United Methodists to join observance of Christian Unity week

A UMNS Report By Linda Bloom*

United Methodists will join those of other faiths to mark the Jan. 18-25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

"As United Methodist leaders and congregations prepare for this time of Christian unity, we encourage engagement with other Christian communities in observing the week of prayer through common worship and study," the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns announced.

This year's theme is, "He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak," taken from Mark 7:31-37. "The theme sets the tone for churches around the world seeking to express their longing for and commitment to Christian unity," according to the commission.

The commission urges congregations to use materials developed for the observance in their own worship services. Those materials - which can be found at www.geii.org, the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute Web site - include an introduction to the week's theme, eight sets of daily Bible readings and meditations and the outline of an ecumenical worship service.

Source material for the observance is prepared each year by a local ecumenical group. The 2007 materials were developed by lay persons, pastors and priests in Umlazi-Bhekithemba, a region near Durban, South Africa.

According to Sister Lorelei F. Fuchs, S.A., of Graymoor, the materials "reflect the concerns and experience of a people who have undergone great suffering. A legacy of racism, unemployment and poverty continues to raise formidable challenges for its people, where there is still a shortage of schools, medical clinics and adequate housing."

Meeting with an international group, the preparatory group in Umlazi reflected on the search for Christian unity in light of the experiences of Christians in Umlazi and selected the scriptural theme.

"They crafted a biblical framework, centered around hearing, speaking and silence, within which both the search for unity and the search for a Christian response to human suffering find a home," Fuchs wrote. "This twofold focus is reflected in the Ecumenical Celebration of the Word and in the Daily Scripture & Prayer Guide, intentionally addressing both the reality of human suffering and the search for the visible unity of all Christians."

Interpreting that focus, Graymoor's planning committee re-crafted the theme title as "Open our ears and loosen our tongues." The art work, titled Heart Song, reflects on the spiritual implications of the passage in Mark and "captures my feeling that the healing of Jesus is about the opening of one's heart," said the artist, Mark Hakomaki. "Song is the highest expression of hearing and speaking."

United Methodists also are participating in the Jan. 29-Feb. 1 National Workshop on Christian Unity in the Washington area, headquartered at the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.
Two worship services scheduled during the workshop are of particular interest. An Episcopal-Lutheran-United Methodist Eucharist will be celebrated at 6 p.m. Jan. 30 at Arlington Temple United Methodist Church, highlighting the interim Eucharist-sharing agreements that the United Methodists have with the other two communions.

A worship service related to Churches Uniting in Christ, of which the United Methodist Church is a member communion, is planned for 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 31 at Metropolitan AME Church.
For more information, call the commission at (212) 749-3553, or go to World Council of Churches' Web site at www.wcc-coe.org and the Web page of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity at the Vatican at http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_pro_20051996_chrstuni_pro_en.html.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New