This edition of our CTBI Magazine (which you can read on the website, or download) is particularly rich in diversity in its themes, experiences and global reach. We have travelled to Sri Lanka and Estonia, welcomed church leaders from the Caribbean to Britain for the Windrush 75 anniversary and we prepare to join in prayer with the churches of Burkina Faso for next year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
As part of the symposium ‘Being Churches Together in 21st Century Ireland’, organised by the Irish Council of Churches and the Irish Inter-Church Meeting, I was invited to respond to the question: ‘How can churches best bring their values to the public square when challenged with a lack of human and financial resources?’
Reflecting on this question, which is a particularly live and relevant one across the different national contexts brought together in Churches Together in Britian and Ireland (CTBI), it occurred to me that there are some significant threads running through the different areas of work featured here, centred on listening and learning, and this of course goes to the heart of how the work of Christian unity is carried out. We come together to listen to the experiences of others, open to what we may have to learn from them, and willing to share any learning we may have to offer.
Our primary focus is on building relationships, and we can sometimes fail to notice how this sharing strengthens and enhances the work of mission, and not only that which is done ecumenically, but also the evangelising outreach of participating denominations and congregations.
In this edition of the magazine we listen to experiences of the United Reformed Church as it contemplates a significant crossroads in its future; of the Irish churches as they reflect on significant anniversaries; of the National Christian Council in Sri Lanka as they respond to the cries of a country in crisis; of the Windrush generation as they challenge barriers of belonging; to Christians in Burkina Faso as they share their vision for the work of peace and reconciliation with the global Church, and the list goes on. In each case there is an opportunity to think about how we might apply this knowledge and experience to our own contexts and the particular challenges that are foremost in our own minds.
As we prepare for the next Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we are reminded of the contribution we can make by supporting all of this work in prayer. Here too we can see significant common threads running through the different areas of work across the globe: the need for peace, reconciliation and the healing of relationships, and the hope that the Church might realise its full potential to be a force for good in this area. The churches of Burkina Faso remind us that Christ’s commandment to ‘love our neighbour’ not only still applies in a context of security threat but takes on a particular relevance and significance.
This year, Christian churches from across Europe gathered in Tallinn for the General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches with the theme ‘Under God’s Blessing — Shaping the Future’. Incoming President H. E. Nikitas, Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain, challenged us to think about what it means for Christians to be bridge-builders in a world that all too often wants to put up walls. We can continue the work initiated in that coming together of Christians on a continental level by praying for renewed peace in Europe, with deeper attention to relationships and belonging. We pray especially for an end to the terrible suffering in Ukraine, and for all those in Ukraine and Russia who are being harmed by this invasion. We pray for greater global solidarity for the Armenian people losing their lives and their hopes for the future. We remember all those suffering, and working for peace, in the many forgotten conflicts around the world, especially those we seek to support through CTBI in Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka, working in contexts considered to be post-conflict but where the threat of violence remains and there is still a long road ahead to mend and build bridges and heal relationships. In the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity we join with our fellow Christians around the world in praying that the learning from our ecumenical journey will help us to bring a message of hope and healing wherever people are divided on issues of identity and belonging.
Dr Nicola Brady, General Secretary, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
