This Friday – Evensong @18:30
This will be a “warm” service in the Gemeindesaal with a focus on the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
This Sunday – no service @12:00
Chaplaincy Workshop @14:00 – followed by Eucharist @17:00
To help with planning please RSVP using this form to let us know whether you are planning on attending the Chaplaincy Workshop or wish to be listed in the apologies for absence.
Would you be willing to read the Old or New Testament lesson or the intercessions on Sunday? Please volunteer and we can send you the text.
Prayers
- We pray for the Vesperkirche at Leonhardskirche which started last Sunday, for those who serve and those who are served
- We pray for our chaplaincy as we gather to discern your will for our life together
- We pray for your church throughout the world
Lord Jesus Christ,
by the action of the Holy Spirit in the one baptism,
you have bestowed wonderful graces and multiple gifts upon us
for the sake of building up your Body, the Church.
Grant us now the willingness to fully appreciate the richness of their diversity
and use them fully to further the spread of the Gospel.
In your name we pray.
Amen.
(from the World Council of Churches Resources for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2026)
2026 World Day of Prayer – Nigeria
“Come! Bring your burdens.” From Nigeria for World Day of Prayer 2026
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa—diverse, dynamic, and full of contrasts. With over 230 million people, the “African giant” unites over 250 ethnic groups with more than 500 spoken languages. However, wealth and power are very unevenly distributed.
On Friday, March 6, 2026, people in over 150 countries around the world will celebrate the Women’s World Day of Prayer from Nigeria. “Come! Bring your burden” is their hopeful motto.
In Nigeria, burdens are carried on the heads of men, children, but especially women. But there are also invisible burdens, such as poverty and violence. This multifaceted country is marked by social, ethnic, and religious tensions. Islamist terrorist groups such as Boko Haram spread fear and terror.
For many people in this life-threatening situation, their faith gives them hope. Christian women from Nigeria share this hope with us – in prayers, songs, and touching life stories.
For over 100 years, women across national and denominational boundaries have been committed to the World Day of Prayer. Together with Christians around the world, we celebrate this special day. We listen to the voices from Nigeria, draw inspiration from their strength, and bring our own burdens before God.
The ecumenical preparation team from the Anglican, Old Catholic, and Evangelical Reformed congregations, along with other fellow Christians from St. Maria and Leonhard, will once again prepare the service starting in January.
Interested women are welcome to the preparatory meetings.
These will take place on:
January 26; February 9; February 23, 2026, starting at 7 p.m. in the Gemeindesaal of St. Catherine’s Church.
On March 6, we will celebrate the service at 7 p.m. in St. Catherine’s Church and digitally via Zoom, and we look forward to welcoming many guests. Afterwards, there will again be a delicious buffet of typical local dishes in the Ecumenical Hall.
Be welcome, just as you are. Come! Bring your burdens.
O Text by Laura Forster, Women’s World Day of Prayer – German Committee e. V.
