Written by LAURIE STEVENS BERTKE, Chronicle Writer
Wednesday, 27 January 2010 00:00
TOLEDO—Catholics and members of other Christian churches gathered in the Diocese of Toledo’s original cathedral for an ecumenical service on the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Click the play button to view a slideshow of photographs from the ecumenical prayer service and past and present images of St. Francis de Sales Chapel.
About 100 people attended the Jan. 17 service, which was held at Toledo St. Francis de Sales in honor of the Diocese of Toledo’s 100th anniversary year. The chapel on Cherry Street served as the diocesan cathedral from 1910 to 1940.
Welcoming the faithful, Bishop Leonard P. Blair contrasted the gathering with the scene that must have taken place in St. Francis de Sales nearly a century before.
“I doubt very much that on that momentous day 100 years ago, that there were any other churches or Christian communities represented at the installation of a new Roman Catholic bishop,” he said.
“A hundred years later, I have to tell you that we would not think of celebrating our 100th anniversary without a service like this,” said Bishop Blair.
Ministers celebrating the service of prayer for Christian unity with Bishop Blair included representatives from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Ohio Council of Churches, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, the United Methodist Church, Friendship Baptist Church, the United Church of Christ and Toledo Area Ministries.
The first and second readings were proclaimed by Bishop Marcus Lohrmann of the Northwestern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Rev. Rebecca Tollefson, executive director of the Ohio Council of Churches.
In his reflection on the passage he read from the book of Ezekiel, Bishop Lohrmann focused on the metaphor of God uniting two sticks representing two different kingdoms into one.
“Today it is a privilege to be a part of this 100th anniversary of the Toledo Diocese, as we who are part of the Christian community give thanks to God for the witness to Christ that has taken place through this diocese for over 100 years,” said Bishop Lohrmann.
“But on this day, this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, it’s also the opportunity to recall the God who in Christ Jesus is still at work, putting the sticks together; gathering us as one; enabling us to confess the one Lord, the one faith, the one baptism, the one God and Father of us all. The one who entrusts to us the task of being witnesses of these things,” he said.
Rev. Tollefson highlighted areas of collaboration among members of the Ohio Council of Churches in her reflection on the second reading, taken from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. The Diocese of Toledo belongs to the council, a partnership of 17 Christian faith denominations encompassing about 6,000 congregations.
Rev. Tollefson noted the council has worked with the Ohio Catholic Conference on such issues as the death penalty, justice for immigrants, health care reform and environmental stewardship.
“As different communions, we all have much in common. Together we are the body of Christ, and we need one another in order to make a more perfect expression of the church of Jesus Christ,” said Rev. Tollefson.
“We are called to share our gifts with each other in order that we more fully represent the body of Christ, even through our theological differences,” she added.
In his homily, Bishop Blair explored this year’s theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, “You Are Witnesses of These Things” (Lk 24:48).
“You and I are witnesses to the Lord’s dying and rising today — to His saving work today, as these mysteries unfold in 2010,” said Bishop Blair.
“Outside the doors of this ecumenical service, events in the world call out to us with the voice of Jesus, ‘You are my witnesses,’ ” he said, citing the suffering in Haiti, the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. and the ecumenical prayer service itself as examples.
“We are witnesses of the power of Christ to bring repentance and forgiveness, not only between races and nations, but between churches, too, and by extension, between religions in this troubled world,” said Bishop Blair.
“In the midst of everything, in the face of questions that human wisdom can not answer, both outside and inside the doors of this church, let us rejoice today in faith,” the bishop continued. “Let us rejoice, united, in the firm conviction that God is love. And in our commitment to love one another, and all those who near or far away are suffering in this world.”
An informal reception followed the prayer service, which was the first in a series of seven “stational vespers” services that Bishop Blair is to celebrate at churches in different regions of the diocese during the centenary year.
The next centenary vespers service is to be held March 14 at Sandusky Holy Angels.
