Methodist URC Liaison, July 2011

Image by D H Wright via Flickr

Today the Methodist URC Liaison Committee meets to review issues of concern to local churches where Methodists and Reformed churches are working together.  I'll list briefly below some of items on the agenda.  Leave a comment if you would like more information about any item.

1. The committee will be reviewing a first draft paper about the reciprocal arrangement between the two churches about legal charges on contributions to each others properties.  With certain exceptions, the arrangement is that when one church makes a financial contribution to the other's property, it does not put a legal charge on the property, so that it can be reimbursed following a sale.  This has been happening for about 20 years and has not so far been reviewed.  The paper reviews some of the issues and the committee will debate the way forward.
2. Civil partnerships in URC/Methodist Local Ecumenical Partnerships (LEPs).  The two churches have different rules for the blessing of civil partnerships and so we need to be clear about how these rules apply in LEPs.
3. United Areas the committee will hear about progress with the new model constitution for LEPs and review progress with some of the new and proposed ones.
4. URC review of ecumenical relations - I listed the questions the committee will be addressing in a previous post.

Related articles

• Methodist URC Joint Resolution Progress Report (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• An Ecumenical Break (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• The Church of England and the United Reformed Church (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Moving Forward in Covenant

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Yesterday I posted about the main proposals in the Joint Implementation Commission 2 (JIC2) report, Moving Forward in Covenant.  In this post I will review the remaining material in the report, to be debated at Methodist Conference 2011. 

Part 1 of the report reviews the history of the covenant and then, in paragraphs 17 - 30, summarises some of the developments over the first couple of years of JIC2.  One of the major developments has been  the inclusion of Welsh and Scottish Methodists, as well as representatives from the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church in Wales, on JIC2.  This section also covers the development of relations between all these churches and the United Reformed Church (para 21).

These paragraphs go on to mention other examples of collaboration, for example:

• Church leaders have addressed General Synod and Methodist Conference (para 22)
• Collaboration between the Church of England's Mission and Public Affairs Division and the Joint Public Issues Team (23)
• A joint working party addressing the ecclesiological implications of emerging expressions of church (24)
• Increased collaboration about schools, further, higher and adult education (25)
• Increased collaboration over local partnership through the joint Methodist Anglican Panel for Unity and Mission (MAPUM) (27)
• Collaboration over safeguarding (28)
• Joint training of local preachers and readers (29)
• Working together in ministerial training (30)

A major development has been joint work on the diaconate. This included a major consultation from 21 - 23 April 2010. There is a full report from the consultation available for those who are interested.

The remainder of the report is devoted to what JIC2 describes as 'causes for concern'.  These include 'patchy' implementation and the reasons for this are elaborated in paragraph 34.  The reasons relate to oversight (episcope), episcopacy, as well as restructuring and budgetary retrenchment in both churches.  Also, as mission has become the overall priority, 'the necessary link between unity and mission ... needs to be grasped afresh'.

The report reviews progress with the move towards women bishops in the Church of England and towards the historic episcopate in the Methodist Church.  Both moves are essential for interchangeability of ministry and have been slower than originally anticipated.  The report reviews progress with both these and concludes, in paragraph 52, that 'while the Church of England's process regarding female bishops continues and while there is no clear outcome within the Methodist Church with regard to episcopacy, there is inevitably a sense of hiatus in the structural implementation of the covenant.'

Related articles

• A Major Development in Shared Ministry (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Methodist Responses to Embracing the Covenant (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Methodist Anglican Panel for Unity in Mission, April 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Methodist Conference 2011 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Ministerial Oversight with Other Denominations (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)
• Archbishop of Canterbury at Methodist Conference 3 (ecumenicalissues.blogspot.com)

Agricultural helpline extends support to gay farmers

Image by Alejandro Espinosa via Flickr

The following is from a press release issued by the Methodist Church early last week:

A chaplain running a dedicated helpline for gay farmers has received a steady number of calls from men struggling to cope with their sexuality.

Keith Ineson, who is himself gay, extended the remit of his chaplaincy after handling more than one case of a farmer suffering from depression and isolation because he felt unable to come out. Keith advertised his helpline in his local area and set up a website to help farmers in similar situations. Within the first six months, the helpline received 52 calls in response to the extended service of care.

“The response has been overwhelming,” said Keith whose helpline is funded by local Christian and secular groups in Cheshire. “Nearly all the farmers are over 50. Some are single, though not all. In all cases they felt they were imprisoned and believed they were the only gay farmer around. In many instances the farmers were so worried about the response they might receive that they texted or emailed the helpline anonymously. Rural communities are not like cosmopolitan, urban areas; there is the assumption that gay farmers don’t exist.”

The Arthur Rank Centre (ARC), a registered charity serving churches and the rural community, has backed the helpline. The Revd Graham Jones, national rural officer for the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church at the Arthur Rank Centre, said: “Farming is for many people an exciting and fulfilling industry in which to be involved. It is not without its pressures, however, and many farmers are subject to stresses and strains in their professional and personal lives.”

The helpline was launched 14 months ago and the number of calls in response to the extended support has led to a need for volunteers. Christians with rural knowledge and an understanding of gay issues are invited to get in touch with Keith if they have an interest in becoming involved with supporting the chaplaincy.

Graham added: “Because of this commitment to rural and farming communities the Arthur Rank Centre is pleased to support the work of Keith Ineson and the helpline he has established for gay farmers. Keith is a good and longstanding friend of the ARC and his work as agricultural chaplain in Cheshire is enormously effective and very highly regarded. In setting up the helpline Keith has helped to liberate many who have felt imprisoned for years by their situation; feeling that they were the only gay farmer around and anxious about the response they might receive.”

Robert Ford, the Cheshire county chairman of the National Farmers Union (NFU), said: “You could be in the middle of a crowded room and still feel lonely and isolated if you’re depressed. Although I don’t believe that farming or homosexuality within the industry are the root causes of depression, it’s still very reassuring to know that Keith Ineson’s helpline is available for those farmers who find themselves facing difficult times and the NFU wholeheartedly supports it.”