Christian Unity Week

It's been a while since I last posted. This is in part because I was extra busy this past week with going to the various ecumenical services here in Jerusalem for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

St Mark's Syrian Orthodox

(photo taken from my position on the

floor of the aisle - the place was packed!)

How's this for a schedule? Holy Sepulchre Church (Greek Orthodox Compline), Anglican Cathedral of St George, Armenian Cathedral of St James, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Latin Patriarchate Church, the Upper Room (site of the Last Supper and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit), St Mark's Syrian Orthodox Church, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the Greek Melkite Catholic Church of the Annunciation. It was a great week, going to meet and pray with our brothers and sisters from these various traditions, experiencing different styles of liturgy and hearing good sermons.

One particularly encouraging thing was the observation from the Latin Archbishop that he can feel a good change in the relationship between the Christians since he first arrived in the Holy Land twenty years ago.

Wouldn't it be great if the unity of the Church could begin from here in Jerusalem?

Sadly, church communities like the Russian Orthodox (at one end of the spectrum) and Pentecostals (at the other end) seemed to be absent.

Unsurprisingly, the most profound moment was in the Upper Room, when all the people there were praying the Lord's Prayer in their own languages, thus echoing that time 2000 years ago when in that same place the pilgrims to Jerusalem heard the disciples proclaiming the wonders of God in many languages.

Read more about the week and see more (and better) photos on the Latin Patriarchate website.