Every year Churches Together in Essex and East London hold an event called the Gathering aimed at local churches together groups, ecumenical groups and anyone wanting to get more involved in local ecumenism. The idea behind the event is to gather local people together to encourage connection and to help equip and encourage them on their ecumenical journeys. It is also a good opportunity to find out more about what is happening locally.
This year’s Gathering was held at the Salvation Army Citadel in Chelmsford and the theme was ‘Working Together: The Great Commission’. This was the first time we had held the Gathering in the evening and we did this to make it accessible to more people.
Another first for us was that we intentionally invited some young adults (18-24yrs) to give them a taste of ecumenism. They were fully involved with the running of the evening and engaging with people. A time of worship was led by 18 year old Valerie Opoku. We have had great feedback about the worship!
Our speakers for the evening were the Moderator for the URC Eastern Synod, Rev Lythan Nevard, and Church Engagement Manager for London, South and East for the Bible Society, Benjamin Hoyte.
Lythan spoke on Mission partnerships and applying these principles in the Eastern Synod. This has proved to be an effective way for local churches from different denominations to work together as a team and to share resources in order to make an impact in their local areas. By partnering together they can be organic and responsive to the needs of their local communities and join together in their mission to reach people with the good news of Jesus.
Benjamin spoke on the Great Commission and led the group through a reflective bible study based on Matthew 28 v 18-19 which gave people opportunities to join into groups for discussion. It was really encouraging to see how people from different church settings and backgrounds discussed what is happening in their local churches and different ways of being able to reach out at a local level. Benjamin also spoke about the Bible Society’s vision and resources and ways to churches can disciple new believers.
We’re praying that this inspires people to keep going and building on local ecumenism to reach others for Jesus!
Find out more about Churches Together in Essex and East London.