Ecumenical service book a sell-out

Copies of the ecumenical service produced by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity have sold out, demanding a reprint. Focussing on the verse from Psalm 36 "With you is the fountain of life", there is a book of resources, a poster, an ecumenical order of service and daily readings and prayers produced in English and Welsh. CTBI General Secretary, Dr David Goodbourn commented: "We are please to say there has been a huge demand for the ecumenical order of service and all 35,000 copies have been ordered." This Sunday, 20 January, Dr David Goodbourn will preach on the theme of unity during services in Bournemouth. He will attend morning service at Richmond Hill United Reformed Church and evening worship at St Stephen's Church of England, Bournemouth - for an ecumenical service of the churches bound together through the 1994 Covenant Between Churches in Bournemouth Town Centre .This service brings together three URC churches, one Church of England parish with two congregations, and one Roman Catholic church. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has become an annual worldwide chain of prayer for unity since it was first proposed in 1908 by Paul Watson. Many Christians observe the Week from 18 to 25 January and some at Pentecost. There is an emphasis this year on encouraging churches to find ways of exploring the theme throughout the year, may be on Refreshment Sunday, at Easter, Christian Aid Week, at Pentecost, at holiday time, harvest and One World Week, Advent and Epiphany. "It is not enough just to pray together for unity during one week in the year and then do nothing to grow towards that unity for the remaining fifty one weeks," said the Rev Jean Mayland, CTBI's Co-ordinating Secretary for Church Life. A new venture this year is for churches to be invited to send to Jean Mayland at CTBI (Inter Church House 35-41 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7SA) their own photographs of fountains, wells, springs and well dressings for publication on CTBI's website at: www.ctbi.org.uk. Already there is a page of pictures of fountains taken around Europe. The pictures can be downloaded, used for meditation and mutual inspiration. This year the service is also available in an audio version and a braille version, produced by the Royal National Institute for the Blind. They can be obtained by phoning RNIB Customer Services on 0845 7023 153. (The order number for the braille version is TC 20387 and the audio version is TC 20394.)