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Methodist church prepared to 'go out of existence'
The Methodist Church is prepared to go "out of existence" as part of a covenant with the Church of England if this helps spread the Christian message, its leader indicated today.
The Rev David Gamble, president of the Methodist Conference, said the church would be prepared to change and even end its separate status for the sake of the "Kingdom".
"We are prepared to go out of existence not because we are declining or failing in mission, but for the sake of mission," he told the Church of England's national assembly.
"In other words, we are prepared to be changed and even to cease having a separate existence as a Church if that will serve the needs of the Kingdom."
His remarks, made in a presentation to the General Synod, come nearly seven years after the Church of England and the Methodist Church healed a 200-year old rift with a national covenant between the two churches.
The covenant included commitments to co-operate, a set of agreed affirmations of belief and a commitment to work towards the "organic unity" of the two churches.
The Rev Gamble, speaking today, told the General Synod of the Church of England that the effect of the covenant around the country was "patchy".
He said: "In some places there are very close working relationships and exciting new initiatives.
"In others you could spend quite a long time trying to find any signs of the covenant in practice."
Dr Richard Vautrey, vice president of the Methodist Conference and a GP in Leeds, spoke about the work carried out together by the two churches.
He said: "We can and do work together on issues of social justice, on issues that we both know God calls on us to challenge our society and our world."
A spokeswoman for the Methodist Church of Great Britain, which has around 265,000 members and 5,800 churches, insisted that there was "no suggestion" that it would be "swallowed up" by the Church of England or lose its name.
She said: "The vision of the covenant is not to see an Anglican 'take over' of the Methodist Church but a greater unity between the two churches, a 'coming together'."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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