Christian Unity week and peace Sunday!

dysonWed 16/01/08 00:26

This week 20th January 2nd Sunday in Ordinary time year A year of St Matthew's Gospel! Pray for peace and unity in christian Unity week! We could also pray for acceptance which is quite a bitter issue between the gay community and Christian Leaders.

dysonWed 16/01/08 00:58

Jesus Christ, our Lord and our brother,
you have called us to be your one Church.
Make us one in our faith and hope,
and one in our loving service.
Make us one in worship and in daily living.

Lord Jesus,
send your Spirit to make us one
as you want us to be.

We ask this, Jesus,
for you are our Lord and our saviour for ever.

Amen.

dysonWed 16/01/08 01:02

fatherjohnWed 16/01/08 01:25

I am all in favour of prayer for peace and unity.
May it happen in our time.

dysonWed 16/01/08 01:45

yes and may we have the grace to love the world around us and only by accepting will we be accepted!

clansmanchrisWed 16/01/08 02:09

Perhaps it is the Orangeman in me but I am always sceptical about calls for "Christian Unity".

To quote from my recent submission to the House of Commons' Communities and Local Government Select Committee's inquiry into Community Cohesion and Migration:-

"It is perhaps appropriate for the Committee to take as the starting point of its inquiry the Commission on Integration and Cohesion's report Our Shared Future, not least as the previous Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Ruth Kelly MP) announced the creation of the Commission on Integration and Cohesion as a direct result of the spread of Islamic fundamentalism across the United Kingdom.

There are a number of points to make here. Firstly, one cannot help feeling how ironic it is that was Ruth Kelly who launched the Commission when she is not only the grand-daughter of the late Phil Murphy – who was Quartermaster of the West Fermanagh IRA Battalion during the 1919-21 Irish War of Independence – but she herself is a Member of Opus Dei (a conservative Roman Catholic sect), particularly when the IRA are still actively maiming and murdering our compatriots in Northern Ireland and the Church of Rome itself has done little, if anything, to excommunicate IRA members from its ranks or, unlike the Church of England, surrender control of its schools to the state (during the enactment of the 1944 Education Act) in order to facilitate (non-denominational) state schools in place of separate church schools.

Secondly, on the subject of church/faith schools, one cannot help feeling that Roman Catholic maintained schools are as much a breeding ground for hostility towards the Protestant succession to the British throne and our constitutional monarchy (as enshrined in the 1689 Bill of Rights and 1701 Act of Settlement) as state-funded Muslim schools are for nurturing Islamic fundamentalists intent on proclaiming jihad (holy war) on the indigenous population.

Repeal of the Bill of Rights and/or Act of Settlement would reduce the status of the United Kingdom from being a sovereign nation-state to a Papal satellite as the monarch would no longer be our head of state but subservient to a foreign power (i.e., the Holy See), and should be fiercely opposed by all right-thinking people, lest our nation returns to the theocracy of the Dark Ages.

Thirdly, there is increasing evidence that indigenous Christians are being prosecuted – or should one say persecuted – by civil authorities (i.e., the police and the courts) for purportedly 'inciting religious hatred', be it by open-air preaching of the Gospel or the distribution of Bible tracts and other literature explaining Christian opposition to issues such as abortion and embryo-experimentation, when those self-same authorities are simultaneously turning a blind eye to the activities of Islamic fundamentalists, which threatens to destroy the freedom of speech and publication of indigenous Christians and extinguish the very light of the Reformed Faith which liberated our country from the Dark Ages during the Reformation.

Fourthly, amidst the drive to foster cultural and/or racial integration, the question must be asked for how long will ethnic minorities in England and Wales be afforded grants under Section 11 of the 1966 Local Government Act to finance initiatives and projects (e.g.,
exclusively Asian community centres) to enable members of ethnic minorities to overcome so-called 'disadvantage' brought about by differences of language or culture which, in turn, has spawned apartheid in the provision of amenities, facilities and services (as opposed to integration and cohesion) in areas contaminated by large-scale immigration;

Fifthly, whilst one wishes to see harmony between different races and cultures, one does not condone the move to integration and/or unity at any price as ecumenism and syncretism are anathema to all true believers and patriots who believe John 17:17 (i.e., 'Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth') to teach the sanctification (i.e., the setting apart) of God's people to prevent their minds, bodies and souls, being polluted by inter-racial breeding and multi-faith bonding, etc, just as surely as Deuteronomy 17:15 (i.e., 'Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose; one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother') to be an exhortation not to afford Non-Britons and/or Non-Christians authority over our land and people.

Sixthly, in this – the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue and the United Nations International Year of Languages – one cannot help feeling that it is time to desist the temptation to promote the use of languages other than English at great cost to the local and national tax-payer, not least in the interpretation of foreign languages and the publication of local and central government publications in the language of many ethnic minorities who, quite frankly, are fast becoming the majority population in many UK towns and cities and who show no signs of integrating with the indigenous population. Amidst the ongoing migration into the United Kingdom from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the New Commonwealth and Pakistan – and the enormous strain which non-English-speaking immigrants place on public and local services – Her Majesty's Government should not be loth to introduce a programme of assisted repatriation for immigrants who wish to return to their country of origin.

Seventh, whilst I appreciate that the Committee's remit does not extend to formally advising Government of future policy, one feels it would do no harm for Members to recommend that HMG heeds the following words, taken from the 1986 Aims of the [Conservative and Unionist] Monday Club:-

We are opposed to any further large-scale immigration from the New Commonwealth and Pakistan since we believe that this will hinder the full integration of those immigrants already in this country and hence would be detrimental to good race relations. We support schemes of assistance for those who wish to return to their family's country of origin. All illegal immigrants should be deported.

We are opposed to divisive race relations legislation and the publicly-financed race relations industry. We call for the abolition of the Commission for Racial Equality [now Equality Commission – CL] and the repeal of the Race Relations Acts. We believe that these are in practice inimical to good relations and are intolerable and unacceptable in a free society.

We are opposed to racial discrimination of all kinds and note that the only form of it currently favoured by any authority is ‘positive discrimination' in favour of ethnic minorities. This must stop as it is enhancing racial tension between communities. We must also counter the activities of all extremists who seek to promote race hatred'.

In short, I would be happier if Christians throughout the UK - and particularly on OUT - concentrated more of their efforts on maintaining and strengthening the Union of ther United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, not forgetting that it is the Protestant (Reformed) Faith which underpins the 1701 Act of Settlement, 1707 Treaty of Union between England and Scotland, and 1801 Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland, than indulging in ecumenical services and bowing their knee to the Be

dysonWed 16/01/08 02:25

The Christian Unity theme is only really in the Churches! I personally cannot call insighting religious hatred Christian! And I would hope any priests would be more likely to ex communicate people who do rather then anyone else.

This does not really have anything to do with state matters. The Wales , England, Scotland matter is National Unity indeed pray for that if you want! Where schools are concerned I would now think Bishops and people involved should look on that especially now since Blair's administration has gone allot of politicians in those department would be in favor of secularising schools and abolishing faith schools. So it will be tough.

However I do intend for this thread on Christian Unity to be based on that Theme. Politics, state and national matters are a different subject.

We can pray particularly for acceptance! It is a very difficult situation between the gay community.

fatherjohnWed 16/01/08 03:37

I agree with you Dave about praying in particular for acceptance of LGBT people in the churches. We have seen and are seeing how divisive an issue this is, sparking schism and outright hate on people's part.

cantorWed 16/01/08 08:12

Secondly, on the subject of church/faith schools, one cannot help feeling that Roman Catholic maintained schools are as much a breeding ground for hostility towards the Protestant succession to the British throne and our constitutional monarchy (as enshrined in the 1689 Bill of Rights and 1701 Act of Settlement) as state-funded Muslim schools are for nurturing Islamic fundamentalists intent on proclaiming jihad (holy war) on the indigenous population.

The very traditional RC liturgy at which I'm employed to sing every Sunday morning adds, in Latin, at the end of the service "O Lord, save our queen Elizabeth, and hear on the day when we call to thee". That has been commonly added to the end of mass in this country ever since Catholic emancipation.

I feel far more threatened by anti-catholic protestants in the Church of England than by the catholic movement within it. (Whilst the monarch has been made to uphold the "protestant" religion since shortly after the Restoration of the monarchy in the 17th century, the actual reform of the C of E was intended to keep catholics and protestants together in one denomination, rather than to suppress either, for which reason the catholic creeds are retained, and the word "protestant" appears in no church formulary.)

dysonThu 17/01/08 22:01

Some of the anglican catholic churches probably do a better job at preserving the traditional liturgy then my RC churches!

#91064Sun 20/01/08 22:20

Here's a link to today's sermon on Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at my church in Cambridge.
http://www.cambridgeunitarian.org/services.php?view=show&file=54_Christian%20Unity.txt

baalhadadSun 20/01/08 23:59

quoting > "Fifthly, whilst one wishes to see harmony between different races and cultures, one does not condone the move to integration and/or unity at any price as ecumenism and syncretism are anathema to all true believers and patriots who believe John 17:17 (i.e., 'Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth') to teach the sanctification (i.e., the setting apart) of God's people to prevent their minds, bodies and souls, being polluted by inter-racial breeding and multi-faith bonding, etc, just as surely as Deuteronomy 17:15 (i.e., 'Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose; one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother') to be an exhortation not to afford Non-Britons and/or Non-Christians authority over our land and people."

'polluted by inter-racial breeding'?

And John 17:17? How about John 17:20-26 :

"I pray not only for these but also for those who through their teaching will come to believe in me.

May they all be one, just as, Father, you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.

I have given them the glory you gave to me, that they may be one as we are one.

With me in them and you in me, may they be so perfected in unity that the world will recognise that it was you who sent me and that you have loved them as you have loved me.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they may always see my glory which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Father, Upright One, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these have known that you have sent me.

I have made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and so that I may be in them."

It seems to me that whatever one's disagreements with another denomination, there is a direct exhortation for Unity. And it seems to me that the passage contains absolutely nothing about race.