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For immediate release - 16/11/2004

PRAYER - VISIBLE SIGN AND INSTRUMENT OF CHRISTIAN UNITY

By Ondrej Prostrednik (*)

The ecumenical movement needs visible signs of Christian unity, and the Week
of Prayer for Christian Unity is one of them. For churches in Slovakia, it is
perhaps the most visible sign of what members of different churches in our
country have in common. 

In Slovakia, the Week of Prayer reflects many different aspects of
cooperation between churches. For example, coordinated negotiation between
churches and state institutions on different areas of church service to the
public is vital in times of change. Since Slovakia gained its independence in
1993, our society is experiencing a dynamic process of development. As the
social system is transformed and decentralized, representatives of churches'
charity organizations meet regularly around the table of the Ecumenical
Council to discuss their priorities and their role in this process. 

Another area is publication of joint public statements on different social,
and in specific cases also political, issues. The Ecumenical Council of
Churches' roundtable programme, which serves as an effective instrument of
support for different types of projects implemented by churches, is also an
important sign of cooperation. Church representatives take part in setting
project priorities, and decisions about the distribution of funds are made by
representatives of all the churches. 

The Ecumenical Council's educational programme, designed to build the
capacities of church workers, is yet another instrument for strengthening
church unity. The growth of a new religiosity in our country is perceived by
all churches as a challenge; the Ecumenical Council has designed a study
programme which offers orientation and counseling on this question. 

Such current ecumenical efforts are very often not visible to the wider
public. The Week of Prayer for the Unity of Christians is thus an important
occasion to celebrate the fruits of our cooperation, to pray to God for more
strength and courage to discover new opportunities for growing in our unity,
and also to send out a strong signal to the wider public that God is blessing
us with fruits of unity, and that this unity of Christians can grow. 

"My peace I give to you"
The common task of churches is to "bring the spirit of reconciliation and
cooperation, peace and justice into the society," said the chairman of the
Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Slovak Republic, Prof. ThDr. Julius
Filo, and the chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Slovakia,
Prof. ThDr. Frantisek Tondra, in their joint invitation to the 2004 Week of
Prayer for Christian Unity. Local activities, organized under the theme "My
peace I give to you", culminated with a central ecumenical service in the
Roman Catholic church in Banska Bystrica on 18 January, 2004. 

During the service, prayers were said by representatives of Ecumenical
Council member churches. The gathering was greeted by Jan Figel, designated
member of the European Commission. Slovakian prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda
also participated in the service, and the programme was broadcast live by
Slovak TV. This year for the second time, an ecumenical youth service in the
form of a prayer chain was organized by the Ecumenical Council's Commission
for Youth, together with the Conference of Bishops in Slovakia's youth
section, in order to give expression to growing ecumenical relations among
young people in Slovakia.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has been observed in this form since
1998, and has gradually developed into a prominent ecumenical event with
top-level participation and good media coverage. At the same time, it serves
as an important example to congregations and parishes, encouraging them to
organize similar events at the grassroots level. Even though in some places,
churches still hesitate to meet and pray together during the Week, all the
important regional centres in Slovakia organize ecumenical events at this
time. 

Spiritual dimension
The Week of Prayer tradition gave Slovakian churches the idea of preparing a
special ecumenical service on Slovakia's accession to the European Union on
30 April, 2004. In organizing the service, the Ecumenical Council's intention
was to give a spiritual dimension to the celebrations. 

At the invitation of the two bishops and the chairman of the Slovak
parliament, Pavol Hrusovsky, more than 1500 people attended the 30 April
service at the historical Lutheran Church in Bratislava. Among them were
Slovakia's president Rudolf Schuster, prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda, the
chairman of the Austrian parliament Andreas Kohl, the ambassador of the
European Commission, Eric van der Linden, the former president of Slovakia,
Michal Kovac, as well as the winner of the presidential elections, Ivan
Gasparovic. Guests from churches abroad also attended the service, including
the Lutheran bishop form Austria, Herwig Sturm, and a member of the church
council of the Lutheran church in W|rttemberg, Ernst Ludwig Vatter.

At the service, the general bishop of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg
Confession in Slovakia, Julius Filo, highlighted God's word, God's grace, and
knowledge as the experience of the fellowship with God, as three gifts.
According to Filo, these gifts work "as an inner nourishment or root, needed
for us to stand tall" in our personal or national life as we enter the
pluralistic world of today's Europe. 

Slovak TV and radio broadcast the service live, and offered it to the
European TV network as well as nationally. "Every community needs a spirit.
Mere external interests are not enough to bind people together over the long
run," said Bishop Franti9ek Tondra, chairman of the Catholic Bishops'
Conference in Slovakia, in his homily; instead, it is God who breathes spirit
into interpersonal and international relationships. 

This gathering of members of parliament, government and diplomats assembled
in the church to open the day of official festivities was probably unique -
for a church gathering - in both its composition and number. The festivities
continued with an extraordinary session of the parliament at 11:00 a.m.
Greeting the session, Andreas Kohl said he had been deeply impressed by the
ecumenical worship; for him, the words of Jaques Delors about giving a soul
to Europe were fulfilled in this spiritual event. 

Deeper reflection on unity
The Faith and Order Commission's invitation to the Ecumenical Council of
Churches in Slovakia to prepare the theme for the Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity in 2005 was accepted by the churches as a challenge to deepen
their theological reflection on their unity. What is the foundation on which
Christians today build their communities? Can dynamic growth of activities in
different churches contribute to their mutual rapprochement, or will it only
deepen their divisions? Asked by a group of theologians from different
churches, these questions were the starting point for the preparation of the
Week of Prayer material. The Slovak editorial group, made up of the members
of the Ecumenical Council of Churches' theological commission, used the
biblical text from 1 Corinthians 3 as the basis for their discussions, and
chose as their theme: "Christ the one foundation of church". 

When members of different churches in Slovakia meet to pray together during
the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, they also celebrate the level of
unity already present among them. More and more fruits and small steps of
better mutual understanding are visible in their relations. Therefore, prayer
proves itself to be not only a sign but also an effective instrument of God
among us. [1309 words]

Member churches of the Ecumenical Council:
Full members:

Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession in Slovakia
Reformed Christian Church in Slovakia
Orthodox Church in Slovakia
United Methodist Church, Slovak District
Baptist Union in the Slovak Republic
Brethren Church in the Slovak Republic
Old Catholic Church in Slovakia
Czechoslovak Hussite Church in Slovakia

Observers: 

Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Slovak Association
Apostolic Church in Slovakia
Catholic Bishops' Conference in Slovakia

- - -

(*) Ondrej Prostrednik is the general secretary of the Ecumenical Council of
Churches in Slovakia

More information on the Week of prayer, including resources, is available at
http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/faith/wop-index.html

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC policy.
This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit is given to the
author. 

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