These annual All ERs’ (Ecumenical Representatives) 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 a group of 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.
All ecumenical representatives of CTE Member Churches are welcome to attend, whatever their role and title – those working nationally, regionally and locally in an ecumenical context. The focus of the conference continues to be supporting regional and local ecumenical work.
The next conference will be from 29 September to 1 October 2026 at The Hayes Conference Centre, Hayes Lane, Swanwick, Derbyshire DE55 1AU. Check back for booking information nearer the time.
Previous conferences
2025 – Ecumenism: Journeying Together
2024 – Thinking Globally, Acting Locally
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.