News feature 12 and

I was refreshed, challenged and encouraged by the worship, speakers and workshops but also by the fellowship

begin with me”. I know that I cannot by myself bring reconciliation to the Church, to the people of the world, to the Earth itself, but I must play my part.

‘Reconciliation is not about pleasantries and sharing a cup of tea together; it is a hard, often painful task that involves openly and respectfully discussing our differences and being willing to be challenged by and learn from those whom we consider “other”.’

Professor Anthony Reddie talked of reconciling communities and powerfully spoke of how Christians identify with Jesus on the cross when, in actuality, there are times when they are much more like Pontius Pilate. Chelsea, Bethany and Luke expressed how they were encouraged by the ‘grown-up’ way the forum discussed topics such as LGBTQ+ and Black Lives Matter.

Territorial Commander Commissioner Anthony Cotterill shared: ‘The CTE Forum was a blessed mosaic of expressions of the Kingdom of God. I was refreshed, challenged and encouraged by the worship, speakers and workshops but also by the fellowship shared with Christians from so many different traditions.

‘The hope for the future, the warmth and the loving interactions between delegates has never been better. We are part of the body of Christ, called to be together in our diversity, to be one despite differences to fulfil Christ’s high priestly prayer as we together serve our communities.’

Salvationist youth delegates Leeroy Gotami, Cadet Chelsea Huddlestone and Lizzy Kitchenside (both top), Amy Bayliss-Fox, Bethany Munn and Lieutenant Luke Cozens

CONNECTED IN CHRIST

THE CTE Forum challenged the way I think about disagreements between denominations, writes youth delegate Amy Bayliss-Fox (Addlestone). I always feared that our differences could only harm our relationship with Christ but, actually, they empower us to explore what we understand about our living faith.

In the Archbishop of Canterbury’s talk on Monday evening, he spoke about disagreeing well. We can have our differences as long as we understand and respect that they are personal and not an attack on our beliefs.

I believe the three days challenged us as a wider group of believers to consider ourselves as a singular Church rather than a gathering of churches. We are all part of the singular body of Christ. We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 12:12–14: ‘Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. And so the body is not made up of one part but of many.’

Therefore, even though each denomination, each believer, has differences in what they believe, how they worship and how they serve, we are still connected through the redeeming love of Christ. I believe this is what the three days challenged and empowered the Church to recognise.

At the conference was a contingent of young Salvationists, which was encouraging to see. I believe the challenge for The Salvation Army came from the Archbishop’s talk on Monday, but also spanned the entirety of the forum: true reconciliation cannot come from the outside; it has to come from within. The challenge for the Army and Salvationists is to consider whether are we are doing all that we can to reach true reconciliation with our God, the world and each other.

I truly feel blessed to have shared with fellow sisters and brothers in Christ at CTE Forum 2022 and I pray that real change shall come from this time spent together.