Photos from the celebrations of the 2017 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity services in Toronto, Montréal, and Mission, BC.
Toronto’s main 2017 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service was held at St Michael’s Cathedral Basilica. Photos taken by Michael Swan of The Catholic Register.
St John’s Lutheran Church hosted the service in Montréal.
The image of a tumbling wall brings up many memories in Germany, not least the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, which opened the way to the country’s reunification. Another dividing wall is the one that existed in the minds of Christians of different confessions for centuries.
At St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Mission, BC, participating pastors were from St. Joseph’s Catholic, All Saints Anglican, St. Paul’s Presbyterian, Bethel Pentecostal Assembly, Mission Hills Community, and St. Andrew’s United churches, with attendance from members of these congregations and from other churches in the area.
When I introduced the ministers at the beginning, I made a blunder and everyone laughed which really got everything off to a great start. The lighting of the candles seemed to set everyone aglow. It was very special when all the pastors raised their hands in the final blessing. There was a wonderful feeling of elation as we processed out singing, “Let us build the City of God.” We were blessed to have terrific music ministry. As I went downstairs to the reception, I could hear the noise level, everyone was having a good time and there was lots of conversation. There were participants in the service from churches other than the ones represented by their pastors. Wishing you God’s blessings in all your work for Christian unity!
Anne Goodsell, parish rep for ecumenism and interfaith dialogue for St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Mission, BC