West Midlands leaders’ summit

Building on the success of the summit held in October 2022, over 20 senior leaders and representatives of West Midlands Churches participated in a second leaders’ summit on Sunday 1 and Monday 2 October 2023 at the Woodbrooke Centre in Birmingham. At the gathering, the leaders spent significant time in prayer and conversation on issues of relevance and importance to all. The summit was facilitated by Revd Dr Christine Dutton, Tutor in Leadership and Evangelism at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education. Bishop Mike Royal, General Secretary of Churches Together in England, spoke about developments in both society and Church.

Participants at the summit were (in alphabetic order by surname:

• Revd Adrian Argile (Regional Minister Team Leader, Heart of England Baptist Association)
• John Cooper (Chair, ‘Charities and Networks in Association,’ Churches Together in England)
• Revd Dr Christine Dutton (Tutor, Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education)
• Major Samuel Edgar (Ecumenical Officer, West Midlands Division, Salvation Army)
• Revd Dave Ellis (Regional Minister, Heart of England Baptist Association)
• Pastor Eniiwaju Etomi (Assistant Provincial Pastor, Redeemed Christian Church of God)
• The Right Revd David Evans (Auxiliary Bishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham)
• Revd Steve Faber (Moderator, West Midlands Synod, United Reformed Church)
• The Right Revd Martin Gorick (Bishop of Dudley, Anglican Diocese of Worcester)
• Rhiannon Grant (Representative, Central England Quakers)
• Revd Novette Headley (Chair, Birmingham District, Methodist Church)
• The Right Revd Anne Hollinghurst (Bishop of Aston, Church of England Birmingham)
• The Right Revd John Inge (Bishop of Worcester, Anglican Diocese of Worcester)
• The Right Revd Richard Jackson (Bishop of Hereford, Anglican Diocese of Hereford)
• Revd Helen Kirk (Chair, Chester and Stoke-on-Trent District, Methodist Church)
• The Most Revd Bernard Longley (Archbishop of Birmingham, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham)
• Robert Mountford (Ecumenical Officer, Birmingham, the Black Country and Staffordshire)
• The Right Revd Matthew Parker (Bishop of Stafford, Anglican Diocese of Lichfield)
• Revd Rachel Parkinson (Chair, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury District, Methodist Church)
• Pastor Richard Pidgley (Representative, Central Region, Assemblies of God)
• Lieutenant-Colonel Joao-Paulo Ramos (Commander, West Midlands Division, Salvation Army)
• Bishop Mike Royal (General Secretary, Churches Together in England)
• Revd Neil Le Tissier (Regional Minister, Heart of England Baptist Association)

Leaders of the Elim Pentecostal Church, the New Testament Church of God, the Church of God of Prophecy and various branches of the Orthodox Church tendered their apologies for absence from the summit.

The Church leaders and representatives recommitted themselves to work and witness together for the common good during the coming year. A further regional gathering is planned for the autumn of 2024.