Christians praying for unity within the Church

The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity gets underway today.

The week traditionally runs between the ancient festival of the Chair of St Peter on the 18th and the Conversion of St Paul on January 25, and hopes to address and go some way to repair the "scandal" of disunity between the Anglican and Catholic Churches.

"To suggest that disunity is something acceptable is declaring that Christ himself is divided – and that really is a scandal!" the team behind the week say.

First commemorated in 1908 by Anglican priests Spencer Jones and Paul Wattson, the week has been adopted by tens of thousands of Christians all over the world who want to see reconciliation between the different traditions.

During the Week of Prayer 2014, the Millennium Goals, which largely centre on reducing global poverty, will be used as a focus for prayer for vulnerable people around the world.

In the UK, the week is being held in partnership with Christian Aid, which has provided "Go and Do" action points to accompany daily reflections.

The action points are designed to underline the importance of actively advocating for justice in our own communities as well as on a global scale.

Resources can be found here