Ecumenical Officer's report

1 - Main Role of the GCT Ecumenical Officer

In this last year the Ecumenical Officer (EO) formally covered the roles of EO and Secretary for GCT. He continues to work in close collaboration with the Rev Angus Kerr and the GCT Committee, Church Leaders, Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick and the Music and Worship Committee, Ian Ansdell, who maintains the website; and Rev David Lunan and the staff of the Glasgow Presbytery of the Church of Scotland.

In terms of the EO’s main roles, the development and implementation of GCT policies, attending to correspondence and committee meetings, preparing and promoting GCT events, and networking with other bodies all appear to be operating well.

This year, the establishment of the Church Leaders Meeting has substantially enhanced the communication, strategic thinking and relationships among the member churches at that level. There have been three meetings of this group to date, with another scheduled soon after the AGM.

While the GCT mailing goes out to an increasing number of people, it is difficult to quantify the effect of this. LCTs (Local Churches Together groups), and other contacts, do seem to appreciate the information but do not necessarily respond or participate in citywide events. The dissemination and promotion of GCT information and activities through the churches’ own networks remains patchy.

The consultation on increasing the EO-Secretary contract has been a complicated but affirmative process. The decision to implement this from 1 Nov 03 indicates a high level of support for the person of the EO as well as a serious investment by member churches in the work of ecumenism in Glasgow. This affirmation and investment is appreciated by the EO.

2 - Networking

2a - The Mailing

The GCT Update: In the last year, the number of recipients for GCT mailings has increased from 120 to just over 200 – 125 of these are by email. There were eight GCT Updates and a few single issue email shots. The mailing now reaches about 50 LCTs and local Clergy Support Groups.

2b - Networking with the member churches

The main mechanisms for networking with the churches are through the Church Leaders and the GCT committee members. This year the Church Leaders have been particularly active in their participation in and support for GCT events. We still need to do more to best enable committee members, within their denominations, to feed back from GCT meetings.

Three denominations have discussed providing GCT with email contact information for their clergy. There could be Data Protection complications here. One church has agreed to forward the GCT emailings to its ministers from the church office; one small church provided a list of email addresses to be contacted individually about inclusion on the general emailing.

On 7 Nov 02, with Greta Doig and Rev Hugh Wallace the EO ran a workshop on Prayer for CofS Prayer Secretaries. He also worked with the Presbytery of Glasgow on the Sectarian Day Conference of 5 May 03, running a Contextual Bible Study workshop. A workshop on Spirituality, on Thu 9 Oct 03, has been advertised through the network. This will be led by Dr Bev Eanes, a visiting American writer and academic.

Currently the EO is a member of the following denominational working parties:
- Presbytery of Glasgow Ecumenical Relations Committee
- Archdiocese of Glasgow Ecumenical Review Group
- Archdiocese of Glasgow St Mungo Conversations Planning Group
- Church of Scotland national Working Party on ‘Church Without Walls’ (7 meetings)
- Scottish Episcopal Church national Planning Group for the Provincial Conference, June 2004. (6 meetings)

2c - Networking with LCTs and Parish Groups

In the last year the EO has visited 20 LCTs or church groups. These visits have included: Baillieston, Balloch, Bishopbriggs, Castlemilk, the City Centre, Dumbarton, Edinburgh, Focolare, Guilds (CS regional), Hillington-Penilee-Cardonald, Milton, Pollokshields, Riddrie and Rosneath.

2d - Networking with ACTS

The level of involvement with ACTS has been lower key this year. One significant meeting was a follow up reflection on the S.E.A.

2e - Wider Networking

Relationships between GCT and the Lord Provost and the St Mungo Museum are both strong. The EO has also established links with Nil-by-Mouth and the Church Press. He maintains links with Starter Packs and promotes other ecumenical charities, like Unity Enterprise.

The EO continues to work with the Planning Group for the 4th National Urban Mission Conference, to be held in Glasgow 17-21 June 04 (5 meetings).

Recently GCT responded to an invitation from the Greater Glasgow NHS to hold a consultation on the GGNHS Draft Spiritual Health Care Policy. Seventeen highly experienced people gathered to represent their churches in a discussion of the draft document. They were led by a neutral facilitator engaged by GGNHS. The group has agreed to hold a second session in order to complete their consultation. This invitation and the strength of the GCT response illustrate a growing recognition within and beyond the churches of the achievements and potential of GCT.

To date, the initial contacts with the GCSAA (Glasgow Churches Social Action Alliance) have not progressed. This year there has been almost no involvement in the interfaith scene.

2f - Wider still

Outwith his involvement with GCT, the EO’s contract with the Scottish Bible Society ceases at the end of October. He will continue his personal commitment to, and involvement with, the Contextual Bible Study Development Group

3 - Thinking ahead

The increase in the EO-Secretary post to the equivalent of four days per week will enable the work of GCT to stabilise and strengthen further. There will be more scope for the EO to work closely with member churches and respond to their needs in terms of ecumenical formation and development. We look forward to negotiating this with the church authorities.

At the same time, it would be helpful to the EO if committee members were enabled to promote GCT activity through their denominational networks more effectively. This may raise issues about the internal communication structures of member churches. Churches may also wish to reflect on the appointment and attendance of their committee members.

One area that needs more attention is consolidating the GCT ‘archives’, e.g. filing copies of GCT services and correspondence; developing a bank of resource materials or sources; building up a file of press coverage.

We remain sensitive to the role of GCT in relation to the work of LCTs. It is in the LCT context that most grassroots ecumenical activity goes on. We seek to inform and encourage their work, not to usurp it in any way. The EO aims to maintain and build on the programme of visits to LCTs.

The following other priorities remain high on the EO’s agenda:

Br Stephen Smyth, Ecumenical Officer

8 October 2003

Appendix

The combined role of the Ecumenical Officer / Secretary for GCT includes the following items:

i) to implement GCT policies on a day to day basis

ii) to advise the GCT committee on its mission

iii) to maintain and develop GCT contact databases

iv) to receive incoming mail and deal with general correspondence

v) in conjunction with the Chair, to prepare and distribute Agendas and Minutes of GCT meetings

vi) to communicate with the member churches

vii) to lead the activities of GCT in assisting the formation and function of Local Church Together groups (LCTs)

viii) to co-ordinate the activities of representatives of GCT when dealing with other bodies, for example ACTS.