Ecumenical Parish of West Swindon and The Lydiards

Constitution

  1. NAME

    The local Ecumenical Project shall be known as the Ecumenical Parish of West Swindon and the Lydiards. The geographical area of the project shall be the whole area of the ecclesiastical Parish of the Lydiards.

  2. AIMS

    The aims of the Ecumenical Project shall be the following, all of which we believe to be valid and necessary signs of the success of the Project:

    1. To advance the Kingdom of God and to proclaim the Gospel of Christ.
    2. To build up a local church whose members recognize their common membership in Christ, their common mission to the world, and their commitment to each other as vital factors in their Christian lives.
    3. To discover new ways in which Christian unity can be expressed in the wider Church.
  3. SPONSORING BODY

    The Ecumenical Parish of West Swindon and the Lydiards looks to the Wiltshire Sponsoring Body for guidance, support and oversight.

  4. PREMISES

    The premises shall comprise all church buildings in the Parish of the Lydiards owned by the participating denominations. Sharing agreements for buildings will be entered into as appropriate.

  5. MINISTRY

    The Ecumenical Team Ministry shall consist of those people duly authorised and appointed by the participating church. (See Appendix A - Present Staff). The members of the ecumenical team shall share pastoral responsibility for all who live in the area.

    Recognizing the importance of continuity, the Ecumenical Parish asks that those responsible for the appointment of individual members of the ecumenical team should select persons who will continue and be committed to the Ecumenical Project. To this end, the Ecumenical Team and the Ecumenical Church Council shall assist in appointing a Staffing Consultative Group, recommended by the Sponsoring Body, in each and every case.

    Members of the Ecumenical Team shall be subject to the normal discipline of the church to which each belongs. They shall also submit to one another out of the reverence for Christ.

  6. BAPTISM AND MEMBERSHIP

    Holy Baptism shall be administered according to the rite and practice of any of the participating denominations. Confirmation shall be administered according to the joint rite authorised by the Wiltshire Sponsoring Body as permitted by District, Provincial and Diocesan authorities, but may be according to the rite and practice of a particular denomination when requested for reasons of conscience. Those confirmed by the joint rite will be members of all participating denominations and joint congregations. All denominations able to participate shall do so, even if no candidates of that denomination are to be confirmed.

  7. WORSHIP

    Worship shall be conducted in accordance with forms acceptable to the Particular churches. Holy Communion shall be celebrated in the Project as permitted by denominational legislation or by dispensation there from. All those recognised as communicants by the participating denominations may receive the sacrament at any such service as their conscience allows.

  8. GOVERNMENT

    Government of the Ecumenical Project shall be by an Ecumenical Church Council, in accordance with the Standing Orders set out in Appendix B.

  9. FINANCE

    The congregations of the Ecumenical Parish of West Swindon and the Lydiards shall, out of their combined income, make provision whereby the Ecumenical Church Council shall administer the work of the Church in the Ecumenical Project, with due regard to its obligations to the central and other funds of the participating denominations.

  10. GENERAL

    Other congregations within the area are invited to negotiate for admission to membership of the Ecumenical Project at any time.

  11. AMENDMENTS

    The Constitution of the Ecumenical Parish of West Swindon and the Lydiards may be amended by agreement of the Ecumenical Church Council and of either the Annual General Meeting or a Special General Meeting (of those qualified to vote at A.G.M.s) called for that purpose, and with the approval of the appropriate denominational authorities and of the Wiltshire Sponsoring Body.


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