When, in the summer of 2003, the Methodist Conference and the General Synod of the Church of England approved An Anglican-Methodist Covenant, they also agreed to set up a Joint Implementation Commission (JIC) to monitor and promote its implementation. The Commission was given an initial life of five years; in 2008 it was renewed for a further five years.
During that time it reported five times before producing its final report to the General Synod and the Methodist Conference in 2014. The reports were:
- In the Spirit of the Covenant (2005)
- Living God’s Covenant (2007)
- Embracing the Covenant (2008)
- Moving Forward in Covenant (2011)
- The Challenge of the Covenant: Uniting in Mission and Holiness (2013)
When the last of these was published in September 2013, a draft of a report to be presented to the Methodist Conference and the General Synod in 2014 was also released:
This served as the basis for a consultation throughout both churches which led to the JIC’s final report being presented to the Methodist Conference in July 2014 and to the General Synod in November 2014; both bodies voted strongly in favour of its recommendations.
It was presented to the Methodist Conference in the Agenda of the Conference:
and it was presented to the General Synod appended to a report from the Council for Christian Unity (GS 1971):
The Methodist Conference and the General Synod of the Church of England voted strongly in favour of the three recommendations made by the Commission:
The first recommendation was
We recommend that the Faith and Order Commission of the Church of England and the Faith and Order Committee of the Methodist Church work together to bring forward proposals for:
- the Methodist Church to consider afresh expressing the Conference’s ministry of oversight in a personal form of connexional, episcopal ministry and the Church of England to recognise that ministry in the Methodist Church as a sign of continuity in faith, worship and mission in a church that is in the apostolic succession;
- the Church of England and the Methodist Church to address the question of reconciling, with integrity, the existing presbyteral and diaconal ministries of our two churches, which would lead to the interchangeability of ministries.
The second recommendation was
We recommend that our churches at local and regional level, supported and advised by the Methodist Anglican Panel for Unity in Mission, give priority to making full use of what is already possible for them to do together, and especially to plan together for mission and worship, deployment of ministry and the use of resources.
The third recommendation was
We recommend that a Joint Covenant Advocacy and Monitoring Group, co-chaired by a President or Vice-President of the Methodist Conference and a Diocesan Bishop and including two other Methodist and two other Anglican members should be established, with access to the key policy making bodies of our churches, to replace the Joint Implementation Commission in the next quinquennium. This body will monitor progress of faith and order conversations and other on-going work under the Covenant and advocate new initiatives; facilitate communication of Anglican–Methodist developments in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland; and report annually to the General Synod and Methodist Conference.
Membership of the JIC
The members of the JIC in its first phase (2003-2008) were:
The Methodist Church
- Prof Peter Howdle (Co-chair)
- Miss Margaret Faulkner (Secretary)
- The Revd Ken Howcroft (2008)
- Deacon Hilary Smith
- The Revd Neil Stubbens
- The Revd Alison Tomlin
- The Revd Peter Sulston (Co-convenor)
- The Revd Dr Martyn Atkins (Consultant)
- Dr Clive Marsh (Consultant)
- The Revd Dr Martin Wellings (Consultant)
The Church of England
- The Rt Revd Ian Cundy (Co-chair)
- The Revd John Cole
- The Revd Canon William Croft
- The Revd Prebendary David Houlding
- Miss Janet Price
- The Revd Dr Paul Avis (Co-convenor)
- The Revd Will Adam (Consultant)
- Dr Martin Davie (Consultant)
The United Reformed Church
- The Revd Richard Mortimer (Participant)
The members of the JIC in its second phase (2008-2014) were:
The Methodist Church
- Prof Peter Howdle (Co-chair)
- Mr Steven Cooper
- Deacon Sue Culver
- Mrs Jenny Easson (Scotland)
- The Revd Catherine Gale (Wales)
- The Revd Ruth Gee
- The Revd Neil Stubbens
- The Revd Ken Howcroft (Co-convenor)
- The Revd Dr Peter Phillips (Consultant, until August 2013)
- The Revd Nicola Price-Tebbutt (Consultant, from September 2013)
The Church of England
- The Rt Revd Dr Christopher Cocksworth (Co-chair)
- The Revd Dr Will Adam
- The Revd Jonathan Baker
- Dr Philip Giddings
- The Venerable Janet Henderson (until October 2011)
- The Revd Venerable Dr Jane Steen (from November 2011)
- The Revd Dr Paul Avis (Co-convenor until November 2011)
- The Revd Dr Roger Paul (Co-convenor from November 2011)
- The Revd Canon William Croft (Consultant)
Anglicans from Scotland and Wales
- The Revd Canon Prof John Richardson (Scottish Episcopal Church)
- The Revd Dr Bernard Sixtus (The Church in Wales, until February 2013)
The United Reformed Church
- The Revd David Tatem (Observer-Participant)