From the Revd David Muskett
Sir, - I am an Anglican priest who has served in several
parishes in the Church of England and experienced varying
ecumenical relations. I am at present serving as a Methodist
minister in full connexion with the British Methodist
Conference.
Your unnamed correspondent (
Letters, 2 April) describes a parish priest's ministry and
wonders which aspects of that ministry Methodist ministers do not
do and would not expect to do. The answer is none of them -
depending on the tradition and distribution of ministry in the
place in which we serve. Methodist churches and ministers I have
met would not describe the eucharist as marginal - just less
frequent.
Many Methodists are happy with the arrangements that are meat
and drink to your correspondent. Many would agree with the Revd
Paul King (Letters, same issue) that a looser unity is called for.
For many, there are bigger differences between some neighbouring
Anglican parishes than between some Anglicans and their Methodist
neighbours. My experience is that the Methodist spectrum sits
within the Anglican one.
Mr King asks what would be the purpose of all the effort
required to bring our two denominations together. If it were simply
ongoing irrelevance to most people, it would be clearly not worth
the candle. If it is to overcome the hurdle of apparently competing
and very similar churches with confusingly different structures to
become a united Church seeking the best and most appropriate range
of worship and service in a community, then is it not time we put
in some more of that effort locally and nationally?
Mutually interchangeable ministries based on mutual recognition
of the apostolic nature of our Churches, as recommended by the
Joint Implementation Commission of the Covenant last year, would be
a start.
DAVID MUSKETT
18 Priors Wood, Haslemere
Surrey GU27 1NF