Agreements and Partners

Ecumenical Canons

The Church of England as a whole is committed to the search for full visible unity with other Christian Churches, and to the bodies at all levels which promote this search. The Council for Christian Unity is the principal channel of communication between the General Synod and other non-Anglican Churches and ecumenical bodies.

The following sections of the Diocese in Europe regulations set out further aspects of ecumenical provision on Continental Europe:

The Canons of the Church of England B43 and 44
Diocese in Europe Constitution 1995: section 26, 27
Diocesan Handbook 1998: section A1, 6, 7, B25

Canons B43 — ‘of relations with other Churches’ — and B44 — ‘of local ecumenical projects’ — encourage and make provision for sharing in worship with other Churches. These were promulged after the passing of the Church of England (Ecumenical Relations) Measure 1988, and are set out in The Ecumencial Relations Code of Practice (Church House: London, 1989) and its supplement (1997).

The Meissen Declaration and Meissen Commission

In November 1988 the General Synod welcomed the Meissen Common Statement calling for a closer relationship between the Church of England and the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD - a federation of Churches in Germany, predominantly from the Lutheran tradition). An Act of Synod solemnly proclaimed the Meissen Declaration in January 1991. The provision allows for a much closer degree of fellowship (though not the interchangeability of ministries) and commits the signatory Churches to work for the goal of full visible unity of the Church. The member Churches of the EKD are Churches to which the Ecumenical Canons apply.

Fuller information is available from the C of E Council for Christian Unity, or the Westminster Church House Bookshop, in the form of the following papers:

German Evangelical Churches, CCU Occasional Paper 1
The Meissen Agreement, CCU Occasional Paper 2 (1993)
Anglo-German Links: an information pack

Chairman of the EKD Council: Bischof Dr Wolfgang Huber
Bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg

Website: http://www.ekd.de

Officers of the Meissen Commission

EKD

Co-Chairman: Landesbischof Jürgen Johannesdotter Bishop of Schaumburg-Lippe
Herderstr.27, 31675 Bückeburg, Germany
T: + 49 (0) 5722 960 17
E: landesbischof@landeskirche-schaumburg-lippe.de

Co-Secretary: OKR Matthias Kaiser
Enquires c/o EKD Kirchenamt, Postfach 21 02 20, D-30402 Hannover, Germany
T: + 49 511 2796 137
E: matthias.kaiser@ekd.de

Church of England

Co-Chairman: The Right Reverend Nick Baines Bishop of Croydon
T: +44 (0)20 8256 9630
E: bishop.nick@southwark.anglican.org

Co-Secretary: The Reverend Canon Dr Charles Hill European Secretary, Council for Christian Unity
see above

The Reuilly Common Statement with the French Lutheran and Reformed Churches (the Eglise Réformée)

In November 1999 the General Synod welcomed the Reuilly Common Statement calling for a closer relationship between the Anglican Churches of Britain and Ireland and the Eglise Réformée (a grouping of four Reformed Churches in France, mainly from the Lutheran tradition). The provision allows for a much closer degree of fellowship (though, like the Meissen Declaration before it, not the interchangeability of ministers) and commits the signatory Churches to work for the goal of full visible unity of the Church. The Agreement will be signed at ceremonies in Canterbury and Paris in the summer of 2001. Fuller information is available in the form of the following book:

Called to Witness and Service [the text of the Reuilly Statement and essays on Church, Eucharist, and Ministry] (London, 1999)

Contact: The Right Reverend David Hamid (Suffragan Bishop, Diocese in Europe)

Twinnings and Exchanges (Jumelages et Echanges) with the Roman Catholic Church in France

The Agreement is intended to help clergy and those laity who may be involved in twinnings and exchanges at local level and applies only to the situation in France and England, and was the result of the work of the French and English Anglican-Roman Catholic Committees. The notes in the text are to help those interested to understand the practices of the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches in our two countries so that they may use all available opportunities to worship together while respecting those who discipline may differ from their own.

Fuller information is available in the form of the following papers:
Twinnings and Exchanges (London, 1990)
Roger Greenacre: The Catholic Church in France: an introduction (London, 1996)

Contact: The Archdeacon of France (acting)
Bishop’s Delegate for Ecumenical Relations in France

The Conference of European Churches

Website: www.cec-kek.org

Secretariats in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg

General Secretary: The Venerable Colin Williams
PO Box 2100, 150 route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
T: 00 41 22 791 61 11
E: cec@cec-kek.org

The World Council of Churches

Website:www.wcc-coe.org

Moderator of the Central Committee: His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of Cilicia
(Armenian Apostolic Church, Great House of Cilicia, Lebanon)

General Secretary: The Reverend Dr Samuel Kobia (Methodist Church in Kenya)
150 route de Ferney, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
T: 00 41 22 791 61 11
F: 00 41 22 791 03 61
E: info@wcc-coe.org