Faith in Europe Annual Conference

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Faith in Europe is the churches European relations network.  It aims to:

• Promotes contact and visits across Europe
• Encourages informed discussion and debate through regular Briefings
• Cooperates closely with other bodies with similar concerns and a similar agenda
• Publicises and encourages active support of believers in across Europe
• Keeps in advisory contact with government and non-government bodies,
  and in association with Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
• Continues to work for understanding and reconciliation between the Churches
  of Eastern and Western Europe

There are more aims and objectives on their website.  Details of their annual conference are taken from Faith in Europe's website.

This year's residential conference will be at Holland House Retreat Centre, Cropthorne, Worcestershire (between Evesham and Pershore) between Wednesday 5 and Friday 7 October.

This year's theme is Civil Society. This is a highly relevant and important topic in all parts of Europe today, both in the East, where emergence from communist rule and accession to the European Union have thrown up unique challenges, and in the West, where societies face civil unrest and difficulties in the context of economic downturn. It is an area where churches and faith organisations are making a distinctive and important contribution.

Building on the very successful formula at last year's conference, we are focusing both on the theoretical and the practical aspects of the subject, with a range of distinguished and experienced presenters. Geographically we shall range from Western Europe to Poland (as a recent EU accession country) and to Russia, and we shall be giving special consideration to the religious dimension. 

The speakers include:

Jonathan Chaplin (Director, Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics, Cambridge): ‘Civil Society and Christian Social Thought.’ He will present an overview of contemporary theories of civil society and bring them into conversation with themes in Christian social thought.

Adrian Pabst (Lecturer in Politics, University of Kent), who will look at Civil Society developments in some eastern neighbours of the EU, focusing on Russia.

Julie Camacho (Lead Organiser, West London Citizens): 'Organising for Change': 'Citizens UK', the home of community organising.

Jane Winter from the 'Faith-Based Regeneration Network', the leading national multi-faith network for community development, presenting the findings of their research project 'Measurement, Quality and Reflection in Faith-Based Social Action'.

Jolanta Babiuch-Luxmoore (Associate Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University Business School), who will draw on her experiences as founder-director of Transparency International (the world's largest anti-corruption NGO) in Poland and her many other civil society contacts there. 

Adam Dinham (Director, Faiths and Civil Society Unit, Goldsmith's College): 'Summing Up and Looking Forward'. He will identify key current issues and challenges in keeping the civil society conversation going in faith-based contexts. 

The cost of the conference, including lunch on the Friday, will be £160 per person. Day visitors will also be welcome at reduced pro-rata rates.

A Booking Form is here as a PDF file.

Related articles

• Migration: Building Bridges or Barriers? (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Europe Day at CTE (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• In Memory of Those Who Have Died at the Borders of the EU (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

We Will All be Changed

The theme for next year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jnauary 2012 has been announced.  Details can be found on the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland website. 

The theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2012 comes to us from the churches in Poland, who have reflected upon their own experience as a nation, and in particular how, as a nation, they have been changed and transformed by the many upheavals of their history, and sustained by their faith.

Change is also at the heart of the ecumenical movement. When we pray for the unity of the church we are praying that the churches that we know and which are so familiar to us will change as they conform more closely to Christ. This is an exciting vision, but also a challenging one. Furthermore, when we pray for this transforming unity we are also praying for change in the world.

This is the first year Christian Aid has assisted in preparation of the resources.  They are available to download now and they will be available in paper copies soon.  Downloads are free although CTBI would appreciate a donation to cover costs.

Migration: Building Bridges or Barriers?

The Church puts the sacredness of human life at the forefront of the migration debate.  As Christians, the dignity and equality of all human beings is fundamental to our belief.  We are all created in the image of God and are loved by God as part of one human family. The Scriptures challenge our preconceptions about each other and call upon us to speak out about injustice where we find it. Jesus was never afraid to cross social, cultural, geographic and religious boundaries. Racial Justice Sunday provides us with an opportunity to work together to create a society where the hatred, which breeds violence and division, is unacceptable and where everyone in our society, including all migrants, are allowed to realize their full potential and their human dignity.

This paragraph is from the long awaited Churches Together in Britain and Ireland's publication for Racial Justice Sunday, Migration: Building Bridges or Barriers?  The publication can be downloaded from the site and includes background material as well as biblical relflections, sermon notes, personal stories, hymns, prayers and resources for use with children.

The material is based upon the experience of the Migration 2010 initiative of the Conference of European Churches and the Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe.A message delivered at the International Migrants Day towards the end of the year fills in some of the detail.

Racial Justice Sunday

This year Racial Justice Sunday is on Sunday September 11and the plans are to produce resources for based around the theme "Created by God, Treated like Slaves: Tackling Human Trafficking" and "Love your neighbour as yourself, do this and you will live" from Luke 10:27-28.

Unfortunately, the resources have been delayed and so are not yet on Churches' Together in Britain and Ireland's website.  Not to worry.  You can download this fantastic poster for church notice boards and busk it if the resources don't turn up!

CTBI write on their site:

The Churches' Racial Justice Network works for racial justice across Britain and Ireland. We aim to make a real difference in the Christian community and far beyond by raising awareness, encouraging effective working together and facilitating imaginative local initiatives. 

Racial Justice Sunday is an opportunity for all Christians in Britain and Ireland to focus their worship, prayer and action on racial justice by:

• Celebrating human diversity.
• Rejoicing in how far God's people have travelled together.
• Recognising that there is much further to go both in the Church and in the world.

What are the aims? 

• To raise awareness and deepen understanding of the diversity of culture and experience both in society and in the church.
• To become more inclusive, outward-looking and welcoming.
• To encourage all Christians to tackle injustice, not ignore it.

Make sure your church remembers racial justice!

Harvest and the Environment

Community Mission this month features news of material for the creation time season.  I've covered some of this before but here there is more information about Creation Time and the work of A Rocha.  This is what Community Mission says:

Those looking to celebrate harvest and the environment in a new way this autumn should visit Arocha and Churches Together. Produced by Arocha, Just Food? is a resource pack designed to reclaim a biblical understanding of food and explore ways to bring God’s kingdom values of justice and restored relationships into our lives. The pack cost £11.50 inc p&p and can be purchased online. For more ideas to promote the environment around Creation Time (1 September to mid-October) check out Arocha’s Living Lightly initiative.

There is a wealth of information in these links, here are a couple of highlights:

The Second Ecumenical European Assembly adopted the following resolution: "We recommend that the churches consider and promote the preservation of Creation as part of church life at all levels. One way would be to observe a common creation day, such as the Ecumenical Patriarchate celebrates each year. Rationale: The seriousness of the ecological dilemma for the future of the human race means that churches' consciousness of it must be raised. Commitment to preservation of the creation is not an issue among many others but an essential dimension of all church life.'"  (From the 'Creation Time' site)

The proposal on the 'Creation Time' site is for a period from 1 September through to the second Sunday in October.   This can be an opportunity for environmental concerns to be expressed during the harvest season.  

The Churches Together in Britain and Ireland site offers resources, 'Our Daily Bread - Food in God's Creation'.

'What's the food like?', 'Who is providing the food?', 'Is there enough food to go round?' Our everyday talk constantly makes reference to food, which is no surprise, as food and drink are essentials for life and survival.

When we pray "Give us our daily bread" we are both acknowledging our dependence on God's generosity and our realisation that the answer to that prayer needs to include agriculture, commerce, sharing, trade-justice, animal welfare, diet and a host of other considerations.

Our Creation Time resources, which encourage and assist churches, groups and individuals to observe a Time for Creation each year between 1 September and 4 October for the protection of creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles, focus this year on Food in God's creation. May God make us more aware of his generosity and our responsibilities as we pray for our daily bread.

Related articles

• Creation Time 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Creation Time 2011

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) have produced some resources for the Harvest Festival season, which they believe is between 1 September and 4 October.

Creation Time 2011, seeks to 'encourage and assist churches, groups and individuals to observe a Time for Creation each year between 1 September and 4 October for the protection of creation and the promotion of sustainable lifestyles, focus this year on Food in God's creation. May God make us more aware of his generosity and our responsibilities as we pray for our daily bread.'

The resources this year have the title 'Our Daily Bread - Food in God's Creation' and you can download a flyer to publicise them (more details on the site).  The resources themselves are free from the CTBI site although they ask for a donation.  The resources are currently being added.  So far, they include:

• Sermon notes based on the Lectionary readings for the 5 Sundays - including Bishop David Atkinson (Celebration: Food and Community), Revd Dr Kathy Galloway, Head of Christian Aid Scotland (Our Daily Bread) and Dr Michael S Northcott (The Climate of Communion)
• Other sermon outlines
• Prayers of intercession / bidding prayers for a Sunday liturgy
• Service outline for a mid-week / ecumenical event, with accompanying PowerPoint
• Group study notes
• New harvest festival ideas
• Background information on food and agriculture
• A range of other liturgical material

There are Irish and Welsh translations of some of these resources.

Unreconciled

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The second Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) publication this week is Unreconciled.  This book relates to this year's Lent course and is also to feature on BBC Radio 4.

The book is by Anne Richards, with the Mission Theology Advisory Group, 'Unreconciled: Exploring mission in an imperfect world'.  Christians pray for peace and reconciliation and give money to alleviate the plight of others, while nodding to our neighbour whose problems we are not aware of. The Unreconciled are among us, but, because they don't make headlines, we assume they are coping and don't need our help.

The radio programmes address the following questions:

• How do we bring about reconciliation?
• Who is responsible for bringing about world peace?
• Who should feed the hungry?
• What happens when attempts at reconciliation fail?
• How do we cope with failure?

These are some of the questions that are explored in the Lent course for 2011: The Unreconciled, which continues our partnership with BBC Radio. Beginning with the Sunday before Lent / Ash Wednesday, we reflect on our journey on what God has done for us in the crucifixion, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Because, in 2011, we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible, each resource will also have a special emphasis on how Scripture helps us to understand the plight of unreconciled people and our hope in Jesus Christ.

Each week begins with Sunday Worship on BBC Radio 4 (0810-0850), complemented by additional programmes on the Daily Service (0945-1000 BBC R4 LW), and Sunday morning BBC local radio programmes will carry special items based on the themes of the course.  The local programmes are listed in the Rerligion and Ethics section of your BBC local Radio station website.

Related articles

• Lent Courses 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Free Websites for Churches Together Groups (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Forgotten Trinity (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Churches Together Connect (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Forgotten Trinity

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Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) have recently published a couple of books which might be of interest.  Today, Forgotten Trinity, was first published 20 years ago and has been republished this year. 

CTBI write on their website:

Is the doctrine of the Trinity an irrelevance? Or is it of vital importance to the life of the churches?

In 1983 the British Council of Churches set up a Study Commission on Trinitarian Doctrine which grappled with these questions and other issues. It was prompted to do so by:

• the need to set the charismatic movement's witness to the Spirit in a Trinitarian context
• the theological concerns of the Orthodox members of the BCC
• work done by the World Council of Churches' Faith and Order Commission

The result of this commission was a three volume publication under the title The Forgotten Trinity:

• Vol.1: The Report of the BCC Study Commission on Trinitarian Doctrine Today
• Vol.2: A Study Guide on issues contained in the report
• Vol 3: A Selection of papers presented to the Commission

Although more than 20 years old, they remain an important contribution to Ecumenical theological discussions.

The second edition is now available, combining the three publications from the work of the Commission - a Report, a Study Guide and a Selection of Papers - in a single volume for the first time.

Related articles

• Churches Together Connect (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• The Churches' Co-ordinating Group on Spirituality (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Free Websites for Churches Together Groups

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) are offering free websites for Churches Together Groups.  Churches Together Groups were established through the 1989 Swanwick Declaration and they are an opportunity for local churches to work together usually under a constitution for an unincorporated association.  Consequently, they are a flexible approach to local collaboration and can accommodate a very wide range of traditions.

CTBI on their website, explain what they have on offer:

We are offering local Churches Together groups a free website and hosting, based around an easy-to-use Content Management System (CMS), linked to our new social networking website Churches Together Connect .

A number of features help to keep website content fresh and up-to-date: the website automatically takes news feeds from CTBI and your national Churches Together organisation (CTE, Cytun or ACTS); and 'plug-in' content allows local groups to quickly add details and direct links to resources available from CTBI, such as for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Lent, Creation Time, Racial Justice Sunday and Remembrance Sunday.

The website comes with sample content but is customisable to enable local groups to add and edit their own sections and pages as required, as well as upload photos and add videos. A banner and logo, plus a number of themes, are provided, but local groups are free to upload their own.

A sample website can be viewed here

If you are interested in a free Churches Together website, please email CTBI. 

Websites for Churches Together Groups that have already signed up can be found here.  See below for a recent post about Churches Together Connect.

Related articles

• Churches Together Connect (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Lent Courses 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

The Churches' Co-ordinating Group on Spirituality

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The next meeting of Churches Together in England's (CTE) Enabling Group will be considering a paper from the Churches' Co-ordinating Group on Spirituality.  The is one of CTE's Co-ordinating Groups and it is reviewing its work and seeking priorities for the future.  The group has access to a wealth of committed and insightful people from across the churches and they are asking what Enabling Group sees as priorities for the next few years.  Here are some extracts from their paper:

The group was formed in 1997 with the following aims:

1. To encourage member Churches to explore, discover, affirm and share their spiritual traditions and current practices.
2. To promote an understanding of spirituality which embraces the whole of life, and leads to action for justice and service in the world.
3. To encourage co-operation between the Churches and all those Bodies in Association, groups, communities and networks concerned in prayer and spirituality.
4. To support and encourage the work already being down at Intermediate and local levels through Spirituality Forums, Quiet Days, retreats, etc; to arrange occasional consultations and promote networking among those concerned about spirituality in England; to co-operate in any four nation events organised by CTBI's (Churches Together in Britain and Ireland ) Living Spirituality Network.
5. To hold to the wide variety of forms of spirituality - charismatic, sacramental, evangelical, etc - and promote unity in diversity; but to be aware that some forms of spirituality can be damaging, and to warn when necessary.
6. To be sensitive to the spirituality of each human being, and to promote the use of accessible language in helping people explore their relationship with God and how it works in the world.

The group has achieved:

• publications like Such a Feast and Sharing Our Spiritual Treasures
• consultations on subjects like 'Faith and Spirituality'. 'Youth Spirituality', 'Hospitality at Holy Communion' and 'Healthy and Unhealthy Spiritualities'

Over the years since 1997, there have been immense changes in the practice and in the understanding of spirituality within the churches and wider society.  Sr Diane Reynolds in a recent paper, presented to the groups wrote:
"'Spirituality' was part of the churches' heritage when the group began.  It was their 'property'.  In the intervening years it has become a consumer product, partially secularised, and frequently individualised.  It would appear that the churches have therefore lost some of their interest and enthusiasm for this area of church life.  It is as if Spirituality covers every dimension of church life, and yet has no 'particular place' and in many cases has a very low profile and certainly does not register as a priority on the Churches' agenda.  The paradox is that outside the church structures spirituality has never been more alive, or sought after, and this in itself poses a challenge to the church of today."

The group has identified some themes it might pursue and seeks further ideas and responses to them:

• the value of a spiritual discipline
• the need for a Rule of Life
• the diversity of experience of the Spirit which can lead to member bodies taking opposing stances on ethical issues
• the relationship between theology and spirituality

What do you think?  Leave a comment and I can pass ideas on to the Group.

Related articles

• CTE Enabling Group, March 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Churches Together Connect

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News this week of a new development from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  Churches Together Connect is a new social network primarily for Churches Together groups, launched on Monday 17 January 2011.  Here is their press release:

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) has today launched a new social networking site called CT Connect. Launched to coincide with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, it will offer a free website to local Churches Together groups with direct links to CTBI’s online resources.

CTBI General Secretary Revd Bob Fyffe said “This is about resourcing and developing a new space to work on our agenda for unity. It’s about building an on-line community. Significantly, it will allow Christians at a local level to engage directly with each other and with the many organisations in the ecumenical family. It will also be an interactive space that will resource and strengthen the work of local Churches Together groups. It’s a good example of our being ‘More Together, Less Apart.’”

CT Connect will also offer a quality space for Christians to seek and share information and best practice. It will facilitate groups sharing resources for worship and spirituality, publicising events, and most importantly to engaging, interacting and discussing current issues locally, nationally and internationally.

CT Connect will build a community online.  It will be a place to:

• learn from each other and to explore what it means to be a Church united in Christ
• Generate ideas
• Share resources for worship, liturgy and spirituality.
• Engage and discuss current issues with people from diverse backgrounds.
• Publicise community and Churches Together events and get ideas from others about how to organise particular events and use the best resources

(This list is from the January edition of CTE News.)

I welcome this development as I welcome any initiative which, like this blog, increases the presence of ecumenism on the internet.  However, these initiatives work only if they are supported, so please follow and comment on this blog and also join CT Connect. 
 
Finally, Church Mouse has commented on this new development in a post yesterday.

Related articles

• Promoting Prayer for Unity (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• All Things in Common (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Lent Courses 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Lent Courses 2011

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Thank you to Lincolnshire's CTAL Notepad, for their summary of Lent Courses for 2011.  I posted about the courses in November and by now there is more information.  Here is a sample.

1. Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) are producing The Unreconciled.  Details can be found by following the link and there is also a PDF file, Introduction to the Resources.  Apparently, the resources will be published on the website soon. 
2. Rich Inheritance: Jesus' Legacy of Love is from York Christian Study Courses.  It is edited by Bishop Stephen Cotterell and features RC Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, Writer and lecturer in Biblical studies, Paula Gooder, and author and public theologian, Jim Wallis on the course CD / audiotape. Dr David Hope introduces the course and Methodist minister Inderjit Bhogal provides the Closing Reflection at the end of each speaker.
3. Jesus ‐ The Wounded Healer (DVD) is a new CWR study for Lent. Comprises a DVD with five 15‐minute presentations, and a 48‐page study booklet with five weeks of daily Bible reading notes by Selwyn Hughes.
4. Exploring God's Mercy by Bishop Stephen Croft, is available from Church House Publishing with companion videos and podcasts.
5. Barefoot Disciple: Walking the Path of Passionate Humility by Stephen Cherry is the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent book for 2011.
6. Another Lent book is a series of bible readimngs and reflections by Nigel G Wright, Jesus Christ the Alpha and the Omega. 

Related articles

• Lent Courses 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• All Things in Common (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Christian Responses to Big Society

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The following is taken from the December 2010 edition of CTE News.  I have tried to include as many links to organisations and campaigns as I can.

A group of Christians in public life, including ministers and theologians, has launched a new network to oppose government cuts in public spending and welfare provision. They criticise the Coalition's 'Big Society' rhetoric as vacuous and misleading. The Common Wealth initiative says targeting the poorest in society is un-Christian and warns against churches being co-opted into plugging damaging gaps in social provision. The group's founding document - endorsed by a professor of theology, Anglican and Methodist clergy, a Cambridge academic and a religious think-tank, among others - provides a radical theological critique of government policies and the social and economic order they seek to maintain.

Steven Shakespeare, an Anglican priest and lecturer in philosophy at Liverpool Hope University, explained: "This is not the time for the churches to be cosying up to government. That would be a failure of nerve, imagination and faith. We need to be saying loud and clear that we are part of the resistance. We don't accept that the market is God."

The group says: "Christians in Britain today are called to take a stand. Faced with the biggest cuts to public spending for over a generation, it is not enough to retreat into the private ghetto of religious consolation. We are convinced that the actions of the current government are an unjustified attack on the poor. The rhetoric of necessary austerity and virtuous belt-tightening conceals a grim reality: the victimization of people at the margins of society and the corrosion of community. Meanwhile, the false worship of markets continues unchecked and the immorality of the growing gap between rich and poor goes unquestioned. We call on the churches to resist the cuts and stand in solidarity with those targeted," it declares. "We urge them to join the forces fighting back against a distorted ideology... [and] we commit ourselves not to give in to despair, fear and fatalism. Another world is possible, the world announced by Jesus in his teachings, embodied in the love he took to the cross, and alive in the Spirit of his risen strength."

Common Wealth says that churches should not be deceived by claims that the government is sympathetic to Christian ideals. The network describes David Cameron's 'Big Society', in which the state passes the buck to individuals, entrepreneurs, charities, and faith groups, as "a Big Lie". The 'Big Society' masks injustice, suffocating dissent with phoney "we're all in it together" sound bites, Common Wealth says. "It is divide-and-rule dressed up as high-minded community spirit."

The Common Wealth statement recognizes that, on the ground, churches and ministers are faced with difficult choices about working within the current system to get necessary resources to the most vulnerable. But it says that pragmatic decisions "should always be guided - and often limited - by a fundamental critique of the present order" based on a vision of a different society "revealed in the Church's sacraments and other symbols of transformation." Simon Barrow, co-director of the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia, said: "The idea that there is no alternative to cuts that hit the poorest is being seen by Christians as economically false, morally wrong and spiritually bankrupt."

Regional representatives from the West Midlands Region Churches Forum met on 2 November to consider the implications of the October Government Spending Review and the Big Society agenda for Christian mission in the region. They acknowledged two responses to the recent Government initiatives:

1. to develop a prophetic critique of the Big Society and the current economic climate
2. to recognise the opportunities for Christian mission afforded by the Government’s focus on local communities.

Whilst acknowledging the need to develop a prophetic critique, the Forum concentrated reflection on the opportunities for Christian mission offered by the renewed emphasis on the concept of empowering local communities. Their discussion was not an uncritical endorsement of ‘Big Society’ policy, but rather a recognition that the concept of empowering local communities has for many decades informed Christian action. One representative felt that a Christian perspective should be more about ‘reclaiming’ community than ‘growing’ it as described within the Big Society.

There was a general consensus about a need to guard against responding to ‘Big Society’ as the latest fad from ‘above’, especially in relation to any injustices that require people of faith to speak out. It was considered important that we ensure there are people taking responsibility to seek out those who fall through the social support net. This highlighted the importance of organisations such as Church Action on Poverty.

Minority Ethnic Christian Affairs (MECA) hosted the inaugural meeting of the ‘Big Society Forum’ on Thursday 9 December at the London offices of Churches Together in England. The Forum was attended by representatives of Black-led Churches and Minority Ethnic communities in England. Guest speaker was Mr Rudi Page, CEO, of international development agency RAFFA and member of the Cinnamon Network, a group of executives from Christian organisations involved in community services development and delivery. The Cinnamon Network recently carried out research that showed that Churches are delivering an estimated 72 million hours of volunteering for social initiatives at over £250 millions of direct funding per annum.

MECA Executive Secretary, Bishop Dr Joe Aldred said, ‘Faith communities in general and Black-led churches and Minority Ethnic Christian communities in particular do ‘Big Society’ as a way of life. Social responsibility has long been a core Christian virtue. And it is vitally important that as the government encourages local communities to take on more responsibility that minority communities are able to critique the new proposals and collaborate where possible, but always in the interest of the poor, disadvantaged, marginalised and what the bible calls ‘the least of these’”.

The Big Society Forum will meet three times during 2011 in order to raise awareness and promote understanding about the government’s flagship Big Society programme with a particular remit to encourage approaches that reduce inequalities in public and community services. Senior political, civic and religious leaders will be invited to hear from a diverse range of independent and national Black-led Churches and Minority Ethnic Christian communities.

Rudi Page, said "The Big Society Forum has been invited to contribute to a Community Leadership & Empowerment survey that will highlight and measure the impact of Black-Led Churches which through social action are inspiring peaceful, caring and enterprising neighbourhoods".

The CTBI website features further responses from Church leaders, including the Methodist President of Conference.

Related articles

• Christian Coalition for Urban Mission (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Lent Courses 2011

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This is from the November edition of CTE News:

The theme for the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland Lent Course is 'the unreconciled'

• How do we bring about reconciliation?
• Who is responsible for bringing about world peace?
• Who should feed the hungry?
• What happens when attempts at reconciliation fail?
• How do we cope with failure?

These are some of the questions that are explored in the Lent course for 2011: The Unreconciled.

Beginning with Ash Wednesday, we journey through Lent reflecting on what God has done for us in the crucifixion, death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Because, in 2011, we are celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible, each resource will also have a special emphasis on how Scripture helps understand the plight of unreconciled people and how it helps us to understand our hope in Jesus Christ.

This year we will also be providing resources for Holy Week. The full course will be available as a download soon.

To read more about the Lent course, please download the introduction:

The theme of the Lent Course from York Courses is Rich Inheritance: Jesus’ Legacy of Love. It is written by Bishop Stephen Cottrell and Inderjit Bhogal provides the thoughtful closing reflections. Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Paula Gooder and Jim Wallis also feature on the course CD from York Courses. Each of the 5 sessions offers a good selection of stimulating questions aimed at engaging every group member. It is suitable for the ‘Year of the Bible’.

The Catholic diocese of Arundel and Brighton and the Anglican dioceses of Guildford and Chichester are also working together on their own course.

Christian Enquiry Agency

Christianity is the name of the website recently re-launched by the Christian Enquiry Agency, as a public facing website for anyone interested in the Christian faith. It is designed for all ages of enquirer and traditions of the Church and provides a host of information and an opportunity for people new to Christianity to enquire.

The Christian Enquiry Agency (CEA) provides information for people who want to find out about the Christian faith and its founder Jesus Christ. The information is reliable, objective and given confidentially.  It does not just offer a version of Christianity adhered to by one particular group of Christians (‘denomination’ or ‘tradition’). Instead it attempts to explain and explore what Christians of all kinds believe.

CEA tries to respond to all enquirers by giving them what they ask for, and only what they ask for. It takes steps to ensure that no one is given information unsolicited. It does not seek to take the place of local churches.  It is an agency of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and a registered charity (number 297393). 

The purpose of the Christian Enquiry Agency is to inform people about Jesus Christ and Christianity. It is their hope that men and women will take steps of faith toward a commitment to Jesus Christ as a result of what they discover. It is their prayer that having an active faith will improve their lives.
 
Most people who want to make use of the service that the Agency offers reach them through their website. It comes close to the top of any online search that uses the word Christianity. They also respond to requests that come by post or telephone, and all these details can be found on the website. People discover the Agency because it is linked to a large number of church websites, and its details appear in newspapers, booklets and exhibitions in cathedrals.
 
CEA tries to respond to all enquirers by giving them what they ask for, and only what they ask for. Typically, people might ask to be sent a gospel or other information about Christianity. They might request CEA's hundreds of supporters to pray about a particular issue, ask a question about Christianity, or seek help to find a reputable local church where they can explore issues of faith with others. CEA are also able to put them in touch with another Christian who can start an email conversation to share experience of following Jesus (these people have been trained and steps taken to ensure that they are trustworthy).
 
The Christian Enquiry Agency hosts this site as a service for all churches, it would be great if a link was put on every church and Christian agency website.

All Things in Common

Today, a brief visit to the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) website, for details of 2011's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 18 - 25 January 2011.  The theme is 'All Things on Common' and materials can be found here on the CTBI website.

There is a pamphlet and this can be ordered from the webpage or downloaded.  A small donation is requested for downloads.

Here are some excerpts form the flyer for the week and the website, which explain the theme:

This year an ecumenical group in Jerusalem were the originators of the material. Amidst all the turmoil, danger, injustice and fragility of the Middle East, the Churches in Jerusalem challenge the whole Church to remain faithful to the vocation to be one, and to recommit ourselves to pray for the unity of the church that world might believe.

The Christians of Jerusalem and indeed much of the Middle East are living under tremendous pressure and we are all too aware of the difficulties they experience both in terms of the political and religious situation and their dwindling numbers. However they are also communities of faith that worship, pray and study together, who work for the good of their society and pray for unity of the Church and the coming of the Kingdom of God. In 2011 they invite the world-wide Church to pray with them for the unity of the Church and justice and peace in the Holy Land and through the world.

The material was developed by the International Committee for the Week of Prayer composed of members of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and adapted into its present form by writers from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales on behalf of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.

The Britain and Ireland Writers Group are pleased to commend the worship materials for 2011 and have written some additional material to complement the liturgies from the churches of Jerusalem.

The aims of the week are:

• To pray as Christ prayed “That they may be one”.
• To pray for the unity of all Christian people as we share in Christ’s ministry The Week of Prayer offers opportunities to meet and pray with fellow-Christians of different denominations in your locality. Often new local initiatives emerge out of such meeting and praying together.

Related articles

• Ecumenical Websites: CTBI (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Ecumenical Websites: CTBI

This is the first in a series of visits to ecumenical websites.  I hope to explore what they have to offer and encourage those who write for them.  It is strange so little ecumenical activity takes place online.  You would think the opportunities for debate would have been taken up by ecumenists.  In fact, there seems to have been more of this type of activity before the internet; the 1986 InterChurch Process was far more extensive than anything we do today.

And it is the InterChurch Process where we start.  Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) traces its origins to the old British Council of Churches, transformed following the InterChurch Process.  Their FAQs page tells the story and includes their explanation of what they mean by 'ecumenism'.

CTBI produces a lot of resources for churches in Britain and Ireland and the latest ones are featured on their site's home page.  Past publications can be found by following the link to their resources page.

The work of the organisation is developed in three sections of the site.  The News page offers a scrolling list of developments, with the latest at the top.  This complements the items featured on the home page.  Two other pages Themes and Our Work, cover the rest of the CTBI's activities.  I have summarised these on the Methodist Church website.

Their list of member churches and organisations is worth a look.  This has links to their websites and so it is a helpful resource.  Another very useful facility is their links to sites over a wide range of issues and topics.  If you go to this page and click on the down arrow, you will see the extent of their information resource.

This looks like an exciting website although some of the detail can be a bit overwhelming.  There is a lot of information and it is not too difficult to navigate the site to find it.  It is possible to communicate with the CTBI staff via the site, if you hunt around but there is no facility for interaction between users on the site. 

Star rating: *** out of *****

Relationships with other Denominations 3: Ecumenism in UK and Ireland

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This is the third of 5 posts introducing the ecumenical section of the Methodist Church website. I suggest you open the site in another tab so that you can see what I'm writing about. Relationships with Other Denominations can be accessed directly, or if you go to the website home page, click on Ecumenism under Open to the World. Click on Ecumenical Information and then on Ecumenism in UK and Ireland, which should bring you here.

This section explores ecumenism as it relates to the four nations that make up the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.  The first link is to Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.  This page therefore reflects the structure of the ecumenical instruments. 

The pages for England, Scotland and Wales each include a number of links specific to those countries.  There are also some shared links, notably to resources available to all three countries.  Bill Reid has offered to take on developing the Scotland pages and I'm hoping to find a writer for Wales.

To find technical information about formal ecumenical arrangements, go to the pages for your own country and search for the information you require.  The link marked Resources is common to all three countries.  If you follow the link, you will find a number of useful technical resources for the Methodist Church.

The Guidance Notes for District Chairs and District Officers, inside the Resources page, comprise an overview of the basics of local ecumenism.  It is worth exploring.  The notes are up to date and will be kept up to date.  They are designed so that pages on a single topic can be printed, duplicated and circulated.

The pages on Ireland point to basic information.  Ecumenical arrangements cover both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  They are included so the picture is complete.  The British Methodist Church does not cover Ireland and so there are no resources.  Explore the Irish websites for more information.

Please comment on these pages below.  I will respond to comments on or soon after 24 August 2010, when I return from leave.

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• EMU Statement of Partnership for Scotland (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)