Programme for 2004

2004 took forward the insights of 2003 and the agenda set by the St Alban's conference, 'May they all be one...But how?', our May 2003 residential Study Weekend, the call to recover a more 'spiritual ecumenism' at the 2003 Paul Couturier anniversary celebrations and the 2002 Bose conference on The Holy Spirit and Ecumenism, as well as our November 2003 study day, entitled The Ecumenical Pilgrimage: Pointers from the Holy Spirit for our next steps. Click on the links below for further details.

• Annual General Meeting, 23 February 2004
  The Experience of the Eucharist in Ecumenical Study - Revisiting the Debate on Eucharistic Sharing

  Speakers:

  • Ruth Reardon, founder member of the Association of Interchurch Families
  • Judith Maizel Long, the new Co-ordinating Secretary for Church Life at Churches Together in Britain and Ireland




• The Ecumenical Margins
  Autumn Seminar, Birmingham, 30 October 2004. This addressed Bishop Joe Aldred's challenging question at St Albans - 'Who is not here today?'

  Speakers:

  • Jean Mayland, who recently stepped down as CTBI Church Life Co-ordinating Secretary, has agreed to come and share her research on how the theory about Christian Unity at the interchurch level actually works out in practice for real people at the edge of Church life
  • Garnet Parris, director-designate of the Centre for Black Theology in the Department of Theology at the University of Birmingham, which is having great success in enabling minority ethnic Christians gain access to theological education
  • John O'Toole, from English ARC, the new director of the Southwark Archdiocese's Christian Education Centre, which has developed expertise to help parishes integrate people with learning and disability needs into church life
  • Mark Woodruff, from the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, on the lessons of multi-agency approaches in the voluntary sector as a model which the churches can re-learn from the secular world they once inspired.