By Chris Miller
EDMONTON (CCN)
 

Nothing that we do in love is ever wasted.

 

That was the central message of the Rev. Dr. Catherine MacLean, from St. Paul's United Church, when reflecting on the theme of this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held this year Jan. 18 to 25.

 

"Rev. Larry Kochendorfer (an Evangelical Lutheran) reminded us that one of the things we have in common as Christians is our anxiety," said the Rev. MacLean. "It is an acknowledgement of what we all feel, the fear that we have for our churches and ourselves. It brings us humility to acknowledge that we feel anxiety."

 

Through the blessings of one another, the love for one another, Christians can eradicate that anxiety and fear and, instead, find unity, she said.

 

More than 100 people attended the evening prayer service, held Jan. 22 at Knox Metropolitan United Church.

 

This year's choir, called United Voices of Edmonton, was comprised of the combined choirs of Robertson-Wesley United Church, Knox-Metropolitan United Church and Willan Chorale.

 

The theme for the prayer service was We Will All Be Changed. The change is that which comes from the victory of Jesus, as stated in 1 Cor 15.51-58.

 

"Victory for Christians of all denominations is in Jesus," said Anglican Bishop Jane Alexander.

"But it's not a victory in the way the world sees it, and it's not a victory for who has the most people in their churches."

 

Participating in the service were Latin-rite Catholics, Ukrainian Catholics, Anglicans, Evangelical Lutherans, Presbyterians, Quakers, Baptists, and members of the United Church.

 

"I suspect the fact that there are some 38,000 denominations of Christians was not what Jesus had in mind," said Bishop Alexander. Through Jesus's victory, Christians undergo a transformation of unimaginable fullness and love, she said.

 

To attain our victory in Christ involves longing for unity, and not just for one special week, but every single day.

 

Today's disunity among Christians and the spiritual hunger of this age will convince fewer people of the victory of Jesus, she said.

She said that when Edmonton's faith community spoke with one voice on the issue of homelessness, it made a difference and the whole city could witness the victory of Christ.

 

Greeting the congregation and leading the opening prayer was Julien Hammond from the Edmonton District Council of Churches. Hammond is the director of ecumenical and interfaith relations for the Edmonton Archdiocese.

 

Another Catholic representative, Pallotine Father George Neumann, led the prayers for unity and transformation.

 

Representatives from four different churches spoke during a segment of the service called "The Voices from the Churches." A common message among them was that all Christians are followers of Christ, a commonality regardless of denomination.

 

The Church Unity Octave, a forerunner of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was first observed in 1908. This movement caught the imagination of the Franciscan Friars and Sisters of the Atonement, gradually blossoming into a worldwide observance.

Western Catholic Reporter