RSSThousands of Christians in Seoul joined an ecumenical service, sharing a special experience of togetherness as they prayed for the unity of Christians and of the divided Korean peninsula.
The National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) and the Korean Catholic bishops´ Committee for Promoting Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue organized the gathering at the start of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The week is observed annually Jan. 18-25 in many places around the world.
About 3,000 members of the Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and Orthodox Churches attended the service, titled “That they may become one in your hand (Ezekiel 37:17).”
Led by Father John Song Yong-min, secretary of the bishops´ committee, the prayer service began with the hymn “How Great You Are,” commonly sung by Catholics as well as Protestants. The first Bible reading, Ezekiel 37:15-30, was presented in the form of pansori, a traditional Korean folk play that uses song and narrative.
“Christians from various denominations now join in this prayer service. This year, all Christians will pray for the local Churches and the reconciliation of the two Koreas using the same materials, prepared by Korean Churches,” Reverend Kim Sam-hwan, NCCK chairperson, said in his homily.
Korean Churches jointly prepared the prayer material for this year´s unity week. The guidebook contains prayers for worship services, biblical and theological reflections, specific prayers for each day of the prayer week, and information on the ecumenical situation in Korea.
For a number of years, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches have jointly published materials for the annual observance. Each year, they ask Churches in a particular region to prepare the draft materials.
Reverend Kim said Koreans are going through a time of despair, experiencing crisis in the economy, destruction of the environment, tensions between the two Koreas, joblessness among the youth and political problems.
“However, we cannot give up our hope, because we believe it is God´s providence that makes us depend only on our Lord in these gloomy situations,” he said. “We believe that when we obey the words of God, our Lord will help us to recover from all this suffering.”
Christians should unite to overcome present difficulties, Reverend Kim urged. “Christians should be the apostles of God, and make the divided country and society into a united one,” he said.
As part of the service, each participant received two pieces of wood and string to make a symbolic cross representing Christian unity.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Churches represented at the event, including Auxiliary Bishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong of Kwangju, president of the Catholic committee for Christian unity, brought two big wooden crosses to the stage and united them to be one cross, symbolizing the unity of all Christian denominations.
“I feel inexpressible happiness at this moment. Now we recognize each other as brothers and sisters, confessing the same Christ,” Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul told the audience.
“We can have different clothes and different ways of worshipping our God. However, our God, whom we praise with one voice, and the Gospel cannot be separate. That is what we experience today,” he said.
The cardinal urged Christians to bear in mind the sense of unity among Christians, and to convey it to other people.
“Let´s show that our unity can bring a unity into society, too,” he added. “May our unity become the small seed that will grow into the unity of God and all people.”
The participants recited the prayer for Christian unity and the Nicene-Constantinople Creed. The Christian leaders present blessed them to end the prayer service.
In December, Churches in South Korea declared 2009 the Year of Prayer for Christian Unity. The Churches will hold ecumenical activities such as prayer services, forums and exchanges between groups throughout the year.
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