Each day during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we provide a starting point, reflection, questions and a prayer based on the theme. Here you can turn your reflections into action with our Go and Do points. Please check here for any up-to-date links.
Day 1
- Take time to learn about a culture/language/nation of which you know nothing, or very little. Learn as much as you can about those people and, if at all possible, learn more directly from a person or persons from that group.
- Include a different language in the worship of your church at your next service – it may be even more effective if no one in your congregation understands it!
- Look back in the news from 10 years ago to find a group of people who were endangered at that time. Find out what their situation is now and how you, your church or group of churches could support them and/or learn from them.
Day 2
- Consider trying a devotional tool or app from another tradition. Pray that God will give you the humility and openness of heart to be open to receive something new from the tradition.
- What social justice or local outreach projects are active in your area and led by those from a different tradition or background to you? Find out and get involved.
- Join the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Prayer Cycle praying with people from all around the world: https://www.oikoumene.org/resources/prayer-cycle
Day 3
- Meet people from another community and share stories together.
- Invite people from another community to help you to reflect on how you can act as ‘We. Not Me’.
- Identify some different groups within your community and reflect on how you might pray and work ‘with’ them, rather than ‘for’ them.
Day 4
- Sit and reflect, lament the pain you have noticed in your community (when it gets uncomfortable, stay for a while longer).
- Who do you need to move closer to in order to hear their pain?
- Connect with some people on the margins in your community to learn about their narrative of history and its consequences. What steps can you take to be a truth-teller of history?
Day 5
- Research opportunities to participate virtually in global gatherings to raise awareness of situations of injustice, connecting with people across borders and cultures.
- Identify a group in your local area that is working to address the exclusion or stigma that can leave people feeling unheard or unseen, and support one of their events or initiatives.
- Consider using social media, or other personal networks, to share examples from around the world of people who are courageously speaking out to challenge injustice.
Day 6
- What power do you have? Put that power to use for the service of others.
- Find three ways in which the churches in your area could serve your community. And act on those things!
- Agree as a group of churches on a project that empowers people locally, nationally or internationally, and form an action plan to put that into practice.
Day 7
- Try volunteering for a local community organisation.
- Where do you see people being denied agency in your local community? Explore ways to take action that raises awareness.
- In the work of international development there is increasing recognition of the need to address the legacy of injustice and exploitation and restore to marginalised communities the power to make decisions about their own future. Explore ways to help further this work through your giving and advocacy.
Day 8
- Racial justice will only take root in churches if they take the issue seriously. What tangible changes could your church make to connect to the global movement for racial justice?
- Racial Justice Sunday is marked annually on the second Sunday in February. Encourage your church to celebrate this day, which is committed to fighting for justice, equality and dignity in church and society: https://ctbiarchive.org/category/witnessing-together/racial-justice/racial-justice-sunday/
- Stephen Lawrence wanted to become an architect. Why not mentor or support a teenager like Stephen, so that she or he will be able to realise their dreams.
https://stephenlawrenceday.org
