Is Christian disunity a scandal before God? Or is it something we have grown accustomed to, as though it were a creaky door that we never seem to get around to fixing? St Paul’s words challenge us as we reflect upon this question. To suggest that disunity is something acceptable is declaring that Christ himself is divided – and that really is a scandal!
2013 was the year in which churches from all inhabited continents of the world gathered in Korea for the 10th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches. We gathered for no other reason than to declare to the world that our disunity is a scandal and that we will go on praying for and working for that unity which is God’s gift to the church and to the world.
The Churches of French Canada have chosen for us a key biblical text of the ecumenical movement and have invited us to think about what our divisions say to the world and to each other about the Christian faith. They have also suggested that we use the Millennium Goals as a focus for our prayers for the world.
Dates
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is traditionally observed from the 18th to the 25th January – the octave of St. Peter and St. Paul. However, some areas observe it at Pentecost or some other time. To allow for local decision making, the material has only the year on it and the days are denoted by the numbers one to eight, so you can use it at any time of year.
Christian Aid
This year we are again continuing our partnership with Christian Aid which has provided Go and Do action points for each of the daily reflections – linking into the important work of Christian Aid in the relief of poverty and advocacy of justice.
Resources
The resources for 2014 are available as downloads below. There is also an order form to purchase the material in a published format.
Resources from 2015 and 2013 are also still available to download. Older resources can be found on our archive website at www.ctbiarchive.org/704.
Printed resources
Printed copies of the Is Christ divided? pamphlet, which includes daily reflections plus an order of service, are available to order from:
Norwich Books and Music
Tel: 01603 78592501603 785925,
or download and print out the flyer/order form below.
The pamphlet is available in English, large print English and Welsh/English. A3 posters are also available in English, Welsh and Irish.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – order form
For download
Download help
If you have problems with downloads, please consult the Help.
Printing A5 booklets
Many of the downloads are designed to be printed as A5 booklets on A4 paper. Please see last year’s printing help as a guide to printing the PDF documents. Word documents are set up as A5 booklets and can be printed in landscape mode onto A4 paper, using your printer’s duplex printing option (or manually refeeding the paper) to print on both sides of the paper.
Pamphlet – Is Christ Divided?
English
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – English pamphlet (PDF, 7MB)
(Please note this is a large file – see download guide)
* This is designed to be printed as an A5 booklet on A4 paper (please see last year’s printing help) but can also be printed as A4 (in Adobe Reader 10, choose File/Print, then under Size Options select ‘Fit’).
For a Large Print version print the pamphlet as A4.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – English pamphlet (Doc, 2.1MB)
(Please note this is a large file – see download guide)
* Note: because many of the graphics go to the edge of the paper, depending upon your printer, you may see a message that the margins are outside the printable area. It should still print ok.
Welsh /English
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – Welsh and English pamphlet (PDF, 8MB)(Please note this is a large file – see download guide)* This is designed to be printed as an A5 booklet on A4 paper (please see last year’s English printing help as a guide), but can also be printed as A4 (in Adobe Reader 10, choose File/Print, then under Size Options select ‘Fit’).
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – Welsh and English pamphlet (Doc, 4.3MB)
(Please note this is a large file – see download guide)* Note: because many of the graphics go to the edge of the paper, depending upon your printer, you may see a message that the margins are outside the printable area. It should still print ok.
Irish Order of Service
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – Irish order of service (PDF, 3.5MB)
(Please note this is a large file – see download guide)* This is designed to be printed as an A5 booklet on A4 paper (please see last year’s English printing help as a guide), but can also be printed as A4 (in Adobe Reader 10, choose File/Print, then under Size Options select ‘Fit’).
Irish Reflections for the 8 Days
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 -Irish reflections for the 8 days (PDF, 2.8MB)(Please note this is a large file – see download guide)* This is designed to be printed as an A5 booklet on A4 paper (please see last year’s English printing help as a guide), but can also be printed as A4 (in Adobe Reader 10, choose File/Print, then under Size Options select ‘Fit’).
Leaders’ Notes
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 -Leaders notes (PDF, 300k)
All Age materials
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – All age materials (Doc, 1.1MB)
Drama sketch
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – Drama Sketch (PDF, 300k)
Powerpoint presentations of service
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – English Powerpoint (PPT, 2.3MB)
(Please note this is a large file – see download guide
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – Welsh and English Powerpoint (PPT, 1.9MB)
(Please note this is a large file – see download guide)
Poster (A3/A4)
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – A3 multilingual poster (PDF, 2MB)
(Please note this is a large file – see download guide)
This can also be printed on A4 paper:
in Adobe Reader 10, choose File/Print, then under Size Options select ‘Shrink oversized pages’.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – A3 English poster (PDF, 1.8MB)
(Please note this is a large file – see download guide). This can also be printed on A4 paper:
in Adobe Reader 10, choose File/Print, then under
Size Options select ‘Shrink oversized pages’.
Editing the poster
You can add text to the local information box using the latest version of the free Adobe Reader software (download from http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/).
Click on the pen and paper icon (third from the left on the top menu), then click on ‘Add text’ in the panel on the right hand side. You can then click in the local information box and start typing.
It is also possible to open and edit PDF files in Word 2013.
International material and background to the theme
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – International material (PDF, 250k)
Homily notes from the Irish School of Ecumenics
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – Homily notes – Irish School of Ecumenics (PDF, 330k)
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2014 – Homily notes – Irish School of Ecumenics (Doc, 180k)
