Next week (18-25 January 2025) is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity organised by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. Have a look at the resources for this year >>>
To mark this, we have spoken to a number of churches across our diocese who are working collaboratively with other denominations of the Christian faith by sharing services and buildings and meeting together to pray. Strong relationships have been formed, leading to greater understanding and opportunities to love and serve God. Here are some of their stories….
Holy Epiphany Church, Bournemouth
The Martin Luther church meets at Holy Epiphany Church in Bournemouth once a month and also on special occasions. The two congregations also hold joint services including on Good Friday this year. They recently invited members of Holy Epiphany to a special service to celebrate 75 years of worshipping in the town, which included afternoon tea and a display telling the story of their journey in Bournemouth.
The German speaking church was established in Bournemouth in 1949. It worshipped in several local churches until it acquired its own building in 1963. That was sold in 2007 and since then the congregation have held services at Holy Epiphany Church.
Revd Helen Griffiss from Holy Epiphany Church said, “The Lutheran Church has use of the building once a month. It’s a way of being friends with a group of people of a different denomination but we share a lot in common. I attended the 75th celebration – we sang hymns in German, and it was a joy to be there and to find all the things we share rather than our differences! We are willing and joyful that we can share the church and we have had this co-operation for many years. They use the Jubilee Room which we make warm and cosy. There are some in the congregation who come to both services and take communion. We are in communion with them.”
Iris Ruutel from the Martin Luther Church said, “The word ‘Ecumenical’ means ‘bringing together’ and here in Bournemouth that’s our small German protestant group with the Holy Epiphany Church and its congregation. It is important to share and all our German congregations in the UK are experiencing it. After losing our own church building, we were very happy to become guests in Holy Epiphany with its friendly atmosphere. Ecumenical means solidarity and co-operation between Christians of different denominations. We are very grateful for the good co-operation and communication with the Holy Epiphany Church who support us in any way they can.
“We thanked them by supporting them financially during the COVID shutdown and with the purchase of chairs for the church. Ecumenical means getting to know each other. Many of our German Church members also belong to an English congregation and take part in their activities. Any Christian guests are welcome to our services and can take part in the Holy Communion.”
St Marks Church, Olivers Battery, Winchester
St Marks Church holds an ecumenical monthly prayer meeting for Christians who live in the Parish. It started informally around 8 years ago in people’s homes and now meets in the church. Up to 20 attend who are members of different churches across the city including the Baptist, Roman Catholic, Hope and Redeemer churches.
Revd Marianne Foster said, “The community bonds are strong and people are willing to help each other and I think that’s to do with the relationships between Christians. People want to work together for the benefit of the community. I think unity is so important. Jesus said ‘love one another and by this everyone will know that you are my disciples’. People will know by witnessing Christian unity that we are sent and we are loved by God”.
Marianne is also the chair of Winchester Churches Together, part of the national Churches Together network which encourages churches from a wide range of traditions to work together in unity. Members across all denominations meet each Tuesday to pray together either in person or online.
It’s brilliant to pray and meet together. We may hold different theologies across loads of different beliefs, but we’ve got more in common and we care about the church in Winchester witnessing to Christ and serving the community. In the past we’ve held huge events at the Cathedral and we have wider church gatherings where everyone is invited. We also support various initiatives, such as Street Pastors, and there’s a brilliant city centre chaplaincy team and a new wellbeing café that meets once a week at the Salvation Army. Those volunteers are drawn from churches across the city, and they have a common shared interest in a particular area of support. It’s Christians across the city working together.
Revd Marianne Foster
She added, “If you’ve only ever been part of or worshipped in one type of church, you miss out on the richness of worshipping with other Christians who might pray and worship differently to you. I think that’s a huge benefit as well, that maybe people don’t realise. You can find different ways to pray. Maybe you’ve never thought about what it means to be still and silent and in solitude because you’ve just been part of a big church with lots of music and you find another way to meet God in silence, which can be a huge surprise. The same is true the other way round. You learn something about the enthusiasm of charismatic worship that you’ve not encountered before. So, the richness of different traditions coming together and learning from each other is brilliant, I think”.
St Andrew’s Church, Tichborne
The ancient church of St Andrew’s in Tichborne near Alresford is said to have a unique history. The Tichborne family, who lived on the nearby estate became closely associated with the church. In 1621 King James I permitted Sir Benjamin Tichborne the privilege of retaining the chantry chapel in recognition of his help in securing Hampshire at his accession in 1603. It remains consecrated to the Roman Catholic Communion.
It is still used for a special mass by the Tichborne family and there are now two services a year when Anglican and Roman Catholic congregations meet for worship.
Revd Christopher Durrant, Rector of the Upper Itchen Benefice said, “There are many others more expert than I to teach the history, but I understand St. Andrew’s, Tichborne is almost unique among parish churches in England to have continuously retained a Roman Catholic consecrated chapel since the Reformation. As Rector of St. Andrew’s, Tichborne, I’m honoured to continue the tradition of welcoming an annual Roman Catholic rite Requiem Mass for the Tichborne family each September. Fr. Mark has presided over this service in previous years, with myself attending and receiving a blessing. In recent years, he and I have also begun a new annual tradition of an ecumenical ‘Stations of the Resurrection’ in Eastertide as part of Thy Kingdom Come. To conclude this service, we bless a mixed congregation of Church of England and Roman Catholic Christians together with liturgical words common to both our reformed church traditions. All are welcome to worship God at St. Andrew’s, Tichborne!”
St Barnabas, Darby Green
The congregation of St Barnabas in Darby Green share their church with Triumphant Global Ministries, a Ghanian Church, who have been worshipping there for around 10 years. Members of the two congregations regularly attend each others services.
Revd Leonard Doe Bonney is pastor of the ministry which was established in the UK around 30 years ago. He said, “We are a church of Christ, which is headed by a Ghanaian pastor. Mostly people are from Ghana, but it’s a church for everyone. It’s been so wonderful to worship here at St Barnabas. After they have finished their service, we also come in from 1.30 to 3.30pm. Sometimes we have a joint service as well, and we share meals together, and that is so lovely. It is nice that we mix and share together as sharing is caring. That is what Christ came to do to share the love of God.”
Revd Faith Bailey from Eversley and Darby Green added, “we love having the Ghanaian church meet in our building and they are always so welcoming when we join them at their service. Their worship is more exuberant than ours, but we share the same worship songs and love of Jesus. We are looking forward to holding a joint service and shared lunch in the new year which will help to deepen our friendships with each other.”
St Denys, Southampton
St Denys Church have recently welcomed the Ethiopian Orthodox Church community of Southampton to worship in their building, holding their normal worship services on a Sunday afternoon. In addition, last Saturday was a special event when many Orthodox priests from London came down and the church from Portsmouth also joined, and they were able to celebrate a full Mass just four days after their Christmas Day.
Revd Sera Rumble, vicar of St Denys, said, “They transformed the church and worshipped for 5 hours, and then we joined them for their meal afterwards which was wonderful!”
Andrew Mortimore (Mission Link for the Ethiopian Church) said, “Our lives can be enriched by sharing in less familiar forms of worship. There is often excitement about new “expressions” but traditional worship can be no less exciting. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church dates back to the 4th century and is rich in tradition and symbolism. When a full Mass was held just after the orthodox Christmas at St Denys, the Ethiopian diaspora in Southampton and Portsmouth came together, transformed the building and spent five hours celebrating the birth of the Saviour. The opportunity to be together in this way brought tears of joy, and was deeply moving for those of us who were able to share in such a special occasion.”
