Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Today is the beginning of the 'Week of Prayer for Christian Unity'. In Matthew 18:20, Jesus assures us: "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."

This year’s theme is ‘One Body, One Spirit’ – from Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1-13 – and the service was prepared by the Armenian Apostolic Church, along with the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical Churches.

This year's theme reminds us that the call to unity is a call to work for peace for all people everywhere.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU) takes place each year from 18 to 25 January. This ecumenical celebration provides an opportunity to focus our prayers on Christian unity and to know that we are joining with international siblings in Christ. WPCU is also a great chance to speak about and experience Christian unity personally, in your village, town or county.

We gather during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity to pray for the unity of all believers in Jesus Christ. This is not just a ritual act or a gesture of politeness that we repeat each year. It must reflect a genuine commitment and longing to attain the full visible unity of Christians. This desire is not just about something practical or useful or simply nice. It is the desire to fulfil the prayer of Jesus himself.

Christians across the world could come together and pray for the unity of all believers, echoing Christ’s prayer the night before He died:

“That all may be one, as You are in Me and I in you, may they also be one in us. That the world may believe it was You who sent Me.”

This prayer was not only meant for the Apostles gathered in the upper room during the Last Supper, but it was Christ’s prayer for us, the Universal Church. Although it is a simple prayer, it can be transforming and empowering. But it can also be difficult to understand and carry out.

As Christians, we sometimes offer conflicting images. We are weak, but strong. Poor, yet enriching. Division within our faith is the most conflicting image of all. It is a fact that we are still divided from each other; congregation from congregation and church to church.

We do not yet know the full nature of the oneness the Lord desires for us, or the precise form our unity should take. But we do know this: our present disunity cannot be God’s will for us. To Jesus, lines of division were not real. They were simply figments of the human imagination. He crossed over them as easily as you and I step over lines on a sidewalk.

Still, division is not an easy problem to solve. But during Week of Prayer, we focus our attention on Jesus, the Person of Christ, whom we believe is the source of hope and reconciliation. In Jesus, there is no east or west, no male or female, no servant or master. In Him, we are each called to preach the word, in every season and at all times.

We look to the Person of Jesus for understanding and renewed strength in our quest for unity. We recognize that the call for Christian unity is not a choice, but a responsibility. We assume this responsibility by accepting Jesus as Lord. We must become the instruments of God’s Spirit, who will bring divided belief into one belief.

During Week of Prayer, we are reminded that we have much in common, while we still have a long way to go in seeing Christ’s prayer brought to fulfilment. Let us continue striving for one Lord, one faith and one baptism. Let us also continue to pray for a stronger faith in God and a more enduring love for one another.

And let us be known as the generation that sought to bring Christ’s prayer of unity to fulfilment; the generation that acted justly, loved tenderly and walked humbly with God.