Anglican-Methodist Covenant Meeting

On 28th February, President of the Methodist Conference, the Revd Helen Cameron, and Vice-President, Carolyn Godfrey met with the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell at Lambeth Palace. A meeting between the Archbishops and the President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference is a regular, annual occurrence.

The President and Vice-President were accompanied by Secretary of the Conference, the Revd Dr Jonathan Hustler; Assistant Secretary of the Conference, the Revd Michaela Youngson, and Connexional Ecumenical Officer, the Revd Steven Cooper. The Archbishop was accompanied by Secretary General of the General Synod, William Nye; Bishop of Stafford, the Rt Revd Matthew Parker (the Church of England’s lead bishop for relations with the Methodist Church), and the Church of England’s two national ecumenical officers, the Revd Dr Jeremy Morris and the Revd Tim Norwood.

"It was a positive and fruitful discussion, which included sharing around the joys and challenges affecting our two churches at the moment, and reflection on the recent 21st anniversary of the Anglican-Methodist Covenant for England", commented Revd Steven Cooper, the Connexional Ecumenical Officer. "Both the President and the Archbishop expressed a shared desire to move forward with the ongoing work needed to enable fuller sharing between our churches in the mission of God, including work towards a hoped-for relationship of full communion between our churches, in which our ordained ministers will be able to serve interchangeably between the two."

There was conversation around the key issue of safeguarding in the life of our churches, to which the Vice-President brought particular insight from her professional experience as a Safeguarding Officer.

There was a mutually illuminating discussion about the distinctive ministries of deacons in the Methodist Church and the Church of England, which led to a shared desire for further conversation to learn about the different forms diaconal ministry takes in our two churches, and about how those ministries may relate with one another.

The meeting also included discussion of the Methodist Church’s leading role in the Let’s End Poverty campaign, and about how our churches can share together in responding to the needs of local communities.

Both parties expressed assurance of their continuing prayers for each other, in a very cordial meeting that served to strengthen the bonds between our traditions.

You can find out more about the Anglican-Methodist Covenant on the dedicated website https://anglican-methodist.co.uk