January 22nd at 3:00 PM
St Cecilia Church
5020 7th Ave. Regina
With Archbishop Donald Bolen
Reconciliation – The Love of Christ Compels Us
(cf. 2 Corinthians 5:14-20)
Dear Friends:
For over forty years, the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) has supported the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Canada.
This year, we’ve made a change in the way we offer Canadian Week of Prayer for Christian Unity materials. We want to share the reasons for this change with you, let you know how you can access Canadian resources for this ecumenical celebration, and ask for your comments and feedback.
Every year, our Commission on Faith and Witness assembles an ecumenical writing team to prepare Canadian Week of Prayer for Christian Unity resources. Members of this writing team adapt for the Canadian context the prayers prepared by the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity; create additional resources, including artwork and posters, for the use of local pastors and community leaders; provide a French Canadian translation of all materials; and support celebrations of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity across Canada. We are delighted to do this work in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism and the Prairie Centre for Ecumenism.
For many years, we have offered the results of our work as a set of printed resources that could be ordered by local communities and individuals. We have also shared an online version of these materials on our website.
Over the past few years, we have observed a shift in the use of Canadian Week of Prayer for Christian Unity resources. Most communities and individuals now prefer to download materials from our website, rather than order a printed kit. A small proportion still order printed resources. It seems this shift represents a permanent change.
This change entails some practical consequences for us. In the past, we have partially offset the costs of layout and printing through asking you for a small contribution for each printed Canadian Week of Prayer kit. Although these contributions did not cover our full production costs, they enabled us to offer printed kits for the use of Canadian communities. Unfortunately, the steady decline in orders for printed resources has made this practice economically unfeasible for us. Still, we remain committed to offering you user-friendly, accessible, and flexible Canadian resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
As always, all materials will be available on our website.
Some printed 2017 materials will also be available for order (see How to Order for a list of available printed resources, and for information on how to obtain them).
We know that these changes might pose challenges for some. If you or your community need printed resources for 2017, please contact Maria Simakova, Coordinator for the Commission on Faith and Witness ([email protected] / 416-882-4064). She will be happy to assist you with obtaining a printed version of all 2017 materials.
We would love to hear your comments, suggestions, and feedback regarding this change in the way we distribute Canadian Week of Prayer resources. We also welcome your feedback on the 2017 materials in general, and would be delighted to hear any news from your community’s celebrations of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 2017.
We ask that you share your comments with us by completing the Comments and Feedback form included in your full download kit, or by completing an online version of the form. You are also most welcome to contact Maria Simakova at any time with your comments and suggestions.
We trust that the 2017 materials will be of use to you as you join millions of other Christians around the world, and particularly the Christians of Germany who have prepared this year’s international resources, in praying for the unity of Christ’s Church.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Susan Climo
Chair of the CCC Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Writing Team