Social justice and evangelism highlight annual joint-prayer meeting between Catholics and Protestant

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

3125 Edition

January 16-22, 2012

Headline News

Social justice and evangelism highlight annual joint-prayer meeting between 
Catholics and Protestants

Reported by Chen Yi-hsuan

Written by Lydia Ma

To foster closer relationships between Catholics and Protestants and help them 
get to know one another, Catholic and Protestant churches in Yunlin and Chiayi 
region have been scheduling a few joint events every year since 2007 and taking 
turns hosting them. Joint events usually include a prayer for Christian unity 
held in mid-January, a get-together between Catholic and Protestant clergy 
members held in October, and a joint-caroling event held around Christmas.

This year’s prayer meeting for Christian unity was hosted by Chiayi Presbytery 
and held at Huwei Presbyterian Church on January 15, 2012. Though one of the 
prayer items on every year’s prayer list is social justice, this theme 
resonated more than ever before as participants prayed together for a return to 
normalcy following the presidential and legislative elections that had taken 
place the day before.  

The current Bishop of Chiayi, Chung An-chu said during the joint-prayer meeting 
that both Catholic and Protestant missionaries in Taiwan have used medical 
missions as a means to share the gospel and reach out to people. These missions 
have focused on the physical and spiritual needs of people. Following his 
sharing, 5 other clergy members led a prayer for Christian unity, the sharing 
of the gospel across Taiwan, social justice, the church body, and marginalized 
groups in society.

Chiayi Presbytery Ecumenical Officer Rev. Pan Ching-chang said that the purpose 
of these joint meetings is to stimulate greater Christian unity through mutual 
understanding and interaction. Though denominations may vary on some doctrines 
or ministries, it is nevertheless vital to be acquainted with one another and 
maintain good relations.

“It’s a shame for Christians who reside in the same district to never keep in 
touch or interact with one another,” Pan said. He added that he hopes all 7 
Catholic dioceses in Taiwan can participate in next year’s prayer for Christian 
unity along with Protestant churches in their respective areas. He also hopes 
that this will pave the way for partnership between each church’s various 
ministry committees. 

Joint meetings between Catholic and Protestant churches in Yunlin and Chiayi 
began in 2007 and helped stimulate dialogue and interaction among Christians 
living in central Taiwan. Besides these meetings, both churches have 
collaborated twice during the Lantern Festival when national lantern shows were 
held in their region by decorating a section of the show with Christian themes.

********************

Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages. 

You may translate and re-use our articles online only if you acknowledge the 
source as "Taiwan Church News" and list the names of the reporter and writer. 
Contact us before reprinting any of our articles for print publications. 

Direct comments and questions about this article to: enews@pctpress.org

Visit our website for more news at: http://enews.pctpress.org/ (English) or 
http://www.tcnn.org (Chinese) 

********************