CTE provides an ecumenical space, akin to a ‘big tent’, within which churches across England can have conversations and develop strategies for mission.
This event brought together people representing over 20 of our Member Churches, alongside charities, mission agencies, youth organisations, theological institutions and ecumenical bodies of various kinds – national, regional, intermediate and local. It offered the opportunity to explore how we might work closely together in reaching England with the good news of Jesus Christ. It proved to be a rich time of learning together.
We were delighted to welcome writer and broadcaster Rev Dr Joel Edwards as our keynote speaker on the first morning:
We heard a wide variety of voices on both days. Presentations were made in the innovative PechaKucha format, which literally means ‘chit chat’ in Japanese (PechaKucha is a way of storytelling. Each of our presenters had 20 PowerPoint slides shown for 20 seconds each, whilst they shared a story of some kind and an example of what being a missionary disciples looks like in their context). We heard from 23 different people ranging from Youth for Christ to The Student Christian Movement, from Trey Hall of The Methodist Church to Jenny Sinclair from Together for the Common Good.
The range of presentations brought a richness of both wisdom and practice. The conversations in breakout rooms between national leaders were also profound and deeply encouraging.
Senior Researcher at Theos Think Tank, Hannah Rich, was our chief listening officer and gave an insightful overview at the end of the consultation on Thursday:
On the back of this successful conference we will be gathering again from 16 to 18 November 2021, hoping to continue this important conversation about how we can collaborate as churches in the areas of mission, evangelism and discipleship.
Read more and view more videos from the conference in the news item by CTE’s Ben Aldous.
View the conference programme: