the vision of augsburg 2030
Augsburg 2030 has been established to encourage global prayer in preparation for the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 2030. It has grown out of the work of Blessed Max Metzger who was martyred in Brandenburg Gorden Prision on April 17th 1944 for his stand for World Peace and Christian unity. It has been inspired by others including Fr Paul Watting and French priest Abbé Couturier. It is now seeking prayer across the world to heal the wound that was caused by the failure to agree on the Augsburg Confession in 1530 which created the schism in the Western Church. In the wake of the schism the whole tapestry of Christian unity was shred in many pieces, creating in our time, thousands of Christian denominations. By healing the original division it is the prayer that this will cause a flow of all Christians to a much more united Church as Jesus prayed for in John Chapter 17: That they may be one!
the Universal Prayer of Christians for Christian Unity:
Abbé Paul Couturier (1881-1953)
Abbé Paul Couturier (1881-1953)
In 1938 French priest and teacher wrote: Have you not, as I have , the unshakeable conviction that God is waiting for this Universal Prayer, modulated according to different spiritualities, springing forth at this one sorrowful point of Christian divisions just in order that all Christians through prayers sincere and loyal may receive from Him the gift of recovered unity?
He regretted that there was so little prayer when the divisions happened in the church at that time:
'There was need for the initiative of the Church to be supported by something lacking in the Middle Ages – the great orchestra of the Spirit provided by the people of Christ. There must be a preparation on the part of the bulk of the Church in prayer and longing for reconciliation, if the complementary treasures of truth, East and Wast are to find their unity in Christ'.
He therefor asked for prayer from all churches to heal the 'horrible sin' of disunion:
'The root of the problem is to manage to elicit ecumenical prayer from all Christian groups, prayer that reflects our deep suffering over the horrible sin of disunion. We have all sinned. We ought to humble ourselves, to pray without ceasing and to demand indefatigably the miracle of total reunion. We certainly shall not see this coming to pass, but our urgent duty is to make ready for it, however distant it may be . Our Christ, our common Lord, awaits the unanimous prayer of all Christian groups that he may reunited them when and in what manner he wills.'
He regretted that there was so little prayer when the divisions happened in the church at that time:
'There was need for the initiative of the Church to be supported by something lacking in the Middle Ages – the great orchestra of the Spirit provided by the people of Christ. There must be a preparation on the part of the bulk of the Church in prayer and longing for reconciliation, if the complementary treasures of truth, East and Wast are to find their unity in Christ'.
He therefor asked for prayer from all churches to heal the 'horrible sin' of disunion:
'The root of the problem is to manage to elicit ecumenical prayer from all Christian groups, prayer that reflects our deep suffering over the horrible sin of disunion. We have all sinned. We ought to humble ourselves, to pray without ceasing and to demand indefatigably the miracle of total reunion. We certainly shall not see this coming to pass, but our urgent duty is to make ready for it, however distant it may be . Our Christ, our common Lord, awaits the unanimous prayer of all Christian groups that he may reunited them when and in what manner he wills.'
the augsburg 2030 prayer campaign: from the beginning.
The Prayer campaign for the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 2030 started in South Carolina in the USA in a Trappist Monastery. The Superior wrote a Prayer for Augsburg which was then circulated by surface mail and email across the world to communities where there were both significant Lutheran and Catholic Churches. Now it is asking for prayers from these territories to help create that universal 'Orchestra of the Spirit' that Abbé Couturier sought for that 'miracle of total reunion', however distant it may be. Abbé Couturier did not get the chance to witness either Vatican 2, the Declaration on Ecumenism or the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification which was signed by five major confessions from 1999. It is our part to seek in prayer the healing of the Western schism that happened at Augsburg in 1530 .