A handbook of councils and churches profiles of ecumenical relationships

Church Family: Reformed

Membership: 36,251

Congregations: 775

Pastors: 70

Member of: WCC (1948) – CEC – CTBI – CYTUN – WARC – EAC – CWM

– CPCE
Periodicals: Y Goleuad (in Welsh), The Treasury
Website: www.ebcpcw.org.uk
The church had its beginnings in the evangelical revival of the 18th century. Its founders (both clergy and lay) were members of the Church of England. Soon after 1735 they established religious societies, similar to the Methodist societies founded in England by John Wesley. Societies in all parts of Wales were set up during the years 1735-52, under the charge of lay exhorters, and lay and clerical superintendents supervised the work. In 1811 a number of exhorters were ordained. Thus the movement became separated from the Church of England. In 1832 the Calvinist Methodist Connexion (as it was then called) formulated its confession of faith, rules and discipline, constitution and church government. In general the new Connexion was Presbyterian in polity. The first general assem­bly of the church was held in 1864. In the 20th century the name was changed to the Calvinist Methodist Church of Wales, or the Presbyterian Church of Wales. In 1933 the amended constitution was adopted and received the assent of parlia­ment. The church has strong ties with the Presbyterian churches in North India.

Among the primary concerns of the Presbyterian Church of Wales are: a) the challenge of sharing the Christian gospel and ministering at the beginning of a new century in a country where only 5 percent of the population now holds offi­cial church membership; b) working within the new devolved political structure in Wales with the setting up of the Welsh National Assembly; c) peace and justice and poverty relief issues; d) the decline in membership, the dearth of ministerial candidates, and the need to strengthen the ministry of all God’s people. Pro­grammes related to these issues are: a) restructuring the ministerial pattern and the lay ministry; b) new ministerial projects and a connexial training programme held under the mission programme sponsored by the Council for World Mission; c) involvement in interdenominational projects; d) mission to young people; e) the restructuring of the church’s administration.

Church Family: Reformed

Membership: 31,000

Associations: 16

Congregations: 490

Pastors: 107

Member of: WCC (1967) – CTBI – CYTUN – CWM – ICF – CPCE

Periodicals: Y TYST (weekly), Cristion (bi-monthly, interdenominational,

in Welsh)
Website: www.annibynwyr.org
The first congregational church in Wales was founded at Llanfaches in 1639. The early founders were largely the inheritors of the Puritan tradition. Over the centuries the Welsh Independents have developed into a diverse denomination which embraces a wide range of theological positions and holds a radical view on matters of Welsh and international social and political policy. An example is the pacifist emphasis. The churches of the Union are congregationalist because authority in all matters relating to the church is vested in the congregation which consists of the fully accredited members. They are called “Independent” because each congregation claims to be under the direct authority of Jesus Christ and is not controlled by any outside body. Individual churches cooperate with one another through associations, and through the Union, founded in 1872. The Union works through six departments: finance, mission and world church, churches and ministry, education and communication, youth, Christian citizen­ship. The Union’s council and the assembly meet once a year. “The Union is a free and voluntary body. Its aim is to help, as far as possible, to make churches fel­lowships that are free to serve Jesus Christ.”

The Union uses mainly the Welsh language, as do most churches, for worship and business. The churches have much in common with the other Free Church Welsh denominations. Ministers and preachers move freely between them, as does the membership. Different churches provide a rich variety of ethos. And yet, the denomination retains its own distinctive flavour. It can still be identified as “Dry Dissenters”, valuing learning and understanding of the faith.

Currently the Union’s work is focused on the AGAPE mission programme (2005-2007). It encourages the churches to ask basic questions of themselves. How can they develop worship which is exciting and deals with today’s issues? What does it mean to be faithful to the Lord here and now? The churches of the Union uphold the great Protestant principle that the church must always be pre­pared to be reformed. They appreciate the growing opportunities to bear common witness with others, and to make significant contributions to united efforts both within Wales and beyond. It is also their privilege to receive what fellow Chris­tians of differing traditions have to give, and to be enriched by their experiences. The greatest need surely is the humility to receive.

*Action by Churches Together in Scotland

Founded in 1990 (forerunner: the Scottish Churches’ Council, founded in 1964).

Basis: Action of Churches Together in Scotland unites in pilgrimage those churches in Scotland which, acknowledging God’s revelation in Christ, confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Saviour according to the scriptures, and, in obe­dience to God’s will and in the power of the Holy Spirit, commit themselves to seek a deepening of their communion with Christ and with one another in the

Europe

Member churches:

Congregational Federation

Religious Society of Friends

Website: www.acts-scotland.org

Church Family: Reformed

Membership: 1,149,000

Congregations: 1,526

Pastors: 1,042

Member of: WCC (1948) – CEC – CPCE – CTBI – ACTS – WARC – EAC

Periodical: Life and Work (monthly)

Website www.churchofscotland.org.uk

The Church of Scotland has its roots in the missionary labours of St Ninian and St Columba, and in the early Celtic church. It was reformed in the 16th century after the Genevan and Calvinistic pattern. A century and a half of ecclesiastical struggles followed, until in 1690 the Church of Scotland was established in its Presbyterian polity. Various secessions occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries, but since 1929 the Church of Scotland has been largely reunited. In the declara­tory articles which the parliament of the United Kingdom approved as a correct statement of the historic position of the Church of Scotland in matters spiritual, the church is described as a “national church representative of the Christian faith of the Scottish people”. The church is committed to the modern ecumenical move­ment and to fostering church union where possible. Its Ecumenical Relations Committee is in conversation with several other denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church.

The church has approximately 553,000 adult communicant members. Its final authority in all matters is the general assembly. It has its own publishing house, the Saint Andrew Press. Its overseas work includes around 45 people working with partner churches in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean areas. Ministers serve in over thirty Scots kirks abroad; various others work in Israel and Palestine.

In June 2005 the Church of Scotland was reorganized at national level. A Coun­cil of Assembly brings together the conveners of six new councils of the church covering church and society, ministries, mission and discipleship, social care, world mission, and support and services. Through a report to the general assem­bly of 2001, entitled A Church Without Walls, the Church of Scotland identified as its core calling the hearing of the invitation of Jesus “Follow me”, a calling that is personal, local, relational, sacrificial, radical and global. Within this framework the Church of Scotland continues to engage with the issues of churches and soci­ety. In recent years issues of trade justice and HIV/AIDS have received continu­ing attention. It recognizes the need to give priority to interfaith relations in 21st century.

In the field of education, the Church of Scotland continues to devote much attention to the training of ministers and other full-time workers, the instruction of children, youth and adults in the Christian faith and life, and its involvement in schools, colleges and universities.

Church Family: Anglican

Membership: 44,280

Dioceses: 7

Parishes: 310

Bishops: 7

Priests: 184

Member of: WCC (1948) – CEC – CTBI – ACTS – ACC

Periodical: inspires (monthly)

Website www.scottishepiscopal.com

The roots of Christianity in Scotland go back to St Ninian in the 4th century and St Columba in the 6th. The Scottish Episcopal Church was formerly the Established Church of Scotland. It was disestablished and disendowed in 1689 by King William III who, almost entirely on political grounds, set up the Presbyter­ian Church in its place. The disestablished Scottish Episcopal Church continued strongly until 1746 when, again for political reasons after the Jacobite rebellion, severe penal statutes were imposed upon all Episcopalians. These laws made it illegal for them to possess any churches or chapels; all public services were for­bidden and Episcopalian clergy were not allowed to minister to more than five persons at a time, under penalty of imprisonment or banishment.

The Synod of Laurencekirk in 1804 saw a reverse in this trend as the church agreed to accept the prayer book and an oath of allegiance and this started the move towards the repeal of the penal laws. The church then grew rapidly during the 19th century. The Scottish Episcopal Church is part of the Anglican commu­nion. Indeed, the action of the Scottish bishops in consecrating the bishop of Con­necticut in 1784 is seen as the moment when the Anglican communion was founded.

Being part of the Anglican communion means that the distinctive beliefs of the Scottish Episcopal Church are based on the historic creeds and are expressed in its liturgy. The church retains the three-fold orders of bishop, priest and deacon. Besides the 184 stipendiary priests there are 311 non-stipendiary priests. The Scottish Episcopal Church has seven dioceses, each with its own diocesan bishop. The bishops are elected by the clergy and laity within each diocese. The chair of the college of bishops is the primus who is also one of the diocesan bishops. The church is governed by a general synod made up of the college of bishops, a house of clergy and a house of laity. These houses are elected by the respective diocesan synods to represent the various dioceses.

The Scottish Episcopal Church has a number of authorized liturgies for wor­ship. The traditional services of morning, evening and evening prayer are fol­lowed but there is increasing emphasis on the eucharist as the central Sunday service.

Europe

United Free Church of Scotland

Church Family: Reformed

Membership: 4,400

Presbyteries: 3

Congregations: 65

Pastors: 27

Member of: WCC (1948) – CTBI – ACTS – WARC – EAC

Periodical: Steadfast (bi-monthly)

Website: www.ufcos.org.uk

The denomination is a branch of the Presbyterian churches in Scotland. There were, in the 18th and 19th centuries, small groups of the Presbyterian order, each independent until some of them formed groupings to become a larger Presbyter­ian denomination. In 1843, the year of the Disruption, many congregations of the Church of Scotland seceded and became known as the Free Church of Scotland. It existed alongside other Presbyterian denominations, some of which became known later as the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. In 1900 the Free Church of Scotland united with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, to become the United Free Church of Scotland. This church united in 1929 with the Church of Scotland. A small minority continued as the United Free Church of Scotland, emphasizing the principles of voluntary support by its members, free­dom from state control and religious equality. Since 1929 women have served the church as ministers and elders.

In recent years the United Free Church has been exploring closer cooperation with the Church of Scotland both nationally, through boards and committees, and locally through congregations sharing resources and working together in various ways. The purpose of this cooperation is that the church may more effectively engage in mission to the people of Scotland (and beyond) and make the best use of limited resources. A covenant is being prepared by the two denominations which will be brought for approval by the general assemblies of 2006. The United Free Church also takes an active interest in the various ecumenical bodies to which it belongs, particularly through Action of Churches Together in Scotland. Various initiatives are taking place to help the members of the church develop ways of moving forward more effectively in the service of Christ.

Latin America

(Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias, CLAI)

The Latin American Council of Churches is an organization composed of Chris­tian churches and movements which was set up in order to promote the unity of the Christians of the continent. CLAI, as it is commonly known, was founded in 1982, in Huampaní, Peru. The idea of creating a regional ecumenical body and what should be its shape took form at a large meeting of Protestant churches four years earlier, in 1978, at Oaxtepec, Mexico. The emphasis was on a council that would not run programmes and projects on behalf of its members but accompany the churches and provide space for participation and solidarity. It was also decided that the new council would not deal with project funding. From the beginning a decentralized model was adopted with secretariats in five sub-regions, in order to be closer to the churches in their daily life and context. The churches and move­ments which compose CLAI confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour according to the holy scriptures and seek to fulfil their common calling and mission in unity, to the glory of God.

CLAI is a consultative and coordinating body that has no authority over its members in matters of doctrine, governance, practice or worship. The main objec­tives of CLAI are to promote the unity of the people of God, to encourage and sup­port its members in their task of announcing the gospel, and to promote the theo­logical and pastoral reflection and dialogue on the Christian mission and witness in the continent. Over a quarter of a century, the churches and groups that form CLAI have journeyed together in obedience to the gospel, with the intention to restore, in ways that are visible, and through concrete acts of witness and service, the unity that has been given to them in Jesus Christ. Highlights of the common journey have been the assemblies:

The fifth assembly will be held in Buenos Aires (Argentina), in 2007, under the theme The Grace of God Justifies Us, the Spirit Makes Us Free.

In the context of Latin America in the 1980s and 1990s, the churches and CLAI were very much inspired and motivated by the theme of hope and the building of a just and participatory society. CLAI has also focused on promoting peace in some of the conflict areas in the region, e.g. in Colombia and Guatemala. The changes that came with the end of the cold war have prompted CLAI to reorga­nize and strengthen its institutional viability, to bring the organization closer to the member churches, and to widen its approach to churches that hitherto did not participate in the established ecumenical movement, in particular the Pentecostals.

In order to achieve its objectives, CLAI maintains several programmes dealing with the issues of women and gender justice, youth, health, faith, economy and society, global environmental citizenship, liturgy, and communications. The five sub-regional secretariats are Andino (Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru); Brazil; Caribbean and Greater Colombia (Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto

Latin America

Rico, Venezuela); Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hon­duras, Mexico, Nicaragua); and River Plate (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay). In recent years, CLAI has given much attention to the Pentecostal churches in Latin America (several of which are among its member churches) and to the involve­ment of Evangelicals and Pentecostals in the society and in politics. Exchanges have been organized between Pentecostal churches and other churches from dif­ferent countries, e.g. between Brazil and Chile. Another priority of CLAI has been the dialogue with confessional families present in the continent, and with its part­ner churches and organizations in North America and Europe. CLAI has 139 member churches and organizations in 19 countries, representing some two mil­lion Christians. The head office of the organization is in Quito, Ecuador.

Website: www.clai.org.ec

Periodicals: Nuevo Siglo (monthly, in Spanish and Portuguese);

LAEN (3 x per year, in English),

Signos (quarterly, in Spanish, focusing on faith and culture).

Member churches of the Latin American Council of Churches

Anglican Diocese of Argentina
Anglican Diocese of North Argentina
Association The Church of God (Argentina)
Christian Biblical Church of Argentina
Christian Church Disciples of Christ (Argentina)

Congregational Evangelical Church (Argentina)

Evangelical Pentecostal Church Argentina

German-speaking Lutheran Church (Bolivia)

Evangelical Arab Church (Brazil)

Evangelical Congregational Church of Brazil

Brethren Communion Church (Chile)

Evangelical Presbyterian Church (Chile)

Missionary Pentecostal Church (Chile)

Temple Church La Hermosa (Chile) Union Christian Mission Corporation (Chile) Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia

Episcopal Church of Costa Rica

Church of the Nazarene (Cuba)

Salvation Army (Cuba)

Evangelical Church Dominican Republic

Evangelical Indigenous Church of Tolontag (Ecuador)

Emmanuel Baptist Church (El Salvador)

Conference of Evangelical Churches of Guatemala Episcopal Church of Guatemala Primitive National Evangelical Methodist Church of Guatemala Christian Reformed Church of Honduras

Evangelical Lutheran Church (Honduras) Evangelical Mennonite Church of Honduras German-speaking Lutheran Church (Mexico)

Church of the Nazarene of Nicaragua

National Convention of Christian Mission Churches (Nicaragua) Episcopal Church Diocese of Panama Evangelical Methodist Church of Panama Lutheran Church (Panama)

Christian Church Disciples of Christ (Paraguay)

Presbyterian Synod Boriquen in Puerto Rico

Latin America

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Venezuela

Evangelical Pentecostal Church Naciente (Uruguay)

WCC member churches: 28 directly, 8 indirectly.

Fraternal members (churches): Independent Presbyterian Church in Bolivia Universal Apostolic Mission Church (Chile) Wesleyan Methodist Church of Costa Rica Evangelical Lutheran Church of Peru

Fraternal members (councils of churches): National Council of Christian Churches in Brazil Council of Churches of Cuba

Fraternal members (organizations): Ecumenical Christian Centre of Cordova (Argentina) Ecumenical Movement for Human Rights MEDH (Argentina) Higher Evangelical Institute of Theological Studies ISEDET (Argentina) United Council for Christian Education (Argentina) United Missions Board (Argentina) Association of Evangelical Theological Seminaries (Brazil) Ecumenical Centre of Pastoral Experiences CEBEP (Brazil) Ecumenical Centre of Service to Popular Evangelization CESEP (Brazil) Ecumenical Coordination of Services CESE (Brazil) Evangelical Missionary Group (Brazil) Koinonia - Ecumenical Presence and Service (Brazil) Methodist University (Brazil) World Day of Prayer (Brazil Chapter) Study Commission of the History of the Church in Latin America (Colombia) Ecumenical Centre “CEMURI” (Chile) Peace and Development Service SEPADE (Chile) Social Assistance Foundation of the Christian Churches (Chile) Ecumenical Research Department DEI (Costa Rica) Evangelical Theological Seminary (Cuba) Christian Development Commission (Honduras) Evangelical Council for Social Advancement and Renewal CEPRES (Nicaragua) Inter-Church Centre for Theological and Social Studies CIEETS (Nicaragua) Emergency Relief Committee of the Churches CIPADE (Paraguay) National Ecumenical Movement of Puerto Rico Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico Christian Centre of Advancement and Services (Peru) Ecumenical Action (Venezuela) Open Training Programme (Venezuela) Ecumenical Service for Human Dignity SEDHU (Uruguay)

Associate members: Latin American Evangelical Commission for Christian Education CELADEC

(Argentina) Latin American Evangelical Centre for Pastoral Studies CELEP (Venezuela) Latin American Biblical University (Costa Rica) Latin American Evangelical Social Action ASEL (Cuba) Universal Federation of Student Christian Movements FUMEC (Argentina) ALFALIT (El Salvador)