Churches Together In England Forum - The People

Just as the FACT Chair is rotated amongst the leaders of the Churches, the Presidency of CTE is jointly held by Four Presidents, some of which are rotated. I thought it might be worth sharing with you who the Presidents are at the moment and a bit about their ministry.

Rowan Williams - Anglican, Archbishop of Canterbury- Born 1950, he has been 104th Archbishop of Canterbury since 2002. He was previously Archbishop of Wales, a prior to that Bishop of Monmouth. This means he is the first Archbishop of Canterbury to be appointed from outside the Church of England in modern times, and the first bishop to be Primate of two different parts of the Anglican Communion.

Vincent Nichols - Roman Catholic, Archbishop of Westminster : -Born 1945, became the 11th Archbishop of Westminster this year succeding Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor ( the first Archbishop of Westminster to retire ) having previously been Archbishop of Birmingham and an auxillary bishop in Westminster.

Elizabeth Matear - Salvationist, Commisioner,  Moderator of the Free Church General Council :- Commissioner ( with her husband John ) for the Salvation Army in the UK and Republic of Ireland since 2006, having previously been Territorial Commanders in the Caribbean. In 2007 she became the first Salvationist to take up the Moderator of the Free Churches Federal Council position.

Nathan Hovhanissian - Armenian Apostolic Church in Great Britain, Primate ( Nominated by "Other   Member Churches" ) Has been primate of the Armenian Church in Great Britain since 2000. He was previously been Primate in the Ukraine

As they take up their office ( as Archbishop Nichols will do today at the Forum ) they sign a personal covenant with their fellow Presidents : -

We believe in the Triune God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because we confess "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church" our paramount ecumenical task is to show forth this unity, which is always a gift of God. Jesus Christ revealed to us on the cross his love and the mystery of reconciliation; as his followers, we intend to do our utmost to overcome the problems and obstacles that still divide the churches.

We rejoice that the Churches in England are steadily growing closer in mutual trust and respect. As Presidents of Churches Together in England we have in common many joys and hopes, and we have much to offer and to receive from one another in the rich diversity of our traditions.

We believe that in our common pilgrimage we are being led by the Holy Spirit, and that God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, is calling us to a deeper unity and to a greater sharing in our mission in his world.

We therefore commit ourselves

to persevere in seeking a common understanding of Christ's message of salvation in the Gospel;
in the power of the Holy Spirit, to work towards the visible unity of the Church of Jesus Christ in the one faith, expressed in common discipleship, worship, witness and service.

We undertake

to develop our mutual friendship and support,
to pray, study and work together for the unity and mission of the Church,
to consult together on issues affecting the common good,
to promote justice, integrity and peace,
to speak with one voice to give common witness to Jesus Christ, as far as we are able.

We pray God to lead us, with all our sisters and brothers in Christ, towards communion in faith, life and witness; so that, united in one body by the one Spirit, we may together witness to the perfect unity of his love.