IN the first of three conferences being held this week throughout England 400 delegates from over 30 Christian denominations met at Nottingham last weekend. The conference decided that there was "sufficient unity of faith" to carry on dialogue of this sort.
The three conferences have as their object "to evaluate and assess the Inter-Church process of prayer, study and discussion in order to discern the way forward and make proposals for the practical and organisational aspects of the Church's mission and unity."
The remaining two conferences at Bangor (March 31-April 2) and at St Andrews (April 3-5) will centre around discussions on the nature of the Church, its purpose and the unity to which it is called.
In a press statement from the Nottingham Conference delegates spoke of the movement for untiy, called "Not Strangers but Pilgrims", as having "opened the door, leading to a new concept of our brothers and sisters in Christ."
The overall task of the series of conferences is to produce reports of their findings so that proposals for the next step in inter-church relations can be formulated and acted upon.