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The
Ecumenical Committee, at its meeting in January 1997, was asked for guidance on the
following question.
What does the United Reformed
Church require a minister of
another church to assent to when being inducted into a Local
Ecumenical Partnership involving the United Reformed Church?
The committee would like to rephrase the question.
What does the United Reformed
Church have to offer to an induction
service in a Local Ecumenical Partnership where the minister
being inducted is not from the United Reformed Church?
1. That this minister has, to some extent, been called
by the local church to excerise ministry there is an example of corporate discernment by
the whole people of God. Something more than a welcome service is therefore appropriate.
Our expectation that the local church would hear the minister make a simple statement of
faith, affirm the authority of the Bible, commit him/herself to a holy life, and make a
public commitment to the ecumenical pilgrimage, is an offering we have to make to a
service of induction. All these may be covered by the custom of the church providing the
minister. Our practice of briefly telling the story of how the minister came to be called
to that church is also a valuable opportunity for transparency in church affairs.
2. That the minister intends to share ministry
with the members of the Elders' Meeting and intends to respect the ministry of the whole
people of God which is exercised, for example, through some kind of Church Meeting is
important to our understanding of the Church. The question 'Will you promise to exercise
your ministry in accordance with the constitution?' may suffice.
In most cases, the induction will largely follow the usual
form for the church to which the minister belongs and therefore these United Reformed
Church offerings would be part of the ecumenical planning of the service. Their inclusion
will depend on the other churches being flexible in the use of their usual
induction/welcome service. When a United Reformed Church minister is being inducted to an
ecumenical situation, the United Reformed Church must, in turn, be willing to adapt its
service to the requirements/practices of the other churches.
As far as the Statement of the Nature, Faith and
Order of the United Reformed Church is concerned, the committee suggests that
the Statement be read to the minister before the service, in the presence of all
those sharing in the leading of it and then, in the service, the question be put: 'Will
you respect the Statement of the Nature,Faith and Order of the United Reformed Church as
you exercise your ministry in this place?'
A brief outline of what each
denomination formally requires at an induction is contained in a recent paper from the
Group for Local Unity of Churches Together in England.
Copies can be obtained
from this office.
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