The Church in the Dale - why?

The aims of the Church in the Dale, and the motivation behind its creation, are summed up in the Memorandum of Understanding, which has been signed by representatives of all the churches: 

As members of the constituent churches, we uphold the authority of Scripture and the truth of the Ecumenical Creeds and, in so doing, we affirm our faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

We rejoice in the riches of the varied traditions we have inherited and seek to share them more fully with one another.  However, we recognise that our historical divisions have sometimes been a hindrance to mission and service.  Accordingly, we affirm our belief in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church, and agree to accept the Lund Principle of 1952 in that we will, henceforward, act together in all matters except where deep differences of conscience or conviction compel us to act separately. 

We affirm the importance of the Five Marks of Mission as formulated by the Lambeth Conference in 1988 and endorsed by Churches Together in England in 1997 as:

to proclaim the Good News of the kingdom;

to teach, baptise and nurture new believers;

to respond to human need by loving service;

to seek to transform unjust structures of society; and

to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and to sustain and renew the life of the earth

In particular, we commit ourselves and our churches:

to seek together a deepening of our communion with Christ and with one another;

to work through co-operation and clear commitment to each other in common evangelism and service to the world;

from time to time, to engage in joint worship, prayer and study so that we may know and value each other and, together, seek God's will for his people;

to work together in pastoral, social and evangelistic outreach into the whole Nidderdale community;

to publicise and promote our Church life by joint means wherever possible;

to develop an understanding of and respect for other faiths and cultures, both locally and in the wider context;

to develop a joint ecumenical Ministerial and Staff team for regular prayer, study, consultation and appropriate action;

to integrate our decision making bodies through a single structure to ensure the most effective use of the resources available to us; and

to ensure that all future Ministerial and other Staff appointments, although made by each denomination, shall be made with such consultation within the Ministerial Team as is reasonably possible, consonant with denominational procedures.