From Mr Peter
Crumpler
Sir, - Ecumenism took a sad
step backwards this month when the Eastern Region Ministry Course
bade farewell to its last group of Methodist students training
alongside their Anglican colleagues.
It follows the Methodist
Conference's decision last summer to reshape the way it trains its
ministers and, under its Fruitful Fields review, to withdraw from
regional courses.
Church of England ordinands
on such courses will no longer have the opportunity to gain at
first hand an understanding of Methodist belief and practice which
will stand them in good stead in their parishes and in wider
ministry.
I myself have gained much
from this rich experience; and my departing Methodist friends have
said the same about engaging with Anglicanism.
Against the broader context
of the Anglican-Methodist Covenant and the work being undertaken to
take this forward, this withdrawal is particularly regrettable, and
a step in the wrong direction.
PETER CRUMPLER
(Ordinand, St Albans diocese)
57 Kingshill Avenue
St Albans, Herts AL4 9QH