Christians from multiple denominations gathered on Jan. 19 for a special worship service celebrating the 2025 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU). Each year, the week is observed from January 18 – 25, and the service in Ottawa is hosted by a different denomination. This year’s service was at the Ottawa Mennonite Church.
Prayers and reflections for 2025 were prepared by the brothers and sisters of the monastic community of Bose in northern Italy. And because 2025 is the 1700th anniversary of the creation of Nicene Creed, the creed was a focus. The global theme chosen was a question “Do you believe this?” from John 11:26.
The Rev. Canon Catherine Ascah is the diocesan ecumenical officer and represents the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa on the Christian Council of the Capital Area. She participated in the service reading one of the lessons in French.
Dr. Murray Watson, a Catholic Biblical scholar, ecumenism activist and interfaith educator and adjunct professor at Huron University College in London, Ont., offered an inspiring reflection on that theme, which we share an excerpt from:
“There was a time when Christians could rely on mainstream Western society to generally support them in affirming their faith in Jesus’ incarnation, his suffering, death and resurrection. But those days, the days of worship, of church and society in cahoots with each other, are pretty much gone. And that is almost certainly for the best for all of us. But what is left is a bunch of people like us, who continue to recite this Nicene Creed 1,700 years later, who counter-culturally and almost defiantly continue to believe and put into practice what it says about God and humanity.
“And as this year’s 1700th anniversary reminds us, the fact that we can all affirm that creed is something both amazing and inspiring, especially if we know anything about the history of the theological infighting and feuding that went into its promulgation in 325.
But in a world like ours, it also reminds us that as members of Christ’s one family, we should not be, we cannot be, strangers to each other, worse yet, hostile to each other, or triumphalistically gloating over each other’s struggles.
“If that creed means anything, it’s that we belong to each other on a fundamental, intrinsic level. We believe, it says, in one baptism. And we are united by faith that we must believe and profess and live together. Denominational labels have their place, and there is no denying the painful histories of our past divisions over those 1700 years, but we are living through a different time today. And that time calls us to a common, loving, credible witness to this Jesus we say we believe in, not as competitors, not as strangers, not even really as friends, but more as members of a single, if fractured and imperfect, and highly dysfunctional family.
“There is no debating that it is not easy in our world to say, ‘Yes, I believe this. Yes, I believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, the Son of God and the saviour of the world. Yes, I believe that God’s love for us is more powerful than our selfishness, than our exclusions and our mistakes. Yes, I believe that God is still at work in this messed up world of ours, which He made, and which He loves.
“It sounds quaint to people. For some of us there are days that those words do not easily come tripping off our lips. It’s hard sometimes even to convince ourselves. The Easter triumph of Jesus is not as obvious in this world as we would prefer it to be. But in a culture where believing, and believing publicly, is increasingly challenging, ecumenism becomes even more important.
“We have always needed each other, but perhaps today we need each other more than ever before, not because we want to rebuild that Christendom and retake the levers of power in society, but because we can support each other in believing. We can reassure each other in believing. We can strengthen each other in believing. When believing is difficult, the power of our Christian community together is more important than ever, and denominational labels seem less and less significant.
“We have seen that phenomenon over and over again in totalitarian settings, where Christians of different denominations and churches have borne witness side by side, have suffered together and died together for a faith they shared. But they have also lived together. … I think of the broad ecumenical coalitions that came together to support the march for Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Rights era. I think of the ecumenical coalitions we have here in Canada, like Kairos, who have been working for decades on environmental protection, justice for Indigenous peoples, international development, poverty reduction. I think of the Christians who even today come together in the wake of natural disaster and tragedy to stand hand in hand with other people of faith to meet concrete needs and be signs of solidarity and hope when they are faced with darkness.”
Music was a highlight of the service in beautiful hymns sung by a joint choir from Kanata United Church and the Ottawa Mennonite Church and led by choir conductor Eric Rupp and Nicholas Busch. Solos by cellist William Voth opened and closed the service.
Love yourself as your neighbour