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IGLULIK - Families in Iglulik came together in prayer, united in their hopes and dreams for the younger generation.

The hamlet's annual ecumenical service brings churches of different denominations together as one community of faith.

"It's a sign of unity - that we are all one," said Jeela Allurut, vice principal of Ataguttaaluk high school. "Everybody is equal and everybody is the same. Even though we have three churches here, we are the same. We work together and it's a form of a service just to get out the message that we need to help each other."

This year's service was dedicated to the community's youth, who were starting a new semester at school. As such, it was held in the high school gymnasium, rather than in one of the local churches.

"Kids always encounter hardships of different types," said Aime Panimera, chair of the district education authority. "Any little bit helps. If the kids believe in it, it's enough."

He added the change of venue was also a means of making the service more inclusive of all faiths.

"It was initiated especially by our MLA (Louis Tapardjuk)," said Panimera. "He wanted to have a happy community and he suggested that this was one way we could bring the community together more."

And it worked.

"When we try to do something and we work together, it becomes stronger," said Allurut. "I could feel that. It seemed like we were more in peace with each other."

The families prayed for the students and the teachers at the school, and the children, in turn, contributed to the service.

"Some of the elementary students came out for a while and they were also involved," Allurut said. "It was like the whole community event during this time. And I could see some GN government workers and some housing and our hamlet workers. They probably took time off to come to the service."