An annual tradition to honor veterans with a church service is set for this Sunday.

Grace Lutheran Church’s Veterans Sunday service will start at 9 a.m. Sunday and feature a message by Wayne Huinker.

The service, started more than 15 years ago, honors veterans in advance of Memorial Day from every branch of the service.

“It’s tremendous,” Lavona Johnson, one of the service organizers, said. “We need to do it because we need to show honor to our servicemen.”

According to Johnson, veterans are honored in several ways throughout the service. The church’s congregation sings each military branch’s anthem and honors vets further when they are asked to stand next to each branch’s flag.

Huinker, a Vietnam War veteran, served in the U.S. Air Force for 24 years before he retired as a master sergeant. He felt honored to be asked to speak during the service, where he will speak on veterans finding peace through Christ.

“You hear a lot about [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder], especially now with our veterans coming back from the Middle East,”Huinker said. “It doesn’t seem to matter where you served in a conflict, that PTSD is a pretty nasty killer.”

To that end, Huinker looks forward to talking about how to find a sense of peace in Jesus.

“It’s a quite an honor,” Hunker said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity.”

Aside from the patriotic hymns and messages of gratitude to veterans, Johnson said one of the most important parts of the service comes during a light luncheon after, where veterans connect with one another.

Johnson makes sure to shake as many veterans’ hands as possible to thank them for their service and is pleased whenever she hears a common response from the attendees.

“They usually tell me, ‘We’ll see you next year,’’” she said.