For years, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that is held every year on 18-25 January, has been a very special time for churches worldwide. The upcoming event in 2025 will be a particularly significant and memorable time as Christians come together to remember and celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the first Christian Ecumenical Council that was held in Nicaea in 325 AD.
The World Council of Churches (WCoC) conveyed that “this commemoration provides a unique opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the common faith of Christians, as expressed in the Creed formulated during this Council; a faith that remains alive and fruitful in our days. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 offers an invitation to draw on this shared heritage and to enter more deeply into the faith that unites all Christians.”
In anticipation of this very much looked-forward-to event, the WCoC has made resources available online months in advance. A range of different guidelines were provided through the sharing of these resources, namely:
- For churches and Christian communities which observe the Week of Prayer together through a single common service, an order for an ecumenical worship service is provided.
- Churches and Christian communities may also incorporate material from the Week of Prayer into their own services.
- Prayers from the ecumenical worship service, the “eight days”, and the selection of additional prayers can be used as appropriate in their own setting.
- Communities which observe the Week of Prayer in their worship for each day during the week may draw material for these services from the “eight days”.
- Those wishing to undertake bible studies on the Week of Prayer theme can use as a basis the biblical texts and reflections given in the eight days. Each day the discussions, which this year includes a challenge, can lead to a closing period of intercessory prayer.
- Those who wish to pray privately may find the material helpful for focusing their prayer intentions. They can be mindful that they are in communion with others praying all around the world for the greater visible unity of Christ’s Church.
The guiding biblical text for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 is taken from John 11:17-27, with the theme for the week, “Do you believe this?” (v. 26), taking its cue from the dialogue between Jesus and Martha when Jesus visited the home of Martha and Mary in Bethany following the death of their brother Lazarus.
The resources also provide a background to the history of the First Council of Nicaea, the basis behind the selection of Biblical text for the Week of Prayer, and full instructions and Order of Worship for those preparing for the worship.
For the year 2025, the prayers and reflections for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were prepared by the brothers and sisters of the monastic community of Bose in northern Italy. The resources are jointly published by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches. The final material is sent to WCC member churches and Roman Catholic episcopal conferences.
In Malaysia, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity celebration encompasses an international community residing in our nation. Elder Steven Fung shared that “For 2025, it will be the first time that CFM Christian Federation of Malaysia will join us. CFM represents some 95% of Christians in Malaysia from the Catholic Church, CCM churches (mainline denominations eg. Anglican Lutheran Methodist Presbyterian etc) and NECF Congregational churches (SIB, Baptist, Brethren, FGA, AOG, etc). The Lord has once again gathered His people. So the whole “Malaysian Church” will be there.”
This milestone is accompanied by yet another. The host in 2025 will be the Syrian Orthodox Church with the venue being the Orthodox Syrian Cathedral of St. Mary the Theotokos in Brickfields at 8pm, Thursday evening, on the 23rd of January 2025. Elder Steven shared that the Syrian Orthodox Church has a very long history and that the Emperor Haile Selassie who comes from the same Orthodox Christian tradition was the direct descendant of King Solomon & the Queen of Sheba.
Mindful of the need for flexibility, organizers of the Week of Prayer invite you to use this material throughout the year to express the degree of communion which the churches have already reached, and to pray together for that full unity which is Christ’s will. Persons are invited to translate the text and contextualize or adapt it for their own use.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 resources can be downloaded at https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/documents/resources-for-the-week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-2025
A word of thanks and appreciation to Elder Steven Fung for keeping us in touch and for his input in the production of this article.
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