Last year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity brought together Archbishop J. Michael Miller, Anglican Archbishop John Stephens, and the Very Rev. Christopher Pappas, dean and rector of St. John the Evangelist Anglican Cathedral in Vancouver. The week of prayer takes place Jan. 18 to 25. (Nicholas Elbers photo)
The upcoming Week of Prayer for Christian Unity faces an important question now that the Jubilee Year has ended: what does Christian unity look like when hope is no longer just being proclaimed, but practiced?
The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, from Jan. 18 to 25, invites Christians of different traditions to pray together for the unity Christ prayed for on the night before his death: “that they may all be one” (Jn 17).
In the Lower Mainland, the week will be marked by a series of ecumenical prayer services hosted by Catholic, Anglican, Mennonite and other Christian communities in Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and surrounding areas.
In 2025 the week of prayer unfolded during the Church’s Jubilee Year of Hope, something the Archdiocese of Vancouver emphasized during the week as well as in several ecumenical events throughout the year.
This year, with the Jubilee over, the emphasis is less on proclaiming hope and more on what it looks like to live it out together across long-standing Christian divisions. That shift is reflected in the international theme for 2026: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling.” (Eph 4:4)
This year's prayers and reflections were prepared by the Armenian Apostolic Church, working with Armenian Catholic and Evangelical Christians. The Armenian Apostolic Church is one of the world’s oldest Christian churches, tracing its origins to the fourth century. Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, and Armenian Christians have endured centuries of hardship, including invasions, forced displacement and the genocide of 1915, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed. That history has left a deep mark on the Church’s spiritual life.
The resources for this year’s Week of Prayer were written at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the historic spiritual centre of the Armenian Church and the residence of its chief bishop, known as the Catholicos. They were developed during the re-consecration of the cathedral there, following 10 years of major restoration. The setting shaped the tone of the reflections, which speak of unity not as an abstract ideal, but as something sustained through suffering, faithfulness, and shared belief.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity services
In Vancouver, the Week of Prayer will again be marked with services throughout the Lower Mainland.
An ecumenical prayer service will take place Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 3:30 p.m. at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre in Vancouver, bringing together Christian leaders from several denominations. A reception will follow, offering an opportunity for informal conversation and fellowship beyond the liturgy.
Also scheduled:
Sunday, Jan. 18
12 p.m. — Valley Cross Way Church, Abbots ford
Tuesday, Jan. 20
11 a.m. — St. Ann’s Church, Abbots ford
Wednesday, Jan. 21
3:30 p.m. — John Paul II Pastoral Center, Vancouver
5:30 p.m. — St. Mark’s Church, UBC, Vancouver
Thursday, Jan. 22
7 p.m. — Peace Mennonite Church, Richmond
7:30 p.m. — St. Thomas Anglican Church, Vancouver
(co-hosted with St. Mary’s Parish)
Friday, Jan. 23
6:30 p.m. — Sacred Heart Church, Delta
7 p.m. — St. Anthony’s Church, West Vancouver
Saturday, Jan. 24
1 p.m. — St. Peter’s Church, New Westminster.
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