This week we are pleased to have Rev. Larry Wright join us as worship leader for the church service.  As always, the church starts at 10 am, Sunday school runs during the service and coffee is served after church.  This week there will be a discussion around the Land acknowledgement that we use during the service, please stay as your input is valuable.

Here is a few thoughts from Rev. Wright about The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that is celebrated from January 18 to January 25.

This Sunday finds us in the midst of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, observed in the Northern Hemisphere from January 18 (in some churches known as The Feast of the Confession of Peter) to January 25 (also known as the Feast of the Conversion of Paul).  If you do the math, you will find that the “Week” is actually eight days, so it is technically an octave, but calling it a week is easier.  During this week, churches around the world are called to reflect on the divisions which have beset Christian history and as Abbé Paul Couturier of Lyon France, an early advocate of the observance said, to pray “for the unity of the Church as Christ wills it, and in accordance with the means Christ wills.”

Each year, resources are developed by ecumenical organizations around the world for a Celebration to mark the ‘Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.”  These resources will often include prayers and actions which reflect the culture of the organizing community.  This year the ecumenical celebration was prepared by a team representing different Christian traditions in Burkina Faso facilitated by the local Chemin Neuf Community (CCN).  Burkina Faso is located in West Africa in the Sahel region, which includes the neighbouring countries of Mali and Niger. It covers 174,000 km² and has 21 million inhabitants, of about sixty ethnicities. In religious terms, approximately 64% of the population is Muslim, 9% adheres to traditional African religions and 26% is Christian (20% Catholic, 6% Protestant). These three religious groups are present in every region of the country, and in virtually every family. Burkina Faso is currently experiencing a serious security crisis, which affects all the communities of faith. After a major jihadist attack was mounted from outside the country in 2016, the security situation in Burkina Faso, and consequently its social cohesion, deteriorated dramatically.  It must be recognised that despite the efforts of both the state and religious communities, the country is becoming increasingly unstable as extremist groups become more widespread. Nevertheless, a degree of solidarity is emerging between the Christian, Muslim and traditional religions. Their leaders are working to find lasting solutions for peace, social cohesion and reconciliation. To this end, for instance, the Christian-Muslim Dialogue Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Burkina-Niger is making a major effort to support inter-religious and inter-ethnic dialogue and cooperation.

The theme for this year is “You shall love the Lord your God…and your neighbour as yourself, from Luke 10:27.  I will be using some of these resources in the service on Sunday.  They will be used more fully on Sunday evening at St. Joachim Catholic Church when the Edmonton & District Council of Churches will hold their Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service.