The Revd Mark Collinson Presents Research at Anglican/Old Catholic Meeting


From 29 August to 2 September in Neustadt/Weinstrasse, Germany close to 50 scholars from the Old Catholic and Anglican Churches gathered for a conference on "Ecclesiology and Mission in Today's Europe". Papers were presented on aspects of the nature of the Church (ecclesiology), the way the Church lives her life in obedience to Our Lord's mandate (missiology), and the challenges for Christians and Christian identity in modern Europe.

In addition, some participants presented their own current areas of research. Among those was the Revd Mark Collinson, the Area Dean of the Netherlands, and the Chaplain of Christ Church, Amsterdam (pictured above). Mark shared his work under the theme "Making a Dwelling in Europe", in which he is exploring some aspects of the Anglican presence on the European Continent. Mark raises some challenges for our Church as to how  we can be more incarnational in our life and mission, expressing more fully our connection to the local countries and contexts where we are ministering. Among the questions he poses is  "should we be promoting a more indigenous leadership?" We are sure to hear more from Mark on this theme!

The conference also discussed a draft statement which has been prepared by the Anglican-Old Catholic International Coordinating Council (AOCICC) entitled "Belonging Together in Europe". This statement seeks to deepen our understanding of the nature and implications of the 1931 Bonn Agreement which established "Full Communion" between the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Churches of the Anglican Communion. "Belonging Together in Europe" will be finalised at the AOCICC meeting this November in York and then submitted to the authorities of both Communions for evaluation. The AOCICC hopes that it will point towards ways that Anglicans and Old Catholics can make our relationship of "full communion" more visible and help us to express together our common task and mandate to proclaim the Gospel.

(Photos are courtesy of the Revd Dr Peter Feenstra)

Panel leading discussion on AOCICC paper "Belonging Together in Europe"



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell to the Diocese in Europe

Image
Deacon Frances and I packed up our office yesterday and turned over our official files, emails and equipment. Thus a close working together for 22 years comes to an end. So it is hard to believe that today, St David's day, a new chapter begins, after 44 years of stipendiary ministry, 22 years as deacon then priest and 22 as a bishop.  Here are just a few memories from the last couple of months...   But now it is time to begin a new chapter.  O God, by whose command the order of time runs its course: forgive our impatience, perfect our faith and, while we await the fulfilment of your promise, grant us to have a good hope because of your Word,  even Jesus Christ our Lord. (St Gregory Nazianzus, 330 - 390)
Read more

Archbishop of Canterbury's Pentecost Letter: A European Consequence

Image
In his Pentecost letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned of certain consequences for provinces of the Anglican Communion which have failed to stand by the three moratoria . (No authorisation of blessings services for same-sex unions; no consecrations of bishops living in same-sex relationships; and no bishop authorising any ministry within the diocese of another bishop without explicit permission). One consequence would be that representatives from such provinces w ould not be able to participate in the formal international interchurch dialogues of the Communion. One of those dialogues is the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council ( AOCICC ), the official instrument set up to deepen the relationship of communion established in 1931 between the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht . As the member Churches of the Union of Utrecht are all European, the AOCICC is effectively a European body. (I am one of the members, appointe
Read more

Advent in Helsinki: Mary, the Church's calling, and the One who brings us out of darkness to light

Image
Outside the Cathedral in Helsinki Yesterday, 8 December, was a very full Advent day, with activities redolent of the themes of the season. It was, of course, the Feast of the [Immaculate] Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary when we contemplate the mystery of the one who was prepared, through grace, to become the Mother of the Redeemer.  At the Vallila Help Centre (above, with Coordinator Eeva and Fr Tuomas) St Ambrose of Milan (whose feast we also celebrated this past week) was the first to refer to the Blessed Virgin as the Mother of the Church,  Mater Ecclesiae,  a title which helps us consider not only her role in giving birth to the Redeemer from whom the Church itself was born, but also how in her own life she responded to God's call in faith and love, as the Church today is also called to respond to the needs of the world.  It was with this in mind that I was so moved by a visit to the Ukraine Vallila Help Centre, a project supported by USPG and this diocese, which provides
Read more