St. Joseph is drawing national attention, but not for a scandal or for the quirky kind of story that sometimes makes headlines across the country.

Rather, the city has drawn recognition due to its approach to something many believe is as old as human history: prayer.

Alongside other cities across the country, St. Joseph will celebrate the National Day of Prayer on Thursday. Where it differs from many of these other cities, though, is in the way it brings together dozens of pastors and thousands of people from throughout the area in an event called One Church.

“I’ve had media inquiries from as far away as Boston, and people at the National Day of Prayer headquarters in Colorado are just flabbergasted at the turnout we’ve had,” said Tim Doyle, the director of Joseph Resource Group, which organizes the event. “To some, ‘National Day of Prayer’ probably sounds boring, but St. Joe is on the cutting edge of making it something full of life, energy and cultural relevance.”

This is the eighth year for One Church, which will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday at Riverside Church, located at the intersection of Riverside Road and Mitchell Avenue in St. Joseph. For more information, call 676-0789, or visit www.onechurchsj.com.

The event is designed to bring together pastors and other people who may have denominational differences, Mr. Doyle said, but have a common cause despite these.

“It’s for every church that has that common strand of DNA — churches that have Jesus at the center of what they do,” he said.

At One Church, this common purpose will take the form of an hour to an hour and a half of worship and prayer for needs — which were identified by pastors throughout the city — specific to St. Joseph and the surrounding area, he added.

Among these are needs for the breaking down of racial and denominational differences; for strong government leadership; for jobs and the economy; for righteousness; for protection for law enforcement and the military; and for the spread of a vision that recognizes what’s good about the city.

“We don’t want to ignore the negative, but we do want to focus on the positive,” Mr. Doyle said in regard to the final prayer need. “St. Joe is a great place to live, and this event is a chance to showcase what God’s doing in churches in this city.”

Erin Wisdom can be reached

at ewisdom@npgco.com.