CTAL Notepad

When the national ecumenical instruments were established across Britain in 1989, they were accompanied by intermediate or county bodies in England.

England has a much greater population than Scotland and Wales, so it was understood ecumenical work needed to be organised in smaller geographical units.  These units are usually counties although a few are smaller than counties and so collectively they are known as intermediate bodies.

They seem to have done rather well, although they are currently being reviewed and so we'll find out just how well in the near future.  Most of them employ a County Ecumenical Development Officer (the title varies from place to place although the word 'Development' seems to have appeared in  more job titles over recent years) who provides some co-ordination and oversight of ecumenical work in their areas.  (It's hard to generalise as circumstances vary so much.)

Some of them produce newsletters and one of the most highly developed ones is in Lincolnshire.  Follow this link to take a look at a recent issue of the CTAL Notepad.

If anyone is familiar with other similar newsletters, let me know and I'll give them a mention.

Anglican Roman Catholic Relations

I recently received the following email from Revd Bill Snelson, Development Officer UK at the Anglican Centre in Rome .  It is worth looking at the two Powerpoint slideshows on the site.  They cover a brief history of the two churches and an account of how they currently work together.

Two presentations on the website of the Anglican Centre in Rome look at the relationship between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Churches today: how Anglicanism developed, where it fits in alongside the other Churches of Christendom, and how it is working with other Christians at home and overseas.



The presentations can be seen on www.anglicancentreinrome.org/RESOURCES


“Anglicanism and the Western Christian Tradition: Continuity and Change” is an updated version of an exhibition held in the Vatican Museums at the invitation of the Roman Catholic Church in 2002. It provides an overview of Christianity in England from the earliest times and explores some of the stages in the search for unity between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. The story is taken up in “Moving Together in Unity and Mission” which gives contemporary examples of where and how the two Churches are collaborating both locally and nationally.


The highly-acclaimed exhibition at the Vatican was instigated by the British Ambassador to the Holy See and planned in conjunction with Norwich Cathedral. It uses Norwich as a specific case study to help unfold a rich and intriguing history. “Despite more than four hundred years of separation since the Reformation”, says the text, “Anglicans remain part of the Western Christian tradition. Living apart has meant, however, that there has been change as well as continuity.”

The presentation of current developments towards closer inter-church relations is inspired by a statement from an international commission of Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishops, “Growing Together in Unity and Mission”, first published in 2007. The presentation looks at what has happened to heal the memories of the past, to work together in the present, and to build a less prejudiced society in the future.


The Bishop of Wakefield, The Rt Revd Stephen Platten, Chairman of the Anglican Centre in Rome, says:


“The Pope’s visit is a significant step on the road to Christian unity. The two presentations help us understand the English context: how long that road to unity is, and how positive Anglican-Roman Catholic collaboration is on the ground today. I welcome these new resources which form part of the Anglican Centre in Rome’s role of building friendly and informed relations between Anglicans and Catholics.”

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)