A covenant between the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain was signed on November 1, 2003 at the Methodist Central Hall followed by a Service of Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey. Dr Williams gave the following address at the signing ceremony.

At his first meeting with leaders of the Jewish community in Rome, Pope John XXIII, it’s said, greeted them with the words, “I am Joseph, your brother”. He was evoking one of the most poignant moments in the Old Testament: Joseph, whose arrogance had provoked the resentment and rejection of his brothers, is carried off into exile and slavery, then rises to great power. He finds that this power is given to him so that he can save the lives of his brothers when they come to him, not knowing him, begging him for help; and at last he reveals who he is: “I am Joseph, your brother”.
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The Anglican-Methodist Covenant in England will be signed at a national celebration on Saturday 1 November 2003, at 11:00am, in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. Earlier this year the Covenant was strongly endorsed by the Methodist Conference of Great Britain and the General Synod of the Church of England. The service of celebration will begin at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, at 11.00am, in front of an invited assembly from both Churches as well as ecumenical and civic guests. After the historic Covenant is signed at Methodist Central Hall, the ceremony will continue at Westminster Abbey at 11:45am with a short service of thanksgiving and dedication. The Covenant will be signed on behalf of the Church of England by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend Dr David Hope, and the Secretary General of the Archbishops’ Council, Mr William Fittall.
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A photo of Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, a devout Anglican, standing before a Roman Catholic archbishop to receive communion has prompted a renewed discussion in the two denominations over the issue of who may take communion in a Catholic church.

After the photo was published in January in the Ottawa Citizen, there was a flurry of letters to the newspaper over the issue. The story was widely covered across the country and the letters and coverage prompted a published response in the newspaper from Archbishop Marcel Gervais, Catholic archbishop of Ottawa.
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[Toronto – February 18, 2003] The Anglican Church of Canada and The United Church of Canada have begun an ongoing dialogue. These are the first formal conversations between the two denominations since the end of the Plan of Union talks in the 1970s. The meeting took place February 13-16, 2003 at the Vancouver School of
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[SCOTLAND | ACNS 3257] The Scottish Church Initiative for Union (SCIFU) began its work in 1996 in the closing years of “the ecumenical century of the Christian Church” when Christians from different traditions – “often bitterly and even violently divided” – began to talk, work and witness together and even re-unite after long separation. SCIFU
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The celebrations of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee reached a high point this past week. The stunning success of the festivities shows that the British monarchy has climbed back into the affection of the people. What does it need to do to stay there? A Church of Scotland minister looks particularly at the monarch’s role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith.
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Too many Young Theologians in Iceland REYKJAVIK, Iceland/GENEVA (LWI) – The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland (ELCI) may be ready to serve Anglicans in Britain and Ireland as needed, because of an oversupply of young theologians. Rev. Dr. Sigurdur Ami Thordarson of Reykjavik, who heads ELCI’s Division for Theologv and Society and serves as a
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[ACNS 2417]By Charles Sherlock The first permanent Commission of the Anglican Communion met for the first time in early December 2000 – the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations (IASCER). The diverse group of sixteen people – men and women, lay and ordained, parish clergy, theologians and bishops, from ten nations and five continents –
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[ACNS 2357] A new high-level working group has been announced by the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. Comprising prominent Church leaders from a variety of countries, assisted by specialists, the Anglican-Roman Catholic Working Group will have the task of reviewing the relationship between Catholics and Anglicans worldwide, consolidating the results of more than thirty
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Statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury concerning the Roman Catholic document ‘Dominus Iesus’ [ACNS 2219 – Lambeth Palace, 5 September 2000] By restating the long-held view of the Roman Catholic Church on the position of other Christian churches, this document breaks no new ground. But neither does it fully reflect the deeper understanding that has
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The Pope, His Holiness John Paul II sent a message of greeting to the historic May 2000 gathering of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops in Mississauga, Toronto, Canada. On the eve of his 80th birthday, the Pope expressed his hope that the meeting would “bear lasting fruit” and hasten unity of the two churches.

“For more than 30 years the Anglican and the Catholic Church have been on a journey towards the restoration of unity,” said the Pope in a statement read by Cardinal Edward Cassidy to 2,000 worshippers in St Michael’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Toronto. “In some places there have been very positive developments … in other places we are not so far along the road [and] new and serious obstacles have slowed our progress. I pray that the spiritual bonds that have always lifted Catholics and Anglicans will be strengthened and deepened even further.”
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GENEVA, 26 May 2000 (LWI) – The Rt. Rev Michael Bourke, Anglican Bishop of Wolverhampton, England, gave a lecture on “Meissen – Fragile Porcelain or Robust Relationship?” at the Annual General Meeting of the Anglican – Lutheran Society on 18 March 2000. He co-chairs the Committee, which oversees the 1991 “Meissen Agreement” between the Church of England and the Evangelical Churches in Germany. Below is a lightly edited version of relevant excerpts from his address, which appeared in the May 2000 edition of “The Window”, the newsletter of the Anglican – Lutheran Society.
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Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops, paired from thirteen regions around the world, have begun their meeting in Canada in which they are reviewing and evaluating the accomplishment of thirty years of ecumenical relationship between Anglicans and Catholics in their areas. The pairs of bishops come from New Zealand, Canada, England, United States, Ireland, India, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Southern Africa, Uganda, Australia, Brazil and the West Indies.

The bishops are gathered in private session at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre near Toronto, Ontario, under the joint chairmanship of Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Their first day has begun with a morning of prayer and scriptural reflection. The following days will begin and end with common prayer.
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While the vision of one, great Church may be unachievable, a different type of unity is possible among the world’s Christians, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“I abandoned a long time ago a theology of unity that assumes it means uniformity and sameness,” the Most Rev. George Carey told the United Methodist General Conference during a May 10 ecumenical worship service. “Human nature cannot accept that.”

His sermon was a first for the denomination’s top legislative body, which had never before been addressed by an Archbishop of Canterbury. In his introduction, Bishop William Oden spoke of Carey’s love for Methodism and the Wesleyan tradition and noted that his visit came at a time when an international dialogue between the Anglican and Methodist communions had concluded and a dialogue between the United Methodists and Episcopal Church USA was to begin.
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Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops from thirteen regions around the world are to gather in Canada May 14-20 to review and evaluate the accomplishment of thirty years of ecumenical dialogue between the two traditions and to reflect on how the special relationship between them has been developing in different parts of the world.

This high level meeting is happening at a time when Anglicans and Roman Catholics around the world are exploring the possibilities for further steps toward visible unity.
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The dialogue between Anglicans and Lutherans on the worldwide level has been underway in varying formats since 1970. Prominent among the reports produced by this dialogue are The Niagara Report (1987), focusing on the mission of the church and the role of the ordained ministry, and The Diaconate as an Ecumenical Opportunity (1995), which concluded the work of the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission.
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[ACNS 1843] At a press briefing in Westminster Abbey, London, today, the co-chairmen of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), the Rt Revd Mark Santer (Anglican) and the Rt Revd Cormac Murphy-O’Connor (Roman Catholic), launched the document “The Gift of Authority,” the latest in study documents issued by 18 members of the Commission. This
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Rev. Thomas Ryan, director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal, has been appointed a Roman Catholic staff representative to a world meeting of Anglican bishops that begins today.

Two Vatican agencies have named the U.S.-born Paulist priest as a representative to the communications team of the Lambeth Conference. The conference is a gathering of the bishops of the 450 dioceses in Anglican churches around the world, including Bishop Reginald Hollis of Montreal.

Representatives have also been appointed by the world Lutheran church and by the World Council of Churches, a grouping mainly of Protestant and Orthodox Churches.

Ryan said in a conversation that it is the first time such staff representatives from other churches have been invited to help out at the Lambeth Conference, which meets every 10 years.

“It is an impressive initiative.”
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LONDON (AP-Reuter) – Lord Ramsey, who as archbishop of Canterbury from 1961 to 1974 left his mark as a champion of Christian unity and liberal causes, died yesterday at the age of 83. He had been ill with bronchial pneumonia for several weeks and died at St. John’s Home in Oxford, the Church of England
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The Catholic and Anglican churches have been conducting joint studies of doctrine for the past 17 years. The purpose is to explore the essential teachings of each church to see if there is enough common ground for an eventual reunion. Both churches were once united in one western Christian church for 15 centuries. Their history of separation dates back four centuries to the time of the Reformation. The joint studies began in 1970 and involved nine Roman Catholic scholars and nine from the Anglican communion. The joint panel was called the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, or the ARCIC. After 11 years of study, it published papers on three major topics of mutual and central concern; Eucharist, Ministry and Ordination as well as on Authority in the Church.
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[Reuters] Pope John Paul II has told the Archbishop of Canterbury the ordination of women priests in some Anglican churches poses an “increasingly serious obstacle” to progress toward eventual reunion with Rome, the Vatican said Monday. The Vatican released an exchange of letters between the Pope and Archbishop Robert Runcie, and between Runcie and Johannes
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A top Vatican official has told members of a joint Anglican-Roman Catholic commission that his church could recognize the validity of Anglican priesthood if the Anglican Church officially adopts statements agreed to by an earlier joint commission on priesthood and the Eucharist. Cardinal Johannes Willebrands of the Vatican Secretariat for Christian Unity raised the possibility in a letter to the commission, representatives of the panel told a news conference in London. The new Vatican approach could be a major development in ending the 450-year-old rift between Rome and Canterbury. Bishop Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and Bishop Mark Santer, the Catholic and Anglican chairmen of the commission, said they hoped shared communion would result from the changes as soon as the end of the century.
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[REGINA – Canadian Press] The Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the world’s 70 million Anglicans, has called again for greater Christian unity. “We must seek Christian unity not as a fearful coalition in headlong retreat from the secular world,” Most Rev. Robert Runcie told about 1,300 people at a service yesterday in the Saskatchewan Centre
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