The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was first celebrated in 1908 in the chapel of a small Atonement Franciscan Convent of the Protestant Episcopal Church. This new prayer movement caught the imagination of others and gradually blossomed into a worldwide observance involving many nations and millions of people. Since 1968, these international texts, which are based on themes proposed by ecumenical groups around the world, have been developed, adapted and published for use in the United States by the Graymoor Ecumenical and Interreligious Institute.
The year 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, a year particularly significant to Lutherans, as the focus for this beginning was Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses. The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2017, "Reconciliation: The Love of Christ Compels Us," intends to acknowledge this Reformation commemoration, even as it also invites all Christians to work for greater reconciliation within the body of Christ for the sake of a shared, courageous witness to God’s love and justice in our troubled world.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity lasts from January 18-25. These prayers were developed for our synodical commemoration, but are available for use by congregations or individuals:
With the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, let us pray for the church, those in need, and all of God’s creation.
I invite your prayers for the church and its greater visible unity:
Time is kept for silent and/or spoken prayer as worshipers are moved to pray.
Most high and holy God, pour out upon us your one and unifying Spirit, and awaken in every confession of the whole church a holy hunger and thirst for unity in you.
Let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, hear our prayer.
I invite your prayers for the poor, oppressed, sick, bereaved, lonely, the marginalized and vulnerable, and all who suffer in body, mind, or spirit:
Time is kept for silent and/or spoken prayer as worshipers are moved to pray.
Look with mercy, gracious God, upon people everywhere who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Rouse us from our complacency and help us to eliminate cruelty wherever it is found. Strengthen those who seek equality for all. Grant that everyone may enjoy a fair portion of the abundance of the earth.
Let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, hear our prayer.
I invite your prayers for our nation:
Time is kept for silent and/or spoken prayer as worshipers are moved to pray.
Holy Trinity, one God, you show us the splendor of diversity and the beauty of unity in your own divine life. Make us, who came from many nations with many languages, a united people that delights in our many different gifts. Defend our liberties, and give those whom we have entrusted with authority the spirit of wisdom, that there might be justice and peace in our land.
Let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, hear our prayer.
I invite your prayers for the world:
Time is kept for silent and/or spoken prayer as worshipers are moved to pray.
Gracious God, grant peace among nations. Cleanse from our own hearts the seeds of strife: greed and envy, harsh misunderstandings and ill will, fear and desire for revenge. Make us quick to welcome ventures in cooperation among the peoples of the world, so that there may be woven the fabric of a common good too strong to be torn by the evil hands of war. In the time of opportunity, make us be diligent; and in the time of peril, let not our courage fail.
Let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, hear our prayer.
I invite your prayers for the well-being of creation:
Time is kept for silent and/or spoken prayer as worshipers are moved to pray.
Almighty God, in entrusting us with stewardship of things on earth, you made us coworkers in your creation. Give us wisdom and reverence to use the resources of nature so that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty.
Let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, hear our prayer.
I invite your prayers for the special needs and concerns of this assembly:
Time is kept for silent and/or spoken prayer as worshipers are moved to pray.
O God, where hearts are fearful and constricted, grant courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, grant peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, grant imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, grant healing and illumination. Where spirits are daunted and weakened, grant soaring wings and strengthened dreams.
Let us pray to the Lord:
Lord, hear our prayer.
Into your hands, gracious God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy; through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.