Churches Together
- Key Churches Together Hull & East Yorkshire
- Churches Together in Britain & Ireland
- Churches Together England
KEY CHURCHES TOGETHER HULL & EAST YORKSHIRE
You can see the Key Churches Calendar of events here
http://www.keyct.org.uk/events.asp
You can read the latest news here
http://www.keyct.org.uk/news.asp
KEYCT stands for Kingston upon Hull & East Yorkshire Churches Together.
AREA OF OPERATION
KEY Churches Together links together churches in Kingston upon Hull and East Yorkshire and the Filey/Scarborough area, following the boundary of the Archdeaconry of the East Riding
THEOLOGICAL BASIS
"KEY Churches Together unites in pilgrimage those Churches and Christian bodies in its area which, acknowledging God's revelation in Christ, confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the Scriptures, and, in obedience to God's will and in the power of the Holy Spirit, commit themselves:
- to seek a deepening of their communion with Christ and with one another in the Church, which is his body; and
- to fulfil their mission to proclaim the Gospel by common witness and service in the world, to the glory of the one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
This is the same as that of Churches Together In England, the national body.
AIMS and FUNCTIONS:
- enabling the churches within its area as pilgrims together in the living and sharing of the gospel, to develop mutual trust and collaboration in ministry, mission and evangelism
- enabling the churches within its area to respond to the needs of society and to explore church and society issues
- providing a channel of communication between the Kingston upon Hull and East Riding unitary authorities and the churches of Hull and East Riding
- providing a point of reference and contact between other secular bodies (including the media) and the churches within its area
- promoting, supporting and servicing local Churches Together and Local Ecumenical Partnerships
- relating to Churches Together In England and coordinating ecumenical work and developments within its area with relevant work and developments at national level and elsewhere
- keeping under review ecclesiastical and secular boundaries as they relate to Kingston upon Hull, the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire
MEMBERSHIP
Membership is open to other churches not currently in membership which have a significant presence in the area and which accept the basis, aims and functions of KEY Churches Together.
CONSTITUTION
KEY Churches Together comprises four parts KEY Churches Together shall comprise
- KEY CHURCHES ANNUAL CONFERENCE & AGM
- KEY CHURCHES EXECUTIVE
- LOCAL ECUMENICAL ENABLERS GROUP
- CHURCH LEADERS GROUP
COMMUNICATING WITH THE CHURCHES
KEY Churches maintains a database of ministers and churches and distributes a quarterly newsletter to all known churches in its area, including those not as yet in formal membership. It also provides services through supplying mailing labels and including items in its newsletter. This Website www.keyct.org.uk is a recent facility designed to help churches to work more easily with each other and with society around.
OFFICERS
Chairman: Miss Melanie Meesam
Vice-Chairman: Revd. David Nellist
Administrative Secretary: Mrs. Cathy Crumpton
Chairman of Local Ecumenical Enablers Group: Revd. David Perry, Vicar of Skirlaugh w. Long Riston
Examiner: Mr. P.G. Jarratt
To contact Key Churches follow this link
http://www.keyct.org.uk/contact.asp
CHURCHES TOGETHER IN BRITAIN & IRELAND
You can visit the website here
There are many different Christian churches and denominations, but all have the same basic calling - to worship God, to share the good news about Jesus Christ and to work for the good of all people.
So they often need to work together, as well as co-ordinate the work they each do separately. When they do, they are acting as Churches Together.
But being Churches Together means more than that. It means commitment by each church and denomination to deepen its fellowship with the others and, without losing what makes each interestingly different, to work with them towards a greater visible unity.
To help the churches live as Churches Together, a number of small organisations have been created to ease their way. There is one in almost every town or community to help them to work together locally. There are others in the regions and for each of the four nations of Wales, Scotland, Ireland and England. And there is Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
Many areas of work are best tackled for Britain and Ireland as a whole, rather than in the separate nations. It is also important for those involved in similar activities in different parts of Britain and Ireland to keep in touch even when working separately. Churches Together in Britain and Ireland is the instrument that facilitates that process.
Supported and facilitated by a skilled and committed staff team, it networks specialists across the churches, arranges regular meetings of church representatives and links the churches to a wide range of inter-church organisations. As the successor to the former Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland, and before that the British Council of Churches, it has a long history.
Many issues facing the church benefit from a unified approach.
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland works with member churches to co-ordinate responses, share resources and learn from each other's experiences.
There are currently seven main work areas
- Church and Society
- Church Life /Faith and Order
- Mission
- China Desk
- Inter Faith
- International Affairs
- International Students
- Racial Justice
- Action on Asylum and Refugees
with the China Desk part of the Global Mission Network, and Action on Asylum and Refugees part of the Churches' Racial Justice Network. Each has at least one member of staff taking lead responsibility.
This is a link to the Ecumenical Events diary
http://www.ctbi.org.uk/cal/month.php?cal=ctbi_ecumenical_events
There are many free resources here you can download
There are publications to purchase here
CHURCHES TOGETHER ENGLAND
This is a link to the Churches Together England website
http://www.churches-together.net/
Churches Together in England is the national body set up by the churches in 1990, and has partner bodies in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Churches Together in Britain and Ireland is the successor body to the British Council of Churches, and co-ordinates the work of the four nations.
At a national level Churches Together in England has 32 Member Churches or Councils of Churches and 27 Bodies in Association. Churches are also continuing to develop ecumenical commitment locally and at intermediate (county) level.
Churches Together in England is a visible sign of the Churches' commitment as they seek a deepening of their communion with Christ and with one another, and proclaim the Gospel together by common witness and service. Its strength comes from people from different traditions finding new ways to work and worship together.
There are many free resouces available online from CTE, here is the link
There are four Presidents of Churches Together in England:
The Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Westminster
The Free Churches Moderator
The Fourth President nominated by the other churches in England – including Orthodox, Black Majority, Lutheran and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
The Presidents in 2009 are: Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop Rowan Williams, Bishop Nathan Hovhanissian and Commissioner Elizabeth Matear. Currently, following Bishop Nathan's return to Armenia, there are only three serving Presidents.
The Presidents meet regularly to discuss matters concern to the Churches in England. Their meetings are facilitated by the General Secretary of CTE.
In June 2002 the then Presidents signed a Personal Covenant in the presence of HM The Queen, at Windsor. This has subsequently been signed by new Presidents.
There is a 3 yearly forum, details of which are available here:
http://www.churches-together.net/Groups/86973/Churches_Together_in/CTE/Forum_2009/Forum_2009.aspx
This is where you can see and hear stories from around the country, Timothy Radcliffe reflections, and Archbishops Williams and Nichols offering a study of 1 Corinthians 1. 10-31
You can find out more information about the Governance of CTE here
Lisa Harris is a Forum Representative for the Enabling Group, and attended the 2009 Forum representing Key Churches Together Hull and East Yorkshire
You can find out more about Key Churches here