Through improved communication, members of the Unified Christian Council (UCC) are trying to heighten fellowship between different campus Christian organizations.

“One of our main objectives is unity between all of the Christian groups,” said Dashan Sardine, coordinator of the UCC.

“Once we’re unified, we think we’ll have a more powerful voice as Christians,” Sardine said.

Sardine described UCC as a network and said its main focus is to keep all the groups informed about activities.

To do this, she said the UCC frequently meets on Saturdays and circulates a great deal of information via e-mail.

The council got its start last year when Jake Huck, vice president of the council, noticed the lack of connection between the various Christian groups in the Ames area.

“It seems like the churches are so divided — there are so many denominations — and I’ve always questioned that,” Huck said.

He said he began talking to leaders of other Christian groups to see how they could improve communication.

“We think there’s the potential for us to fill a gap that’s not being filled,” Huck said. “We want to form a bridge between the groups.”

The council includes such organizations as:

• The Salt Company

• Fellowship of Christian Athletes

• Campus Crusade for Christ

• New Life

• Chi Alpha

• Gospel Soul Innovators

• Collegiate Presbyterian Church

• Cyclone Bible Fellowship

• Cyclones for Christ.

The emphasis is placed on Christian groups, Sardine said, but anyone is welcome to attend the meetings.

However, she said, she would encourage students who are interested in UCC to get involved by joining one of the participating student groups first.

“We really try not to be another Christian group,” she said. “It’s more like a council that people of [any] faith would be comfortable going to.”

Sardine said the group is currently working on a constitution and a mission statement.

Outreach activities for Veishea weekend also are being planned, including a prayer at the Campanile during one of the nights.

“We want to encourage everybody to worship and pray for the campus,” Huck said.

Some of the group’s long-term goals, Sardine said, are to develop a Web page with links to all the involved groups’ homepages, host forums on difficult issues facing Christians and a literary outlet for Christian students.

Sardine said the goal of UCC is to do something “from college students, for college students.”