07.01.2025
‘Do you believe this?’ – Opening Service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025
The Opening Service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 in Dublin will take place on Saturday January 18 at 8pm. The service, which is organised by Dublin Council of Churches, will take place in the Abbey Presbyterian Church, Parnell Square North, Dublin. The preacher will be Bishop Donal Roche, Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin. The annual week of prayer traditionally takes place between January 18 and 25 – the Octave of St Peter and St Paul.
This year the resources for the ecumenical celebration have been prepared by the community of Bose, an ecumenical monastery of brothers and sisters in northern Italy. In Bose, community life is shaped by the rhythm of regular prayer. As the bells call the sisters, brothers and guests to prayer, they all assemble at the church.
As we celebrate 1,700 years since the Council of Nicaea, this worship service has, at its heart, the Nicene Creed. Reflecting this, the scripture readings for this year focus on belief. At this service the gathered community is invited to reflect on the story of Martha’s confession of faith in Jesus as narrated in John 11:17–27. Each is called to sit with Jesus’ provocative question to Martha: “Do you believe this?” As a response to the proclamation of the Word, we affirm our faith together in a solemn recitation of the Nicene Creed.
The opening service is based on the resources produced by CTBI https://ctbi.org.uk/resources-for-week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-2025/
Bishop Michael Burrows, as Chair of the Church of Ireland’s Commission for Christian Unity and Dialogue, has encouraged parishes to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and has commended the resources produced by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
“The liturgical resources which have been provided ecumenically and internationally for the coming year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity take a rather different tack to the themes of recent years,” Bishop Burrows commented.
“The compilers, the monastic community of Bose in Northern Italy, wish us to reflect together on the fact that 2025 marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, and therefore our thoughts are drawn to credal phrases for so long associated with the work of that Council. The service dwells on a text from John’s Gospel – ‘Do you believe this?’ – and asks worshippers to reflect in a unique way on the common faith of Christians and the manner of its expression and communication today. We are asked to enter more deeply into the faith that unites us all, not to be afraid to engage with matters of doctrine, and to reflect on how today, as at Nicaea, spirited discussion amongst believers holding varying theological perspectives is often the midwife of the gestation of greater truth,” he added.