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 (EOs) in 2019, called Ecumenism Today. It was a great success, and a further conference was planned for 2020 (later postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus).
Ecumenism Today considered the joys and challenges of ecumenical work today, bringing together Denominational, County and National Ecumenical Officers (DEOs, CEOs and NEOs respectively). It provided an opportunity to engage with National Ecumenical Officers and explore practical tools for ecumenical working, including the mission opportunities in new housing areas. You can download the programme below.
This overnight meeting took the place of the annual meetings which some NEOs offered their DEOs, and so included a session in denominational groupings.
- When: Monday to Tuesday 14-15 October 2019
- Where: The Hayes Conference Centre, Hayes Lane, Swanwick, Alfreton, Derbyshire DE55 1AU. Tel: 01773 526000 A new conference for Denominational, County and National Ecumenical Officers took place in October 2019.
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 County Officers was organised in April 2019.
In the past it was only very occasionally that all Ecumenical Officers came together in one conference, for example for the 2017 Responding to the Reformation conference.
