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Historic milestone in Anglican links with French Churches

12 June 2001

Canterbury Cathedral, on Saturday, June 16, sees another historic milestone in the work of Anglican churches towards Christian unity in Europe. The Cathedral hosts the first stage in the signing of the Reuilly Common Statement between the French Lutheran and Reformed Churches and the Anglican Churches of Great Britain and Ireland. The process will be completed at a ceremony in Paris on July 1.

The historic Meissen Agreement, in 1988, between the Church of England and the Evangelical Church in Germany, encouraged the French Protestant Churches to seek closer fellowship with Anglican Churches across the Channel. A dialogue between the French Lutheran and Reformed Churches and the Anglican Churches of Great Britain and Ireland began in 1992, resulting in the Reuilly Common Statement, approved by the General Synod in November 1999.

Other signatory Churches are the Church of Ireland, Scottish Episcopal Church and Church in Wales, along with, across the Channel, the Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine, the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of France, the Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine and the Reformed Church of France.

The Reuilly Common Statement commits the signatory Churches to sharing 'a common life and mission', whilst taking 'steps to closer fellowship in as many areas of Christian life and witness
as possible, so that all our members together may advance on the way to full visible unity'. The commitments outlined in the Statement will be monitored and developed by a Contact Group that will begin work later this year.

In 1988, the Meissen Agreement encompassed similar commitments between the Church of England and the German Evangelical Church, while the Porvoo Declaration, signed in 1996, went further, bringing the Anglican Churches of Great Britain and Ireland into full communion with Nordic and Baltic Lutheran Churches.

The Reuilly Common Statement will be signed at two ceremonies this summer:

On Saturday 16th June, in the Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral, at 11.00 am, there will be a special Eucharist. The Archbishop of Canterbury will preside and the preacher will be Pasteur Werner Jurgensen, Co-Chairman of the Conversations between the Churches with the Rt Revd Christopher Hill, Bishop of Stafford..

On Sunday 1st July, at the Église Réformée du Saint-Esprit, 5 rue Roquépine, 75008 Paris, the ceremony will begin at 11.00am, at which the preacher will be The Most Revd Bruce Cameron, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Pasteur François Clavairoly, pastor of the Église du Saint-Esprit, will be among the ecumenical guests at the Church of England's General Synod, next month, representing the French Lutheran and Reformed Churches.

Journalists are welcome to attend the ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral and there will be a press room in the Education Centre. Those wishing to attend should register their interest with Christopher Robinson, Cathedral Press Officer, tel 01227-865282. The signatories will be available for photographs after the service.

The signatories at Canterbury Cathedral will be:
Church of England: The Most Revd and Rt Hon Dr George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury
Church in Wales: The Rt Revd David Huw Jones, Bishop of St David's
Scottish Episcopal Church: The Rt Revd Neville Chamberlain, Bishop of Brechin
Church of Ireland: The Rt Revd Michael Mayes, Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe

Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine: President Andre Appel
Evangelical-Lutheran Church of France: President Michel Marlier
Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine: M. Pierre-Michel Rinckenberger
Reformed Church of France: President Michel Bertrand

For a copy of the Reuilly Common Statement and more information on the background and the churches concerned, see the CCU website on www.cofe.anglican.org/ccu