“Open our ears and loosen our tongues.”
(Mark 7:31-37)
AN ECUMENICAL LETTER
FROM RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO THE
CHRISTIAN CHURCHES IN MASSACHUSETTS
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
A comprehensive number of Christian church leaders in the Commonwealth have signed this shared letter, coordinated by the Massachusetts Council of Churches, urging participation in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The signers have included a prayer for unity for use in ecumenical worship services and other appropriate contexts.
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
The theme for this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity comes from one of the healing stories in the Gospel of Mark. People brought a deaf man with a speech impediment to Jesus, trusting in Jesus’ healing power. Looking toward heaven, Jesus said “Ephphatha! Be opened!” The deaf man’s “ears were opened and his tongue was released…”
The choice of this Gospel narrative for the Week of Prayer draws our attention to issues of unity that may seem unrelated, but in fact are closely connected.
When we read this text through the lens of people with disabilities, it prompts us to examine our attitudes about healing and wholeness, unity and diversity. In The Accessible Church: Toward Becoming the Whole Family of God, Christians are invited to ponder this question: “In our lifelong journeys to become whole, to become fully who we are, to live into our birthrights as beloved sons and daughters of God, can we wrestle meaning from the adventure of disability and bring it under God’s blessing?” By exploring the significance of this Gospel narrative through the contemporary experiences of people with disabilities, we are encouraged to “Open our ears and loosen our tongues” to our unity in Christ—a unity that transcends our differences in ability.
When we consider this text in light of the reconciling aims of the ecumenical movement, the story challenges us to reflect on the nature of the unity Christ wills for our churches. What Word of God do Christians and Christian churches especially need to hear today? What word do we need to hear from each other as children of God who seek the mind of Christ? What words do we need to speak? In what spirit do we need to speak them so that they reflect the reconciling intentions of the Holy Spirit?
Thus we make a fresh appeal for dialogue among Christians, with the Scriptures as the basis for our explorations. By active listening and faithful sharing through conversation, we seek to understand and to be understood. When differences surface, we grow in our ability to comprehend the root of these differences, and to find ways to overcome them in light of the faith we share. Our own faith is deepened and enriched. We grow in appreciation for the other.
Difference can be daunting, whether of religious tradition, ethnic background, race and culture, economic circumstance, varied abilities. The exploration of difference through dialogue also can be a precious means to discover our common humanity and our communion in faith.
The word of God that we find in the Scriptures is a solid basis for dialogue--“a precious instrument in the mighty hand of God for attaining to that unity which the Savior holds out to all…” The God revealed to us in the Holy Bible is the foundation of the faith we share. Everything we can do to encourage people to read this Word, and to reflect together on its meaning, will open us to God’s reconciling intention and strengthen our common witness to God’s saving Word for the world.
During this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, let us pray that our ears may be opened and our tongues loosened to witness to God’s healing and reconciling Word in Scripture. When we do this, people will sit up, take notice, and share this Good News. And so we pray together, “Open our ears and loosen our tongues” that God may be glorified, the church of Christ may be one, and all God’s children may live in harmony.
God, the Source of all Wisdom
We turn our minds and hearts to you
As we pray for the unity of Your Church.
Your Son Jesus Christ has revealed your desire
And share that love with one another.
By the power of the Spirit
Open our ears to hear your Word,
Loosen our tongues to speak the truth in love
And give us the strength to follow the path
Your Son has set out for us.
For we offer it with Jesus our Savior.
Amen.
List of signers
The Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ
His Grace Metropolitan Mathews Mar Barnabas, American Diocese of the Indian Orthodox Church
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
Bishop George Battle, Northern Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
The Rev. Howard K. Burgoyne, East Coast Conference, Evangelical Covenant Church
The Rev. Terry Burke, The Council of Christian Churches within the Unitarian Universalist Association
Archbishop Cyril Salim Bustros, Melkite Diocese of Newton
The Most Rev. George W. Coleman, Diocese of Fall River
Presiding Elder Rev. Herbert Eddy, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Boston District
Elder Mary Lynne Flowers, Synod of the Northeast, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Rev. Dr. Dorothea Harvey, Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian Church, Massachusetts
Association)
The Rev.Dr. Diane C. Kessler, Massachusetts Council of Churches
Presiding Elder Rev. Margaret Lawson, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
The Rev. Clinton McCoy, Synod of the Northeast, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston, Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston
Christopher McCandless, New England Yearly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends
The Most Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, Diocese of Springfield
The Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, Diocese of Worcester
Bishop Richard F. Norris, First Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Church
The Rev. Lonnie Oates, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
His Eminence Sean Cardinal O’Malley, OFM Cap, Archdiocese of Boston
The Rev. Anthony Pappas, The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts
The Rev. Wayne Parrish, Presbytery of Boston, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Bishop Margaret Payne, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, New England Synod
The Rt. Rev. Gordon P. Scruton, Episcopal Diocese of Western Mass.
The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, S.S.J.E., Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
Lt. Col. Fred Van Brunt, The Salvation Army, Massachusetts Divisional Headquarters
Bishop Peter D. Weaver, Boston Area, the United Methodist Church