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Published: January 27th 2014
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IS CHRIST DIVIDED?
Theme for the week Christ said "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you" in the C. S. Lewis book 'The Four Loves' he altered this when reflecting on Christian fellowship to "You have not chosen one another, but I have chosen you for one another" Thanks be to God for Christian fellowship. Last week we were invited to attend a 'Week of Prayer for Christian Unity' (WPCU). This consisted of daily, 30 minute prayer meetings, Monday to Friday at 12.15pm and a final service on Sunday at 6.00pm. The idea is to bring together the different churches in the area to pray and discuss the 'Divided Church' and also to discuss the question 'Is Christ Divided'. Material is adopted from the Iona Abby Worship Book.
Monday 20th January we met at St. Marys in Albrighton for day 1 of WPCU where we had 17 attendees from the various churches. After listening to 3 Bible readings (Evelyn read from 1 Peter 12 : 9-10) we were asked to think about and discuss two questions 'What do Saints look like' and 'What would a Holy Nation look like'. At the end of the meeting we were asked to go away and
consider Food issues, its scarcity, expense & wastage.
Following the service at St Marys we were invited to dinner at the Manor house where we enjoyed a great home cooked vegetarian meal, great wine and good conversation.
Tuesday 21st January we met for day 2 WPCU at St. Joseph's Catholic Church Albrighton where we had 22 attendees. Again after listening to 3 Bible readings we were asked to discuss why the churches still can't bring together all the different Christian denominations as one. After some discussion on word interpretation in the various services we were asked if the churches in Australia had similar issues and did we know how our churches were progressing. We did mention that from our limited experience we thought that inroads were being made locally with such things as joint Lenten studies, prayer meetings and combined services especially at Easter, Christmas etc. and combine ALPHA courses. Evelyn did mention an issue that has confused her, if the churches can come together for prayers & meetings and also use similar Liturgy with the same readings on the same Sundays why does the Catholic Church still have an issue with sharing or giving Holy Communion to
non-Catholics.
On We
dnesday 22nd January after the 9.30am Holy Communion & bible study service at St Marys where we discussed Evelyn's comments from day 2 WPCU which had created much thought amongst those who attended, we met at St Chads in Boningale for day 3 WPCU. We had 13 attendees who listened to 3 Bible readings (Evelyn read Ephesians 4 : 7-13. The discussion for day 3 was based on spiritual gifts and how best to use them ecumenically. Another interesting, thought provoking and rewarding session.
Thursday 23rd January we met for day 4 WPCU at Christ the King which is the non-denominational church at RAF Cosford. We had 13 attendees and the service was led by the RAF Padre. The service was slightly different from the previous days as time was given to think, listen to 2 readings and 2 modern hymns, then opportunities to light a candle and say a prayer for people who need God's love and our mercy & understanding. It was a very moving service.
As Christ the King is a long walk for us Ken Aston from the St Chads congregation and someone we have become good friends with
offered to drive us. After the service Ken invited to his house for lunch where we enjoyed a meal of hot soup and crusty bread along with great conversation especially about Ken's life living in Boningale.
Friday 24th January we met at St Cuthbert’s Anglican Church Donnington for day 4 of WPCU where 19 people attended. The service followed a similar format to those on the other days but with a more informal discussion on 'Power', The need to be 'Right' and the 'Trinity'. After, as we shared tea/coffee we gave out some 'Prayer Sticks' provided by Bob Collie to those attending from the other churches.
Sunday 26th January the final service of the WPCU week was held as part of the regular 6.00pm Sunday service at the Methodist church in Albrighton, with 35 people in attendance. Evelyn was asked to read Psalm 36 : 5-10 'Gods unfailing love' This was the first church service we had attended during our time here in the UK where some form of electronic overhead was used as part of the service; however the laptop was operated by the Minister as he conducted the service?????
Summary of the WPCU week -
Dear friends, Jess is normally the one who puts our thoughts and words together on our blog but for the summary of what has been a truly moving and spiritual week I felt the spirit within me guiding me to say these words. We have been blessed each day to take part in such wonderful Christian fellowship. We have made new friends from different walks of life, all of whom want to serve God in the best way that they can. We have learned that together in Christian Unity we can become a stronger body, together we can be the people that God wants us to be, in ways that Our Lord taught us when he was amongst us. His final command to us, to love one another as he loves us, not just love for our friends and our family but a love for all. We all have spiritual and material gifts to share, sometimes we are not aware of the spiritual gifts that God has given us, sometimes we lack the confidence to be able to show these gifts to others and act upon them but I was once told that God always gives us tasks to do
that he is confident in knowing we can handle. We just need to trust and obey. There are many ways we can be of help to others every day of our lives. We can't all be missionaries or World Leaders but we can play our part, in helping and supporting those in countries that are needy, but just as important we can help and support those around us, in the communities we live in, with acts of kindness and a helping hand, sometimes a friendly loving word is all that it takes. We can all do this together in God's name.
This week, we as Christians of different denominations have shared in worship together, we have read readings from similar bibles, we have prayed together, lit candles together and shared conversation and discussion together. Christians in Unity. One thing I do find hard to understand and I do realize that different denominations have different thoughts and teachings, different rules and regulations that are difficult to overcome, is my failure to understand why we can't all share in the Holy Sacraments together, the partaking of Holy Communion, the body and blood of Our Lord. A symbol of Christian Unity. But
I truly believe that as long as we have Christians in the world that seek this, that there will always be hope for this unity to come together one day. We were asked the question in our Sunday night service, “Is Christ divided?" No! It’s not Christ who is divided it is God's people.
At one of our meetings someone said, “It would be difficult for us all to share in Holy Communion together for a service, the church would be full to bursting"
WOW !!! Wonderful, a church bursting with people all praising God. Halleluiah what Christian Unity !!!!
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June
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A week of prayer
What a wonderful time of prayer and fellowship0 and learning. God is truly blessing you both.