That They May Be One
On the night before he suffered, Jesus prayed not only for those with him, but for everyone who would ever believe in him — that we would all be one. This is a place to seek that unity together.
20“Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word,21that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me.22The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one;23I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.”
John 17:20–23 · World English Bible
Unity in Christ, not uniformity
The unity Jesus prayed for is not sameness. It is the deep, living oneness he shares with the Father — a unity of love, not a blurring of difference. Across the centuries, believers have gathered around Christ in many traditions: Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Ethiopian, and more. Each has kept watch over treasures the others can learn from.
On this site we do not hide those differences, nor do we pretend they do not matter. We hold them in charity. Our aim is not to decide who is right, but to help believers see one another as Christ sees us — and to seek, in humility, the oneness he asked for “so that the world may know” that the Father sent him.
What we hold in common
Before we consider where traditions differ, it is worth dwelling on how much we already share.
One New Testament
The twenty-seven books of the New Testament are received identically by every Christian tradition. Here there is no dispute — the words of Christ and his apostles are held in common by all.
See the canons side by sideThe commands of Christ
The universal commands of Jesus — to love God, to love our neighbour, to forgive, to serve — are binding on every believer in every tradition. They are the common rule of the whole Body.
Study the universal commandsCommon ground
One Lord, one faith, one baptism. The Ecumenical assessment measures the ground we share across all traditions before it ever weighs where we differ.
Explore what we shareCards that echo this prayer
Scripture’s own voice on our oneness — drawn from the Words of Jesus, the Epistles, and the wider canon that the traditions treasure between them.
“I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that…”
Study this card“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you…”
Study this card“Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but…”
Study this card“I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and humility, with…”
Study this card“Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.”
Study this card“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”
Study this card“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.”
Study this card“And they cried to the Lord the God of Israel with one accord, that their children might not be made a prey, and their wives carried off, and their…”
Study this card“And love one another, my sons, your brothers as a man who loves his own soul, and let each seek in what he may benefit his brother, and act together…”
Study this card“with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love; being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.”
Ephesians 4:2–6 · World English Bible
A prayer for unity
Lord Jesus, you prayed that we might be one, as you and the Father are one. Forgive us where our divisions have wounded your Body and dimmed our witness. Give us humble hearts to honour one another, patience to bear with one another in love, and eyes to see the treasure you have entrusted to each of your people. Draw us together in you, so that the world may know that the Father sent you, and loved us, even as he loved you. Amen.
Learn from every tradition
Explore how each tradition has kept and treasured the Scriptures — and let what they have preserved enrich your own walk with Christ.
Explore the traditions