Minute for Mission: Ecumenical Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins

For the year 2025, the prayers and reflections for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were prepared by the brothers and sisters of the monastic community of Bose in northern Italy.

The resources are jointly published by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches. The final material is sent to WCC member churches and Roman Catholic episcopal conferences. People are invited to translate the text and contextualize or adapt it for their own use.

This year marks the 1,700th anniversary of the first Christian Ecumenical Council, held in Nicaea, near Constantinople in 325 A.D. This commemoration provides a unique opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the common faith of Christians, as expressed in the creed formulated during this council.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 offers an invitation to draw on this shared heritage and to enter more deeply into the faith that unites all Christians.

The guiding biblical text for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2025 comes from John 11:17–27. The theme for the week, “Do you believe this?” (verse 26), takes its cue from the dialogue between Jesus and Martha when Jesus visited the home of Martha and Mary in Bethany following the death of their brother Lazarus.

The traditional period in the northern hemisphere for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is Jan. 18–25. In the southern hemisphere, churches often find other days to celebrate the Week of Prayer, for example around Pentecost, which is also a symbolic date for the unity of the church.

Mindful of the need for flexibility, organizers of the Week of Prayer invite you to use this material throughout the year to express the degree of communion which the churches have already reached, and to pray together for that full unity, which is Christ’s will.

Let us join in prayer for:

• Lisett Cruz, Administrative Assistant I, Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries, Presbyterian Mission Agency
• Jayne Culp, Administration Manager, Office of the General Assembly 

Let us pray:

Dear God, please bless witness and ministry. May others see your grace and love and be drawn to know you in your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We ask it in his name. Amen.