Grant it the peace and unity of your kingdom

Today marks the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18 to 25 January); although many Churches will do as we do at Godmanchester, and make it Sunday to Sunday.

This year’s theme, “All things in common” comes to us from an ecumenical group in Jerusalem.

Two thousand years ago, the first disciples of Christ gathered in Jerusalem experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and were joined together in unity as the body of Christ. In that event, Christians of every time and place see their origin as a community of the faithful, called together to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Although that earliest Jerusalem church experienced difficulties, both externally and internally, its members persevered in faithfulness and fellowship, in breaking bread and prayers.

It is not difficult to see how the situation of the first Christians in the Holy City mirrors that of the church in Jerusalem today. The current community experiences many of the joys and sorrows of the early church; its injustice and inequality, and its divisions, but also its faithful perseverance, and recognition of a wider unity among Christians.

The churches in Jerusalem today offer us a vision of what it means to strive for unity, even amid great problems. They show us that the call to unity can be more than mere words, and indeed that it can point us toward a future where we anticipate and help build the heavenly Jerusalem.

From the World Council of Churches Introduction to the theme for the year 2011

More information and resources can be found on the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland website, and the World Council of Churches website.

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In working towards Christian Unity, we need to remember that unity doesn’t necessarily mean uniformity. Diversity doesn’t have to mean division. We’re different: let’s celebrate that. Different doesn’t mean wrong; it means different.

Joining in prayer for unity we join in the prayer of Christ, affirming his incarnation. Unity in diversity can express the diversity of the Trinity and explore the greatness of God.

Christian unity should be about coming together with our brothers and sisters; exploring our differences without feeling threatened by them. Then we’ll likely find that there are many more things that we have in common, than there are which divide us. This way, I believe, we can be truly united, or reunited, with our brothers and sisters from around the world.

Lord Jesus Christ,
who said to your apostles,
‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you’:
look not on our sins but on the faith of your Church
and grant it the peace and unity of your kingdom;
where you are alive and reign with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

A Collect for Christian Unity,
from Common Worship: Times and Seasons
is Copyright © The Archbishops Council