A World in Crisis—Will You Stand in the Gap and Join Us in Prayer?

Not much is written about Holy Saturday, the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday in the Bible. “After the death of Jesus, Joseph Arimathea requested for Jesus’ body and placed Jesus’ body in his own tomb. Together with Nicodemus, he wrapped Jesus up in linen as per Jewish burial customs. The women who were with Jesus saw where Jesus was placed and went back to prepare perfume and spices. This process was incomplete as they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.”                                                                               - Luke 23:51-56 With the Sabbath commandment, God provided a rhythm that mirrored his own. Even in death, Jesus' disciples took a break from burial rites. As Christians, we follow a God who is the Lord of the Sabbath, the creator of the heavens and earth and all that is in it.  The WEA is is calling for a prayer vigil on Holy Saturday this year. Across the world, communities are suffering. Wars rage, families are displaced, persecution rises, and nations groan under the weight of injustice and aftermath of natural disasters. The pain is real, the need is urgent. There is so much that needs to be done.  Yet, we serve a sovereign God. A God that is good. A God who sent His son to suffer so that the world can be reconciled back to Him.  In the face of the pain and suffering, we cry for His Kingdom to come, for eyes to see and for hands to not tire. Collectively, we affirm the message of the cross and the Good News for the times we are living in.  April 19, 2025, Holy Saturday, we invite believers from every nation to stand together in 24 hours of non-stop prayer. Find more information here How You Can Join the 24-Hour Prayer Vigil Sign up now and commit to a time of prayer Use our prayer guide to focus on specific needs Gather your church, small group, or family to pray together Share this invitation and help spread the word Click here to sign up This is more than an event—it is a call to action. A moment to seek God’s mercy for our broken world. Will you pray alongside us for this world? In Christ, Over two billion Christians in the world today are represented by three world church bodies. The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is one of those, serving more than 600 million evangelicals belonging to churches that are part of 143 national Evangelical Alliances in 9 regions. Launched in London in 1846, the WEA unites evangelicals across denominations for prayer, evangelism, mission, theological education, religious freedom, human rights advocacy, relief, and engagement in a wide range of social issues. It speaks with one voice to United Nations, governments, and media in public or through behind-the-scenes diplomacy on issues of common concern to the Church. For more information, visit worldea.org WEA has been a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability since 1980. WEA is audited annually by an independent public accounting firm. WEA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. In the United States, your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

© Copyright 2025 World Evangelical Alliance

"Do not linger in the shadows of fear and despair" 🌅✝️ The President's 2025 Easter Message is out now

"The tomb – once a symbol of defeat – became the birthplace of courage" The President's Easter Message is out now

The Uniting Church Assembly is delighted to release the 2025 Easter message from President Rev Charissa Suli, here to give hope and inspiration to you and your community this Easter season! Inspired by the women who faithfully came to the tomb in the early morning and had their sorrow transformed into joy, the President calls to us to rise from our tombs and live as Easter people. "The tomb – once a symbol of defeat – became the birthplace of courage. They came grieving and afraid and were called from their sorrow. They rose up. They ran and they proclaimed. Fear gave way to faith. Despair gave way to purpose." "And now, the question comes to us: What tombs are we living in? The tomb of fear? Of division? Of hopelessness?" "We must rise now and speak words of healing into a world torn apart. Act with courage where the vulnerable are forgotten. Love without limits. Serve without fear. Hope without hesitation." We invite Uniting Church communities to download, watch together and share the message on or around Easter Day. You can download it from Vimeo, watch it on our website or click the image below. This holiest of Christian seasons, let's "live boldly as people of new life, strong in courage and relentless in love." May the joy of the risen Christ bring you peace and renew your spirit this Easter! Watch the President's Easter message Watch and download

Copyright © 2025 Uniting Church in Australia, All rights reserved.

Looking into the lectionary - I am not ready for Lent to be over...

April 13, 2025 Passion Sunday  Luke 22:14 – 23:41 I am not ready for Lent to be over. Every year, Lent gives us an opportunity to connect our individual and collective griefs to a larger grief in the narrative of Scripture. This Lent in particular, we have watched as unprecedented events have unfolded in our nation and world. Even more than in years past, I have found great comfort in gathering each week with other people of faith to lament and cry to God. In 2025, prayers like, “How long, O Lord?” and “Lord, have mercy upon us,” transcend their liturgical significance. It seems I’m not alone in this sentiment; our Ash Wednesday service this year set an attendance record. It’s natural to seek companionship as we walk through the darkness. The problem is, I’m not ready for it to end. Easter’s hallelujahs feel hollow this year. This Sunday’s cries of Hosanna – “Save us!” – feel more honest and appropriate to the circumstances. On this last Sunday of Lent, worship leaders must choose between the Liturgy of the Palms, the Liturgy of the Passion, or some combination of the two. Considering our state of national turmoil, my gut says this a year for the passion. In a recent conversation about Holy Week and our collective despair, a friend reminded me of Miguel de la Torre’s “theology of hopelessness.” De la Torre takes issue with modern society’s relentless optimism, the belief that we are ever-improving as a species, or, as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so famously put it, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” He argues that from the underside of history, from the perspective of the marginalized and oppressed, this sentiment is naïve at best, intentionally pacifying and subjugating at worst. “The oppressed of the world,” de la Torre writes, “occupy the space of Holy Saturday … This is a space where some faint anticipation of Sunday’s Good News is easily drowned out by the reality and consequences of Friday’s violence and brutality. It is a space where hopelessness becomes the companion of used and abused people.” ... Thank you to this week's guest writer Ginna Bairby. Read the rest of the commentary on the website. Order of worship — April 13, 2025, by Ginna Bairby These PC(USA) churches offer shelter and sanctuary to vulnerable migrants. Here’s why by Patrick Davis, Anna King, Sarah Ventre Thanks for looking out (April 13, 2025) by Chris Burton Practicing joy when the world is falling apart by Tom Are Jr. Presbyterian camp and conference centers recover and ready for summer by Colleen Earp Palm Sunday as a call to non-violence by Aaron Neff Want the worship resources for April 6, 2025? You can find them here. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT... Disciples of White Jesus Angela Denker explores the radicalization of young White men in America and the role of right-wing Christianity, while also highlighting those who promote a more compassionate path. — Amy Pagliarella White House unfreezes $19 million in USAID funding for Samaritan’s Purse Graham defended the Trump administration's review of USAID funding as an important step in reining in federal waste and fraud. — Tony Mator DEI: Gospel imperative or radical leftwing agenda? What does the Bible really say about diversity, equity and inclusion? While political leaders label DEI a "radical leftist agenda," Jesus' ministry tells a different story. So why do some Christians reject it, asks Emery J. Cummins? The transformative power of Easter joy A barista’s joy transforms Teri McDowell Ott's routine Starbucks visit into a lesson on contagious, life-changing joy — shared, uncontained, and deeply felt. Unification Commission approves a job description for the Stated Clerk/Executive Director Commissioners also receive an update on the transformation of World Mission. — Mike Ferguson Good Soil: The Education of an Accidental Farmhand Journalist and pastor Jeff Chu reflects on the lessons he learned at Princeton Seminary's Farminary.

WCC NEWS: WCC publishes Faith and Order paper encouraging churches to work for common celebration of Easter

The World Council of Churches has published a Faith and Order paper, "Towards a Common Date for Easter "as an encouragement to churches and Christians to work with one another in their own contexts for a common celebration of Easter. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 03 April 2025 Fresh impetus to explore the hope of a common date for Easter comes in 2025, when all Christians will celebrate Easter on a common day. The year 2025 also marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which addressed the need for a common celebration of the resurrection. Eastern and Western churches have used different calendars to calculate the date of Easter since the 16th century, and only rarely do they coincide. The publication contains four contributions from different church traditions on the search for a way to celebrate Easter on a common date every year that were presented at a webinar organized by the Commission on Faith and Order on "Easter 2025: Celebrating Together to Strengthen Unity." The organizers hope that these contributions may help animate the churches of the world and Christians in their contexts to work with one another towards a common celebration of Easter. “We hope these offerings—which include historical depth, rich reflection, and exciting practical suggestions—may help animate the churches of the world and Christians in their own contexts to work with one another toward a common celebration of Easter,” writes the publication’s coeditor, Rev. Prof. em Dr  Sandra Beardsall, in the introduction. “For we could then give visible witness to that mystery of faith that truly unites us, that refuses to give the last word to despair, and that invigorates us anew to pursue life for all in the world God so loves.” Coeditor Rev. Prof. Dr Martin Illert said: “We hope that the anniversary of Nicaea this year will help create a momentum so that in the future all Christians can celebrate Easter together.” The newly published paper also contains the document “Towards a Common Date for Easter” produced at a consultation jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches and the Middle East Council of Churches in Aleppo, Syria, in 1997, offering observations and specific recommendations for the churches. Link to the full publication: Towards a Common Date for Easter Recording of the webinar: Easter 2025: Celebrating together to strengthen unity Interview: WCC general secretary reflects on common date for celebration of Easter See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland