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<\/a>It\u2019s always a real shame when a great idea is shrugged off \u2013 particularly since the Week of Prayer isn\u2019t \u201cowned\u201d by the WCC. This year\u2019s official text was approved jointly by the Faith and Order Commission World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland, and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s as if your family\u2019s black sheep, Aunt Libby, announces she\u2019s going to celebrate your grandparents\u2019 48th<\/sup> wedding anniversary with a grand gala. Your mom rolls her eyes and says she\u2019ll take them out to dinner the night before, but will skip Libby\u2019s party since she really needs to stay home to shampoo the rug.<\/p>\n The World Week of Prayer actually was founded by two English clergymen, one Catholic, one Church of England. It gained popularity in the 1930s when it was promoted by a French clergyman.<\/p>\n This year, participants are \u201cinvited to enter more deeply into our faith that we will all be changed through the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. The biblical readings, commentaries, prayers and questions for reflection, all explore different aspects of what this means for the lives of Christians and their unity with one another, in and for today\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n For eight days, participants are invited to consider chosen scriptures and a daily theme, which include:<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Day One: Changed by the Servant Christ Participants consider tenets of faith shared by all Christians, such as: \u201cChrist\u2019s victory enables us to look into the future with hope. This victory overcomes all that keeps us from sharing fullness of life with him and with each other. Christians know that unity among us is above all a gift of God. It is a share in Christ\u2019s glorious victory over all that divides.\u201d<\/p>\n So, there\u00a0 no little irony in that the World Council of Churches\u2019 involvement seems to make the event of little interest to most of America\u2019s largest churches.<\/p>\n WCC membership includes almost no conservative Evangelicals. The WCC\u2019s U.S. organization, the National Council of Churches, is dominated byAmerica\u2019s five top liberal and declining denominations: The Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., the Disciples of Christ, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ (Congregationalists) and the United Methodist Church. The Episcopalians alone have lost 1 million members since 1975. The Disciples had 2 million members in 1958 and now are less than half of that.<\/p>\n The Catholic Church declines to join the World Council of Churches. The Southern Baptists are particularly blunt in their assessment:<\/p>\n \u201cThe World Council of Churches has long been a boutique of paganism in Christian garb,”\u00a0writes Russell D. Moore, <\/a>senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville,Ky. “Believers across the world, whatever their denomination or communion, recognize the spirit of the World Council for what it is: the spirit of antichrist.”<\/p>\n One of the great leaders of the Pentecostal\/ Charismatic movement, South African author David du Plessis, <\/a>was disfellowshiped from the Assemblies of God denomination for his determination to maintain a dialogue with the World Council of Churches, which was seen as too flawed to ever succeed.<\/p>\n
\nDay Two: Changed through patient waiting for the Lord
\nDay Three: Changed by the Suffering Servant
\nDay Four: Changed by the Lord\u2019s Victory over Evil
\nDay Five: Changed by the peace of the Risen Lord
\nDay Six: Changed by God\u2019s Steadfast Love
\nDay Seven: Changed by the Good Shepherd
\nDay Eight: United in the Reign of Christ<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/a>