Vocations

Is Christ calling you to a ministerial vocation?

• Have you ever considered serving Christ as a Priest or Deacon?
• Are you are a former cleric who left ministry because of celibacy, marriage or sexuality?
• Do you (still) wish to serve Christ in ordained Ministry?

If you are able to answer “Yes” to at least two of these questions, we may be able to help.

The Ecumenical Christian Church is seeking candidates for ordained ministry – ministry with a difference, where you can make the difference!

Male, female, married, divorced, single, celibate or not, we welcome enquiries from all. As Saint Paul said at Colossians 3:11 “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”

Our church is small but growing. We presently have parishes/Missions in several areas.

Our clergy are tent-makers” in the tradition of St. Paul. Like St. Paul, we continue to live and work in the world while, at the same time we seek to build up the Body of Christ on earth. Some of our clergy are married or partnered and some are not. Some choose celibacy and others do not. All seek to reach out to the most marginalised people in society wherever they may be.

We do not offer wages or salaries to our clergy at this stage. However, we do offer a comprehensive training programme for ordinands. The Bishops will not ordain anyone until such time as they are fully prepared spiritually and in terms of knowledge and skills for hands-on ministry. The training programme is flexible and makes room for most academic abilities. This ensures that only the most seriously committed are put forward for Holy Orders and granted a License to Minister. Some smaller jurisdictions will ordain people who are arguably ill-prepared to face what is a very different world when you are a priest. Because we have so much faith in God, in each other and in our church, we will not. We have a Vocations Team who will support each ordinand or new priest for a significant period of time. We will not leave any room for people to simply go out and present to the public in vestments, leaving themselves and indeed, clergy as a collective, vulnerable.

We are missionaries in the sense that we act on faith in trying to establish missions and parishes wherever we can gather the people. We are entrepreneurial! We take chances and we commit our time, talents, and treasures to the building up of the body of Christ. Like Christ, we seek to serve rather than to be served.

The people that seek to minister within our church should have the same spirit of mission and commitment that the first Apostles and disciples had.

• They should be desirous of changing the world for the better,
   by showing people that Christ is for all – not just a select few.
• They should be willing to give of their time, talents and
   treasure without expectation of financial recompense.
• They should be non-judgmental, open and accepting of
   all people regardless of circumstance.
• They must be able to follow the greatest commandment of all,
   that we love God and love one another as Christ loves us.
• They must feel a call to ordained Ministry and be prepared
   to discern their vocation.

The call to ministry in a church such as ECC is a call to a new vision of Church. It requires contemporary people who hold the historic faith. Is this you?

If you feel that you may be called to the ordained ministry, we invite you to contact us to discuss the matter. All contacts and information are kept strictly confidential.

No matter where you live in Britain we would love to hear from you. Do not let distance deter you. Do not let doubts deter you. Do not let past experiences with larger churches deter you. Do not let race, denomination, gender, sexuality or marital status deter you. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide and follow your heart.

For more information,

please contact Bishop Flynn

OUR FAITH
We hold true to the Faith Professed by the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church; The Church as it was before any of the splits that have wracked its historical development. We hold that faith described by Saint Vincent of Lerins as "That which has been believed always, everywhere and by everyone."

Simply put that means that we believe everything defined by the first seven Ecumenical Councils and proclaimed in the Nicene Creed. Anything added or changed by any individual "Church" since the date of the Second Council of Nicea is not essential for the faithful to believe.

Thus, if you want to believe in the Assumption of Mary (A pious Tradition from the earliest days) fine, but you do not have to. The same applies to legal strictures such as priestly celibacy imposed after that date, they cannot be held as universally obligatory.

CANON LAW

The UECC tries to keep legalism to as low a level as possible. We are guided by the wisdom of our sister churches over the centuries in giving guidelines for the good conduct of church affairs and also the good conduct of all ministers and employees of the Church. The law of this Church is above all the Law as expressed by Jesus Christ: "Love God and love your neighbour." All legislation must help people to achieve this - if it does not then it is a millstone rather than a touchstone.

The UECC recognises that it is to be found within the secular world and must therefore accommodate to the laws of secular society. To this end all clergy of the ECC, including its bishops, are police checked and cleared to work with children and the vulnerable. A copy of our policy on Child Protection is available on request as is a copy of the ECC(UK) constitution.

The canonical structure of the international UECC is being finalised and will be available on this site when completed.

LITURGICAL PRACTICE
In the primitive Church it was recognised that the Sacred Liturgy, especially the Eucharistic Celebration, had certain essential elements, which must be present. However, the words used and the gestures that accompanied them were left entirely to the discretion of the celebrating Bishop. As priests were added to the ranks of the clergy they were expected to celebrate the Eucharist according to their Bishop's ritual. This led to a plethora of rich and varied Liturgies, almost as many liturgies as Bishops. As time went on both Eastern and Western branches of the Church became more and more centralised and the Liturgy became more rigid in its structure.

Some of the so-called "Independent" Churches attach themselves to a particular Liturgical Expression and denounce all others. We do not do this.

Whilst our Bishop uses the reformed Roman Ritual of the Second Vatican Council; he has given permission for any Rite of the Eucharist (or other Sacrament) which is, or has been, promulgated by any of the greater Churches of East or West, to be used freely by clergy according to pastoral needs. So, if a community has come to us from an Anglican tradition they can continue to use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Those from Roman background may use either Tridentine or Reformed liturgy in the language of their choice.

All Celebrations of Sacraments within the church take place under the leadership of an appropriate Minister (Bishop, priest or deacon) vested according to tradition for their role, and should follow closely the rubrics for the chosen rite.

The Society of Franciscan Communities