Adoration 2017 will be coming to ETSU’s campus this Sunday, October 1st.

This event was started by ETSU graduate Thomas Cook, whose vision is to gather 1,000 different churches together for public prayer and Christian worship service in Johnson City, TN.

Adoration 2017 has 1,000 different churches signed up to come to campus to worship Jesus with the vision of restoring Appalachia from the prescription drug epidemic. Their goals, as listed on their website, is to honor Jesus as their Lord and Savior, strengthen unity and fellowship between Christian churches, to serve ETSU and the local community and to proclaim the salvation of Jesus Christ.

This event will be held in the Mini-Dome with the program going from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m, and there will be a time of prayer from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Adoration 2017 ETSU Relations Leader Matthew Holt is enrolled in the Quillen College of Medicine and believes part of the reason he was called to Quillen was to help with this event.

“Adoration is one of the things God placed me here at Quillen for medical school to become involved with. When I interviewed and was asked what I would do if I was accepted, I told them I would serve ETSU and this community with my whole heart the entire way through and that I would give back to the place that shaped me into who I am today,” Holt said. “My involvement with Adoration has been the ultimate way of fulfilling this.”

Holt says Adoration has been planned for a long time.

“We have been planning this event since around last August. We have been meeting every two weeks for over a year now. Our student organization Adoration Life just got approved as an official ETSU student organization. One of our major partners is a ministry in town called First Priority who serves the local primary and secondary school students, and we are also partnered with the Billy Graham Evangelical Association,” Holt said.

Adoration is free for everyone and welcome to anyone, regardless of faith.

“We want students to know that no matter how they identify spiritually, they are welcome to this event, and there will be resources available and organizations present to engage with on the prescription drug abuse epidemic as well as evidence-based education on the issue…Our community needs restoration from prescription drug abuse and partnering with people you may not necessarily agree with on every level is vital to accomplishing a task this big,” Holt said.

For more information on the event, visit adorationlife.com.