome anyone who wants to come worship with us during the week.&uot;

Ministers and churches, in order of services through the week, are the Rev. Arthur Brown of Zion Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church; the Rev. Paul Hays of Natchez Church of God; the Rev. David O’Connor of St. Mary Basilica; the Rev. Doug Wright of First Assembly of God; and the Rev. Ernest Ford of Jerusalem Baptist Church and several other churches.

&uot;On Sundays we’re in our own pulpits and don’t get to experience each other’s various types of worship,&uot; Searcy said. &uot;But we are serving the same God. We’re on the same team.&uot;

O’Connor said he appreciated the openness shown by New Hope in inviting different denominations to participate. &uot;It’s an opportunity to offer information about ourselves. We’ll bring our own music and our own format,&uot; he said. &uot;And this will be not an exhibition but an experience of worship and prayer.&uot;

Searcy said the experience last year of inviting out-of-town ministers of different denominations for a similar worship week gave him the idea of inviting local churches to participate.

&uot;I am most excited about this program because it’s my hometown,&uot; Searcy said.

He sees opportunity to bridge gaps, end divisions and perhaps to make the celebration of worship an annual event.

&uot;We hope it will be an annual event, not necessarily to be held at this church but maybe to have different churches to host it each year,&uot; he said. &uot;Division comes from not understanding each other’s differences.&uot;

Wright, pastor of First Assembly of God, agreed. &uot;It’s an opportunity for the body of Christ to come together, to see the barriers come down, such as racial and denominational barriers, and to see them overcome.&uot;

Wright appreciates the good that can come from this kind of program. &uot;It’s a time when churches who meet in different places each week can see themselves as one. We can see that we have unity in Christ.&uot;