On January 22, 2016, the Ecumenical Prayer service for Christian unity was delivered at the Catholic Church in Tbilisi. Every year the faithful of four Christian denominations pray for unity. Among them are the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Holy Church in Georgia, the Roman Catholic Church in Georgia, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia and the Evangelical Baptist Church in Georgia. Every year the Ecumenical Prayer service is conducted under the chairmanship of one of four Churches.

This year the Roman Catholic Church in Georgia was granted the honor of offering a prayer for unity. The Ecumenical Prayer service was attended by the Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Hans-Joachim Kiderlen, the Head of the Evangelical Baptist Church in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Merab Gaprindashvili, clergy and faithful from different nationalities.

The Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, in the company of the Pastor of the Surb Etchmiadzin Church in Tbilisi, Father Narek Ghushyan, the Director of the Administrative Department of the Diocese, Karen Yeritsyan the Head of Legal Affairs and Cooperation Department, Michael Avagyan, honored the ceremony with his presence. The church choir of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia also took part in the service.

His Grace Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto, the leader of Apostolic Department of Caucasian Latin Catholics, welcomed the people present. The spiritual leader highlighted the prayer meeting of Christians and a plea to God for mercy; he stressed the ethnic and religious diversity and the value of similar meetings.

The prayer service was offered under the motto: “Let’s be the salt of the earth and the light of the world”. Despite the variety of cultures and languages, the motto of Christian unity pronounced in all prayers was the same: to fill the souls with unity through the power of salt and to become the light of the world through our faith. They also prayed for stopping the bloodshed and terrorism in the world and for the establishment of worldwide peace.

The ecumenical prayer ended with the blessing of four bishops.

The contemporary ecumenical movement is often said to have started with the 1910 Edinburgh Missionary Conference. Conference attendees came to an agreement that the Christian unity would strengthen the apostolic activity and the Churches itself. The Evangelical Baptist Church was one of the initiators of Ecumenical Prayer services in Georgia.