I want to begin by sharing news that as intimated in the minutes of the
Mission & Society Committee I have just recently been elected by the
Free Churches Group to serve them as their Moderator from 2011 to 2015.
My term of office will begin next spring as I succeed Betty Matear of
the Salvation Army in this role. The office of Moderator gives the
member churches of the Free Churches Group a representative at national
and public events. The office is held for four years on election by the
Group Meeting. The Free Churches Moderator is one of the four Presidents
of Churches Together in England, along with the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and Bishop Nathan
Hovhanissian, Primate of the Armenian Orthodox Church in the UK.

Whilst it is primarily one of representation and profile on national
state occasions for the Free Churches of England it does mean that I
will have by implication the privilege of carrying the voice of the
Congregational way and that of the Federation on a much wider public and
church scale. I count this as a real privilege and will seek to do all I
can over this term of office to serve the 23 groupings of churches that
make up the Free Churches Group whilst being an ambassador for CF.

Chris