Leaders of local Christian churches sing during the Taize service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 22 at the Newman Center. In the front row are Rev. Charles Buck of the United Church of Christ Hawaii Conference and Bishop Stephen Randolph Sykes of the Inclusive Orthodox Church. Behind Rev. Buck is Father Saraphim Elsouriany of St. Mark’s Coptic Church. Diocesan vicar general Father Gary Secor is seated behind Father Elsouriany. (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz)
Coming together in powerful prayer and solemn song, more than 100 people from different Christian denominations gathered in Manoa Jan. 22 to cultivate the spirit of a united faith.
Bishop Larry Silva hosted a special Taize prayer around the cross that night at the Newman Center/Holy Spirit parish. The event was the cornerstone commemoration in Hawaii for the international Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25.
The Taize prayer is an hour-long meditative mix of interdenominational music, Scripture, silent reflection and reverencing the cross. The unique service was developed by Catholic and Protestant monks in an ecumenical monastery in its namesake town in France.
Bishop Silva first invited local Christian leaders to join him for a Taize evening during last year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The service was well attended, prompting several church heads to request it once again.
About 20 clergy from Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, the United Church of Christ, Unitarian, Quaker, Eastern Catholic, Orthodox and other Island churches joined the Catholic bishop at the Newman Center that Thursday evening. The evening began with quiet fellowship in the dimly-lit parish. Dozens of candles and iconographic art depicting the saints and Jesus set the reflective mood for the celebration.
Newman Center pastor, Father Jack Ryan, welcomed the congregation. He spoke of this year’s theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: “Jesus said to her: ‘Give me to drink.’” The theme comes from John 4:7, where Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman drawing water at a well. The woman comes to realize that Jesus is the messiah and the “living water” that leads to eternal life.
“The water drawn by the Samaritan woman in her daily tasks” quenches all thirst, Father Ryan said. As Christians, we seek the same life-giving graces from God to sustain us in everything we do.
“We are called to give thanks to the many traditions who keep our community strong,” Father Ryan added.
Bishop Silva began the service with an “invitation to prayer” that included three petitions asking for a renewed sense of oneness for all believers.
“Breathe into us the wind of unity that recognizes our diversity,” he said. “Breathe into us fire that unites what is torn apart and heals what is ill. Breathe into us life that knocks down and defeats death.”
Following the opening prayer, the congregation was led in the “Confession of Sin and Kyrie.” Cantors afterward sang and chanted four simple, repetitive hymns. Their voices blended in meditative harmony calling forth the Holy Spirit and praising God for his gifts of love and peace.
Rev. Charles Buck, conference minister of the Hawaii United Church of Christ, read the passage from the Gospel of John about Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well.
The large cross icon at the altar was then taken down and laid on the floor. The participants went up to the ambo one by one, each reading a prayer of intercession before joining Bishop Silva around the wooden cross.
The most poignant moment of the evening came as they knelt and bowed, touching their foreheads to the cross in veneration. Silently, the congregation supported their leaders in prayer, and for about a minute the Newman Center was completely quiet and still.
The remaining congregants were invited to come up to the cross in small groups for private veneration time. The ecumenical choir chanted hymns as Catholic nuns and priests, young students and longtime faithful prayed in the candlelight.
The service ended with everyone reciting the Our Father.
Bishop Silva’s closing remarks reprised the theme of “living water.” He urged everyone to continue to pray to be “more united in Christ’s mission,” and also to remember Christians suffering from persecution, especially in the Middle East.
“This living water of Christ brings us together and little by little dissolves the walls that keep us apart,” the bishop said.
