THY KINGDOM COME SUCCESS

The global prayer movement Thy Kingdom Come reached Christians in more than 170 countries in 2019 and 70% of those who took part felt more encouraged to share their faith. This year for the first time the Church of Scotland joined the prayer event which spanned the 11 days from Ascension to Pentecost.

Started by the Church of England in 2015, the ecumenical prayer movement began as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Anglican Communion to pray for more people to come to faith in Jesus during Ascension to Pentecost inspired by Acts 2. Since then the movement has grown fast, with millions of Christians across 65 traditions and denominations across the world taking part – hosting special worship services, prayer meetings, prayer walks, and continuous prayer sessions. Key findings from the 2019 feedback survey into the event include that Christians in 90% of countries took part, 70% of participants felt more encouraged to share their faith, 40% were taking part for the first time and 99% wish to be involved next year.

The Rev Dr John McPake, the Church of Scotland’s Ecumenical Officer helped get the movement off the ground in Scotland. “The participation of the Church of Scotland in Thy Kingdom Come 2019 has enabled local congregations to share in a global Kingdom-focussed initiative,” he said. “We are already anticipating the possibilities that 2020 will bring as we pray together for the renewal of the Church.” (Church of Scotland)

’YEAR OF ECUMENISM’ IN GERMANY

The Council of Christian Churches in Germany has declared the year 2021 as a “Year of Ecumenism” in order to be able to link the Ecumenical Kirchentag as well as other ecumenical events that year to the World Council of Churches’ 11th Assembly, to be held in Karlsruhe. The year 2021 will also hold the 3rd Ecumenical Kirchentag as well as several regional jubilees, all of which will promote ecumenism.

Dr Verena Hammes, general secretary of the Council of Christian Churches in Germany, reflected that the year 2021 will be a very important year for the ecumenical life of churches in Germany. “Of course we are all looking forward to the Third Ecumenical Kirchentag which will take place from May 12-16 in Frankfurt and brings together a lot of Christians in Germany,” said Hammes. “The Kirchentag is also a great opportunity to communicate church life in society and consider public themes together.” Hammes added that churches in Germany are deeply happy to be hosts for the WCC Assembly.

“Besides those two big events, the Council of Churches in Germany celebrates its yearly Ecumenical Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation for the first time together with the Swiss and Austrian councils at the Bodensee,” said Hammes. “In addition to that, a few more regional anniversaries with ecumenical perspectives will take place.”

Hammes added: “To give all these events a frame in which to be placed, the General Assembly of the Council of Churches in Germany proclaimed a Year of Ecumenism 2021 in order to express the relevance of our Christian life in society, in order to collect these events and to strengthen the unity among the Christian churches in Germany and worldwide.” (WCC)

FORGIVENESS EMOJI CAMPAIGN

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) has launched a campaign for an emoji to express forgiveness. During the campaign it will be possible to submit a suggestion for the emoji and vote on a favourite design.

Emoji have become increasingly popular worldwide – particularly in mobile communications – after they were added to mobile operating systems and social media platforms in the 2010s. More than 3000 official emojis are used to depict everything from joy to grief. They can include facial expressions, common objects, animals, places and types of weather.

In 2015, Finland became the first country in the world to create its own set of government-approved, national themed emojis. But until now, there has been no emoji that conveys the meaning “I forgive you.” The Forgivemoji campaign, launched by ELCF and partners, seeks to address that gap, while raising awareness about the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation.

The campaign was conceived last year, during which there was a national focus on peace in Finland as the country commemorated the centenary of the end of the Finnish Civil War.

In addition to creating the new emoji, the campaign will also raise funds for peace and conflict resolution work in countries such as Somalia, Kenya, Central African Republic.

Visit forgivemoji.com for more information. (Lutheran World Federation)

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