5 Denominations Ecumenical Officers' Consultation

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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 Anglia - Methodist Covenant is being worked at with considerable energy and the prospect for a few years time that the work might become much more thee-way. Similarly, across the country there is a lot of imaginative work being done together focussing on mission projects and the URC is now a full partner in the Fresh Expressions initiative.

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