Abstract The 2017 report on the interchangeability of ordained ministries by the joint Faith and Order bodies of the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain presented those churches with a fundamental decision about the direction of the Covenant relationship. With that decision deferred, it is important to understand the critical factors that contributed to the failure to gain sufficient momentum for the report’s proposals to proceed. This article argues that, in the case of the Church of England, alongside the more obvious conflicts regarding theological convictions around ordained ministry, the priority of mission for ecclesiology in doctrine and practice exercised a pervasive influence on the report’s formation and reception, raising fresh questions about how to describe the goal of unity that the Faith and Order bodies were ultimately unable to answer. Without sustained attention to the relationship between these three factors, it is unlikely that resistance to progress on the reconciliation of ministries can be overcome, in this and other contexts of ecumenical dialogue.

Abstract Following the signing of An Anglican-Methodist Covenant in 2003 the Church of England (joined for a time by Anglicans from Scotland and Wales) and the Methodist Church in Great Britain engaged in more than a decade of further dialogue seeking to implement and develop the affirmations and commitments of that covenant. The culmination of this phase of dialogue was the text Mission and Ministry in Covenant which suggested a way in which the Methodist Church might become ordered in the historic episcopate and in which the Church of England might recognise and accept holy orders conferred in the Methodist Church. The proposals proved controversial and did not in the end proceed as planned. This article examines the proposals in the light of agreements entered into by other Anglican churches with churches not ordered in the historic episcopate and argues that the proposals in Mission and Ministry in Covenant are consistent with a developing Anglican method for bringing about relationships of communion with other churches.

Abstract In 2011 the leaders of three Christian denominations in Cumbria signed a Declaration of Intent committing themselves and their churches to working more closely together. This article traces the development of ecumenism in Cumbria since then. A core part of the ecumenically-agreed ministry strategy is the ecumenical mission community. What does this mean, and how do we make it work given the existing denominational structures and ways of working? In telling the story and highlighting some specific examples, this article explores some of the ways in which this initiative reflects the commitments of the Anglican–Methodist covenant and draws attention to some of the biblical and theological themes that underpin this work.

Abstract This article examines the claim made in the 2003 Covenant between the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain that Anglican priests and Methodist presbyters exercise the same ministry of word and sacrament. The 1932 Methodist Deed of Union’s doctrinal assertion of ‘the priesthood of all believers’ casts doubt on that claim given that Anglicans affirm a distinctive ministerial priesthood. However, ecumenical dialogue has contributed to significant developments in the British Methodist understanding of ordination since the Deed of Union. Drawing on authoritative statements by the British Methodist Conference since 2003 and the fruits of the international Methodist – Roman Catholic dialogue commission, the article substantiates the claim of the Anglican-Methodist Covenant but suggests that Methodist sacramental practice in relation to eucharistic presidency is inconsistent with its official theology of ordination.

Abstract Written in the third decade of An Anglican-Methodist Covenant, this essay proposes the concept of friendship as a lens through which to view the covenant relationship and as the basis of apologetic for the covenant and wider ecumenism. A distinctive Christian understanding of friendship as rooted in and routed through Christ is proposed on the basis of Scripture and theology with particular reference to John 15:12–17. It is argued that a focus on friendship understood in this way resonates with Methodist ecclesiology and with experience, while being of contemporary relevance. Furthermore, the distinctiveness of friendship rooted in and routed through Christ allows us to continue to grow in covenant when we differ in deeply held responses to specific issues.