The leaders of Ireland's main churches have urged political parties to "go the extra mile" to restore devolution at Stormont.
They expressed disappointment that talks to get the Assembly back up and running before Christmas failed.
Last week, Tánaiste Simon Coveney and Northern Ireland Secretary of State Julian Smith both said a potential agreement had been close, and blamed the DUP for the failure to close the deal.
The DUP has insisted it was not to blame.
If agreement cannot be reached by 13 January, there is likely to be a fresh Assembly election.
In a joint statement, the leaders of the Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland, Methodist and Presbyterian Churches and the Irish Council of Churches urged politicians to "keep their eyes on the goal of devolution".
"Like many across our community, we are disappointed that it has not been possible to restore the devolved institutions before Christmas," the statement said.
"As leaders of Ireland's main churches, we want to encourage all those taking part and we pray that, together, they fully grasp this opportunity when they return to the negotiating table in January."
The church leaders said the collapse of the Stormont Executive almost three years ago had damaged Northern Ireland's health service and schools, and "nurtured a growing sense of despair in our politics".
Their statement added: "While we acknowledge that points of difference obviously remain, the goal of restoring devolution remains within reach, even if it still rests a little way off.
"We add our collective support for this process and encourage those taking part to continue working creatively and courageously towards a deal that can bring stability and begin to restore a sense of hope.
"For the sake of the whole community, we urge all our political representatives to go that extra mile."
This is the latest political intervention by the church leaders in recent months.
In October, they urged Northern Ireland's politicians to ensure devolution was restored to prevent changes in the abortion laws.
Legislation passed by MPs in Westminster became law in Northern Ireland after midnight on 21 October. New laws decriminalised abortion and legalised same-sex marriage.
The laws came into effect because the political parties in Northern Ireland missed a deadline to reach agreement to restore the Stormont Executive. Talks aimed at restoring devolution are due to resume shortly after Christmas.
Given the fall in their votes in the British General Election earlier this month, the Irish and British governments will hope both the DUP and Sinn Féin will be keen to avoid going to the polls again in an Assembly election.
The way they can avoid doing so is to agree to renew power-sharing at Stormont.
