Almighty Father, who didst inspire Simon Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the Living God: Keep thy Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins today. I hope many readers will join me in beseeching our gracious Lord that, at the very least, we Anglicans can be more unified. Before we can with integrity work toward reconciliation with other Christian bodies, we must clean house and put our own affairs in order.
Not least, there is the perennial problem of how those Anglicans who look to Peter as their hero (the Anglo-Catholic wing) can be of one heart and mind with those who look to Paul as their champion (the Protestant majority). Ecumenism, and even inter-faith dialogue, must start WITHIN Anglicanism, before it can achieve any realistic results on a wider scale.
David Handy+
3-D Christian
Excellent theology in this collect, consist with the teachings of the Apostles and the early church fathers. Good to see.