Christians across denominations in congregations and parishes around the world will unite for eight days of prayer starting on Jan. 18 asking God for Christian unity.

The annual event, which was first proposed in 1908 by Anglican-to-Catholic convert Rev. Paul Wattson will be marked by ecumenical services, prayers and reflection in what is known as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Global church bodies working last year to create a theme and offer guidance on ecumenical services, prayer and reflection for the event included the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church and Old Catholic and Protestant Churches active in Poland, according to the World Council of Churches.

This year's theme, created by representatives from the churches is "We will all be changed by the Victory of our Lord Jesus Christ," a phrase taken from 1 Corinthians 15:57.

In the U.S., one Pastor wants to hold a service that emphasizes similarities.

"The idea is to focus on Christian unity and find the points of commonality rather than differences," Pastor Heidi Punt of First Lutheran Church in Pontiac, Ill., told the Pontiac Daily Leader on Saturday.

She said the purpose of a service to kick off the new week on Jan. 22 was to unify churches that might never come together during regular worship.

She said her message on that day would distinguish between uniformity and unity.

"Some people think it means we expect everyone to give up a lot in order to be uniform. I don't think that's what unity is," she said.

Looking at Scripture she notes that "the body of Christ has many parts and if everybody was a mouth we wouldn't get much done. I think of the church as being the body of Christ and every church is figuring out what their function is within the body of Chrsit. That's when we work in unity."

The weeklong event was first carried out by the Rev. Paul Wattson of Graymoor, Garrison, New York. The days were chosen to span what was then known on the Catholic calendar the "feast of the Chair of Peter" and the "feast of the conversion of Paul," Kersten Storch, a German Lutheran pastor said in a statement just ahead of the 2008 event. Storch held the position of executive staff of the World Council of Churches' Faith and Order Commission.

Two global Christian bodies, who have jointly worked to promote the event since the 1960s, presented a guide last year for the 2012 event. They called for participants to reflect "on our change in Christ" through prayers, reflection and ecumenical services.

The document called "resources for The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and throughout the year" was prepared by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christianity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches.

The document highlights different aspects of believers' experience with Christ and emphasizes a theme for each day. Christ is viewed as suffering servant who has changed the lives of a believer by serving as an example for the church. Other daily themes include how each individual has been changed by Christ's victory over evil, the peace of the Risen Lord, and God's steadfast love.