Whilst in the Northern Hemisphere Christians pray during a Week of prayer for Christian Unity from 18 to 25 January, in the Southern Hemisphere that period of prayer extends from Ascension Day to the Day of Pentecost. This year the resources for this period have been provided from Korea.
This divided country points to the words from Ezekiel 37:17 “That they may become one in your hand.” The prophet Ezekiel also lived in a tragically divided nation and longed for the unity of his people.
2008 marked the centenary of this week of prayer, having begun in 1908, by the Rev. Paul Wattson, a North American Anglican priest, who founded the “Octave for unity”. The Faith and Order movement began publishing “Suggestions for an octave of prayer for Christian unity” in 1926 and in 1966, the WCC Commission on Faith and Order and the Roman Catholic Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity (now known as the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity-PCPCU) began official joint preparation of materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
You can download here a PDF of this 2009 resources or follow this link to the Vatican website with the same material.
Remember you can also go to the virtual chapel to pray on this site – including the possibility of lighting a candle there for Christian Unity.
Christian Unity is an aspiration for us all. We pray for it and long for it, as Eziekiel did. I just wonder how hard we are working towards it?
The CofE and Anglican Communion is stretched to breaking point by internal wranglings over sexuality, gender and a whole range of doctrinal disagreements. While the RC Church has its own problems, and differences internally and with other denominations.
All of these differences are based on mans words and actions – not the word of God of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
I recently attended services by Baptist, URC and Methodist traditions, and found them full of the Holy Spirit and all with one idea, unity – but how to achieve it – I cannot concieve of it within my lifetime, but Oh the joy when truly Eucumenical things work, such as the Anglican, Methodist and URC covenents together.