WCC News: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 invites reflection on common faith of Christians

As the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes place from 18-25 January, churches and Christian communities worldwide are invited to use a variety of resources prepared in seven languages, including a child-friendly version and the reading plan on the YouVersion’s Bible App. Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 are available also on the Bible App by YouVersion, offering a daily Bible reading plan, prayers, and questions for reflection. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC 16 January 2025 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. Enabling millions of Christians around the world to join the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, its resources are available also on the Bible App by YouVersion, offering a daily Bible reading plan, prayers, and questions for reflection. 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 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 year 2025 marks the 1700th 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 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 Reading plan on the Youversion Bible app Social media cards and photos The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025: Resource for all ages  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