The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, traditionally celebrated every year from 18 to 25 January. Those dates were proposed in 1908 by Paul Wattson to cover the days between the feasts of St Peter and St Paul, and therefore have a symbolic significance.
Introduction to the theme for the year 2011: Acts 2:42-47
The church in Jerusalem, yesterday, today, tomorrow
Two thousand years ago, the first disciples of Christ gathered in Jerusalem experienced the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and were joined together in unity as the body of
Christ. In that event, Christians of every time and place see their origin as a community of the
faithful, called together to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Although that earliest
Jerusalem church experienced difficulties, both externally and internally, its members persevered
in faithfulness and fellowship, in breaking bread and prayers.
It is not difficult to see how the situation of the first Christians in the Holy City mirrors that of the
church in Jerusalem today. The current community experiences many of the joys and sorrows of
the early church; its injustice and inequality, and its divisions, but also its faithful perseverance,
and recognition of a wider unity among Christians.
The churches in Jerusalem today offer us a vision of what it means to strive for unity, even amid
great problems. They show us that the call to unity can be more than mere words, and indeed that
it can point us toward a future where we anticipate and help build the heavenly Jerusalem.
Realism is required to make reality of such a vision. The responsibility for our divisions lies with
us; they are the results of our own actions. We need to change our prayer, asking God to change
us so that we may actively work for unity. We are ready enough to pray for unity, but that can
become a substitute for action to bring it about. Is it possible that we ourselves are blocking the
Holy Spirit because we are the obstacles to unity; that our own hubris prevents unity?
The call for unity this year comes to churches all over the world from Jerusalem, the mother
church. Mindful of its own divisions and its own need to do more for the unity of the Body of
Christ, the churches in Jerusalem calls all Christians to rediscover the values that bound together
the early Christian community in Jerusalem, when they devoted themselves to the Apostles’
teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. This is the challenge before us.
The Christians of Jerusalem call upon their brothers and sisters to make this week of prayer an
occasion for a renewed commitment to work for a genuine ecumenism, grounded in the
experience of the early Church.
Four elements of unity
The 2011 prayers for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity have been prepared by Christians in
Jerusalem, who chose as a theme Acts 2:42, ‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.’ This theme is a call back to the origins
of the first church in Jerusalem; it is a call for inspiration and renewal, a return to the essentials of
the faith; it is a call to remember the time when the church was still one. Within this theme four
elements are presented which were marks of the early Christian community, and which are
essential to the life of the Christian Community wherever it exists. Firstly, the Word was passed
on by the apostles. Secondly, fellowship (koinonia) was an important mark of the early believers
whenever they met together. A third mark of the early Church was the celebration of the
Eucharist (the ‘breaking of the bread’), remembering the New Covenant which Jesus has enacted
in his suffering, death and resurrection. The fourth aspect is the offering of constant prayer. These
four elements are the pillars of the life of the church, and of its unity.
The Christian Community in the Holy Land wishes to give prominence to these basic essentials
as it raises its prayers to God for the unity and vitality of the church throughout the world. The 4 Christians of Jerusalem invite their sisters and brothers around the world to join them in prayer as
they struggle for justice, peace and prosperity for all people of the land.