Churches Together in Merton Park

What does it mean to be Ecumenical?

The Ecumenical Movement is the name given to the 20th century search to restore Christian unity, which dates itself officially from the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh in 1910. Not to be confused with Inter-faith, or conformity; to be ecumenical is to declare a willingness to explore with other Christians the common roots of the faith; of most importance in Christian ecumenism is that people focus primarily on Christ, not on separate church organizations.

Various Scriptures speak to us about the unity of the Body and God’s own reconciling nature:

2 Corinthians 5:19: The Church is entrusted with the message of reconciliation
Ephesians 2: 11-22: God is reconciling himself to the Church through Jesus Christ
1 Corinthians 12: 12-31: The Church, as the Body of Christ, is made up of many parts. All parts are necessary for the Body to function properly.
John 17:20-26: As the Father and the Son are one, Jesus prays that his followers will be one.

Churches Together in Merton Park continues to meet 6 times a year. The meetings are usually well attended with all 5 churches (namely Merton Park Baptist, St Mary the Virgin CofE, St James of Merton CofE, St John Fisher RC and Martin Way Methodist) represented. At our last meeting in June there was a general feeling that we should be building ourselves up as the Body of Christ, so that we can discern where we are going as Churches Together and raise awareness of our planned activities for the year ahead. As a result it was decided to have an ‘away ½ day’ -a retreat for the committee, past members or those with a heart for ecumenism. St Michael’s Convent is a possible venue and date to be decided.

Joys and Concerns from the five Churches

Martin Way. Derek Heaton announced that he will be standing down from the committee after 13+ years of faithful service. The committee appreciates his diligence, dedication and enthusiasm for the work of CTMP and knows that he will still be with us in spirit.
Merton Park Baptist. Celebrated their 80th Church Anniversary on the 14th-15th June with a Barn Dance on the Saturday. The Rev. Dr. John Wheeler President of the Baptist Union and Principal of Cardiff Bible College was the guest preacher on Sunday.
St Mary the Virgin. The Rev John Hayward was inducted on the 22nd April. An impromptu concert for the Burmese cyclone Red Cross appeal raised over £4000, and the Church fair in excess of £3000.
St James of Merton. The summer fair was a success, with involvement from the Korean group. The regular family services are gaining in popularity, and are being used to establish prayer partners. The Church is having problems with planning permission for much needed work on their hall.
St John Fisher. There was a large attendance at Canon Acton’s golden jubilee of ordination, which was celebrated with Mass and a reception. 70-80 children celebrated their first Holy Communion in June.

Future plans and Dates for your diaries

A Service of Reconciliation and Healing for the five Churches will be held on St Luke’s feast day, on the 18th October 2008 at 6pm at St James Church. This will be in a Taize worship form.
A Quiz Night in support of Christian Aid has been reorganised for 7pm on Saturday 20th September at St James Church.
The next annual Church Unity Service will be held at Merton Park Baptist Church on the 3rd Sunday in January during which members of the CTMP group will be commissioned. As in previous years it will include a Service in each of the Churches during the week 18th -25th January 2009.
Christmas leaflets. The CTMP group would welcome any comments on the Christmas leaflet and possible suggestions about its continuation. A different format will be used this year.
More Representatives? Although meetings are well attended it would be good to have another person to represent Martin Way. Please speak to Joyce Plant or Gwen Wildman if you would like to attend these meetings before deciding or making a commitment to join the committee. Everyone is welcomed.

The next meeting will be on Thursday 4th Sept at St James Church 8pm