Thoughts for the Day

Jesus said, 'Father... I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me...

‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.'

(New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Today starts the week of prayer for Christian unity, and we shall spend the next few days looking at some different Christian denominations. There are many churches, but all have the same basic calling – to worship God, to share the good news about Jesus Christ and to work for the good of all people. Within a year of starting my full-time ministry in 1984, as a Deaconesses (women weren't to be ordained priests in the Church of England until 1994), I started to run the day-to-day work of a brand new Ecumenical Project in Gloucestershire, made up of Christians from 4 denominations - the Baptist, Methodist, United Reform and the Church of England. This year they celebrate their 60th anniversary.

I learnt so much from this new church - not least that an ecumenical church means more than getting to know one another and the different traditions. It means that while growing closer together in fellowship is important, so is not losing the traditions and values that make each fascinatingly different. If you lose all these there is the potential to simply become another denomination. Jesus called his disciples, and He calls us today, to become completely one! Being one doesn't mean the same - family members don't need to look or behave the same to be "family".

Those first few years were full of surprises. I learnt to value the wonderful hymns and singing from the Methodist members; the ability to quote the scriptures and spontaneously burst into prayer by United Reformed and Baptist members; and it reinforced my appreciation of the liturgical richness and use of symbol and ritual from the Anglicans. To one group the centre point of worship was a 'table' and a 'lectern' with no candles; to another the table was an 'altar' and candles were lit. The one permanent symbol that brought us all together though was the large cross on the wall.

Prayer for Christian unity

Lord Jesus, who prayed that we might all be one,
we pray to you for the unity of Christians,
according to your will,
according to your means.
May your Spirit enable us
to experience the suffering caused by division,
to see our sin
and to hope beyond all hope.
Amen.

Written by the Chemin Neuf Community