Meetings to make a difference

I have just had two very interesting days.  On Monday at Nottingham I joined with others from the United Reformed Church ad the Congregational Federation to reflect on how we might want to commemorate an event back in 1662.  On Tuesday I met with others in the Churches Group for Evangelization (Part of CTE).

Revd Dr Alan Argent tells  what happened 350 years ago

On August 24th 1662 around 2,000 Anglican clergyman chose to follow their consciences rather than bow the knee to the State as it imposed control upon the Church of England.  It was costly as it meant losing homes and livelihoods.  But they wished to stay true to their vision of a pure church, led by scripture and the Holy Spirit rather than constrained by prescriptive and repetitive patterns of worship, among other matters of principle.  On that date (set by the authorities as a deadline) many would have had no idea where their future might lie.  In some cases whole congregations stood by the ministers they loved and respected.  Most of them found their future within the Independents - dissenting churches that would ultimately be known as Congregationalist.

The event strengthened the numbers of dissenters leading to the diversity of expressions of church seen around the world today, and set worship and ministry of God's word free from constraint.  The challenge for the inheritors of such a heritage - primarily Congregational, Welsh Independents and URC churches is to mark this occasion in a way that is missional and will establish a legacy for coming generations.

The Churches group for Evangelization

Tuesday afternoon was spent exploring some of the current or developing national mission initiatives. These included "Hope Together", "Bible Fresh", and "More than Gold".  All have websites you can look up.  We then contemplated how these might link to and serve a variety of special anniversary celebrations coming up.  Among those mentioned were the 1662 commemorations, events linked to the ministry of Pentecostalists George and Stephen Jeffreys, and special sermon by William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army.

In the evening we welcomed Chris Duffet, a Street Evangelist who inspired us with his stories of how the gospel is being shared on the streets of UK towns.    On Wednesday we shall reflect on what is happening within the Churches and association church bodies to share the message of Jesus Christ today.