When “Churches Together in England” was formed in 1990, it was agreed that support of local Churches Together Groups and Local Ecumenical Partnerships should come not nationally but locally through the growing “Intermediate Bodies” such as “Churches Together in Derbyshire”. Almost uniquely in the world, church life in England has developed a network of these bodies, mostly corresponding to counties or large cities, where the churches have developed a pattern of co-operation and shared life which also gives oversight to ecumenism in its various forms.
In such ways Christian Churches are developing a shared oversight of the whole people of God, reflecting their movement towards joint decision making and mutual accountability and making them more effective in their life and mission.
What is ecumenism?