Christian Unity Week of Prayer took place between 18-25 January 2022 with the theme “We saw His star in the East and we came to worship Him.” (Matthew 2.2). The Middle East Council of Churches was asked to select and develop the theme of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2022.
The last Christian Unity Week in Izmir was two years ago. Due to the quarantine in 2021, Christians from Izmir could not gather for prayer. The four evenings this year were filled with brotherhood and the joy of coming together, because of Omicron, the traditional feast that usually follows the gatherings did not take place.
Aya Fotini Greek Orthodox Church, which showed its first hospitality to other Churches with the Baptism Night of the Virgin Mary, performed by Izmir Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bartholomew Samaras and Archimandrit Father Polykarpos. Some verses were also sung in Russian by Andrew, a Russian Deacon, and the Lord’s prayer was also said in addition to the Turkish version. In the Orthodox liturgy, All the participants were very impressed by the number of the supplication to God’s mercy “Kyrie, eleison! Kyrie, eleison!”
The Latin Catholic Archbishop of Izmir Mons. Martin Kmetec, Priest of the Anglican Church of Izmir and the coordinator of the prayer week James Buxton, Pastor of the Buca Protestant Baptist Church Ertan Cevik, many Catholic priests, representatives of the New Nativity Protestant Church, members of various Catholic, Anglican and Baptist churches joined this prayer.
The second prayer took place at the Buca Protestant Baptist Church: The guests were warmly welcomed by the Pastor and a group of people from the congregation, followed by guitar accompaniment and Turkish hymns with familiar tunes and different texts. After saying the Declaration of Faith together, the sermon focused on the theme chosen for this Week of Prayer. In his speech, the Pastor noted: “Among other things, it was pagans, not Jewish believers, who recognized Jesus at his birth. God led through a star, and God continues to call people from all walks of life today, and their stars are each of us,” he added.
By reading one text in Persian, another in Arabic, and the other in Turkish, attention was drawn to the different origins of the believers. Likewise, various languages were heard at the moment of spontaneous prayer.
The third prayer, in English and Turkish, was conducted by Father James Buxton in Alsancak Anglican Church, as always crowded but keeping the distances required by sanitary rules, and the chants were supported by guitar and harmonium. In his sermon, Father James insisted on the importance of letting go of the sadness in the environment, even if we have many reasons to be sad: The pandemic, of course, but also the divisions that history has imposed on us showed how difficult it would be to witness Christian unity.
The last meeting of the week of prayer was held in the Latin Catholic Church of St. Polycarp under the direction of Archbishop Martin Kmetec. It was performed according to the Evening Praise model.
