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Ecumenical
The role of the Ecumenical Committee is to foster ecumenical development in the life of the United Reformed Church:
a) in response to the Basis of Union (para.8)
The United Reformed Church has been formed in obedience to the call to repent of what has been amiss in the past and to be reconciled. It sees its formation and growth as a part of what God is doing to make his people one, and as a united church will take, wherever possible and with all speed, further steps towards the unity of all God’s people.
b) in relation to other churches and the wider community - in these islands, across Europe, and throughout the world.
The committee will seek to ensure that wherever the United Reformed Church meets, locally or nationally, in worship, council or committee, it is working in partnership with Christians in the locality, the World Church and the whole human family.
TASKS
Among the tasks of this committee is listening to those with experience of the World Church, including other Christian traditions in Britain and Ireland, and to those with experience of current affairs and of other faiths.
The Committee will maintain official United Reformed Church links with overseas churches and world and regional ecumenical organisations, in particular the World Council of Churches, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches. It will guide the United Reformed Church’s participation in the Council for World Mission.
Through it official contact will be made with British and Irish ecumenical bodies.
It is responsible for the United Reformed Church’s involvement in St Andrew’s Hall.
The work of selecting, training and caring for missionaries and overseeing exchange of personnel will be undertaken by the Overseas Exchange Sub-Committee.
Committee Members
Convener: Revd Bob Andrews
Secretaries: Revd Sheila Maxey (Secretary for Ecumenical Relations)
Revd Philip Woods (Secretary for International Relations)
Ms Lesley-Anne Morgan (International Relations Programme Administrator)
Members: Revd Dr Peter Arthur, Revd Mary Buchanan, Ms Bethan Galliers,
Revd Phillip Jones, Mrs Jackie Marsh, Revd Richard Mortimer, Revd Elizabeth Nash,
Revd Ivor Rees, Revd John Rees, Revd Barrie Scopes (Convener of the Overseas Exchange Sub-Committee)
Representatives of other committees: Revd Peter Brain, Revd Jonathan Dean, Dr Iain Frew,
Revd Fleur Houston, Mrs Rosemary Johnston, Revd Tony Ruffell, Revd David Tatem
Representatives of other churches: Venerable David Goldie (Church of England),
Revd Keith Reed (the Methodist Church), Revd Gabrielle Ellis (Presbyterian Church of Ireland)
1 Introduction
1.1 The Ecumenical Committee has the deliberately broad remit of holding together and promoting all the United Reformed Church’s relationships in Britain and Ireland, in mainland Europe and in the World Church. It does so through personnel exchange, through bi-lateral and multi-lateral church partnerships and conversations about closer union, and through our active and committed membership of many ecumenical bodies. In order to fulfil its remit the committee has, from the start, been enlarged by representation from seven other Assembly committees in addition to its core membership. More recently it has been agreed that the representatives from Scotland and Wales should be additional to the core membership.
1.2 The two over-arching challenges currently before the committee and which it seeks to put before the church are:
a) How to express our commitment to visible unity in an ecumenical landscape which has changed and is changing so much since our unions of 1972 and 1981.
b) How to express our commitment to the Council for World Mission model of partnership in mission in new and effective ways.
The changing ecumenical landscape in the ecumenical bodies
2 The Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland
2.1 The Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland held its Assembly in February under the title Serving the Nations in Partnership. The United Reformed Church sent twelve representatives and offered leadership in the theme groups and the workshops. Ruth Clarke, a former Moderator of the General Assembly, and Geoffrey Roper, General Secretary of the Free Churches’ Council and a United Reformed Church minister were elected to the Steering Group.
2.2 As a consequence of a long review process, CCBI has now passed the responsibility for youth and women’s work and some social responsibility work to the national ecumenical instruments. That decision has implications for staffing, for the redistribution of money and for the style of working. In future, CCBI will be called Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. The Ecumenical Committee, on behalf of the United Reformed Church, approved the necessary constitutional changes.
2.3 Revd John Reardon has been succeeded by Dr David Goodbourn, a Baptist layman, as General Secretary. The Ecumenical Committee would like to acknowledge, with some denominational pride, the pioneering work John Reardon has done as the first General Secretary of CCBI.
3 Churches Together in England
3.1 Churches Together in England is eager to embrace the broader agenda it now has as a result of the CCBI review. It will have a full-time youth officer, building on the good work done by Pat Madden, a Roman Catholic, through the Joint Churches Youth Service. The United Reformed Church will be the channel for applying for the government grant which will partly fund this post.
3.2 The preparations for the English churches’ celebration of the Millennium in a challenging and a sensitive way have absorbed much CTE staff time. The resources, under the New Start banner, are going out to our local churches through both the Church and Society Committee and the Discipleship, Stewardship and Witness Committee. Revd Roger Whitehead, a United Reformed Church minister and also part-time secretary for the CTE Group for Evangelisation, is heavily involved in the preparations. The United Reformed Church has committed money and the Methodists, the Church of England and the Salvation Army have seconded staff.
3.3 CTE staff are also helping the churches to co-operate in responding to the government’s regionalisation plans for England. The development, over past years, of effective ecumenical bodies at county and metropolitan level have provided some basis for this broader geographical co-operation.
3.4 The Group for Local Unity of CTE continues to care for Local Ecumenical Partnerships. It has produced new, helpful Guidelines for the Review of LEPs. However, the old questions about baptism, confirmation, membership and admission to communion, about authorised worship in LEPs, about the relationship of the LEP to the wider church and, ultimately, the ecclesiology of LEPs – what do we mean by church? - become more and not less difficult. LEPs are still at the sharp end.
3.5 The Revd Tony Burnham, by virtue of his position as Moderator of the Free Churches’ Council is now a president of Churches Together in England. The others are the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, and Dr. Rowena Loverance of the Society of Friends.
4 Wales
4.1 Churches Together in Wales (CYTUN) has a new General Secretary, Revd Gethin Abraham-Williams, a Baptist, and hopes to appoint an officer for local ecumenism who will also be the liaison officer between the churches and the new Welsh Assembly.
4.2 The United Reformed Church, along with the other member churches of ENFYS (the Commission of Covenanted Churches in Wales) is carefully considering its response to the proposals Towards the Making of an Ecumenical Bishop in Wales. Meanwhile, an ecumenical group is preparing the service for the induction of such a person and thus working through many of the theological and ecclesiological implications.
4.3 The Methodist Church has now joined the United Reformed Church as observer-participant rather than member of the talks which seek to form a United Free Church in Wales. Both are, of course, members of the Free Church Council of Wales.
5 Scotland
5.1 Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS) has a new General Secretary, Revd Dr Kevin Franz, an Episcopalian.
5.2 The Ecumenical Committee, on behalf of the United Reformed Church and advised by the Northern Province, has given support to the Interim Report of the Scottish Churches’ Initiative for Union (SCIFU). Further work is being done on the role of the bishop in council and on where authority and oversight will lie in a united church. SCIFU’s approach to unity has laid considerable emphasis on structures for common life and mission.
6 The Free Churches’ Council
6.1 The Free Churches’ Council has not only a new name but a new policy which encourages its local councils to become part of the local Churches Together
6.2 On 10 March at Kensington United Reformed Church, Revd Tony Burnham was inducted as Moderator. His election and his willingness to serve in this way bring honour to the United Reformed Church.
6.3 Revd Michael Davies, former moderator of the Thames North Province, has been elected treasurer of the FCC.
6.4 The FCC has called a meeting of representatives of the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union and the United Reformed Church, with a Church of England observer, to consider the matter of ‘extended membership’ in LEPs. Revd Terry Hinks, Secretary of the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee represented us.
7 The World Council of Churches
7.1 In December 1998 the World Council of Churches Assembly was held in Harare, Zimbabwe. In addition to our official representatives (Wilma Frew, Tony Burnham and Jenny Hale), the United Reformed Church was represented by a further 20 plus people attending in other capacities ranging from co-opted staff to visitors.
7.2 During the Assembly Jenny Hale was elected to the Central Committee, following on from Elizabeth Welch who had served on the previous Central Committee. For a small church (which the URC is in WCC terms) this is an impressive achievement, as it is the third successive time we have been represented on the WCC Central Committee.
7.3 The theme of the Assembly, Turn to God – Rejoice in Hope, belied the context, an unprecedented struggle between Orthodox churches and other member churches over the nature of the organisation. Careful management of the Assembly agenda (which led many to feel that the Assembly was disenfranchised) staved off the worst of this.
7.4 The Assembly agreed to a mixed theological commission comprising equal numbers of Orthodox and Protestant churches to work on the agenda of Orthodox concerns over the ecumenical movement. It also agreed to proposals to create a new ecumenical forum to bring together WCC member churches, the Roman Catholic Church, Pentecostal churches and others outside WCC membership. 7.5 Like all such assemblies many other statements and programme proposals were also agreed. Supporting this the programme guidelines committee offered a framework for future ecumenical work at all levels from the local to the international:
• How do we as churches engage together in mission and evangelism in the midst of a highly pluralistic world?
• How do we understand baptism as a foundation for the life in community to which we are called to share together?
• How do we offer together our resources, witness and action for the sake of the world’s very future?
• How do we walk together on the path towards visible unity?
8 The World Alliance of Reformed Churches
8.1 WARC are currently involved in the search for a new General Secretary who will succeed Milan Opocensky who retires next year. Chair of the search committee is Elizabeth Nash, who was elected as one of the non-executive officers of WARC at the General Council in Debrecen in 1997.
8.2 In January, Dorothy Spence was a member of a WARC delegation to visit Rawanda and assess the process of reconciliation and reconstruction which the churches and state are engaged in.
8.3 Recognising that Reformed churches are notorious for schism and division, the newly-elected Executive committee of WARC at its first meeting commissioned a programme to explore further this tendency and assess what, if anything, WARC could do to counteract it.
8.4 The Executive have also launched a programme to address the continuing problem of economic injustice as a part of it’s General Council decision to commence a process confessionis exploring whether economic justice should be a confessional issue (i.e. at the heart of the Christian faith).
9 The Conference of European Churches
9.1 In January the union of CEC and the European Ecumenical Commission for Church and Society (EECCS) was completed with the launch of the CEC Church and Society Commission. The new commission will build on the existing work of EECCS and the church and society work previously undertaken by CEC.
9.2 In September 1998 the EECCS Assembly and the CEC Central Committee held a joint session to agree the work programme for the new Commission. Amongst the topics agreed were European integration, peace building with security, human rights, bioethics, and sustainable development.
9.3 In March the Dialogue Commission met to consider a European statement on mission. In October, along with the CWM European Region and the European Evangelical Alliance, CEC are sponsoring a European Mission Consultation with the Netherlands Missionary Council to explore how we might work together on God’s mission in our respective European contexts.
The changing ecumenical landscape and our close partner churches
10 The Scottish Congregational Church
10.1 The prospects of union between the United Reformed Church and the Congregational Union of Scotland now seem very good (see the report from Mission Council). During the process, there has been helpful consultation with the Wales Synod. National identity has played a much larger role than in t he 1988 uniting process.
10.2 The Scottish Congregational Church/United Reformed Church Liaison Committee has continued to seek to build relations and share resources in preparation for full union.
11 The Church of England, the Moravian Church and the Methodist Church.
11.1 The Church of England celebrated its Fetter Lane Agreement with the Moravian Church last November in Manchester Cathedral. The Agreement includes a common calling to full, visible unity, a common statement of faith, a mutual acknowledgement of one another’s churches and ministries, and a commitment to take practical steps towards that full, visible unity. Although the Church of England has signed similar agreements abroad – the Meissen Agreement in Germany and (if the Autumn General Synod agrees) the Reuilly Common Statement in France – this was the first in England. Revd Eric Allen, former Moderator of the Mersey Province, represents us on the Contact Group set up to implement the Fetter Lane Agreement locally.
11.2 The 1998 Methodist Conference overwhelmingly supported the proposal to begin formal conversations with the Church of England. The agreed remit for those conversations suggests a similar approach to that of the Meissen, Fetter Lane and Reuilly agreements. The United Reformed Church is represented on those formal conversations by Dr David Thompson, former Moderator of the General Assembly, and Revd Sheila Maxey, Secretary for Ecumenical Relations. The Roman Catholic Church, the Baptist Union and the Moravian Church are also represented.
11.3 The 1998 Methodist Conference also supported the proposal made by the Church of England General Synod in November 1997 that tri-lateral informal conversations be set up with the United Reformed Church. Their agenda is the two topics raised by the United Reformed Church – the place of the eldership and the place of the councils of the church in any discussion of apostolicity and of episcopacy. The United Reformed Church is represented on the informal talks by Revd Bob Andrews, Convenor of the Ecumenical Committee, Revd Elizabeth Welch, Moderator of the West Midlands Province, Revd John Waller, Deputy General Secretary and Revd Sheila Maxey, acting as secretary.
11.4 Both the Anglican and Methodist Churches have held British and Irish meetings in order to seek a consistency in their ecumenical relationships in the different nations.
12 The Methodist/United Reformed Church Liaison Committee
12.1 The Methodist/United Reformed Church Liaison Committee now has both a Moderator of Synod and a Methodist District Chairman in its membership, as well as United Reformed Church synod and Methodist district ecumenical officers and representatives of two United Areas.
12.2 The Liaison Committee has produced a pack of advice for joint churches entitled How to Make it Work (£2.95 plus p&p) and another edition of the annual broadsheet Quickstep. It has circulated a formula for joint church finance which has worked in one province, although the variety of United Reformed Church practice not only between provinces but even between districts means there is no universal solution to this recurring problem. Comparing ecclesiologies and taking a positive approach to vacancies are also on the agenda.
Getting our bearings in the changing ecumenical landscape
13 Mission Council in October supported the resolution from the Ecumenical Committee that it set up an Advisory Group on Faith and Order which would do detailed work on ecumenical documents both for the Ecumenical Committee and the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee.
14 A small informal inter-committee group from the Ecumenical Committee, the Ministries Committee, the Discipleship, Stewardship and Witness Committee and the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee has met to share documents and committee work on diaconal ministry and local leadership, with some reference to eldership, in order to ensure some consistency especially in our ecumenical responses.
15 The Ecumenical Committee and the Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee each sent two people to an ecumenical consultation on Episkope and Episcopacy sponsored by the Centre for the Study of the Christian Faith.
16 The network of synod ecumenical officers now meets annually instead of bi-annually. At their April meeting they discussed the respective roles of synod and district ecumenical officers and how to induct and resource those new to office.
17 The Secretary for Ecumenical Relations attended the 18th Plenary of the Consultation on Church Union in St. Louis, Missouri in January. She also consulted with the Presbyterian Church (USA) on how their non-English speaking congregations – from Pakistan, Sudan, Ghana, Korea – are brought into the life of the whole church and are enabled to play a full part.
18 Revd Gabrielle Ellis, the representative of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland on the Ecumenical Committee, has kept the committee informed of developments in the political scene, the ecumenical scene and in her church’s life. We are very grateful for her insights, which help us to support our brothers and sisters in Christ in our thoughts and prayers during these difficult but hopeful times.
19 The committee also benefits from the presence of a representative of the Church of England, the Venerable David Goldie, and of the Methodist Church, Revd Keith Reed. The committee receives reports from those who represent the United Reformed Church on the committees and Assemblies of our partner churches and these also help in the mapping of the changing landscape.
Partnership in mission
20 Council for World Mission
20.1 In June 1999 the CWM Council will meet
in Samoa. The theme of the meeting, looking ahead
to the new millennium, is What does the Lord require of us?
20.2 This theme is picked up in the 1999 Window on the World conference organised by the CWM European Region at Swanwick in August. It will be an excellent opportunity to explore this challenge further and to meet representatives of some of our partners in the CWM family.
20.3 The CWM European Region held its biennial consultation in Abergavenny, Wales, in November. Employing a half-time Mission Enabler, the region is now promoting much needed reflection on what it means to be engaged in God’s mission here and how we might support each other in this.
21 Myanma
21.1 The Ecumenical Committee for a variety of historical reasons has at its disposal a number of funds for the support of God’s mission in particular locations around the world. One of these, the Rangoon Ministers’ Pension Fund, is used for the support of the work of the Presbyterian Church of Myanmar (Burma).
21.2 After a period of discussions with the church and a visit in 1998 by Aubrey Curry and the Secretary for International Relations, it was decided to use a substantial part of the fund to assist the church to open an Assembly office in Yangon (Rangoon), the capital of Myanmar.
22.3 In March the Secretary for International Relations visited the new office and met with representatives of the church and the Myanmar Council of Churches to review the current situation in Myanmar. The visit reiterated the need to maintain contact with the church and to continue to work and pray with them.
23 The Belonging to the World Church programmes
23.1 At the 1998 General Assembly the Ecumenical Committee was asked to implement a series of programmes to strengthen our sense of belonging to and partnership with the world church. Since then the committee have taken the following actions:
23.2 Appointed Lesley-Anne Morgan as International Relations Programme Administrator to oversee the development and execution of the programmes in conjunction with the Secretary for International Relations.
23.3 Established a working group to develop the international training opportunities for those entering the URC ministry as clergy or CRCWs.
23.4 Worked with Wessex and North-Western synods to develop pilot programmes for visiting speakers for autumn 1999.
23.5 Agreed a pilot research fellowship with Northern College and North-Western synod.
23.6 Entered into discussions with CWM over other aspects of the proposals, including lay-training programmes.
23.7 Have supported the creation of a FURY International Reference group to develop opportunities for international learning for young people.
23.8 Have actively promoted World Exchange and the World Convention of the Churches of Christ in Brisbane in 2000 as opportunities for church members to share in the life of partner churches outside these islands.
24 Other Partnerships
24.1 In March the annual synod European Link Co-ordinators consultation involved, for the first time, representatives of some of our European partner churches to explore more fully the idea of European partnerships.
24.2 In the last year the committee has taken over the task, previously done by the Advisory Group on Grants and Loans, of overseeing the United Reformed Church’s central grants to ecumenical bodies.
25 Partnerships in Work
25.1 At the end of another very full and busy year we record our thanks to those who have shared in our work in recent years, and whose term of service comes to an end at this Assembly: Peter Arthur, David Tatem, Fleur Houston, and Ivor Rees. They have all served the committee well, with thoughtful insights and contributions from their own spheres of work and interest. This year we also say farewell to Barrie Scopes who has given very freely and considerably of his time and energy as convenor of the Overseas Exchange sub-committee, a partnership which has been much appreciated by both the Secretaries for Ecumenical and International Relations.
Resolution 48 Belonging to the World Church – Membership of General Assembly
Assembly agrees to amend paragraph 2(5)(e) of the Structure of the United Reformed Church so that it reads: "Up to twelve representatives from the partner churches of the United Reformed Church outside of Britain and Ireland or such other number as the Assembly shall from time to time determine;"
1.1 As part of the implementation of the Belonging to the World Church proposals endorsed at the 1998 General Assembly, the Ecumenical Committee brings this resolution to give effect to the proposals relating to international visitors at the General Assembly (section 13 and in particular para. 13.3 of the Belonging to the World Church report, 1998 Assembly Book of Reports).
1.2 Currently this clause in the Basis and Structure makes provision for up to "twelve missionaries of the United Reformed Church on furlough" to be members of the General Assembly. In the formation of the United Reformed Church it was no doubt felt that through these places our sense of belonging to the world church and participation in God’s global mission would be given effect in the General Assembly. Given our understanding today of being partners in God’s mission with other churches around the world, it makes more sense that these places be filled by representatives of our partner churches. Thus, these places might be filled by people appointed by such churches, by their missionaries working here, or by people from the United Reformed Church working with them.
1.3 As it is based on an existing provision this proposal will neither increase the size, or the cost of General Assembly. However, through this more flexible approach we will be able to ensure that world church representatives will be full partners in our discussions in the General Assembly (as we have sought to bring in our ecumenical partners in this country) and so be more true to our understanding of what belonging to the world church means for us today.
Resolution 49 St Andrew’s Hall Missionary College
The Assembly, having received the report on the decision by the College’s Council to close St Andrew’s Hall Missionary College,
a) gives thanks for the service offered to the church in this country and overseas by the college and for the witness to the "glorious gospel of the blessed God" it has promoted;
b) calls upon the Ecumenical Committee to ensure that the resources released to the United Reformed Church from the sale of the college are used for the requirements of the United Reformed Church in mission education and training in a world church context.
2.1 In September 1998 at a specially convened meeting of the Council of St Andrew’s Hall, it was agreed to close the college and to sell the buildings and site and thereby wind up the independent Association which had been formed by the Baptist Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society and the Women’s Missionary Association of the Presbyterian Church of England in 1954 for the purpose of training people to serve the church throughout the world.
2.2 Since the union in 1972, the United Reformed Church has been one of these three sponsoring bodies, appointing four of the twenty-five Council members, having taken on the rights and responsibilities of the English Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Association. We have been well served by the college and many people from the United Reformed Church and our partner churches overseas owe much to its ministry of education and training in mission.
2.3 Since the 1980’s we have increasingly been filling our places at the college with scholarship holders from overseas partner churches. With the bulk of the college’s funding coming from the three sponsoring bodies by way of block grants, and our share of this being two-fifths, it was a sensible move when we could no longer fill the places ourselves as fewer and fewer people offered for overseas service.
2.4 This situation was not peculiar to us and was not the only change that was afoot. The London Missionary Society had become the Council for World Mission and placed much greater emphasis on contextual training within the regions it served. The Baptist Missionary Society found that its needs and requirements were increasingly divergent to the other two sponsors.
2.5 Thus when the Baptist Missionary Society announced the freezing of its block grant in 1996, and in 1997 the Council for World Mission gave notice of the withdrawal of its funding, it became clear that the block grant system had to be replaced and so we followed suite, giving notice that our block grant, but not our funding, would also end.
2.6 The college was between Principals and the Association made a brave attempt to salvage the situation by appointing a new team to devise a rescue plan. However, despite considerable interest amongst those from the United Reformed Church who saw their proposals, it did not meet with universal favour. Besides by the time the Council met to consider what to do in September 1998 a new factor had entered into the discussion. By virtue of a 1920 Trust Deed relating to the college’s premises it appeared that the Baptist Missionary Society had a pre-emptive right of purchase and it became clear that they wished to exercise this right. Thus the decision was taken by the Association to close the college and to proceed with the sale of the land and the buildings to the Baptist Missionary Society.
2.7 There is much talk in some circles about who is to blame for the closure of the college. The Ecumenical committee, supported by the Overseas Exchange sub-committee and the Training committee, all of whom have followed every move in this saga, believe that it is wholly wrong and inappropriate to look at events this way. In a very real sense all three sponsors and the St Andrew’s Hall Missionary College Association have all contributed to this situation, but that is only part of it. The world, the church and our understanding of God’s mission have all changed considerably since 1954. We should give thanks for how St Andrew’s Hall has served us during this time and contributed to our fresh understanding of what it means to be partners in mission today. The challenge now is to move on, forming new partnerships where we can and continue the work which St Andrew’s Hall accomplished so ably in its time.
2.8 The work of the scholarship programme for overseas partner churches will continue. An intensive English language course will be offered through World Exchange at its base in St Colm’s College, Edinburgh. Like St Andrew’s Hall it will be offered in an international, ecumenical context and will build considerably on the experience and feedback we have received on the existing programme. Similarly we will offer scholarships in mission studies at Westminster College, Cambridge.
2.9 More significant will be how we meet our new needs in mission education and training, particularly in support of the Belonging to the World Church and continuing ministerial education programmes. Recognising that Great Britain is the primary context for our engagement in God’s mission we are working with our European partners in the Council for World Mission to discover what, if anything, we might do together to better equip ourselves for mission here. At the same time we are reviewing together how we prepare people for service overseas. What comes of this will only be known later this year.
2.10 Alongside all this there is considerable ferment in the Selly Oak Federation as it undergoes a major re-organisation. This will directly impact the mission colleges, prompting negotiations about the future shape of the mission education and training that they undertake. The United Reformed Church and the CWM European Region are both represented in these discussions.
2.11 Whatever is the outcome of all this we (and our European partners in CWM) are clear that any money that is released from the sale of St Andrew’s Hall, should be dedicated to the continuing work of mission education and training.
Overseas Exchange Sub-Committee
The Overseas Exchange Sub Committee is responsible for the selection, training and caring of mission partners for service here and overseas, and for overseeing the exchange of personnel, including the World Exchange volunteers programme.
Committee Members
Convener: Revd Barrie Scopes
Secretary: Revd Philip Woods
Revd Bob Andrews (Convenor, Ecumenical Committee), Mrs Virginia Becher,
Mr Peter Bryant, Revd Keith Riglin, Revd Kenneth Graham,
Revd Sheila Maxey (Secretary for Ecumenical Relations), and Revd Keith Forecast.
1 The Overseas Exchange Sub Committee oversees and cares for people who go from and come to the United Reformed Church.
2 Mission partners serving in the UK
2.1 Revd Dr Samuel Ponnusamy will complete three years of teaching at Northern College in July. He has brought much-appreciated insights to his Biblical teaching and relating of the Bible to issues in the contemporary world. Revd Emmanuel Frimpong completes his term this year as the Ghanaian Chaplain; he has brought to this responsibility immense energy and commitment.
2.2 Revd Marjorie Lewis-Cooper as the United Reformed Church’s Multi-racial/Multi-cultural Development Worker has visited widely within all twelve provinces and is challenging the United Reformed Church with regard to issues of racism and justice within its life.
2.3 Revd Moiseraele Prince Dibeela has begun his work as Mission Enabler for the East Midlands province and is beginning to make a helpful impact there.
2.4 A review has been carried out of the Ghanaian Chaplaincy in consultation with the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana. The next person to be appointed in mid-1999 will be called The Ghanaian Minister to the United Reformed Church in London and will work under the Thames North and Southern provinces and with the Ghanaian community. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana has appointed Revd Francis Amenu to this post.
2.5 The committee has agreed to seek an Overseas Special Category Minister through CWM for a post as a theological educator for the Southern Theological Education and Training Scheme (STETS) based in Salisbury.
Scholarship holders
3.1 During the year the following have been provided with scholarships by the United Reformed Church:
Ms Gabriele Bindemann English Studies Evangelische Kirche Der Union
Revd Tadeas Staniek English Studies Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren
Revd Valente Tomas Tseco Mission Studies
Presbyterian Church of Mozambique
Ms Boglarka Toth English and Mission
Reformed Church in Hungary
Revd Ho-Geon Lee English and Mission Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea
Ms Beatriz Bunga English and Administration Evangelical Reformed Church in Angola
Revd Martin Sendagi Church Management
Reformed Presbyterian Church in Uganda
3.2 In spite of the closing of St Andrew’s Hall in the summer the scholarship programme will be continued with people being placed in Edinburgh, Cambridge and Birmingham.
World Exchange
4.1 This Committee and the Ecumenical Committee which oversees the United Reformed Church’s participation in the Scottish Churches World Exchange Trust have affirmed that the United Reformed Church wishes to be a constituent member of World Exchange, the body that is continuing the work which has been undertaken by the Scottish Churches World Exchange Trust.
4.2 Ms Lesley-Anne Morgan, the newly appointed International Relations Programme Administrator, is actively publicising within the United Reformed Church the opportunities for volunteers to be appointed through World Exchange. This is an important part of the Belonging to the World Church programme.
Short-term volunteers in Britain
5.1 The following volunteer from abroad has been serving the United Reformed Church during the year:
Mr Mamy Herilanto Ranaivoarijaona Penrhys Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar
5.2 A full evaluation is to be undertaken this year of the link between Penrhys and the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM) which has sent a succession of volunteers to Penrhys.
Mission Partners from the United Reformed Church serving overseas
6.1 After a gap of two or three years a new mission partner couple, Revd Neil and Mrs Jenny Thorogood, have been accepted for service overseas. It is hoped that their appointment will commence before the end of 1999.
6.2 Martin and Ta’ara Vickerman are on leave. He is hoping to undertake postgraduate studies in education in New Zealand to equip him for further service in the Pacific Region.
Thanks
7.1 The committee wishes to place on record its appreciation of the service offered by Barrie Scopes, who ends his term as convener this Assembly. Barrie has been actively involved in all aspects of the committee’s work, sharing generously of his experience and time as the committee has developed and refined many aspects of its work of sharing people in mission.
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