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 Continuing
the Commitment to Christian Unity Throughout the Year
The initiatives called
forth, strengthened and enhanced during the Week of Prayer
for Christian Unity can be sustained throughout the year.
After the Week of Prayer activities and evaluation, a core
of persons may be invited to continue as a task force to consider
other occasions in the year when interchurch collaboration
or ecumenical celebrations might be desirable. Here are some
suggestions to help support the ecumenical impulse throughout
2010.
Throughout the Year
Working with the appropriate staff, create or expand the local
public library's religion section. Compile and circulate a
bibliography or religious references for local congregations
as a means of promoting religious studies and ecumenical awareness.
These materials on the internet from Graymoor Ecumenical &
Interreligious Institute include a bibliography under Resources
for Ecumenical and Interreligious Understanding. Encourage
your public library to purchase these publications and subscribe
to these periodicals.
Form a study group on Church and World: The
Unity of the Church and the Renewal of Human Community. This
text helps bring the classic search for Christian unity into
creative dialogue with evangelization. It conveys a broad,
wholistic vision of the ecumenical movement. A World Council
of Churches Faith and Order document, Church and World may
be ordered from:
WCC Distribution Center
International Specialized Book Services
920 NE 58th Ave. Suite 300
Portland, OR 97213
Tel 1 800 944 6190; Fax 503 280 8832
Email orders@isbs.com.
Website www.isbscatalog.com
Other books listed on this website under Resources for Ecumenical
and Interreligious Understanding could also be used for common
reading and discussion.
At another time of year you may want to consider
extending your ecumenical endeavor into a wider area of interreligious
understanding by exploring the world's great religious traditions,
particularly with Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs
and others in your area. Among possible ways of pursuing this
are: shared readings and experiences of one another's faith
stories, inviting members of other religions to speak at your
congregation, organizing times when the prayers of each religion
can be expressed at the same time and place for peace and
interreligious understanding.
Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday
(February7)
On a day when many people are football focused, neighborhood
churches participate in the Souper Bowl of Caring by inviting
an offering of $1.00 from every person, the collection to
be given to a local agency serving the poor. For information
and materials contact:
Rev. Brad Smith
PO Box 23224, Columbia, SC 29224
Tel 1 800 358 7687; 830 788-3746; Fax 803 419-7244
Email: soup@souperbowl.org
Website: www.souperbowl.org
Brotherhood/Sisterhood Week
(February21-27)
This annual observance challenges our awareness of and involvement
in the wider ecumenism of interfaith understanding. For information
contact:
National Conference for Community and Justice
760 N. Frontage Road - Suite 105
Willowbrook, IL 60527
Tel: 630 789-6709; Fax: 630 789-6718
Website www.nccjtriad.org
Ash Wednesday
(February 17, Western Churches)
Neighborhood churches having a joint celebration of the word
of God, including the blessing and imposition of ashes or
another act of repentance, is a symbolic way to begin the
season of Lent.
Lent
(February 17 April 3, Western Churches;
February 21- April 4, Eastern/Orthodox Churches)
A modern day pilgrimage, inviting Christians to experience
worship in a different church in their neighborhood on consecutive
Sundays, encourages interest in Christian unity. Interest
increases when visitors are publicly welcomed and given opportunity
to talk informally with the host congregation. As a lenten
pilgrimage, such services express an ecumenical dimension
to the season's prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
World Day of Prayer "Let Everything That
Has Breath Praise God".
(March 5)
World Day of Prayer (WDP) is observed annually on the first
Friday of March and is celebrated in more than 170 countries
and islands around the world. It is an opportunity to share
spiritually, educationally, and momentarily in partnership
with our global brothers and sisters in the creation of world
peace with justice. The themes for each year are chosen by
the World Day of Prayer International Committee. Women from
a particular country write the worship service, which represents
and addresses issues that women face in that region. The International
Committee distributes the worship service worldwide. The WDPUSA
Committee edits and adapts the materials for use in the United
States and Puerto Rico.
For additional information contact:
Church Women United (the US committee for the World Day of
Prayer).
475 Riverside Drive, Room 300
New York, NY 10115.
Tel 212-870-3049; 1-866-937-8720; Orders 888-937-8720
Email ecalvin@edpusa.org
Website www.worlddayofprayer.net
The Black Church Week of Prayer for the
Healing of Aids
(March 7-13)
The Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of Aids is
a national call to religious leaders and to the African American
community at large to involve and educate our churches by
providing prevention facts about HIV/AIDS and by encouraging
compassion for people infected and affected by the disease.
(traditionally the first full week of March starting Sunday
ending Saturday) For additional information contact:
The Balm In Gilead
701 East Franklin Street Suite 1000
Richmond, VA 23219
Tel (804) 644-BALM (2256); Fax: (804) 644-2257
E-mail: info@balmingilead.org
Website: www.balmingilead.org
Ecumenical Advocacy Days
(March 13-16)
Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a movement of the ecumenical Christian
community, and its recognized partners and allies, grounded
in biblical witness and our shared traditions of justice,
peace and the integrity of creation. Our goal, through worship,
theological reflection and opportunities for learning and
witness, is to strengthen our Christian voice and to mobilize
for advocacy on a wide variety of U.S. domestic and international
policy issues. For further information contact:
Molly Keane, Conference Coordinator
Ecumenical Advocacy Days
c/o Office of Public Life and Social Policy United Church
of Christ
100 Maryland Ave. NE, Suite 330
Washington, DC 20002
Tel. 202-386-6397 Email info@advocacydays.org
Palm Sunday
(March 28, Western Churches;
March 28, Eastern/Orthodox Churches)
An Ecumenical Palm Sunday celebration, now a custom in many
communities, enables members of an area's churches to get
together in parks, playgrounds, squares and shopping center
parking lots to hear God's word, receive blessed palm branches
and participate in a procession which can lead to continuing
the liturgy of the day in their respective traditions.
Good Friday
(April 2, Western Churches;
April 2, Eastern/Orthodox Churches)
The stations of the cross becomes a touching, contemporary
experience when Christians of various denominations visit
and pray together at fourteen sites in the community which
stand in need of God's healing. If distance, weather or other
factors do not encourage an outdoor celebration, audio visuals
such as dance, drama, film, slides, videotapes, etc., make
creative expressions of stational movement indoors.
Easter Sunday
(April 4, Western Churches;
April 4, Eastern/Orthodox Churches)
A sunrise service of the celebration of the word of God or
the liturgy of the hours gives the Easter liturgy its ecumenical
dimension when shared by neighborhood churches. This can be
followed by a simple fellowship of sharing traditional Easter
foods which highlight the cultural aspects of interchurch
activity.
May Friendship Day "Living The Vision"
(May 7)
May Friendship Day (MFD) is celebrated on or near the first
Friday in May and acts as a catalyst for building healing
relationships within the local community. The day of the service
may vary to meet the needs of women in a variety of situations.
The themes, chosen by the Ecumenical Celebrations Committee
of Church Women United, seek to relate World Day of Prayer
themes to local concerns. Because it often focuses on local
concerns, Church Women United units often use it to reach
out to women in their communities. A meal is recommended as
a way of providing opportunities for sharing, networking,
and community building in addition to worship and study.
For information about its observance contact:
Church Women United
475 Riverside Drive, Room 1626
New York, NY 10115.
Tel 212 870 2347; 800 CWU (298)-5551; Fax 212 870 2338.
Contact person for yearly events: Ms. Marilyn Lariviere
Email mlariv@comcast.net
Website www.churchwomen.org.
Pentecost Sunday
(May 23, Western Churches;
May 23, Eastern/Orthodox Churches)
A festival of music, at which choirs, soloists and musicians
from various churches "make a joyful noise unto the Lord",
is a timely way to celebrate this feast of the church ecumenically.
Summer
Laying aside formal programs, summer events such as vacation
Bible schools, picnics, food festivals, flea markets and fairs
are ideal examples of seasonal interchurch activities.
World Community Day "Building the
Beloved Community"
(November 5)
World Community Day (WCD) is celebrated on or near the first
Friday in November, and focuses on justice and peace in the
global society. Themes are chosen by the Ecumenical Celebrations
Committee and seek to relate the World Day of Prayer themes
to issues of justice and peace in the United States. Since
2004, every other year is written as a service appropriate
for Interfaith participation, providing the opportunity to
reach out to our Jewish, Muslim, and other sisters. It is
also an opportunity to engage in an in-depth study of global
issues related to the theme. For information about its observance
contact:
Church Women United
475 Riverside Drive, Room 1626
New York, NY 10115.
1 800 CWU (298) 5551; Tel 212 870 2347; Fax 212 870 2338.
Contact person for yearly events: Ms. Marilyn Lariviere
Email mlariv@comcast.net
Website www.churchwomen.org.
Thanksgiving
(November 25)
The day on which our nation gives thanks offers a natural
opportunity for ecumenical worship in praise and gratitude
to God for the many gifts given us. Interchurch services on
the eve of Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving morning may express
our common faith and faithfulness when prayer and collecting
offerings of food, clothing or money are done together.
Advent
(November 28-December 19)
For each week of Advent one passage of scripture can be the
focus of a gathering of Christians from different traditions.
The Bible study can be hosted in a different congregation
each week. For information contact:
Liturgical Conference
P.O. Box 31
Evanston, IL 60204
1 800 354 1420, ext. 216
Email customerservice@taylorandfrancis.com
Website www.liturgicalconference.org
Watch Night
(December 31)
A number of Christian traditions have the practice of a New
Year's Eve vigil of reflection, music and prayer as an alternative
observance held as midnight approaches or earlier in the evening.
This could be a celebration planned and offered ecumenically.
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