Forward in Faith update

Last October, as you'll recall, delegates to the 13^th Forward in Faith National Assembly, at the Emmanuel Centre, Mar-sham Street, agreed a resolution, 2006/01, which was moved by Fr Martin Hislop, on behalf of the Southwark Area Assembly, and amended by Mr David Warren and Fr Graeme Buttery. The final, agreed text was as follows:

Forms of words for making a bequest to FiF in your Will

I GIVE to FORWARD IN FAITH of 2A The Cloisters, Gordon Square, London WC1H OAG the sum of

_________ pounds(£ )

and I DIRECT that the receipt of the Treasurer or other proper officer of Forward in Faith shall be good and sufficient discharge to my Executor or

I GIVE the residue of my estate to FORWARD IN FAITH of 2A The Cloisters, Gordon Square, London WC1H OAG and I DIRECT that the receipt of the Treasurer or other proper officer of Forward in Faith shall be good and sufficient discharge to my Executor

structure. This Assembly therefore calls upon the Council to establish a review of the structures of the council, executive, regions and Diocesan branches, to ensure effective representation and capacity for response and management, and to arrange for this review to be completed so that recommendations may be made to a delegate conference of Regional Deans, Diocesan Branch Chairmen and Council, by not later than 31 May, 2007.

During the debate on 2006/01, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, on behalf of the Forward in Faith Council, announced that a Working Party of the Council had already been set up, under his Chairmanship, in order to address these issues. The Working Party - comprising Bishop Andrew, Dr Gill James, Fr Paul Plumpton, Fr David Waller and the Director, with Mr Richard Doney acting as Minutes Secretary - has met on a number of occasions since last October and exchanged a veritable torrent of email. In particular, the Working Party was delighted to be able to discuss a number of most useful submissions from FiF members around the country and to meet with a number of key figures, whose advice has been very influential in forming our views on the way forward.

It will, however, come as little surprise to members that the review is not yet complete, but the Working Party has reached a significant number of tentative conclusions which it will be sharing next month with the Clerical and Lay Chairmen of FiF Area Assemblies, the College of Regional Deans and the FiF Council in order to gauge the degree of support they attract, prior to the production of its final report, which will be debated by the National Assembly later this year.

All the above have been invited to a Delegate Conference, which will take place, as arranged (and as already advised in these pages), in central London on Wednesday, 16^th May. This will be a private meeting (not least because our venue is but a finite space!) but, obviously, details of what transpires will emerge in due course. We would ask all FiF members to hold all who will attend the conference on 16^th May in their prayers, as they gather in order to discern the next steps in this journey.

Note: If any reader believes that he or she should have been invited to the Delegate Conference but hasn't heard from us in this regard, they should contact us as soon as possible. (The invitations were distributed by email or by letter during the penultimate week of March.)