Please contact the secretary( ged.cliffe@tiscali.co.uk ) if you wish to post any announcements here.Please note that announcements will be deleted when three months old or the event has passed.

A BIG SING is coming to Newport!

ALISON ADAM of the Iona Community is coming to lead a BIG SING
at Trinity Church, Wellington Rd, Newport TF10 7HF
on Saturday 2nd October at 7.30pm.

The event is open to all - those who sing and those who have yet to find their voice. Music will be from the Iona Community and the World Church. As anyone who has been to an Iona Big Sing knows, singing with Alison is always inspiring.

Tickets available on the door for a minimum donation of £2.50.

Contacts: Barbara Jennings  (bmj@thejennings.eclipse.co.uk)  
and Caroline Worth (ccworth@blueyonder.co.uk)

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2010 

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Here is the Secretary's report as presented at the AGM of CTS:

Formal Business 

            Since the 2009 A G M there have been two meetings of the Shropshire Ecumenical Council (Church Leaders) and five meetings of the Enabling Group, which directs the work of CTS.  We are grateful to Shrewsbury United Reformed Church for providing a regular meeting room for Enabling Group meetings.  

CTS Projects 

C T S has organised a small number of “projects”:

The Churches’ Marquee at the West Mid Show;
The Churches Together in Shropshire Bookmarks;
Easter Posters for both Shropshire and Telford;
And, less successfully, the promotion of Back to Church Sunday on an ecumenical basis;   

            In addition, C T S is a partner in:

The Shropshire Network against Poverty (SNAP);
The Shropshire Housing Alliance;
The Shropshire Churches’ Tourism Group;
The Shropshire County Voluntary and Community Assembly;

Church links 

            C T S “unites in mission” nine Christian denominations in the county and their regional and local leaders give their backing according to their means.  C T S also relates to Churches Together in England who provide news, information and also help where needed. There are 15 Churches Together Groups in the county of which 13 are affiliated to C T S.  

C T S is also represented on a small number of denominational committees dealing with both Unity (or ecumenism) and Social Justice.

Local Ecumenical Partnerships etc 

            There are 8 of these in the county in various stages of development.   It is the role of C T S as the Sponsoring body to support these at their request and to review them as their constitutions require.   One issue which has arisen over the last year is a new requirement from the Charity Commissioners for them to have charity registration in their own right and not as part of their partner denominations.   A number of unforeseen difficulties have arisen over this dictate which are proving to be slow to resolve.

C T S has produced a Code of Practice for Formal Declarations of Ecumenical Welcome and Commitment in Shropshire.   There are 22 E W & C Declarations already in place but it was recognised that the process needed some development before further promotion of this concept was put in hand.

Communications 

            The Churches Together in England eNews is forwarded to local C T groups and other interested parties, monthly, to give news of national interest.   The Shropshire Christian Newsletter is produced as often as is necessary for more local news.   The target is six-weekly but this is sometimes not met if there is insufficient content.   The web site is maintained and updated as required.  

Future directions
            The world is a rapidly changing place and the ecumenical world is no different in this respect.   What we were doing in C T S ten years ago when our current constitution was drawn up is not necessarily the best guide to what we should now be doing or how we should be doing it!
            We are being advised by Churches Together in England to obtain charity registration.   The Charity Commission require that all clubs, associations and similar organisations which have a cash flow which exceeds a rapidly reducing threshold need registering.   However before we can do that we need to review and rewrite our constitution.   Before we can do that we need to determine what our role is and ought to be over the foreseeable future (if there is such a thing!).    However to make that meaningful, we also need to examine carefully our relationship with Telford Christian Council, which historically has looked after ecumenical matters in parts of Shropshire to the south and east of Telford whilst C T S has related to some of the rural areas of the Telford & Wrekin Borough.   This is clearly not going to be a hurried task.

The Shropshire Ecumenical Council is also looking at the role of C T S to better determine and co-ordinate the Mission of the Church in Shropshire.   Again this cannot be done in isolation from the role of Telford Christian Council.

And finally

            May I register my thanks, as secretary, to all those who have given support over the past year?   I have always made a point in an annual report to decline from mentioning anyone by name, partly from avoiding the risk of overlooking anyone and partly because I think it detracts from the team effort which goes into keeping C T S on an even keel.    

All I can add is Praise be to God who makes it all worthwhile.

G F C 25.05.2010

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