Churches Together in England is delighted to announce the appointment of two new incoming Presidents.
Archbishop Nikitas, of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Archdiocese of Thyateira and the United Kingdom, will be our new Orthodox President.
Bishop Tedroy Powell of the Church of God of Prophecy, will be our new Pentecostal and Charismatic President – having been elected by the Pentecostal and Charismatic Forum within CTE as their next Moderator and President.
The new Presidents, who will take office in September, succeed Archbishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of London and Pastor Agu Irukwu, leader of Jesus House RCCG in north London, and until recently the leader of the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the UK. Archbishop Angaelos and Pastor Agu have been tireless in their commitment to the work of the CTE Presidency, and we thank them for their service in the cause of ecumenism among the churches in England.
CTE General Secretary, Rev Dr Paul Goodliff, says, “Following in the footsteps of Archbishop Angaelos and Pastor Agu is no small challenge! They have both served the Presidency wonderfully well, but I am convinced that Archbishop Nikitas and Bishop Tedroy will more than meet that challenge.
“Although Archbishop Nikitas is relatively new to his appointment as Archbishop to the principally Greek community in England, arriving in 2019 from California, every time I have met him I have grown in my appreciation of his many gifts — his ecumenical commitment and his passion for the mission of the church.
“Similarly with Bishop Tedroy, whose recent promoting of vaccine uptake among his own Church of God of Prophecy has been inspirational. He has played a full part in CTE’s Pentecostal and Charismatic Forum and I know him to be a person of deep faith and generous ecumenical commitment.”
“great opportunities to become even more transformational”
Bishop Tedroy Powell represents the Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. Of his new role at CTE he says, “It is an honour, great privilege and a truly humbling experience to be selected to serve as one of the six presidents of Churches Together in England.
“As the Pentecostal and Charismatic President-elect, I congratulate Pastor Agu Irukwu, current incumbent, who has built on the foundations of his predecessors. I also acknowledge the tremendous work and accomplishments of the five other presidents, some of whom, I personally know and who are leaders whose ministries and lives I have admired.
“It is my aspiration and prayer that I can contribute the gifts, leadership experience and collaborative graces that God has bestowed upon me to fruition, in this sphere, as we serve the ecclesia of God, and our country in these uncertain times and seasons. Although uncertainty abounds, locally, nationally and globally, we the ecclesia of God have great opportunities to become even more transformational, building strategic constructs under the canopy of God’s grace, as salt and light, bringing hope and reconciliation to our troubled seas of humanity.”
CTE Principal Officer for Pentecostal, Charismatic and Multi-cultural Relations, Shermara Fletcher congratulates Bishop Tedroy Powell and says, “As Secretary to the Forum, I look forward to working closely with and supporting Bishop Tedroy Powell in his role as President. I pray it will be a fruitful tenure that will provide great leadership to the Pentecostal and Charismatic Forum and will navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead. Bishop Tedroy Powell is a great addition to the Presidential team at Churches Together in England and I look forward to the great impact he will have.”
“our world is in need of faith in action”
Archbishop Nikitas represents the Eastern Orthodox churches (which alternate with the Oriental Orthodox churches to nominate a President to represent all Orthodox). Of his new role at CTE he says, “I am delighted to inaugurate my presidential tenure of Churches Together in England. Throughout my clerical ministry, ecumenical engagement and inter-Christian cooperation were always a personal priority and a major part of my diakonia. Now more than ever before, our world is in need of faith in action, and only through our own example will society experience the power of the message of alvation. Our world desires a “culture of solidarity” among all people, and most especially, among Christian sisters and brothers.
Representing our Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the entire Orthodox Family and the Eastern Churches, I am ready to engage on every level with the boldness of Christian love and truth to sustain, strengthen, and increase our collaboration, cooperation, and Christian solidarity in England.”
The new Presidents will take up office in September, to later be joined by another new President in April 2022 – Rev Helen Cameron, Methodist Chair of the Northampton District – who will be succeeding Rev Dr Hugh Osgood, the current Free Church President and Moderator of the Free Churches Group, of which Helen Cameron is the Moderator-elect.
CTE is represented by six Presidents from the major traditions of our 51 Member Churches. They meet regularly to discuss matters concerning the Churches in England, and together seek to serve as a sign of our unity. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, also hold this role. The Fourth Presidency is currently not enacted. This follows a request by CTE’s Enabling Group in November 2019, reflecting the lack of agreement within the churches in England regarding aspects of theological and moral discernment.
CTE’s General Secretary, Rev Dr Paul Goodliff says: “We continue to pray and work for greater understanding of the reasons for the challenge that the appointment of Hannah Brock Womack as President of the Fourth Presidency Group in 2018 posed to some of the Member Churches of CTE, and are grateful for the gracious restraint exercised by both Hannah and the churches in that Group, which Hannah chairs. A task for the new Presidency team will be to listen with the help of the Spirit to the continuing challenges posed by this situation, and not least to the Fourth Presidency Group itself, and to model at all times the commitment to disagree well and with grace and patience, as befits the ‘household of God.’”
