Churches Working Together: Local and National
Locally
Many Baptist churches work together with other local churches. Many are part of a 'Churches Together' group in their town or city, or join together with other local churches for occasional worship or mission events. Some churches are part of a more formal Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP), covenanting with other churches to share aspects of their life together – buildings, ministry, or a Single Congregation Partnership sharing the whole of their worship and mission life.
A Flexible Framework for Local Unity in Mission is a recent paper which aims to revitalise local ecumenical working, and suggests new ways of working for the future.
We aim to encourage Baptists to engage ecumenically at whatever level they feel able. Please do contact Hilary Treavis to talk further.
Nationally
Nationally, our Union is a member of the Free Churches Group, Churches Together in England, and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland which coordinate and encourage ecumenical working.
Click here for the Baptists and Ecumenism paper which looks at the distinctive contributions Baptists have to make to the ecumenical movement, and the future hopes and challenges of the journey.
The Joint Public Issues Team is an ecumenical collaboration of Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed Churches working together on justice and political issues.
Representatives
Our Union is often invited to send representatives to national and international events. Their experiences are often published through the Baptist Times:
Claire Nicholls: CTE Forum 2015
Conversations
Two rounds of conversations with the Church of England have been held, which have resulted in the publication of Pushing at the Boundaries of Unity (and the PBU Studies); and Sharing the Faith at the Boundaries of Unity (and the Sharing the Faith Study Guide).