Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
All Saints School will host the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service that had been planned for All Saints Church at 12 noon on Wednesday 18th January. Tea, coffee, etc will be available. The school is in Acton Lane, off Springlands Way (the bypass), Sudbury, CO10 0AA.
Please publicise this information, and alter or replace any displayed notices. Here are updated Diary Dates and WPCU Poster with full details.
The aims of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are:
- To pray as Christ prayed ‘That they may be one’.
- To pray for the unity of all Christian people as we share in Christ’s ministry.
The Week of Prayer offers opportunities to meet and pray with fellow Christians of different denominations.
The theme for 2012 is We will all be changed.
Change is at the heart of our Christian faith. Saint Paul said that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, and we are called to live as children in the light.
The theme comes to us from the churches in Poland, who have reflected upon their own experience as a nation, and in particular how, as a nation, they have been changed and transformed by the many upheavals of their history, and sustained by their faith.
Change is also at the heart of the ecumenical movement. When we pray for the unity of the church we are praying that the churches that we know and which are so familiar to us will change as they conform more closely to Christ. This is an
exciting vision, but also a challenging one. Furthermore, when we pray for this transforming unity we are also praying for change in the world.
Resources
The resources for 2012, for use by individuals or leaders, are available as downloads here . There is also an order form to purchase the material in a published format. The Week of Prayer is organised by Churches Together in Britain & Ireland.
In Sudbury the 2012 dates are Sunday 15th to Sunday 22nd January.
In Sudbury the week began on Sunday with a United Service led by Future Vision at Cornard Christian Fellowship. It was good to see about 80 people there from at least 12 different churches. During the service we heard about the work of Future Vision in about 13 local schools. We were also reminded of the Covenant renewed five years ago by ministers and lay people. It can be found on churchestogetherinsudbury.org.uk under About, CTiS and it is also included below.
On Monday there was a lunchtime service at St Andrew’s, and on Tuesday at Bures Baptist Church.
The week continues:
Day 4:
Wednesday 18th January, 12:00 All Saints SCHOOL, Acton Lane, Sudbury, CO10 0AA
Day 5:
Thursday 19th January, 12:00 Long Melford United Reformed Church
Day 6:
Friday 20th January, 12:00 Roman Catholic Church, Sudbury
Day 7:
Saturday 21st January, Suffolk Road Church, Prayer Breakfast, 8 – 9.30 am
Day 8:
Sunday 22nd January, the week concludes in our various churches, with some exchanges of pulpits.
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Personal Covenant
We, as servants of the church in Sudbury & District, acknowledge with joy our membership one of another in Christ and in His ministry which we share; we acknowledge with sorrow all that hinders the full expression of our union in Jesus Christ, the one mediator between God and humankind (1Tim2:5).
Therefore we covenant to come together – in prayer and study; in prophetic and public witness; in planning for mission through evangelism and social action, for Christian nurture, and for the building up of the church locally.
Together we seek the help of the Holy Spirit in these things so that where we live and work the loving purposes of God for His creation may be served.
To this covenant we now commit ourselves, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This Covenant was signed by more than 200 church members at and soon after a United Service in January 2007. It was previously renewed on 19th January 1997.