WCC NEWS: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity draws attention to Jerusalem

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World Council of Churches - News

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY DRAWS ATTENTION TO JERUSALEM

For immediate release: 20 January 2011

Shortly after the beginning of each year, Christians around the world
pray for church unity. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,
traditionally celebrated from 18-25 January, draws on resources sponsored
jointly by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Pontifical Council
for the Promotion of Christian Unity of the Roman Catholic Church. The
materials for January 2011 have been prepared in partnership with the
churches of Jerusalem.

"In a present-day context of despair and suffering, the churches of
Jerusalem show determination and witness together with the global church
for a just peace in the city of peace," said WCC general secretary Rev. Dr
Olav Fykse Tveit in a sermon at Geneva's Ecumenical Centre during a
service of prayer organized by the city's churches. The service on
Wednesday evening, 19 January, included traditional music from the Middle
East and was led by local church leaders. It was attended by more than 200
people.

Tveit observed that the New Testament portrayal of the Jerusalem church
"describes the original oneness of those early believers in Jesus. Being
one means being together, breaking bread, praising God, but also giving
and sharing, according to who is in need." He described the image of
sharing around the table as a striking image that "gives great spiritual
energy" to ecumenical endeavours.

He continued, "The table is also a place and space that demands that we
think about justice and the way food and access to power are shared in the
world, especially at a time when speculation with food prices will mean
that the poorest will become poorer, and go hungry."

Tveit noted that "there is still sadly one table where we as Christians do
not yet eat together," referring to differences among churches that mean
all Christians cannot share together in the eucharist. "Yet here too the
witness of Christians in Jerusalem, the mother church of us all, can help
us. They show us that it is possible to work together despite divisions,
to carry forward prophetic calls for justice and peace, and try to be one
in action together."

In the Geneva service, Father Mikhail Megally of the Coptic Orthodox
congregation thanked other local churches for their support in the wake of
recent violence perpetrated against the Coptic community in Egypt. He told
the gathering, “Copts are children of the Middle East. They belong to
this region and are part of its development and identity. We cannot
imagine either Egypt or the Middle East without their Christians.”

Full text of the sermon by the WCC general secretary (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=d3caed6ba6641917d39f )

Full text of the introductory remarks by Father Mikhail Megally (pdf)
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=75a452b954fb690067db
)


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 349 Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.



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