A prayer service for peace in Armenia held in St Pierre Cathedral, Geneva. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC
The annual Week of Prayer ushers in a year of new beginnings and ongoing deepening of ecumenical dialogues
(LWI) - The start of a new phase of dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church; the inauguration of a new Archbishop of Canterbury; and the installation of a new general secretary for the World Communion of Reformed Churches: these are among the landmark ecumenical events in which the Lutheran World Federation will (LWF) be participating in 2026, alongside important ongoing dialogue meetings with Orthodox, Anglican and Pentecostal churches.
“As we gather to mark this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we look ahead to a year full of activities that will help to deepen our relationships, exploring new avenues together and implementing progress that we have already made,” noted Prof. Dr Dirk Lange, LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations. Lange will be joining Pope Leo XIV and representatives of many other Christian churches in Rome on 25 January for a service marking the closing of the Week of Prayer. This year, the prayers and reflections are offered by Christians in Armenia, led by the Armenian Apostolic Church, with a focus on the theme ‘One Body, One Spirit, One Hope’.
In the first week of February, members of the International Lutheran-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity will gather for the inauguration of a long-awaited sixth phase of dialogue, hosted for this inaugural meeting by the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovenia. The meeting in the town of Moravske Toplice in northeastern Slovenia from 2 to 8 February will focus on the preparation of a joint statement marking the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 2030.
Augsburg Confession as an aid for ecumenical journey
“We are enthusiastic to launch this new phase of dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church after a long period of preparation,” Lange said. “In a meeting with LWF leaders, the late Pope Francis said he hoped the upcoming anniversary of the Augsburg Confession may benefit our ecumenical journey. He noted that the document was originally conceived as an instrument of reconciliation and we are looking forward to unpacking its implications for both Lutherans and Catholics today.”
Relations with the Anglican Communion will also be high on the agenda this year as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, is installed for the start of her ministry on 25 March. Members of the steering committee of Anglican-Lutheran International Commission on Unity and Mission will also be meeting in London from 4 to 8 March, including an online summit with pairs of Anglican and Lutheran bishops working closely together in different parts of the globe to deepen the full communion which exists between the two churches.
In February, the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) will also welcome a new leader as Rev. Dr Philip Peacock begins his term as general secretary, following his election last September. In October at its General Council in Thailand, the WCRC also elected a new president, Rev. Dr Karen Georgia Thompson. In a message to the incoming president, LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt said Lutherans and Reformed Christians “walk a pilgrimage together as we seek to deepen our bonds of communion, especially on the local level and as we address the many causes of injustice in this world.”
When polarization and fundamentalism are on the rise, it is more important than ever that our churches find common ground and model an alternative way of witnessing and cooperating.
Prof. Dr Dirk Lange, LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations
Lutherans and Orthodox will be continuing their fruitful discussions on the theme of Synodality and Primacy as a second plenary meeting of the 19th session of their International Commission on Theological Dialogue takes place in the port city of Sète in southeastern France from 10 to 16 May. “Following on from a very positive and thought-provoking preparatory session at the Strasbourg Institute for Ecumenical Research last November, we will continue exploring the way that authority and decision-making has been exercised in our two churches over the centuries,” said Prof Lange.
Lutherans and Pentecostals will continue their exploration of worship and community formation, which is the main focus of the second phase of dialogue between the LWF and the Pentecostal World Fellowship. Participants will be hosted by the Pentecostal seminary in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, from 10 to 16 April, meeting with both Lutheran and Pentecostal students and joining in worship with the local community.
“Sharing the theological progress that we make with local churches and congregations, listening to their hopes and concerns is a vital part of the dialogue process,” Lange said. “At the same time, their reflections and lived experiences feed directly into our theological reflections. In this era when polarization and fundamentalism are on the rise, it is more important than ever that our churches find common ground and model an alternative way of witnessing and cooperating together.”
LWF encourages all its member churches to celebrate the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which is held in the northern hemisphere from 18 to 25 January and around Pentecost in many churches of the global south. The resources, available here in six languages, are jointly published by the World Council of Churches and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.
