Seeing Lives Transformed through Faith in Christ
In obedience to the call of Christ, we, the ministers and people of Toton Methodist Church and St.Peter’s Parish Church who have shared our Christian life in a wide variety of ways over many years wish to show our continuing love for God and each other by this formal commitment to grow together in doing His will.
We confess our Faith in One God,
the Father, Creator,
the Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour,
the Holy Spirit, guiding His Church, the Body of Christ, into all truth.
We repent of all that is sinful in our past histories and present attitudes.
We rejoice in the riches of the traditions we have inherited and seek to share them more fully with one another in the unity which is the will and gift of God.
We seek a deepening of our communion with Christ and with one another.
We covenant to seek visible unity, even though in our journey together we cannot foresee the form it will eventually take.
We therefore make this commitment to God and to each other.
We commit ourselves and our churches –
To move through co-operation to clear commitment to each other, in search of the unity for which Christ prayed and in common evangelism and service to the world.
To engage in joint worship, prayer and study so that we may know and value each other and seek God's will for His people.
To work together in pastoral, social and evangelistic outreach into our community.
To publicise and promote our Church life and worship by joint means wherever possible.
To co-ordinate decision-making and use of resources through a Churches Together Enabling Group comprising the Ministers and two lay representatives appointed by and from each participating church.
To ensure that each ordained or remunerated appointment within either church, although made by the appropriate denomination, is made with such consultation as is reasonably possible, consonant with denominational procedures.
To set shared goals under each of the above headings and review progress annually and to express our achievements and aspirations in a united act of worship and rededication, marking the anniversary of the signing of this covenant.
Signed on 27th January 2019
We, the Ministers and Congregation of Toton Methodist Church and St.Peter’s Anglican Church:
Declare our Faith in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who calls us into one Body and One Faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We affirm our dependence upon the inspired word of God in the Scriptures for our guidance in all matters of faith and conduct. We believe in the gospel of repentance and forgiveness through the atoning death of our Saviour Jesus Christ and we acknowledge our calling to serve Him together in the power of His Holy Spirit.
We acknowledge those things which have separated us from one another and created divisions which have hindered the furtherance of the gospel, repenting of all that is sinful in our relationship as churches and recognising one another as brothers and sisters in the one church of Jesus Christ, pledged to serve only His Kingdom and to share in the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
We therefore Covenant together to make visible the unity of Christ’s people in Toton by doing together all that conscience allows. We do not know what form our unity may eventually take but we believe that the commitment we are now making to one another, will lead us to a deeper understanding of the unity that is God’s will for us.
We therefore pledge ourselves:
We believe this covenant is God’s will for the unity of His Church,
for His glory and for the growth of His Kingdom in Toton
We seek God’s grace to fulfil our pledge renewed on this day 29 April 1999.
Signed in April 1986; renewed in April 1999; reaffirmed in September 2008