WCC News: As Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 approaches, WCC offers variety of resources

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will take place from 18-25 January, and churches and Christian communities worldwide are invited to use the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 resources in seven languages, including a child-friendly version. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 18 December 2024 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity resources are available in English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Arabic. For the commemoration in 2025, a child-friendly version of the resource entitled “Praying for Togetherness to a God of Togetherness” is prepared for households, schools, and church services where all ages are present. In order to pray together for unity among churches throughout the year, the prayers and reflections for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 were prepared by the brothers and sisters of the monastic community of Bose in northern Italy. The resources are jointly published by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches. The final material is sent to WCC member churches and Roman Catholic episcopal conferences around the world – and communities are invited to translate the text and adapt it for their own use. The year 2025 marks the 1,700th anniversary of the first Christian Ecumenical Council, held in Nicaea, near Constantinople in 325 CE. This commemoration provides a unique opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the common faith of Christians, as expressed in the Nicene Creed, which traces its origins to the Council of Nicaea. The Council of Nicaea led to the adoption of the Nicene Creed as an expression of the common faith of Christians. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 offers an invitation to draw on this shared heritage and to enter more deeply into the faith that unites all Christians. The guiding biblical text for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 comes from John 11:17-27. The theme for the week, “Do you believe this?” (v. 26), takes its cue from the dialogue between Jesus and Martha when Jesus visited the home of Martha and Mary in Bethany following the death of their brother Lazarus. The traditional period in the northern hemisphere for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is 18-25 January. In the southern hemisphere churches often find other days to celebrate the Week of Prayer, for example around Pentecost, which is also a symbolic date for the unity of the church. Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025: Praying for Togetherness To a God of Togetherness Learn more about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 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