LAST year’s 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (News, 23 May 2025) offered significant opportunities to reflect on the health of ecumenism today. The commemorations culminated in the Sixth World Conference on Faith and Order in Alexandria, last October, on the theme “Where now for visible unity?” (News, 31 October 2025). The outcome of that conference — which drew together 400 delegates from the 356 member Churches of the World Council of Churches (WCC) — was the call to all Christians to renew their commitment to faith, mission, and unity. “The visible unity of the Church is not only a theological aspiration but also a gospel imperative,” a communiqué stated after the event. Christian unity could not be achieved “solely by agreed texts”, it continued. “Rather, it needs to be lived out in daily Christian life: in shared prayer and study of the Bible, in the constant reception of the heritage and tradition of the Early Church, in personal encounters and meetings.” And this was especially so in a world where Christians suffered persecution and suffering.
The regular recitation of the Nicene Creed is a useful prompt for Christians to reflect on the ties that bind us across denominations and nations. The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18-25 January) offers another important chance to focus on an issue for all seasons. The need for interdenominational (and interfaith) co-operation and understanding has never been more pressing. It is timely, then, that this year’s resources published by the WCC have been prepared by the Armenian Apostolic Church in partnership with the Armenian Catholic and Evangelical Churches. Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity formally, in 301, and the Church there has survived through centuries of persecution and genocide; indeed, the Armenian Apostolic Church is currently locked in a prolonged dispute with the country’s Prime Minister (News, 1 August 2025). “For us, Christian unity is not an abstract concept, but a lived reality. It is about survival, hope, and common witness,” the Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of the UK and Ireland, Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, said in a video earlier this month.
The 2026 resources draw on centuries-old traditions of prayer, together with hymns that originated in the ancient monasteries of Armenia. At their heart is a judicious reminder that the call to unity is a call to work for peace — something that is sharply brought into focus by the significant presence of the Armenian diaspora in Russia and Ukraine, and throughout the Middle East, as well as the plight of the Armenians attacked and displaced by Azerbaijan. The resources are designed to remind all Christians of the call to shine a light on injustices and to help bring an end to violence — through prayer, advocacy, education, and hospitality. As Dr Mikie Roberts, programme executive for Spiritual Life and Faith and Order for the WCC, notes: “In many corners of our world, hope is fast fading in the face of unprecedented suffering.” Christians are called to pray, and to pray together.
