These annual All EOs’ conferences bring together Denominational Ecumenical Officers (DEOs), County Ecumenical Officers (CEOs), National Ecumenical Officers (NEOs), and staff of Churches Together in England (CTE).
They are planned by the National Ecumenical Officers (NEOs), working with CTE’s Doral Hayes. It includes significant time for Denominational Ecumenical Officers (DEOs) to gather in denominational meetings, while County Ecumenical Officers (CEOs) meet together with CTE staff. The remaining time is spent all together.
Either a report of the last conference or information about the next one, when it is available, can be found at www.cte.org.uk/AllEOsConference – that url will remain constant but its target will update.
Background to the All-EOs’ conference
As a way of supporting intermediate ecumenism (churches working together at the county level), the National Ecumenical Officers decided to hold a 24-hour conference for all Ecumenical Officers in 2019. The event Ecumenism Today was a great success, and a further conference was held in 2021 – postponed a year due to Covid. They are now annual occurrences.
Prior to 2019, Ecumenical Officers rarely all gathered together. CEOs met annually for a Consultation with CTE staff and NEOs. Meanwhile, DEOs sometimes gathered with the NEO from their church denomination, with two denominations occasionally bringing their DEOs together. In May 2018, the Northern County Officers decided to gather together their DEOs for an overnight meeting. It was so successful that a further overnight event for Northern Officers was organised in April 2019.
In the past it was only occasionally that all Ecumenical Officers came together in one conference, for example for the 2017 Responding to the Reformation conference.