THE Church of England and the Methodist Church took the significant step towards unification yesterday when they agreed on the "Anglican-Methodist Covenant".
This statement officially recognises one another as "true Churches belonging to One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ".
It is the third time that the two have sought to merge. The last attempts in 1969 and 1972 failed when the Church of England refused to accept the Methodist ministry as equal to its own.
The Bishop of Bristol, the Rt Rev Barry Rogerson who is the Anglican chairman of the so-called "Formal Conversations", described the agreement as a significant step forward which "could well change the face of Christianity".
The Covenant recognises both Churches' ordained and lay ministries and sacraments of baptism and Eucharist. It now needs the approval of the General Synod and Methodist Conference.
In the past the Church of England's General Synod failed to reach the 75 per cent majority needed to allow unity to proceed.
The members balked at recognising the Methodist ordained ministry as interchangeable with its own priesthood.