Week of prayer for Christian unity

Wednesday 18th marks the start of The week of prayer for Christian unity. I am
Passionate about this, it is so important that as Christians we stop seeing our differences and start uniting around our faith and shared lives. If we ever hope to broker peace in the world then we have to start with ourselves.

Locally in Earley there are all sorts of collaborative undertakings and we see the value in working together, I pray to see more of this.

There are all sorts of resources available from Churches together in Britain and Ireland and I will be following and blogging the daily prayers from Wednesday onwards. I hope you'll join me.

For today, here's the introduction to the week

We will all be changed
Change is at the heart of our Christian faith. Saint Paul said that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, and we are called to live as children in the light. 

The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2012 comes to us from the churches in Poland, who have reflected upon their own experience as a nation, and in particular how, as a nation, they have been changed and transformed by the many upheavals of their history, and sustained by their faith.

Change is also at the heart of the ecumenical movement. When we pray for the unity of the church we are praying that the churches that we know and which are so familiar to us will change as they conform more closely to Christ. This is an exciting vision, but also a challenging one. Furthermore, when we pray for this transforming unity we are also praying for change in the world.