A presentation for the World Day of Prayer Victoria AGM 2025
Rev Deacon Sandy Boyce
Executive Officer, Victorian Council of Churches
I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the local lands and waterways on which we live, work and play and pay my respects to Elders past and present. Together, let us stand alongside Elders and younger leaders who are seeking truth and justice and understanding in our place and time. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
I currently work in the ecumenical space with Victorian Council of Churches, and with national and international ecumenical bodies. To be honest, I think ecumenism as a movement is lukewarm most of the time. That enthusiastic commitment to learn from, and with, and to make space for the other has in many places ossified into an organisational bureaucratic ‘thing’ rather than a movement that is an organic, grassroots, dynamic.
Ecumenism at its best helps us to find connection as followers of Jesus, that acknowledges and values but ultimately transcends different cultures, different liturgies, different traditions. These things can otherwise separate us. But when we find that connection we share in Christ, it leads us into a desire for co-operation.
This has been my experience also as President for 12 years of DIAKONIA World Federation, an ecumenical organisation for Deacons, Deaconesses and Diaconal Ministers. In July this year the DIAKONIA World Assembly was in Moshi, Tanzania, the first time the Assembly has been held in Africa. Deacons and Deaconesses and Diaconal Ministers from all over the world – so many countries in Africa. Lutherans. Uniting and United. Anglican. Episcopalian. Presbyterian. Methodist. A beautiful united nations!
Every night there was African dancing, energetic dancing. Singing, so much singing. People of all ages and stages. We listened to African leaders make presentations – Jerry Pillay (WCC, South Africa) on global concerns, Damon Mkandawire on creation justice, Deaconess Mable Sichali on gender justice in her home country Zambia. We entered into the world of African concerns – joys and sorrows, ongoing inequity and injustice, disadvantage and burdens.
Now, we all know Africa is a continent made up of so many cultures yet sharing so much in common. Next year the focus for WDoP is on Nigeria. It’s a long way from here.
The designer of the art work for next year writes: My artwork depicts the daily reality of rural Nigerian women whose lives are marked by endless labour from sunrise to sunset. These women traverse treacherous paths to their farms, often carrying both their harvest and their children – a toddler strapped to their back, a heavy load balanced on their head while guiding other children along unmaintained roads through thick bush.
The artwork also shows three women sitting together, their different traditional attire representing Nigeria’s diverse cultures. Though they come from different ethnic groups, their shared experiences unite them. To meet their basic survival needs, these women carry burdens and traumas that are physical, emotional and spiritual.
Yet there is hope for the many burdens these people are carrying. These burdens become bearable when we respond to Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’. When we bring our weariness to Christ and support one another in community, we find rest and strength to continue our journey.
And yet, surely, we have enough going on here? Life is complex! We have our own concerns. As we look at our beautiful blue planet, we see fragmentation and intersecting challenges, and polycrises of unprecedented levels being experienced across the globe. We can name some of them (but the list is long) – growing polarization and nationalism, religious and political fundamentalism, war, conflict, pandemics, growing competition for resources, the scandal of systemic poverty in the midst of global wealth, racism and gender inequality, migration and trafficking, and climate change. Technology that’s meant to connect us is actually part of an epidemic of loneliness. Injustice and violence have become normalised.
So it makes sense, does it not, to look after our own interests? Ever thought about why the TV has so many cooking shows, home reno shows, gardening shows. They are designed to keep your eyes on your own backyards. Keep your head down. Keep scrolling. Don’t look up.
We see it in our churches. With the possible exception of humanitarian relief, church people now tend to concentrate on local issues, showing less interest in national and international concerns and institutional structures. It’s hard to find people interested in leadership, and it’s not just the question of an ageing population – it’s a general and genuine disinterest. (That’s a story to explore at another time).
And then we open our biblical narrative and read about God’s preferential option for the poor. Texts like: Love God, and love your neighbour. Love your enemies. Care for the widow, the orphan, the last and the least. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, give water to the thirsty. Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. And so many more texts. If you cut out all the references dedicated to social justice in the Bible, it would be stripped of its core concerns about poverty, the environment, and human dignity. It would be simply a ‘holey’ Bible.
I like to call these texts ‘inconvenient texts’. Over and over again all through the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, we are beckoned to respond to ‘the other’, and ‘the neighbour’ – even the one we didn’t know we had.
We are separated from our sisters and brothers in Nigeria by oceans, so we cannot be in conversation with them over a slow cuppa to learn about their life and circumstance and unique challenges. To hold hands and pray together. But we can ‘show up’ through World Day of Prayer with open hearts and minds and spirit – and not look away. To have those moments when we gather and stand together, supporting one another, praying for each other. To be present with an intentionality to enter another person’s lived reality. To be drawn into what really matters – love, compassion, and celebration of the sacredness of all life, the integrity of each life. To listen to the stories – and be changed by them. To let suffering and grief connect us with our moral and spiritual responsibility. To ground us, not in what is convenient to us, but what is right. And to pray. Our spiritual disciplines make us more courageous, and ready to be present, open to listen and truly hear.
I must admit I was concerned to hear about examples of churches who would ordinarily have joined together for World Day of Prayer but decided not to join in prayers with Palestinian women in 2024, or organised the service around another theme. The resource prepared by Palestinian women for World Day of Prayer was prepared long before the present crisis. I think some chose to look away when we had been asked to pay attention. I also want to say I understand why this was so hard – to enter the complex world that is the lived reality for others. Do we have the capacity to make sense of it all? The answer is probably no – but in the spirit of prayer we can grow in understanding, and strengthen our prayer life and our spiritual practices that make space for the other, even when it is inconvenient.
At its best, the ecumenical dynamic will create “open space”, opening doors, enlarging the table, enabling people from many cultures to meet, to have dialogue, to learn from and with one another, to share their cultural diversity, to become more inclusive, to seek justice and peace for the integrity of all creation and for the unity of all humanity. We have a sense of belonging to a global ecumenical Christian movement.
We know that when one part of the body of Christ hurts, the other parts of the body experience the pain also. When we share each other’s burden, we are willing to share the stories of those who are not heard, overlooked or silenced. Jesus prayed for his followers to be one. Ecumenism matters because Jesus wants us to be one. We love God, so we want to do what God asks of us, but also out of love for each other, out of love of the Gospel and out of love of the world.
In these times of polarization, we are seeking to go in the opposite direction in response to the Gospel. Ecumenism will deeply reflect God’s love in the world. This is not just a theological ideal, but a practical imperative for Christians seeking to live out their faith in a globalized and interconnected world. Ecumenism is a way of living that dares to think globally, to be in solidarity with the oppressed and vulnerable, and to being a voice for hope, peace and justice in the world, and to pray that hope, dignity, and mental and social well-being is restored for the most vulnerable.
The search for unity that is inspired by love and rooted in deep and mutual relationship may be termed an “ecumenism of the heart.” It is Christlike love that moves us to walk honestly and wholeheartedly beside one another, to try to see the world through the eyes of others and to have compassion for one another, to build the trust that is such a vital part of our ecumenical journey
The list of urgent issues, where the ecumenical movement can – and must – make a difference, is long, but we stand together in faith, side by side with the marginalized, oppressed and defenceless, praying for a better world where justice and peace prevail. When we might otherwise despair, our Christian faith leads us to a defiant hope, a hope that we have rarely needed as much as we do right now, that “Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity. (World Council of Churches)”
And this in turns informs and reforms our prayer life. Blessings to you in your planning for World Day of Prayer 2026. May it be a time of vitality, hope and Christian witness. And may peace prevail in our world. Amen.