WCC NEWS: Opening the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “we cannot do this work alone”

Aa the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity opened on 18 January, the World Council of Churches staff and partners gathered in a spirit of unity to “Do good; seek justice,” the theme of this year’s special week. Dr Cynthia Bailey Manns, director of Adult Education, Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Minnesota, USA, offered a reflection during the prayer on 18 January. Photo: Grégoire de Fombelle/WCC 19 January 2023 During the prayer, those gathered in person and online confessed “sins of injustice and divisiveness” and embraced unity together.  “Together we come before you, a holy family, united in the beautiful diversity of your creation: some of us are Indigenous peoples, some of us are descendants of the enslaved, some of us are descendants of the enslavers, some of us are migrants, some of us are refugees, but all of us are part of the one Body of Christ,” they prayed.  Dr Cynthia Bailey Manns, director of Adult Education, Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Minnesota, USA, offered a reflection. Manns was a member of the drafting committee for this year’s Week of Prayer foe Christian Unity materials.  She reflected that contributing to the healing of God’s world requires us to be grounded in God’s love. “We cannot do this work alone, so we engage in this sacred work with trusted spiritual companions and communities, and with God’s unending guidance and presence,” she said. “As Christians, we are forever connected in our responsibility to love and care for others, as we are loved and cared for by God.” She also said that we are one big family—God’s family. “When it seems the world around us is collapsing, it can be difficult to behave in a way that confirms our interconnectedness,” she said. “Our inhumanity towards one another manifests in our blatant denial of each other’s human dignity and freedom.” A Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service was held the same day in New York City at the Interchurch Center Chapel. In a message, Rev. Dr David Latimore, director of the Betsey Stockton Center for Black Church Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, reflected on the idea of “holy impatience” is a characteristic of people who are seeking justice.  “Delay and difficulty can sometimes rob us of our hope and birth within us a sprit of complacency and acceptance,” he said. “But holy impatience has been a unifying factor for generations of men and women of good intention and good faith.” Holy impatience is the demand that is lifted up from our communities against injustice and oppression, he continued. “We don’t have to wait—there’s work we can do,” he said. “God, let us leave this day different than we found it.” About the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity  From 18-25 January, churches will draw together across the globe to “Do good; seek justice (Isaiah 1:17).” Christians from Minnesota developed the the resources with input from an international group representing the Roman Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches Faith and Order Commission. The resources include an ecumenical opening prayer service, biblical reflections and prayers for eight days, and other elements of worship.  Each year ecumenical partners in a different region are asked to prepare the materials. With roots going back over 100 years, the dedicated octave of prayers has been jointly commissioned and prepared since 1966, after the Second Vatican Council, by the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC. The materials for 2023 are already available in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Arabic. Photo gallery: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Morning Prayer 18 January 2023 Learn more about Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Daily resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2023 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 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland

WCC NEWS: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will draw together churches across the world to seek justice

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held 18-25 January, will draw together churches across the globe to “Do good; seek justice (Isaiah 1:17).” Photo:Albin Hillert/WCC 23 December 2022 The Minnesota Council of Churches, based in the USA, was the convener for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2023 drafting group. The reflections explore how learning to do right requires the decision to engage in self-reflection. The Week of Prayer is presented as the perfect time for Christians to recognize that the divisions between our churches and confessions cannot be separated from the divisions within the wider human family. The introduction notes that praying together for Christian unity allows us to reflect on what unites us and to commit ourselves to confront oppression and division amongst humanity. “The unity of Christians should be a sign and foretaste of the reconciled unity of the entire creation,” the introduction reads. “As Christians we must be willing to disrupt systems of oppression and to advocate for justice.” Christians from Minnesota developed the the resources with input from an international group representing the Roman Catholic Church’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Church’s Faith and Order Commission. The resources include an ecumenical opening prayer service, biblical reflections and prayers for eight days, and other elements of worship. Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, WCC acting general secretary, said he hopes many across the globe will be newly inspired during the special week. “The opportunity to pray together is a blessing for all of us, since, despite differences, we together find one another on a common confession of Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures and therefore seek to fulfill together our common calling to the glory of the One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit” he said. “Together we are planting the seeds of justice and peace. As we strive and pray for Christian unity, may we nurture our collective hope for the new year and for facing the trying times in which we all live.” "As we pray for Christian unity, this year’s theme invites us to reflect beyond the confessional divisions that exist among Christians,” said Rev. Dr Mikie Roberts, WCC programme executive for Spiritual Life. “We are being challenged to allow the cries for social justice to also inform our praying together for Christian unity.” The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an international Christian ecumenical observance kept annually around Pentecost in the Southern Hemisphere and between 18-25 January in the Northern Hemisphere. Each year ecumenical partners in a different region are asked to prepare the materials. With roots going back over 100 years, the dedicated octave of prayers has been jointly commissioned and prepared since 1966, after the Second Vatican Council, by the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC. The materials for 2023 are already available in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Arabic. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2023 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 acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland