Churches Together

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”  1 Corinthians 12: 12

As newly appointed District Ecumenical Officer for Cheshire (since last September), I meet twice a year with colleagues from other denominations, alongside our friends in Merseyside whose Ecumenical Officer, Elisabeth Hachmoeller, acts for Cheshire as well.

Although the new arrangement does seem to be working reasonably well, there have been some initial problems as regards communication (e.g. knowing where Churches Together groups meet and which are active).

There is always room for improvement and further development of good ecumenical relationships which I am happy to foster. In this respect, we were well served by a day conference at Foxhill in March but attendance and coverage are patchy.

Your prayers are needed, for help in enabling us to work together more effectively.

We pray for those Churches Together groups that exist, for the preparations for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. We give thanks for existing relationships and ecumenical activities.

Locally, we are glad to hear of regular joint services in the three Anglican/Methodist churches in Saughall/Sealand, cross border co-operation at its best. Some of the Sealand members attend an ecumenical bible study monthly at Saughall Methodist Church.

We give thanks for other Anglican/Methodist partnerships at Hallwood/Runcorn and Kelsall, praying especially for future work together in the redevelopment of parts of Runcorn and for new church buildings there. Both Hallwood and Kelsall are planning to mark together the approaching Season of Creationtide which I commended at the recent District Synod.

At Hallwood, I will take part in a service on the first Sunday of September using some of the Feast of Creation materials available on the web. At Kelsall, the people in the village are putting on a Festival of Creation, highlighting the issues facing us as we strive to be responsible stewards of God`s Creation in the midst of climate crisis and pressure on resources.

We give thanks also for Methodist/URC communities working together in Chester, at Caldy Valley and Garden Lane, praying for the emerging Plum Project plans and exciting mission development in both places, aided by Rachel, the new Church Related Community Worker, alongside their minister Rev Ceri Gardner.

We thank God that we are called to be justice-seeking churches together, witnessing to the love and mercy of God which is transformative for individual lives and communities. Frodsham Methodist Church had themed preaching around the topic of Justice … followed up in ecumenical groups discussing the issues raised and what it means to be a justice-seeking church in what seems a fairly hostile environment at times. Christians should stand together in solidarity, offering cohesion within our sometimes-fractured communities.

If there are ecumenical ventures planned that I or the Circuit don`t know about, please publicize them more widely and let`s get together, “so that the world may believe!”

Rev Dr Tim Macquiban