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CTiB

Churches Together in Bottesford

Churches Together in Bottesford is a partnership of the three dominations with a physical presence in the area (Anglican, Baptist and Methodist) Grantham Methodist Circuit.

Operating under a Constitution drawn up under the guidelines of Churches Together in England, CTiB seeks to be a visible sign of the Churches' commitment as they seek a deepening of their communion with Christ and with one another, and proclaim the Gospel together by common witness and service.

Its strength comes from people from different traditions finding new ways to work and worship together. The membership of CTiB consists of Ministers and representatives of all three denominations.

The objectives of CTiB are :

  • To draw the churches represented on the Council into greater understanding and unity
  • To enable churches more fully to share in the ecumenical movement
  • To enable the churches to bear a more united witness in the community, and to serve it more effectively
  • To give such expression to their common faith and devotion as may from time to time be found desirable

    The united events in recent months include Community Christmas Carols, Christmas Cards, Week of Christian Unity Service, Maundy Thursday Supper, Walk of Witness on Good Friday, Pentecost Praise, Holiday Bible Club and the recent establishment of a Christian Youth Group ( youf ). Forthcoming events are being planned to include Harvest Praise, varied styles of worship and 'Sing Christmas'.

    Why Unity Matters

    God's love is for the 'whole inhabited earth' (oikoumene), not just our familiar bit of it. Ecumenism is the whole Church offering the whole Gospel to the whole earth -

  • in fulfilment of Christ's prayer, on the night before his crucifixion
  • according to the pattern of the early Christians who shared a common life
  • making real the renewal and reconciliation which is God's gift through Jesus
  • acting as those who belong to one another as part of Christ's body

    The Prayer of Jesus - "May they be one"
    "May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."
    John 17. 21-23

    The witness of the early Church - to share the common life
    "They met constantly to hear the apostles teach, and to share the common life, to break bread, and to pray. All whose faith had drawn them together held everything in common... And day by day, the Lord added to their number those who were being saved."
    Acts 2. 24-44, 47

    Christ is all and in all
    "You have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all."
    Colossians 3. 9-11

    One body - the Body of Christ
    "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
    Ephesians 4. 3-6

    The Church has the essentially organic unity of a body (1 Corinthians 12.12) or a plant (John 15.5) rather than merely the political unity of an organisation. There are varieties of gifts, services and activities but the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12.4-6) - and different people using different gifts together strengthens the whole Church (1 Corinthians 14.4; Ephesians 4.16).

    Being ecumenical means looking up to see the big picture: what God is doing through the whole Church in the whole world. It means engaging with others in ways that bring in the Kingdom of God, where God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven. It means holding our remaining differences in conversation rather than conflict, engaging in dialogue rather than denouncing each other.

    Unity is not singing in unison and losing our distinctiveness:
    Unity is singing in harmony, each person and tradition enriching the others.

    Unity Matters - Quotations

    C7th Abba Dorotheos of Gaza
    But if we love God, inasmuch as we come near to Him by love of Him, so we become united by love with our neighbours, and inasmuch as we are united with our neighbours, so we become united with God.

    c 1920 Cardinal Mercier
    In order to unite with one another, we must love one another; in order to love one another, we must know one another; in order to know one another, we must go and meet one another.

    1925 Stockholm Life and Work Conference
    The closer we come to the cross of Christ, the closer we come to each other.