Norfolk joins in Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 

The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity takes place from January 18-25 this year and includes a Chain of Prayer in Norwich on January 18. County Ecumenical Officer, Dr Ian Watson, reports.

At least once a year, Christians are reminded of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples that “they may be one so that the world may believe” (Jn 17.21). Hearts are touched and Christians come together to pray for their unity. Congregations and parishes all over the world exchange preachers or arrange special ecumenical celebrations and prayer services. The event at the centre of this special experience is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
 
Traditionally the week of prayer is celebrated from January 18-25, between the feasts of St Peter and St Paul. To prepare for the annual celebration, ecumenical partners in a particular region of the world are invited to produce a basic liturgical text on a biblical theme. Then an international editorial team of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Catholic representatives refine this text to ensure that it can be prayed throughout the world, and to link it with the search for the visible unity of the church.
 
The materials for the 2024 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were prepared by an ecumenical team from Burkina Faso facilitated by the local Chemin Neuf Community (CCN). The theme chosen is “You shall love the Lord your God ... and your neighbour as yourself” (Lk 10:27). Brothers and sisters from the Catholic Archdiocese of Ouagadougou, Protestant Churches, ecumenical bodies and the CCN in Burkina Faso collaborated generously in drafting the prayers and reflections and experienced their work together as a real path of ecumenical conversion.
 
The material is available here and can be adapted for use in local situations. Such adaptation should ideally take place ecumenically.

Norwich Chain of Prayer

The 2024 Chain of Prayer for Norwich will take place in the Quaker Meeting House, Upper Goat Lane, Norwich on January 18. For further information or queries please contact Laurette Burton the Norfolk Catholic DEO on email laurette.burton@nwct.org.uk