The 6 Presidents of Churches Together in England and more than 240 delegates met over the 17th -19th September at the The Hayes conference centre in Derbyshire for its Forum, with its the theme of “‘I am with you always’ - to-gether in God’s mission”. The Forum featured a series of key-note addresses, top-table conversatons among and with the Presidents, workshops, small groups, a mult-voice bible study and tme around the dinner table for fellowship. Several fea-tures of Forum 2018 build on the experience of the last Fo-rum in 2015. These include a focus on young people who were in various ways fully involved and who planned one of the worship sessions. CTE plan to produce a thirty minute vid-eo resource of the Presidents' sessions for use locally.
A new quiet space called ‘The Retreat’ was opened at West Somerset College last month and some of young people from Watchet were involved in the ofcial opening along with the School Pastors, local clergy and Bishop Ruth Worsley. You can fnd out more about it here: htp://www.bathandwells.org.uk/2018/08/new-retreat-opens/
The World Council of Churches 2021 Assembly set for Germany. The Central Com-mitee has decided to pursue plans for the WCC 11th Assem-bly in 2021 in Karlsruhe, Germany. The WCC assembly, held every eight years, is central to the life of the WCC member churches and the entre ecumenical movement. As a unique event, it provides the opportunity for WCC to contnue its journey as a living expression of the fellowship of churches seeking to fulfl together their common calling. This will be the third assembly in Eu-rope, the last one being 50 years ago in Uppsala in 1968.
The latest version of the monthly mailing of news from Churches Together in England is now available at: http://www.cte.org.uk/news .
Poet in Residence for JPIT The Revd Lucy Berry, a performance poet and United Reformed Church minister, has been named as the frst poet-in-residence for the Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT). JPIT responds to current social, politcal and policy issues on behalf of the Baptst Union, the Church of Scotland, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church. Ms Berry will write and per-form poetry related to the policy areas JPIT work on poverty and the welfare system The unremu-nerated positon commenced on Monday 3 September and was marked with a poem specially writen by Ms Berry, enttled ‘An Empire and a Village’.
New name for CCPAS - Churches Child Protecton Advisory Service (CCPAS) Their name no longer adequately refected who they were, and the scope and range of services provided. The organisaton have said “We recog-nised the need for change and to beter communicate who we are and why we do what we do. We’re motvated and inspired by our biblical mandate to ‘speak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vul-nerable’ as described in Proverbs 31:8 from where we get our name”. Link for more informaton: htps://www.ccpas.co.uk/thirtyoneeight
Memorial garden set to open. In honour of the 40th anniversary year since a small group of Elim missionaries laid down their lives, the Elim Pentecostal Church have opened The Vumba Memorial Garden. The garden is dedi-cated to the 9 adults and 4 children who lost their lives serving in The Vumba, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The gar-den is based at the Elim Internatonal Centre in Malvern and will be available for visitors to view and spend tme in.