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I was invited to lead worship at the SA in Milton Keynes on the last Sunday of the Week of Prayer.

You will know that MK is a ‘special’ ecumenical project and it was interesting to be shown details of the following event:

After starting with a 15 minute opening act of corporate worship, they then had opportunity to experience 3 out of 5 different expressions of prayer set in various parts of the church building:

· Through Silence and Reflection with the Quaker tradition

· Individual Prayer Stations

· Ignatian Meditation

· A prayer Walk (around the nearby neighbourhood)

· Conversational Prayer

· Praying with music and movement

These were in 20 minute slots.
Then coming together for a review of the day and closing corporate worship.

Forum follow up

Forum was remarkable. I found it inspiring, moving and encouraging. We couldn’t fail to be inspired when those leading us included Timothy Radcliffe, Rowan Williams and Vincent Nicholls. Yet the inspiration was not just in what they said, but who they were and how they were together. If I had a pound for every person who told me how wonderful it was to see the two Archbishops leading Bible study together, or how encouraging it was to see the four Presidents signing the covenant, I’d be able to buy a new i-Phone.

And that was the feeling of the Forum. It wasn’t a council of churches, it was churches being together, worshipping, praying, thinking, laughing and relaxing together. Occasionally in this life you are granted a glimpse of what might be. Forum was one of them. This, I suddenly realised, was the churches together model working. It wasn’t even trying to be a council of churches.

Forum’s relationship to the churches and to CTE is interesting. It has 3 purposes:

· To recommend to the churches such matters as it believes should be addressed jointly

· To encourage and support local ecumenism

· To share its reflections on the activities and future programmes of the Enabling Group.

Our process for finding out what Forum wanted to say was through small group work, and the creation of some sign-posts for the future. It never works quite as you hope it will – hence the circulation of the Group report back paper to you so that you can see for yourselves something of the diversity of responses. However some issues stand out:

1. Supporting local ecumenism
This is, as it were, core business for us. That’s why we have two Field Officers. But we need to ponder this, and ask ourselves what Forum might be saying to us. English ecumenical history is interesting. The impetus for LEPs came largely from the Nottingham Faith and Order Conference of 1964 which urged the Protestant churches of England to unite by Easter 1980. So, local ecumenism was seen as an operation which would run in parallel with wider church unity – LEPs were, as it were, playing John the Baptist, anticipating a reality which would be countrywide within a decade. That didn’t happen, we all know that. What is less obvious is that local ecumenism was left bearing the full weight of ecumenical development – which is why local ecumenism and the intermediate bodies that help nourish and develop it need support.

The question that we have to ask is how? Each intermediate body is independent, determining its own life and structure. CTE nationally can and does befriend and advise, but that is all it can do because it has no authority to do otherwise. If I were to try and get behind the feedback from Forum, I think my reflection would be that some intermediate bodies are supportive and enthusiastic, and others are not. Some think that the patience and listening that breeds good ecumenism is worth it, whereas other church leaders would prefer to get things done through their own denominational systems because they are well practised in working them and know how to get results through them.

As churches, and as CTE, we need to make things as easy and flexible on the ground as we can. But equally, we need to take our ecumenical heritage seriously. It is pointless proclaiming our commitment to visible unity in Synods and Assemblies if at the same time we are doing all we can to undermine local ecumenism because we are impatient with its complexity. It is complex not because it is wrong, but because history, as so often, turned out differently. So how, together, do we honour our responsibility?

2. Communications
I’ve not yet worked in a church organisation that hasn’t agonised about communications strategy. We dream of interactive web-sites and integrated e-mail systems, and have fantasies about the right information landing in the lap of the right person at the right time. And we know too that we live in a land of information overload where the computer key which keeps us sane is marked ‘delete’ and the most useful piece of office equipment is the waste paper basket.

So, what is Forum saying to us about communication? I think our end of term report for communications would be ‘Tries hard, but could do better.’ Whilst out web site could be simpler (as one respondent suggested), it is also very well used, and is a working tool for people like County Officers.

Clearly good stories and best practice tales can be gathered and passed on – Pilgrim Post fills some of that role – and is sent electronically because when readers were asked a few years ago, that is what they wanted.

But beyond that are more demanding issues. One of the themes that Archbishop Rowan explored in Bible study was the idea of self-emptying. One of the church leaders responded in the panel discussion to say, ‘Well, you need an identity before you can empty yourself of it.’ In some ways the proper identity for an Ecumenical Instrument is transparency, because what people want to see are the churches together. But, to stretch the metaphor probably a bit far, the churches won’t be seen to be ‘churches together’ without the lens of CTE. So, what kind of identity is needed? What is the brand? What is it that we wish to communicate in the market-place?

And still the cry comes from the marketplace, the churches need to be heard to be saying things together. It sounds so simple and obvious. Only those who have tried to do it know how difficult it is. But that is not an excuse for not trying. We have lived through a painful history during which it has been made very clear that the churches do not regard it as the work of the Instruments to speak for them. I think Forum is challenging the churches to hear that its members want to hear them speaking with one voice. Our job is not to do that for them, but it might be to help them find ways in which that is possible.

3. Joint action
And that brings me to the call from Forum for there to be more joint action from church leaders at all levels, including the Presidents. It is easy to dismiss this, especially if you are a large church, or a national church because its so much easier just to get on and do it. I’ve a couple of reflections. The first has to do with the burden of unrealistic expectations. No large institution can spend all its time consulting partner organisations. If it did it would seize up. It is far more realistic for church leaders to develop the kind of relationship between them that makes a diocesan or an archbishop conscious that when they speak or act they are doing so on behalf of a much wider Christian constituency than their own members. The second is that responsibilities come with size and position in national life. You may not realise it, but when you stand in solidarity with your fellow Christians, you lend them something of your confidence, your authority and your legitimacy. I think we need to find ways regionally and nationally of operating between those two realities.

The symbolic value, the spiritual value, of getting that right is immense. No one who experienced the two Archbishops leading Bible study at Forum could doubt that. It is a sign of deeply felt but barely understood wounds being healed.

4. Inclusiveness

This response I take as encouragement to us all. It was wonderful not to be the youngest person at Forum. It was a huge boost that the voice of black and ethnic minority Christians was heard at Forum, and not just in worship. It was exciting that some delegations included women who play significant roles in the leadership of their communities. The response tells us to go on trying, because God gifts all his children, not just those who happen to be white, grey, old, male and ordained. Although some of us have a vested interest in hoping that they too have a place in God’s economy. Perhaps we need to be drawn back to Archbishop Rowan’s Bible study. Our instinct to be inclusive is not to be found in politics or secular philosophies, but rather in a theology of self-emptying so that together we might reveal something of the glory of God.

Forum also made some structural recommendations which were addressed firmly at CTE – about intermediate structures, and the sharpening of CTE and its purposes, and the relationship of unity and mission. I want to put those to one side at the moment, not because they are not important – they are, hugely, but they echo thee concerns of the Strategic Document which will be before us tomorrow, and that discussion is probably best conducted then.

Forum has done its work. It has set some signposts before the churches which provide a substantial agenda for the Enabling Group and the Board of Trustees in the next phase of their lives.

CTE Forum 2009

Group Work Analysis

(corrected for Directors’ November 09)

Method

Everything that was received from the groups has been transcribed. Most sheets had a group number on them, some did not. I have ascribed numbers to those that were not marked, and it is also possible that some explanatory material has been separated from the final ‘signposts’.

Summary

There is a wealth of material in these succinct summaries. The responses were inevitably very varied. However, some common concerns can be discerned. The following issues stand out:

· Supporting local ecumenism is critical (5 mentions)

· Communications is vital, and needs attention ( 5 mentions)

· More joint action from church leaders, including the Presidents, would be valued (4 mentions)

· Inclusiveness (denomination, race, age, gender) is essential (4 mentions)

· Ecumenical structures (especially the intermediate) need to be reviewed to see if they are fit for purpose (4 mentions)

· CTE and its purposes need to be sharpened (3 mentions)

· Ecumenical engagement in mission is important (3 mentions)

Group 1

Drew a signpost. The central post was ‘visible ecumenism. The three directions were headed:

· Presidents to champion joint action nationally

· Engaging with society: Christians doing things together

· Sharpen up CTE / Forum: purpose, aims, objectives, process and Forum outcomes

Group 2

Their signpost was headed ‘Pilgrims and co-workers in Christ’ and read vertically ‘Engagement’ (with past, present, future, and God). They offered four directions:

a) Issues

· In the pubic square

· Discern

· Enable research / response

· Act together

b) Good practice

· Facilitating and encouraging

· Churches and other agencies

c) Vision

· Set out in faith together towards the kingdom, but without detailed directions in advance

· Include others as we go

d) Processes

· What are the right relationships and right structures to enable the churches to own the work

Group 2’s leader submitted extensive notes after Forum – ‘Directions for the future of CTE’

· Need to be ready to catch the fallout from the ‘last flourishing of atheism’

· Ecumenical concerns need to be given higher priority – built into the programme at local level

· Collecting, collating and sharing good practice

· Reconnection of young people in Christianity

· The importance of marriage and family life

· Care for the fatherless

· Distinction between the work of the churches and the work of CTE. How do we get work owned?

· CTE as broker – what do we expect local CT groups to be doing. Need to create links between the different levels of ecumenism in England.

They then went on to note key areas:

a) Issues in the public square that CTE could promote or facilitate – e.g. family life, General Election.

b) Process – how does CTE do the facilitating? What are the right structures? How do churches own ecumenism? How does ecumenism become integral rather than a bolt-on?

c) Identification and sharing of good practice.

d) How does CTE relate to other bodies? – e.g. EA

e) How do we hear the voice of new member churches? Is it possible to include the ecumenically sceptical?

f) CTE as a body that facilitates

g) Process of raising of consciousness – receptive ecumenism, prayer and spirituality, self-emptying and the implications for ecumenical engagement

h) Need a new slogan – ‘Not strangers but pilgrims’ is too comfortable – perhaps ‘Co-workers in Christ’?

i) Vision – do we need to reassess it? Oikoumene as whole of creation. Value of journeying to we know not where.

Group 3

a) widening participation

· gender, race, age

b) Becoming church together

· Support local ecumenism

· Engaging with other faiths

· Networking

c) Engagement in the world / sharing in God’s mission

· Racial justice

· Environmental sustainability

· Climate change

· General Election

Group 4

Three directions:

a) Encourage wider participation (youth, non-white churches)

b) Remind church leaders of the need to collaborate ecumenically

c) Continuing need to share good news stories about ecumenical work.

Group 5

Their upright signpost pole was labelled ‘Motivation, with the following directions flowing from it:

· Being where they are

· Accepting the cost

· Making the gospel and ourselves heard

The post is rooted in the foundation of Christ.

Group 6

Three recommendations of be the liberating friend:

a) Commitment – encourage joint strategic planning at every level

b) Communication – communicate better how ecumenical bodies enable good practice and share good stories

c) Catch the vision - bless and advocate what the Spirit is doing at the local level

Three recommendations of be the liberating friend:

d) Commitment – encourage joint strategic planning at every level

e) Communication – communicate better how ecumenical bodies enable good practice and share good stories

f) Catch the vision - bless and advocate what the Spirit is doing at the local level

Group 7

Drew a signpost. Their three directions were:

· Faithful friendship

· Faithful space

· Faithful living

· Triune friendship and relationships -- include all; living in relationship with the Trinity.

· Ecumenical space for sharing faith stories, prayer and scripture, including imagining and silence.

· Ecumenical space within the church for thinking -- doctrine and teaching, foundation of faith, open to reason and debating, holding the questions and the questioner.

· Ecumenical space outside the church for thinking -- doctrine and teaching, foundation of faith, open to reason and debating, holding the questions and the questioner. Witness to the possibility of disagreeing without falling out.

· Virtue ethics. (People didn't like the jargon but liked what they thought it meant.)

Group 8

Three directions:

a) Relationships : develop friendships based on honesty and humility and willingness to receive each other’s gifts

b) Fulfilling our missionary calling: save souls, challenge society’s values and work with others

c) Prayer and worship: celebrate our diversity and pray for each other’s churches

Group 9

Drew a very complicated diagram. At the heart of it was ‘Living the Trinity’ (Col 2:2). Living the Trinity is a relational life – visibility, speaking with one voice, faith in action together. That life creates a safe space. Liberated by the commandments, that space creates oases of debate where we can engage with culture and nurture faithful questioners, and that can lead to:

· Going to / learning from extremities

· Denominational ‘letting go’

· The recognition of ministries

· A confidence in the journey shared with the world church

· A trust that we recognise Christ and the Spirit in each other

Their other notes were as follows:

God or Pharaoh?

· Nurturing the faithful questioners

· Creating oases of debate

· Commandments – liberating words of friendship

Speaking with one voice

· Self-emptying: denominational emptying

· Recognition of ministries

· Trust – recognising the Spirit of Christ in each other (Col 2:2)

Living the Trinity

· Ecumenism expresses the love of God who is trinity

· Faith into action together – ecumenism is about mission

· Visibility – Christians should be visible and ecumenism celebrated.

Confidence – shared world church

Jesus was counter-cultural (subversive)

· Engaging with culture(s)

· Finding God there

· Strengthening of Christian marriage and the resource of the family

We should engage with people of faith in God’s agenda

Group 10

a) Mission and Ecumenical Together

· Drop red tape

· Share gifts between denominations / traditions

· A form of Christian presence in villages and new housing developments

· Infiltrate the whole of the community

b) Share good practice between denominations

· Share stories of ecumenical mission

· CTE web-site needs simplifying

· Encourage one voice to speak for the whole church on social issues

· Need for CTE encouragement of LEPs

· Co-operative youth gatherings / initiatives

· Exploring differences – baptism, communion

c) Macro-planning – areas, cities, strategic groupings

· Leadership commitment to working ecumenically – do what the covenant says! Enable.

· Bless and advocate what the Spirit is doing at local level

· Encourage joint membership and confirmation

· Review of CTE’s structures and raison d’être

· Continue to pray for Christian unity

· Reports back from CTE sub-groups

Group 11

Fellowship, conversations, networking, silence, nametags (no titles or denominations), almost a glimpse of heaven, acceptance (of each other’s worthiness), respect, good will, becoming power points for God, openness, honesty, appreciation of blessings in local settings, reassurance, energising.

Road already travelled, common goal, still on the journey, God is still searching, challenge to communicate spirit back to our own areas, signposts being erected, openness (to change of circumstances), the cross is our anchor, refreshing to hear about different manifestations of the Word becoming flesh, need to stand together, confidence.

· Reception of God’s blessing from one another

· Making the theology exciting and liberating

· Learning from each other’s history

Group 12

· Co-ordinate, communicate and prioritize the themes addressed by the Bodies in Association

· Resource the churches to organise hustings for the next General Election with support of other faith communities

· 2011 Year of the Bible (1611 anniversary) – ethics and apologetics to encourage Christians to have greater confidence in speaking out their faith

Their other notes read:

· Routinely praying for each other’s churches

· Letting ourselves be challenged by other churches

· Acting together in a counter-cultural way in a market-driven society

· Cultivate friendship and hospitality

· Continue to love one another

· Celebrate our diversity

· Give a face to the church – prayer, witness

· Strengthen Christian commitment

· Soul-saving

· (Send) young people to a Forum like this.

Biblical teaching, honesty and humility of church leaders, self-emptying, Christian fellowship, making connections, expressions of prayer, quiet area, constantly interesting / engaging, encouragement.

Group 13

The upright post of their signpost read – Love, trust, listen, pray, learn, hope

The three direction signs read

a) Communications and connections

· Follow up and feed back from Forum

· Local, national, global

· Intergenerational

b) Work and Action

· Words into deeds

· Encourage locally

· Interfaith

c) Study and reflection

· Confidence in what we believe

· Openness to learn from others

Group 14

Three directions:

a) Spirituality in the streets

· Mission imperative

· How to make it happen

· Working and praying together

· Receptive ecumenism (spirituality)

b) An ecumenical order

· Set up by member churches

· Faithful questioners

· Encourage under 30s

c) New ecumenical vision

· Values freed from fear

· Believing in the integrity of those who disagree with us

· Reticence in rushing to judgement

CTE needs to attend to communication

Group 15

· Find ways of making structures (at all levels) more freeing and creative and less confining and restrictive

· Find ways of living visibly the commitment to mission and unity in friendship that was demonstrated by our two church leaders

· Use CTE to inspire, resource and enable county and local ecumenical bodies so that positive experiences are shared, local stories are told, spaces for hospitality and mystery are created out of our churches, the fundamentals of our faith are taught and explored, and risks in faith, action and relationships are embraced.

Group 16

Three directions:

· Value and gift of dialogue: CTE to promote real dialogue and listening in a programme

· Intermediate bodies - fit for purpose? CTE to re-visit the intermediate bodies seriously and ask if they are fit for purpose – at all levels. Explore new and better ways of working

· Promoting Christian visibility and confidence. CTE – visibility of Christianity – to support and encourage a re-branding to build Christian confidence.

Group 17

· Outward communication from CTE

· Young people’s voices and advocacy

· Provision of space for dialogue from within CTE members and outside of it

· Respecting opinions

· Structural renewal – new skins for the new wine

· Capacity to respond to emerging issues and events, even when they don’t fit well into CTE structures and diaries – e.g. Olympics, Hope 08, New Housing Areas etc

· Communication of messages we can agree on in a co-ordinated way working with other agencies such as EA etc

· Providing training in media skills and techniques

· Civilisation clash between liberal western ideas ad conservative values including those from without the western hemisphere

· Greater engagement with ‘new church’ structures, black and white and emerging Orthodox groups

· Age profiles

· Gospel in its fullness remains and has not changed and needs to be communicated in a contemporary setting with particular emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit.

· Focus on collaborative mission in all its forms, not on ecumenism for its own sake. We cannot do everything. Let us do what we can and support others where they are at their best.

· Need to differentiate between our core values and ‘baggage’ that we have legitimately brought with us

· Develop and network the work of interfaith communication and education already being carried out through Celia Blackden.

Group 18

They first noted their blessings:

· Experiencing the reality of unity

· The ease of companionship as Christians

· The reminder of being confident in our Christianity – openness

· The mystery of faith is reassuring and a place to start dialogue

· Exposure to the wonderful creativity of Christian work

And then they offered three directions:

a) Social action: builds unity through common action – ‘doers of the word, not hearers only; just people / Christians offering grace on the streets – denomination not important.

· Opportunities to debate at local level

· More examples of the Presidents working together to simulate discussion and action relating to pertinent issues in contemporary life – faith in action,

b) Visible ecumenism: leading by example, being together not just doing together; more church leaders at CTE – what about leaders of the new churches?

c) CTE: clear aim and purpose which all know, objectives made clear; all outcomes from Forum distributed to denominations – who to? How does it ‘trickle down?’ Introduce church leaders – welcome newcomers; list of participants given in advance to maximise networking; badges to give names and who people are representing