Perspectives

I was struck by how conventional we get when we think of our Christmas greetings.  Even the flash mob video of the Hallelujah chorus being sung in an American shopping mall is just a variation on the usual.  So are all the variations we find within the Christian traditions which litter our planet and having had to read some books on the development of the concept of salvation and atonement the other day for a paper I was writing, reminded me of just how much nit-picking argument and disagreement there has been, and still is, over what so often seems to be either irrelevant or blinkered detail. Like all the best pieces of electrical equipment I sometimes think that what we need is a reset button.  So the picture above is my attempt at a reset button. The main picture is not of stars but of galaxies, in the centre is a picture of a star-forming region of our own galaxy; the eagle nebula is there because it looks nice and then there is our own earth.  If it was all...

No picture to go with this (yet) but it's the image that comes into my mind sometimes when professional theologians from different traditions engage in dialogue. There's a careful mental maneuvering that takes place in order to be in the most appropriate position to catch and hold what the other person is trying to throw to you and then to be able to throw it on in turn. One cannot be slapdash about it and it requires a lot of focus and a grip that doesn't let the whole mass of concepts and language slip through the fingers. The image came to me the other day in ameeting of the theology and unity group of Churches Together in England. It's not a denegrating image by any means but I think it is a challenging one because it is about the difficulty and the importance of listening to one another. The challenge is that this needs to be able to be done at all levels of the church and cannot just be the domain of professional theologians. Maybe the recent enthusiasm for ...

No, not the friends of someone with an over assertive personality.....Bossey is the Ecumenical Institute near Genava and closley linked with the World Council of Churches.  The friends are a small group of people in the UK who have or have had a close involvment with the centre and try to encourage the link and new initiatives.  We met on Monday 18th at the CTE offices in London and heard, amongst other things, of the plans for two students of Bossey from China to spend Chritmas in Milton Keynes as part of a gradually developing link.  Milton Keynes, with its long ecumenical experience is working towards establishing a dimension of ecumenical theological reflection and education and sees the link with Bossey as an important dimension of this. The centre runs courses throughout the year and has a graduate student programme but can also be used for independanetly run seminars and conferences. Have a look at their website .

The meeting was held from October 13th to 15th October at the Swanwick conference centre. Its origins of  lay in the joint resolution presented to both Methodist Conference and URC General Assembly in 2008. There has been a liaison group in existence for some time, dealing with grass roots issues whilst at the same time the Strategic Oversight Group, consisting of the Moderators and Presidents, the general secretariat of both churches and the shared treasurer has looked at more 'conceptual' issues of working together and the potentials for closer union. It was this group which organised the joint council. In the event there were probably those who would have liked the councils to have achieved much more, especially given that one of the papers which came to the meeting was a proposal to work towards a uniting church with the Church of England. The meeting stayed, by and large, on a 'getting to know' you level with the exception of issues in the area of youth and chil...

Ecumenical officers from the Baptists, Church of England, Methodists, Roman Catholic and United Reformed Churches came together for 48 hours at the Swanwick conference centre from 11th to 13th October. This was primarily a conference focussed on the Edinburgh conference of 2010 but with a retrospect to the first conference in 1910. What where the characteristics of the Church and society reflected in the first conference, how have things changed over the century in between and where are we now? The standard of input was extremely high and the papers are being made available on the CTE website. One of the noticeable aspects of the meeting was that some people commented on the becalmed state of ecumenical relations in the UK. This was responded to by referring to the changed nature of the dynamics of Ecumenism which is becoming increasingly diverse, moving into areas that were not originally on the agenda. There is progress towards closer relationships between the URC and the C of E,...

The CCU is the Church of England body which deals with its ecumenical relations. It met for 24 hour's in Woking over the 29th and 30th September to consider an agenda which included its relations with the other churches of the Porvoo agreement, the Methodist Church and it received a report on the work of a small group which has been meeting with the URC. This will hopefully lead to some significant celebrations in 2012 which will be the 350th anniversary of 'the great ejectment', when many priests were ejected from the Church of England and became independents. The meeting also spent a long time considering a document on local unity in mission which maps out almost the entire landscape of C of E ecumenical involvement. It focuses in one part on the scope of the ecumenical canons which provide the legal permission for ecumenical work at parish level. If the document is properly handled, it could go a long way towards encouraging closer working.  From a URC point of view, ...

The society held its AGM this evening at St Joseph's church in KensIngton. It's one of the groups which has brought together theologians and others who are enthusiastic about Ecumenism. Many have long memories of when there was a real hope of a united Protestant church in the UK and some of them were instrumental in trying to create it. Times have changed though and the society's membership has shrunk. Nevertheless it voted to continue under the chairmanship of Elizabeth Welch and to forge new links and look for new ways of working. I think one of the useful roles it may be able to explore is to connect gras roots experience with 'national' levels of theology. Because it is a voluntary group, perhaps it can achieve some things more informally working with some of the other more formal bodies to which people are appointed? Early days perhaps but there are possibilities and given the number of people who were there with Milton Keynes connections there could be the cha...

Churches Together in England (CTE) has several groups responsible for its functioning. The largest of these is the Enabling Group which meets three times a year and is made up largely of representatives of the many denominations which are members of CTE plus others. It is one of the places where the sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle differences between Christian traditions can be explored and new pathways of ecumenical working discussed and tested. On September 17th and 18th the group met in London and coincidentally it coincided with the visit of Pope Benedict. The agenda therefore included attendance at the service of evening prayer at Westminster Abbey led by both the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury (see previous posting). Although there is a tendency to feel that the agenda of a meeting such as this is dominated by 'large items' of ecumenism it is not the case. The agenda included agreeing the membership of CTE of the Free Church of England ( a small denom...

Photo Copyright: Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey. I walked to the Abbey from Victoria Station because of the crowds which gave a good chance to get a feel for the surrounding atmosphere and activity. Cars with blacked out windows and non-standard number plates were everywhere and police motor cyclists with sirens blaring raced in all directions. Nearer the Abbey the crowds grew thicker and banners saying 'Welcome to the Holy Father' jostled with those declaring 'No Popery'. A friendly woman with a pile of leaflets gave me one which outlined the errors of the Catholic faith. There was nothing new in it. Some of the arguments were ones I have some sympathy with as a protestant; others seemed to show a determined adherence to deliberately distorted interpretations. Put together the arguments simply reinforced prejudice and could not have been in greater contrast with the spirit of the worship which followed. It was my first experience of Westminster Abbey worship w...

One never ceases to be amazed at the scale of the Kirchentag.  For the Orthodox vespers this evening, 1000 tables had been placed in the open air at Odeonsplatz in the centre of Munich.  Each table sat 10 people and they were all full.  I was one of the unlucky many who didn't get a seat which meant that there probably at least 11 or 12,000 people taking part.  The climax of the service was the blessing of the bread and the distribution of it to the tables where it was shared by all along with apples, water and olive oil to dip the bread in.  On each table people then took it in turn to read the text of the feeding of the 5,000 and to share thoughts on it together. This is an old Orthodox tradition which is not sacramental and yet uses much of the symbolism and is a focus of fellowship and hospitality which can be extended to anyone.  In the context of the Kirchentag which continues to struggle with the problem of the lack of intercommunion it has been a powerful new element.  Earl...

The Second Ecumenical Kirchentag of the German Churches started on May 12th in Munich.  Somewhere in the region of 100,000 people have descended on the city, mostly around the Trade Centre for three and a half days of meetings, services, debates, concerts, displays and so on.   At its launch on Wednesday evening, it took over the centre of Munich with music, processions and an endless supply of food stands. Three large open air services began the Kirchentag which then led into the more informal 'evening of encounter'. I've been attending Kirchentags since 1973 and have always been impressed by the profile that they have in German society. The media covers them extensively and major politicians, including Angela Merkel, take part.  The theme of this one is 'That they may have hope'.  Usually the Protestants hold theirs one year and the Catholics the next but in 2003 the first joint one was held in Berlin and now this one in Munich.  I missed the session with Hans Kun...

Young people at the assembly performing a sketch on inclusivity in the church The federation comprises about 300 churches which did not join the union of the URC in 1972 and have continued in their own federation since then. There are still a number of ways in which we still cooperate including through the Council for World Mission and more recently by joining the Fresh Expressions movement. The assembly felt familiar and yet different. It was short, all contained in one day with only a fraction of the business of a URC General Assembly, and informal in feel. The majority of the agenda was focused on various things that were happening including the CF's support for a Christian Aid project, stories of different congregations' work and the 30th anniversary of their integrated training programme. There were many stories of success and optimism, nothing dramatic but quietly positive. I couldn't help thinking that what seemed like a much less organised structure has much to comm...