England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, a local ecumenical partnership (or project) is a partnership between

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

es of different denominations. First piloted in 1964, over 850 now exist to promote unity between different Christian denominations. The missiologist

David Bosch David Jacobus Bosch (13 December 1929 – 15 April 1992) was an influential missiologist and theologian best known for his book ''Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission'' (1991) — a major work on post-colonial C ...

in his ''Transforming Mission'' recognised ecumenism as the most recent paradigm of mission emerging from the worldwide Church. The main thrust of ecumenism is that despite the theological and cultural differences evident between denominations, the mission of any local Church is made more effective through a united witness. In some cases this has meant that a Christian presence has been retained in areas where neither denomination would be able to continue on its own. In addition, ecumenism encourages the sharing of different worship styles, the development of mutual understanding and the ability for the Church to speak with a united voice on social justice issues. Materials from organisations with a strong ecumenical emphasis, such as the

Iona Community The Iona Community, founded in 1938 by George MacLeod, is an ecumenical Christian community of men and women from different walks of life and different traditions within Christianity. It and its publishing house, Wild Goose Publications, are hea ...

and Taizé, are evidence of this. As a result of the Anglican-Methodist Covenant,

Anglicans Anglicanism is a Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia ...

and Methodists are committed to working in partnership with an end goal of achieving full visible unity.

References

{{reflist

External links

Church of England (Ecumenical Relations) Measure 1988 (No. 3)
* https://www.cte.org.uk/Groups/235275/Home/Resources/Local_Ecumenism/Single_Church_in/URC/URC.aspx
Churches Together in England: Ecumenical Notes
1965 establishments in England Christian ecumenism Christianity in Wales Christianity in England

See also

References

External links