Week of Prayer is approaching fast with its call to cross barriers


"Crossing Barriers" is the theme of this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In the northern hemisphere, including in this Diocese in Europe, that week is observed from 18-25 January.
The 2017 materials have been prepared by the Council of Christian Churches in Germany, the ACK - Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen. Our German Deanery which unites with the Episcopal Church parishes in Germany in the Council of Anglican-Episcopal Churches in Germany - CAECG, is represented on the ACK. Of course, 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation and the Week of Prayer resources aptly focus on reconciliation.
Germany's history of division, including the Berlin Wall, provides an important backdrop for these theological and liturgical materials. But today in our Europe, both on the continent and on the islands (such as Great Britain), there is an alarming resurgence of calls for separation from our neighbours and even political moves towards building new walls of division between peoples. As we pray during this Week of Prayer, the Germany-inspired resources are sure to be powerful, evocative and challenging.
As a diocese deeply engaged in ecumenical relations, members of our communities will be active participants in Week of Prayer events across the continent. I will be at a service at the Basilica of St Paul's Outside the Walls in Rome on 18 January.
The resources can be downloaded from the CTBI website here. 

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