Did you know that January 18-25 (from Friday through Friday
[?]) is The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity?
Neither did I. If you don’t have
a resource like the United Methodist Program Calendar, you may not have had any
way of knowing. I haven’t received
anything from the denomination, the conference or my district promoting it in
any way. I can remember in the past
receiving all manner of items related to this time. There would be bulletin inserts and wall
posters. I would get suggested orders of
worship and children’s activity books in the mail. Clergy meetings would have time set aside to
interpret this week to pastors. It was
as regular as clockwork.
Then, in THIS year, we don’t hear anything? When fightings without and fears within
threaten to rend The United Methodist Church asunder we don’t hear a whisper regarding prayer and unity? What are the Powers That Be thinking?
It is true that the Week of Prayer has its origins in
ecumenical concerns. I don’t mean to
diminish the importance or the urgency of these issues at all. But, how do we not take advantage of a
built-in apparatus for unifying prayer to encourage United Methodists to bring
our concerns regarding agreement before the Throne of Grace in an organized –
dare I say methodical – fashion?
So, pray for Christian Unity. And United Methodist unity.
You can see all that the UMC has to offer on the subject
this year here.
The World Council of Churches has some info here.
The United Methodist Church Official Site links to a Roman
Catholic resource for the week under the title “Ecumenical Sunday” (January 20)
here.
