Anglicans and European Protestants hold Faith and Order Consultation near Strasbourg

Some Anglican Participants in the Anglican - Protestant Consultation
It is often assumed that our diocese is interested in ecumenical dialogue only with Roman Catholics and Orthodox. This is not the case. Our ecumenical engagement and official conversations are much wider. Recently I was able to be part of the third Faith and Order consultation between the British and Irish Anglican Churches and the Community of Protestant (mostly Lutheran and Reformed) Churches in Europe (CPCE). The meeting was facilitated by the Institute for Ecumenical Research of the Lutheran World Federation, Strasbourg, and took place at Chateau Klingenthal, France, on 13-15 April 2011.

The consultation heard reports about recent developments in international ecumenical dialogues, in the ecumenical scene in Scotland, in the CPCE and in the Anglican Communion. It looked at reports from the Church of England on The Journey of Christian Initiation, from the Church of England and the United Reformed Church on Healing the Past – Building the Future and from the CPCE on Ministry-Ordination-Episcope, Scripture-Confession-Church and Training for the Ordained Ministry. It also received presentations on the Anglican Reformed tradition in the Seventeenth Century and the implications for Christian apologetics of recent work on science and religion.

The participants agreed to recommend to their sponsoring churches that the British and Irish Anglican churches and the CPCE should work towards a memorandum of agreement. This would reflect the commitment of the participating bodies to the visible unity of the Christian Church and would also include some consequences that can already be drawn as well as an agenda for future joint work.

Those attending the consultation:

From the Anglican churches
The Revd Canon Professor Paul Avis (The Church of England)
Dr Martin Davie (The Church of England)
The Revd Dr Michael Fuller (The Scottish Episcopal Church)
The Revd Gwynn ap Gwilym (The Church in Wales)
The Rt Revd David Hamid (The Church of England)
The Revd Dr Stephen Hampton (The Church of England)

From the CPCE
The Revd Dr Stephanie Dietrich (Church of Norway)
The Revd Prof. Martin Friedrich (CPCE Office)  
The Revd Fleur Houston (United Reformed Church)
The Revd Canon Harvey Richardson (Methodist Church in Great Britain)
Professor Michael Weinrich (EKD)

From the Institute for Ecumenical Research
The Revd Professor André Birmelé 
Professor Theodor Dieter
The Revd Professor Elisabeth Parmentier  
Professor Sarah Hinlicky Wilson


The participants were also able to pay a short visit to the nearby mountainside pilgrimage site of the patron saint of the area, Saint Odile, a ninth century holy woman who brought the Christian faith to the people of this part of Europe. Below is a fresco from the pilgrimage church.



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