Key Dates in the History of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

c. 1740 In Scotland a Pentecostal movement arose, with North American links, whose revivalist message included prayers for and with all churches.

1820 The Rev. James Haldane Stewart publishes "Hints for the General Union of Christians for the Outpouring of the Spirit".

1840 The Rev. Ignatius Spencer, a convert to Roman Catholicism, suggests a "Union of Prayer for Unity".

1867 The First Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops emphasizes prayer for unity in the Preamble to its Resolutions.

1894 Pope Leo XIII encourages the practice of a Prayer Octave for Unity in the context of Pentecost.

1908 First observance of the "Church Unity Octave" initiated by the Rev. Paul Wattson.

1926 The Faith and Order movement begins publishing "Suggestions for an Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity".

1935 Abbé Paul Couturier of France advocates the "Universal Week of Prayer for Christian Unity" on the inclusive basis of prayer for "the unity Christ wills by the means he wills".

1958 Unité Chrétienne (Lyons, France) and the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches begin co-operative preparation of materials for the Week of Prayer.

1964 In Jerusalem, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I prayed together Jesus’ prayer "that they all may be one" (John 17).

1964 The Decree on Ecumenism of Vatican II emphasizes that prayer is the soul of the ecumenical movement and encourages observance of the Week of Prayer.

1966 The Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity [now known as the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity] begin official joint preparation of the Week of Prayer material.

1968 First official use of Week of Prayer material prepared jointly by Faith and Order and the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity (now known as the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity).

1975 First use of Week of Prayer material based on a draft text prepared by a local ecumenical group. An Australian group was the first to take up this plan in preparing the 1975 initial draft.

1988 Week of Prayer materials were used in the inaugural worship for The Christian Federation of Malaysia, which links the major Christian groupings in that country.

1994 International group preparing text for 1996 included representatives from YMCA and YWCA.

2004 Agreement reached that resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity be jointly published and produced in the same format by Faith and Order (WCC) and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Catholic Church).

2008 Commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. (Its predecessor, the Church Unity Octave, was first observed in 1908).

Source: Vatican - "Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2017", Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/weeks-prayer-doc/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20160531_week-prayer-2017_en.html

Fr. Thomas Ryan

[Thomas] Ryan envisions a reunified church that expresses the best of every Christian tradition: “When God puts us back together again . . . this great Church will be marked by the dignity and repentance of the Anglicans, the order and sacraments of the Roman Catholics, the warm fellowship of the United Church, the Presbyterian desire for good preaching and the Lutheran respect for sound theology. There will be the Evangelical concern for individual salvation, the Congregational respect for the rights of the lay members, the Pentecostal reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit and the Quaker appreciation of silence. We will find there the Mennonite sense of community, the social action of the Salvation Army and the Reformed love of the Bible, all wrapped in Orthodox reverence before the mystery of God” (179). Ryan recognizes that the path to reunion is the path of penitence, so in each case we can hope for a renunciation of all that is contrary to the Lord and His gospel.

Source: Peter Leithart - "Christian Unity", First Things blog post reviewing Thomas Ryan's book, 14 Feb 2017, https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/leithart/2017/02/christian-unity

The 6 Historical Conclusions of Wittenberg 2017

1. We honor Martin Luther as a prophet sent by God to Luther’s own church, the Roman Catholic Church.
2. We lament that Luther's prophetic message was not correctly considered or responded to by his apostolic authorities.
3. We grieve the subsequent shared history of hostility – and ask the Holy Spirit to embolden us to identify with the actions of our forefathers, repent, forgive, and where appropriate make restitution.
4. We believe that Catholics & Protestants can and should jointly commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
5. We propose that Catholics & Protestants seize the opportunity to pray John 17 with Jesus on the occasion of this historic anniversary.
6. We believe that in preparation for Jesus’ return, the Holy Spirit will move again as Malachi prophesied, “turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to their fathers.”

Source: Wittenberg 2017 - Historical Conclusions, http://www.wittenberg2017.us/historical-conclusions.html

Healing of Memories

The 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation is an opportunity for a "healing of memories", the leaders of the Catholic and evangelical churches in Germany have announced.

Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and Cardinal Reinhard Marx of the Roman Catholic Church have published a 'Common Word' document to mark the anniversary of when Martin Luther supposedly nailed his 95 theses to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral in October 1517. The 90-page statement calls for reflection on the reformers' concerns and to listen afresh to their calls for repentance and spiritual renewal.

Source: Harry Farley - "After centuries of separation, evangelicals and Catholics look to shared future", Christian Today eMagazine, 22 September 2016, http://www.christiantoday.com/article/after.centuries.of.separation.evangelicals.and.catholics.look.to.shared.future/96072.htm

The Austrian Way of Repentance

The Austrian Way of repentance was very blessed and deep. A lot of things were new for us all, but all said it is so important to know our whole history. Because we are a counter reformation country a lot of believers had to leave the country or to endure torture and be condemned to death. When they had to leave the country most of them were forced to leave the children behind. The little ones till 7 years came to good catholic families and from 8-15 they were brought to an orphan house. The church authorities and the emperors were convinced that it is better that the "mother church" educates the children than they would be educated by their parents and have to "breath the poison of their teaching". We wept a lot and asked the Lord for forgiveness and cover all with his precious blood and to break the curse and transform it into blessing.

Source: Verena Lang - Report on the Austrian Way of Repentance pilgrimage, August 2016

Kim Kollins

In the late 1990s discussions began to take place about a possible initiative involving new church  charismatic leaders with leaders from CCR. A prime mover was Kim Kollins, an American convert to Catholicism from an independent charismatic background, who had come to Europe as a missionary, and rather quickly became a Catholic. The fruit has been a series of meeting entitled Gatherings in the Holy Spirit, gathering leaders from both sides and meeting every two years—always in Rome at the request of the "nondenominationals." From these meetings came provisional discussions between the "nondenom" leaders and officials of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the Unity of Christians, which have led in 2012 to the decision to begin a three-year round of conversations in 2014 on the theme, "Authority, Revelation, and the Word of God."

Source: Fr. Peter Hocken  -  Pentecost and Parousia, Peter Hocken - p. 62 [It's Only, by Kim Kollins - the story of her conversion]

Cardinal Dolan - "They're better Catholics than I am"

The Bruderhof is an international Christian community of almost 3,000 people in 23 settlements on four continents. Their goal is radical discipleship in the spirit of the first days of the Church in Jerusalem.

From eight years of friendship with Pastor Arnold, his wonderful wife, Verena, and the hundreds of members centered at Woodcrest in Rifton, I can tell you they are “a light to the world.” I love them, and have learned much from them, and my predecessors claimed the same. As the late Father Benedict Groeschel whispered to me, “They’re better Catholics than I am!”

Source: Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan  -  "Radical Discipleship Lived in Our Midst", Catholic New York, 27 April 2017, http://www.cny.org/stories/radical-discipleship-lived-in-our-midst,15453

Dreaming of Churches Like ...

What kind of churches do we at Theopolis dream of? Churches like these:
....
Lutheran pastors who teach obedience (as Luther did!), Anglicans who exercise discipline, jolly Presbyterians with a reputation for levity, Pentecostals attuned to the Christian tradition, Baptists who acknowledge hierarchy, liturgical Bible churches.

Source: Peter Leithart  -  Theopolis Institute blog, "Reformational Catholicism, A Wish List", 20 October 2016, https://theopolisinstitute.com/reformational-catholicism-a-wish-list/

Rhiannon, Wales

Rhiannon knows that her very appearance [white, Welsh] reminds many Africans of rejection and unjust dominance, but instead of disclaiming all association with the colonial past by such statements as … "It was all in a past generation" or "My people have been oppressed too", she volunteers to stand in the gap as an intercessor.  The Bible reveals that God is looking for such people.  Not just people who will stand in the gap before Him, but people who will repair the breeches in human relationships.   God does not put guilt on the intercessor.  We are not individually guilty for what our group or our parents did, but He is waiting for a "royal priesthood," which is the redeemed in Christ, to openly convess the truth of a matter before Him and before people, just as the ancient Hebrew priests did once over the sins of Israel.   You see, it is very difficult to forgive if you have never heard an open acknowledgment of the injustices that wounded you or your people.  On the other hand, such grace for forgiveness is released when we are asked for forgiveness by those who identify themselves in some way with the identity of those who contributed to our suffering.  Identification, as used in this sense, signifies the act of consciously including oneself within an identifiable category of human beings.

Source: John Dawson  -  What Every Christian Should Know About Reconciliation, p. 9

Vince Torres in New Mexico

Vince Torres, Executive Pastor at the Blaze Christian Fellowship, explains it this way, "What happened Sunday was nothing short of historic. Watching Catholics and Protestants come together in worship and prayer to our God was so powerful and unlike anything I have ever witnessed at our state capitol. The gathering served as proof that the gospel message of Jesus Christ has the power to transcend denominations and even politics. It was such an honor to be part of it. To God be all the glory." 

Source: Vince Torres  -  Vince Torres, Executive Pastor at the Blaze Christian Fellowship, quoted by Brian Alarid in "Christians Make History With Worship Event at New Mexico State Capitol", Charisma News, 7 March 2017, http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/63470-is-this-historic-worship-gathering-part-of-james-goll-s-prophesied-west-coast-rumble

The 24 Elders are In Agreement

And then the Lamb went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down in worship before the Lamb. Each of the 24 elders held a harp and gold bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s holy people. And they sang this new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You made them a kingdom and priests (a priestly kingdom) to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth!” 

Source: The 24 Elders  -  Quoted by John the Beloved in Revelation 5:7-10 (IEB)

Forgiveness between Pentecostals in S. Africa

Meanwhile, two other men in the congregation had entered into a feud over a different matter, spewing bitterness and wrath over everything they came in contact with.  I felt that the Lord wanted them to help minister to the devil-afflicted brother, so I went to them.  "Our brother needs you and I'm going to minister to him," I said, "but I can't permit you to come to his house because your attitude towards one another opens the door for the enemy to attack you.  You must make peace between yourselves or you may become the next victims."

Knowing the urgency of the situation, they agreed to do something about their problem.  One came to me and said, "I want to change, but I won't go to him because he'll say that I surrendered.  But he could say the same thing about coming to me.  Would it be fair if we met somewhere at a neutral spot and you could come and help us?  I'm willing to ask him for forgiveness and also to forgive."

The other man accepted this proposal, and I arranged for them to get together at a big, lovely old house with a garden on one side and a beautiful orchard of fruit trees.  It was a warm, sunny day and we stood together under a large apricot tree.  Immediately the two began to stammer things like, "Brother, forgive me; I've been wrong."  I urged them not to argue about who was wrong.  "Just forgive," I said, "and don't go into too many details."

Source: David du Plessis  -  From "A Man Called Mr. Pentecost", as told to Bob Slosser, Ch. 10, pp 83-84

July 5, 2017 in Wittenberg

“A new phase of friendship and cooperation, said Pope Francis, on welcoming the adherence of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) to the ecumenical consensus on the Doctrine of Justification, on July 5, 2017 at Wittenberg in Germany, where Luther’s Reformation began in 1517.
...
Monsignor Brian Farrell, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, represented the Catholic Church at the signing. He read a message of Pope Francis who welcomed it as “an eloquent sign of our commitment to continue together, as brothers and sisters in Christ, on the path from conflict to communion, from division to reconciliation.”

Source: Pope Francis  -  Quoted by Anne Kurian in "Pope Welcomes Adherence of the Reformed Churches to the Declaration on Justification", Zenit, 14 July 2017, https://zenit.org/articles/pope-welcomes-adherence-of-the-reformed-churches-to-the-declaration-on-justification/

Ann Cogdell asks Amy Cogdell

Trying to better understand what identificational repentance is, I asked Thomas' wife Amy, who's very much involved with him in the work, how she might describe it and here's what she said:  "Identificational repentance recognizes the grave sin of one's people, either past or present.  It grieves the sin, recognizes its consequences at least in part (only God sees the full consequences of our sin), and then pleads for mercy, conviction, and justice to right any remaining wrongs.  Identificational repentance acknowledges our connection to our past, our own proclivity to sin, and the great mercy of God in helping us grieve over things which grieve His heart."

Source: Amy Cogdell  -  As quoted by Ann Cogdell in her report to Christ Church Anglican in Waco, 4 Sept. 2016

Pope John Paul II

Concerning the different Christian traditions, Pope JP II said: "All of them in fact have martyrs for the Christian faith. Despite the tragedy of our divisions, these brothers and sisters have preserved an attachment to Christ and to the Father so radical and absolute as to lead even to the shedding of blood. . . In a theocentric vision, we Christians already have a common martyrology. . . . I have already remarked, and with deep joy, how an imperfect but real communion is preserved, and is growing at many levels of ecclesial life. I now add that this communion is already perfect in what we all consider the highest point of the life of grace, martyria unto death, the truest communion possible with Christ who shed his Blood, and by that sacrifice brings near those who were far off (cf. Eph 2:13).

Source: Pope John Paul II  -  Ut Unum Sint, 83-84

Dramatic Reconciliation in France

A miracle of sorts took place in France five years ago. For generations, French denominations were at odds with one another, full of suspicion, bad-talking, and division. This all changed when leading evangelical denominational leaders began to see their sin, publicly repent, and ask for forgiveness.

This dramatic reconciliation paved the way for a new era of deep collaboration. Currently, nine of France’s leading evangelical denominations are sending teams of evangelists and church planters to learn from and encourage one another in a process that will lead to one evangelical church in France for every 10,000 people (currently, there is one church for every 30,000 people).

For evangelism and church planting to move to a higher plane, we must break out of our denominational (and even networkational) silos and collaborate. After all, the Kingdom of God is bigger than any one church or group.

Source: Dr. Dietrich Schindler  -  As quoted in Christianity Today, Evangelism in Post-Christian Europe, http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2016/august/evangelism-in-post-christian-western-europe-six-insights.html?utm_source=ctdirect-html

President Carter & the New Baptist Covenant

Achieving racial reconciliation can be hard work and often slow, but Christians are called to pursue it relentlessly, said speakers at a summit of Baptists seeking to bridge a racial divide that continues to bedevil the nation.

Former President Jimmy Carter joined national religious leaders in Atlanta for the New Baptist Covenant summit Sept. 14-16, urging participants to challenge a “resurgence of racism.”

“The New Baptist Covenant can be a powerful potential weapon to set an example not just among Baptists and among churches, but in communities and among people of all faiths,” said Carter, who lent his support to the organization’s beginning in 2007 and convened its first meeting. “I hope that we can set an example to the world. Accept my personal thanks for what you are doing to maintain momentum that exists and increase its impact.”

The NBC was created to unite Baptists of different races, which it has fostered with a series of gatherings and summits. The three-day meeting in Atlanta highlighted emerging partnerships between predominantly black and white congregations working in their communities to address racial and social justice.

Source: Robert Dilday  -  "Racial reconciliation tough but essential, say leaders at New Baptist Covenant summit", Baptist News Global, 19 September 2016, https://baptistnews.com/article/racial-reconciliation-tough-but-essential-say-leaders-at-new-baptist-covenant-summit/#.V-VcYZMrI0q

Ezra's Identificational Repentance

Similarly, Ezra's identificational repentance in Ezra 9:6-15 on behalf of the fifth century B.C. Jewish community of Jerusalem led, in Ezra 10:1-4, to the people being moved more freely to repent of their sins. Nehemiah's confessing his people's sins before God and asking God to forgive them on a corporate level in Neh. 1:6 along with Ezra's identificational repentance in Ezra 9:6-15 also seems to have released God's grace on a corporate level to move the community to weep openly and repent of their sins in Neh. 8:9-11 and 9:1-2, when Ezra read the Law.

Source: Dr. Gary S. Greig  -  The Biblical Foundations of Identificational Repentance as One Prayer Pattern Useful to Advance God's Kingdom and Evangelism, April 2001