About us Committees and Commissions Commission for Promoting Christian Unity Archdiocese of Birmingham Commission for Promoting Christian Unity The Commission is dedicated to promoting unity between Christians. The lay and clerical members of the Ecumenical Commission represent designated areas of the Archdiocese. Our aims are to foster the cause of Christian unity across the Archdiocese, and to deepen our relationships with other Christian communities. We aim to enable and encourage ecumenical practice within parishes by sharing good practice; acting as a source of advice and support; and developing ecumenical leaders. Why we support Ecumenism The call to seek Christian unity comes from Jesus himself. He prayed the world may be one, “as I am one with The Father” (John 17:21). Ecumenism (from the Greek word Oikoumene: meaning the whole inhabited world) is not complicated; it is simply witnessing, in unison, with other Christian communities to the salvation of Jesus Christ. Christian unity is not a distant prize at the end of our journey of faith; it is a gift from God that we receive on the journey itself when Christians travel in harmony. All we believe, all we practice, all we love about our faith, has an ecumenical element; instead of doing “ecumenical things” to promote unity, we should seek to do all things ecumenically. If you wish to know more about the role of the Commission, and/or offer support, please contact Deacon David Fairbotham, Diocesan Ecumenical Officer, [email protected] or 07948379545, or contact one of the other Commissioners named below who will be delighted to help. The ways we promote Christian unity Seek and encourage opportunities for shared prayer for unity Develop and champion a vision for ecumenism with the four priorities of the Diocesan Vision, Unfolding God's Plan Act as a source of advice and support to Archbishop Bernard Longley Be a catalyst and empowerer of all involved in ecumenism Provide advice, guidance, and inspiration Develop ecumenical leaders Support diocese-wide and local projects Develop a calendar of annual national and local ecumenical events. January 2026: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Theme: One Body, One Spirit Events taking place across the Archdiocese of Birmingham: Solihull: St Augustine, Solihull: The Christian Unity Service will take place at the Methodist Church on Sunday 18 January at 6.30pm. Do please come along to support this event. Bishop David Evans has agreed to give the Homily for this occasion. Coventry: The Chapel of Unity, Coventry Cathedral has an Ecumenical Worship Service on Sunday 18 January 2026 at 2pm. There are also daily meditations online 19-23 January. Birmingham: Kings Heath Churches Together will celebrate the week with a service at All Saints Anglican Church, High Street on Sunday 18 January at 6.30pm. Birmingham: Central Sutton Churches invite everyone to join the following services during the Week of Prayer: • Sunday 18 January, 6.30pm, United Service – Sutton Coldfield URC• Monday 19 January, 12.30pm, Holy Trinity Church of England • Tuesday 20 January, 2pm, South Parade Methodist Church • Tuesday 20 January, 8pm, Real Life Church, Sutton Coldfield URC • Wednesday 21 January, 10.45am, Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church• Thursday 22 January, 10.30am, St Peter’s Church of England• Friday 23 January, 7.30am, Sutton Coldfield Baptist Church Birmingham, Harborne: The Churches in Harborne are having a Prayer Gathering on Wednesday 21 January at 8pm, St John's Church. Birmingham, Cotteridge: During Christian Unity Week there will be a service at the Cotteridge Church (an ecumenical partnership of The Methodist Church, The Church of England and United Reform Church) on Wednesday 21 January at 11am. Birmingham, Northfield: Father Cecil Rogerson, at weekday Masses, will be reading from and expounding parts of the Decree on Ecumenism, and Ut unum sint. Worcestershire: Parishioners at St Joseph’s, Malvern will mark the end of the Week of Prayer by joining with other Christians at Holy Trinity Church, Malvern on Sunday 25 January at 4pm. The preacher will be Reverend Liz Harris, Superintendent Minister of the South Worcestershire Methodist Circuit. There will be a pop-up/scratch choir open to all with a practice in the afternoon at 3pm. All are welcome. Oxfordshire, Bicester: Ecumenical service at St Edburg’s Church, Causeway, Wednesday 21 January 7.30 pm. Staffordshire, Newcastle-under-Lyme: There will be a service at Newcastle Baptist Church on Sunday 18 January at 6.30pm. More information and access resources March 2025: Celebrating the World Day of Prayer in Harborne On Friday 7 March, Harborne’s World Day of Prayer committee celebrated the 2025 Service at St Mary’s Church, Harborne. They were joined by some children from St Mary’s Primary School, including members of the spirituality council. Many members of several of the Christian communities in Harborne were also present, including the Reverend Peter Maycock, the Minister of Harborne Baptist Church. The service had been arranged by women of the Cook Islands, and the altar was decorated with a colourful display of that country, including small canoes which had been made by the children of St Mary’s school. Each year, the World Day of Prayer Service is composed by women from across the world, and the ladies of the Cook Islands took great care in arranging a service that was very appropriate for them. Many people spoke afterwards of the joy, simplicity and peace that they had felt. For many people one of the great blessing of this service is that it takes place across the world, so that indeed “hour by hour fresh lips are making they wondrous doings heard on high”. Thanks are due to all the parishioners of St Mary’s who supported us in many ways, both musically and in more practical ways (the tea and biscuits were wonderful!). Everyone is looking forward to next year's Service, which is being written by the ladies of Nigeria. Jane Lavery, St Mary’s Harborne February 2025: World Day of Prayer, Friday 7 March A women-led, global, ecumenical movement. This year's theme is: 'I made you wonderful' and the day will be led by sisters in The Cook Islands. World Day of Prayer is an international, ecumenical organisation which enables us to hear the thoughts of women from all parts of the world: their hopes, concerns and prayers. It is celebrated in over 120 countries. It begins in Samoa and prayer in native languages travels throughout the world — through Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas before finishing in American Samoa some 38 hours later. A worldwide wave of prayer… Check your local church or the World Day of Prayer website for details of services. January 2025 An article from Barbara Davies – Ecumenical Representative (Churches Linked Across Staffordshire and the Potteries) Immediately after the events in Southport last summer, several towns witnessed social unrest and public expression of racial and religious hatred. Stoke-on-Trent was no exception, and local Muslim communities and mosques were targeted – by some local people and some organised groups from outside the area. Local Christians, coordinated by Lloyd Cooke, chief executive of Saltbox, and Ecumenical Officer Robert Mountford, who work closely with local police and local councillors (several of them Muslim) quickly organised a meeting of support and solidarity. After a time of general introductions and chat, we heard personal stories from Muslim city councillors and the local Police Commissioner who had all received threats from various sources. Towards the end of our time, three statements were read by representatives, focusing on commitments to community integration and peace, and this was followed by a time of silence, and the lighting of candles. A second meeting followed some weeks later. Running alongside these meetings, local police and female Muslim leaders had been concerned to discover how the threats of violence had affected Muslim women. It was suggested that a forum be created to allow women from all sections of the community to express their needs, concerns and current situations, especially those who voices were not often heard in the public forum. This forum called 'Women’s Voices' met in mid-November. Women from a large number of charities, community groups and the local police, health service, fire service and local government were in attendance, as well as Muslim women in various key positions (including 'stay at home' mothers of large families). The meeting was very well organised, and a most moving opportunity to learn from each other. Interestingly, the meeting attracted more Catholics than I am used to seeing at ecumenical events. One Muslim woman shared a story about a male co-worker who offered personal support on the day of the riots – I was delighted to discover it was my own son! Friendship and understanding grew as a result of this opportunity, and it was a chance to reflect that, when we meet with non-Christians, our denominational differences are not important or helpful! The mutual desire to get to know each other better was confirmed when two of the Muslim ladies asked if, for educational reasons, they could attend one of our Catholic services. I am in the process of organising this. An article from Joshua Penduck, Rector of Newcastle-under-Lyme. After spending time building up good relationships with our local ecumenical clergy, I was delighted that our local Anglican Rector of Newcastle-under-Lyme expressed an interest in visiting our Catholic and ecumenical charismatic prayer group at St Teresa's, Trent Vale. What follows is his response. Submitted by Barbara Davies Commission for Promoting Christian Unity (Staffordshire representative). I'm an Anglican priest, but I come from a long line of Pentecostal pastors. I have been deeply nourished by both traditions. This means I have two sides of my soul: 1) the sacramental and liturgical, which values tradition, silence, and ritualised physical gestures (such as the sign of the cross and genuflection) and 2) the exuberant and improvisatory, which values praying through contemporary song and glossolalia. Ne’er the twain shall meet, it seems. In the Church of England, when it does meet it tends to be amongst the radical liberal wing, where their doctrine is suspect. However, my training incumbent had been inspired by the Catholic Charismatic Movement, so I always wondered how these two spiritualities could co-exist. As such, when I discovered at an ecumenical meeting that a member of the local Catholic congregation was part of a charismatic prayer group, I thought, ‘I need to see how this works.’ At the beginning, the prayer meeting could have been something out of my Pentecostal youth: singing simple praise choruses, followed by slower devotional choruses, amid moments of ‘singing in the Spirit’ and gentle speaking in tongues. I enjoyed praising alongside traveller family, most of whom, who I later discovered, were able to enter into the presence of God uninhibited by the need to read. However, what followed was a time of contemplative silence, concluding with the Gloria Patri and the sign of the Cross. A simple talk was then followed by a time of sharing with one another how the Lord had been present in their lives; after that a time of praying for one another, in which I was once again reminded that I was in a Catholic service – the lady praying for me said, ‘May the Mother of God, the angels and all the saints pray for you.’ It was like the two sides of my soul had come together. Josh Penduck, Rector of Newcastle-under-Lyme Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Saturday 18 - Saturday 25 January Information and Resources Services for Week of Prayer for Christian Unity February 2024: World Day of Prayer, Friday 1 March A women led, global, ecumenical movement. This year's theme is: “I beg you, bear with one another in love”. In the parish of Blessed Carlo Acutis in Wolverhampton two services are planned. The first is at St Benedict Biscop church, Wombourne at 2pm and the second is at St Michael's at 7pm. Services will be taking place in locations around the globe on that day too where all Christians will be praying for the women and families of Palestine, the chosen country for 2024. Ann Bayley, a member of the Commission, shares an article with us: World Day of Prayer August 2023: A Reflection on the Good Friday Walk of Witness One of the four themes of the Diocesan Vision is Evangelisation, encouraging others to know God’s love for them. A powerful witness to the love Jesus has for his people is made annually by thousands of Christians in the Good Friday Walk of Witness. In this public sign of Christian unity, in the heart of their communities, people from different denominations retell the crucifixion story, and attest to the sacrifice Jesus made for our salvation. Read article in full September 2022: Journeying Together A Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication in celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Chapel of Unity, Coventry Cathedral. DOWNLOAD booklet An address from Pope Francis on Ecumenism, May 2022 "one cannot think of journeying on the path of faith without the company of brothers and sisters from other Churches or ecclesial communities." Read full address Please contact us The Commission exists to support and encourage anyone involved in this mission. If you would like to discuss anything connected with this, or an ecumenical project, please contact one of us. We will be delighted to help. The Catholic Church in England and Wales is a member of Churches Together. This is a national ecumenical instrument supporting and encouraging churches from a wide range of traditions to work together in unity. The Ecumenical Commission operates within this framework. We work with a wide range of contacts in all the major Church communities. Commission Members and contact details Chair: Deacon Nick St. John Email: [email protected] Phone: 07450 294036 Secretary: Deacon David Fairbotham Email: [email protected] Phone: 07948 379545 Birmingham Churches Together Deacon Peter Middleton Email: [email protected] Phone: 07752 229704 Deacon David Fairbotham Email: [email protected] Phone: 07948 379545 Black Country Churches Engaged Ann Bayley Email: [email protected] Phone: 01902 421567 Coventry and Warwickshire Janet Wiltshire Email: [email protected] Phone: 07794 249097 Janet Ward Email: [email protected] Phone: 07802 413887 Chapel of Unity, Coventry Cathedral: contact Janet Ward, above. Churches together in Oxfordshire Deacon Nick St John Email: [email protected] Phone: 07450 294036 Churches Linked Across Staffordshire and the Potteries (CLASP) Barbara Davies Email: [email protected] Phone: 07401 201272 Churches Together in Worcestershire Dr Christine Dodd Email: [email protected] Phone: 07596 557368 Other Members Fr Kevin Kavanagh Email: [email protected] Phone: 01675 463939 Write to the Ecumenical Commission Deacon David Fairbotham, Diocesan Ecumenical Officer, St Dunstan’s Church, 6 Kingsfield Rd, King's Heath, Birmingham B14 7JN. Or email: [email protected] Manage Cookie Preferences