The Covenant committed both Churches to encourage and explore new ways in which they could work together to proclaim the gospel and Christian teachings.
The website contains resources for churches as well as individuals, stories of inspired projects, and materials for joint acts of worship.
One of the main resources on the site also include quick links to concise information on what views each of the Churches officially hold on key issues. Issues revealed include: homosexuality, marriage, alcohol, abortion, genetic engineering, contraception, euthanasia, war, and baptism, among others.
A diary of upcoming events is also shown, and a detailed history of how the Covenant was drafted and came to be signed.
Initially the idea for the resources website came about after it became very clear that churches from the Methodist Church and the Church of England were working together on numerous local projects but they were not being publicised to others.
Therefore, Rev Peter Sulston, the Methodist Church Co-ordinating Secretary for Unity in Mission said, “As the Joint Implementation Commission has kept the implementation of the Covenant under review it has been clear that there is more happening in the name of the Covenant than we were aware of. Joint action on behalf of the whole of both churches is easy to track, but we want to share the success stories of work being done by Dioceses and Districts, by Deaneries and Circuits and by individual Methodists and Anglicans. The website will inspire others to try new things, and enable them to share what they learn.”
The website also shows that the Methodist Church and Church of England will be holding a vast series of workshops in the opening half of 2006 to promote and educate ministers and local clergymen on working on the Anglican-Methodist Covenant.
The workshops will carry the theme “Living God’s Covenant” and will look to bring to light the array of work already being carried out by the two Churches, and also to encourage Christians of both to experiment with new and more diverse ways of working together.
A tour of the workshop will be carried out throughout England, and all will contain various topics relating to the vision for the Covenant lifestyle, as well as sharing God’s mission and seizing the opportunities.
John Cole, National Advisor for Unity in Mission for the Church of England will lead the workshops, along with Chris Sissons, Development Officer for Local Mission and Unity for the Methodist Church.
Sissons explained that the theme of the day would be a balance of combining inspiration with practicality. He said, “Inspiration involves exploring the vision of what can be achieved as Christian disciples, and then we need to see the practical possibilities in any particular situation and explore what is actually involved in dealing with the obstacles.”
Cole commented that the workshops would be just as much about sharing information and experiences as anything else. He said, “There are already a lot of exciting projects that have grown out of the Covenant within Dioceses and Districts, and in Deaneries and Circuits,” he says. “People’s experience and expertise are crucial to the success of the workshops, both in terms of local knowledge and the insights people can bring. We want to learn as well as to encourage and inspire.”
To visit the new website, which also gives details of the workshop tour in 2006, please click the following link: Anglican-methodist.org.uk.
Daniel Blake
Christian Today Correpsondent