Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2016

GARRISON, N.Y. - Oct. 13, 2015 - PRLog -- Each year, the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement organize and help promote the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Together, Christian communities around the world use the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to share ideas for ecumenical education and celebration.

From January 18-25, 1908, Servant of God Fr. Paul Wattson, SA, and Mother Lurana White, SA, co-founders of the Society of the Atonement at Graymoor, celebrated the first Church Unity Octave, an eight-day period of prayers and seminars focusing on the cause of Christian unity. They wrote letters and articles encouraging others to pray with them “that all may be one … that the world may believe” (John 17:21).  In the late 1960s, the Octave was joined with other prayer movements to form what is now observed worldwide as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The theme for 2016 is Called to Proclaim the Mighty Acts of the Lord (cf. 1 Peter 2:9). In the shared sacred texts of the Bible, we hear of God’s saving acts in salvation history: leading his people out of slavery in Egypt, and the great mighty act of God: the raising of Jesus from the dead, which opened new life to all of us. As Christians seeking the unity of the Body of Christ, we are all called to recognize the mighty acts of God in our own lives and the life of the Church.

The initial work on the theme for this year’s Week of Prayer material was prepared by a group of representatives from different parts of Latvia. Representatives were gathered from the Lutheran Church, Latvia House of Prayer for All Peoples, Vertikale Television, Sunday Morning Christian Programme, Chemin Neuf Community, Religious of the Pro Sanctitate Movement, and the Catholic Youth Centre of the Archdiocese of Riga.  The texts were finalized during a meeting of the International Committee of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The members of the Committee joined with representatives of the Latvian Churches in September of 2014.

Of this year’s theme, Fr. James Loughran, SA, Director of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute (GEII), a ministry of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement said, “We have become God’s people through our common hearing of the call of God and in our sharing in the salvation promised us in Jesus Christ. Baptism is common among most Christians. The artwork this year reminds us of the light that was ignited in us through baptism and the baptismal font shows us how we are born again of water and the Holy Spirit in order to rise with Christ to a new life of grace in God.”

In 1966, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat (now Council) for Promoting Christian Unity began collaborating as a common international text for worldwide usage. Since 1968, these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by GEII.

English and Spanish language posters, prayer cards, bulletin cover art, and other printed materials can be ordered directly from GEII for the Week of Prayer or Christian Unity which will take place from January 18-25, 2016. Materials for congregations now can be requested with convenient secure online ordering at GEII.org/order.  Additional materials for music, publicity, preparation notes and ideas for reflection can be downloaded from the GEII.org website at no charge.