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Anglican Methodist Forward for Us (AMFU) AMFU held a service of praise at 6.00pm on Sunday 31 October 2004 in High Street Methodist Church, Witney, Oxfordshire. During the Service, the AMFU Declaration of Intent was signed by five people - the Bishop of Dorchester: the Area Dean and the Superintendent of the Witney & Faringdon Methodist Circuit; the Area Lay Chair and the Senior Methodist Church Steward. Five framed copies were handed to the signatories at the close of the service. Click on the small images below to see larger versions. Roy Townsend (Senior Circuit Steward)  Linda Blair (Lay Deanery Chair) Rev Roger Faulkner (Circuit Superintendent)  Rev Roger Billings (Area Dean)  Rt Rev Colin Fletcher (Bishop of Dorchester)  Flags for each church fellowship  AMFU History. After more than fifty years of Anglican/Methodist conversations, a Covenant - with its seven Affirmations and six Commitments - called ‘An Anglican-Methodist Covenant – a Common Statement of the Formal Conversations between the Methodist Church of Great Britain and the Church of England.’ was published by both churches in December 2001. The Common Statement offered a clear ‘next step for the Church of England and the Methodist Church in Great Britain on their journey into full visible unity’. A study booklet was published by both churches entitled ‘A Church Shaped for Mission (CSM)’ suggesting a six-week study course on the topics of Perceptions, History, Mission, An ordered faith, Oversight and Covenant. In response, the then Rector Revd Cameron Butland as Anglican Area Dean, and Revd Roger Faulkner as Superintendent Minister of the Witney & Faringdon Methodist Circuit jointly wrote on 29 May 2002 to all clergy and lay leaders in the Witney Deanery and parts of neighbouring deaneries covering Charlbury (Chipping Norton: Faringdon (Vale of the White Horse); and Long Hanborough, Freeland, Stonesfield and North Leigh (Woodstock), and all ministers, local preachers, lay pastoral workers, circuit and church stewards in the Witney & Faringdon Methodist Circuit. The joint letter recommended attendance in local bi-ecumenical (Anglican and Methodist) study groups in Sep/Oct 2002 to study the CSM booklet for display and distribution to each adult and teenage member of all the churches to complete and return. The letter also suggested that churches met together for worship and discussion in Burford, Carterton, Faringdon or Witney in October 2002. Ninety eight A/M study applicants were received and formed into ten local study groups – in Burford, Carterton, Clanfield, Cogges, North Leigh, Witney(4) and Yelford - each with a volunteer host and leader. Each group leader was subsequently invited to become a member of AMFU. In the light of this size of response, Revd Roger Faulkner, Superintendent and Revd David Lloyd - the newly-appointed Area Dean - encouraged by the AMFU committee, invited all Anglicans and Methodists to attend a meeting of worship and discussion at High Street Methodist Church on Saturday 18 Jan 2003 to get to know each other more, and to meet in small local group areas to see how better we could help each other in the joint service of Christ in our local areas. Volunteer chairpersons and secretaries were arranged for each group. After this event, the comments of each group were collated into one document entitled ‘AMFU Groups’ - 'Comments made in the Meeting of Sat 18 Jan 03 at High Street Methodist Church in Witney’. One copy of this document was sent to each of the Anglican and Methodist churches originally invited asking for it to be given a wide circulation amongst all the members of church congregations. At the AMFU committee meeting in October 2003 it was proposed that a first draft of a Covenant between consenting church councils of local Anglican churches in the Witney Deanery and Methodist churches in the Witney & Faringdon Circuit form the basis of another AMFU worship and discussion event to be held on Sat 28 February 2004 for all who were interested to attend. The title of this proposed local Covenant was agreed as the Proposed Deanery/Circuit Declaration of Intent to Covenant Together (DCDICT). On 1 November 2003, the Archbishop of Canterbury and York, and the President, Vice-President and Secretary of the Methodist Conference, agreed and signed the National Covenant in both the Methodist Central Hall and Westminster Abbey in London. The AMFU event on 28 Feb 04 was led by Rev Roger Billings (Area Dean), Rev Roger Faulkner, and the Bishop of Dorchester, the Rt Rev Colin Fletcher. Eighty two people attended and each received a copy of the first draft proposed AMFU covenant and was invited to comment in group or as individuals on the wording of the first draft covenant. All proposed amendments to the first draft AMFU were collected and studied. AMFU Today.  AMFU had worked un-accredited for approximately two years whilst it was seen if there was support between Anglicans and Methodists in our local level to work closer together. A level of support has been growing: new joint initiatives have started – indeed, there is now a ‘Burford branch of AMFU’ in existence which is very encouraging. AMFU has now been formally authorised by both the Witney Deanery and the Witney & Faringdon Methodist Circuit for its on-going work. The membership of the new AMFU Meeting is two leadership representatives (the Area Dean and the Circuit Superintendent: 2 Circuit Representatives: 2 Deanery representatives: 2 Ecumenical Officers for Oxfordshire (one Anglican and one Methodist); and five members co-opted by the Leadership representatives – one of whom is the Meeting Secretary and another the Meeting Chairman. The fifth draft of the AMFU Declaration of Intent was agreed by both the Anglican Deanery Synod and the Methodist Circuit Meeting on 14 and 15 September 2004 respectively. The next AMFU Service of Praise, Thanksgiving and Update is planned to be held on 31 August 2004 in High Street Methodist Church in Witney. During this Service the Declaration will be formally ratified, agreed and signed DV by the Area Dean: the Anglican Lay Chair: The Circuit Superintendent: The Senior Circuit Steward; and the Bishop of Dorchester, to serve Christ in worship, work and witness as He leads. Five framed original copies of the signed AMFU Declaration of Intend will be given one to each signatory.  To find out more about any of these churches, you can contact us by clicking here.

Last updated November 2004