Written by Darrick Tam
Worship Pastor at Avenue Church, Creator of The Worship Project

Why is Unity Important?

Human beings were never made to live in isolation. Throughout Scripture, we learn about the importance of community, togetherness and how there is strength and wisdom in numbers. Just as the apostle Paul urged the early churches to fight against division within their own communities, I believe there is that same call to break divisiveness and to build unity among local churches. It is important to note that unity is not uniformity. Although we are all made in the image of God, I hope we can all agree that none of us look identical, have the same personality or even function similarly.

In the very same way, each church isn’t meant to be uniform to one another. Every church will look different, reach a different demographic, and may even have certain theological differences from one another. However, I believe that if our foundations are rooted in who Jesus is, there is always room for conversation and a place to learn from one another at the table. True unity recognizes our differences and how that can be a strength to the greater mosaic of churches. It takes a lowering of our pride and seeing that God is not only inviting our church to participate in his Kingdom work, but rather all of our churches to be working together for His purpose.

What is Church Unity, and what does it look like?

Without going into too much detail, I was 17 years old when God transformed my life and brought me into my first church community. As a young worship leader at a small church, I was forced to learn many things on my own. During that season, I constantly wondered why there weren’t any local resources I could reach out to. I wondered why churches were so segregated from one another with these unspoken words of “we’ll do our thing and you do yours”. I wondered why there wasn’t a greater sense of collaboration and learning between local church ministries.

Little did I know, God was beginning to shape and form this heart for unity in my life (specifically in the city of Toronto). So what does unity in the church look like? Over the years, I’ve learned that accomplishing unity was less about gathering the masses in one room. It is all about relationships. It is about knowing one another, learning from each other, and working towards a common vision.

How I started making strides towards unity in my city

In 2016, an idea sparked in me to start collaborating with other Worship leaders on fun music projects. Each project led to new connections, new friendships, and be able to listen to one another’s stories. The common thread between many of us Worship leaders was the desire to build community with other Worship leaders and to learn from one another. This was the foundation of what is now called The Worship Project, a ministry that aims to be a growing worship community in Toronto and a resource for local church worship ministries. It has been four years since the conception of TWP and I am so thankful that God has used this ministry to support local church leaders.

TWP hosts bi-monthly Worship leader community nights, an annual fall retreat, an annual worship conference called Wonder and we just recently launched our new podcast all aimed to serve and support Worship leaders. However, more than what we do as a ministry, the greatest fruit of our labor has been the spirit of unity that God has been weaving through the Worship community and the local churches in our city. There isn’t a doubt that God has been moving. He’s doing something special in the local/global Church and I am grateful that The Worship Project can play a small role in unifying the church body through this growing Worship community.