Worship of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

This year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity addresses a topic that is still mostly taboo in the Church: the division between Churches due to different ethnic origins. With a liturgy prepared by a joint commission of indigenous, white and international representatives from Central America, church congregations around the world invite you to a service on January 22, 2023. The central service of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will take place in Germany on Sunday 22 January at 17:00 in the Frankfurt Community Center of the Freie Evangelische Gemeinde Frankfurt and will also be broadcast live www.gebetswoche.de transfer.

Stones and running water are at the center of the service. In the wisdom of most Native Americans, water and stones are considered sacred. The proposed liturgy recommends additional elements related to indigenous wisdom and builds bridges with the Christian tradition. The liturgical proposal recommends singing the anthem of the Dakota people “Wakantanka taku nitawa” and accompanying it with thematically appropriate psalm texts.

Minnesota has had racial inequality for years, among the worst in America. The largest mass execution in US history took place in Minnesota in 1862 in the wake of the war between the United States and the Dakota people. The murder of young African American George Floyd in March 2020 by Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, also took place in Minnesota.

Members of the Minnesota preparatory team hope, a statement said, that their personal experiences of racism and their devaluation as human beings could be a testament to rifts within churches.

The central function of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be celebrated on Sunday 22 January at 5 pm in the community center of the Freie Evangelische Gemeinde Frankfurt, Oeder Weg 6. The ACK in Germany, the ACK Hessen-Rheinhessen and the ACK Frankfurt cordially invite you. The service will be followed by a reception. The number of seats at the reception is limited. Therefore, until January 15, 2022, a registration under info@dioceseack-oeclimburg.the bite.

Download materials for your service are available on the ACK website.