CHICHESTER, UK – The Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, was in Chichester, United Kingdom, from 20-22 June 2025 for a conference on ecclesiastical law, entitled “Nicaea Received: 1700 years of Canons, Councils and Ecumenism.” The conference, organized by the Ecclesiastical Law Society, brought together church lawyers, experts in ecclesiastical law, and senior church leaders to discuss the importance of the Council of Nicaea, particularly the 20 canons (or laws) created by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, to the churches today and to the pursuit of Christian unity. The conference assembled a wide range of participants from Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Orthodox, and Reformed churches.
Director Laferty spoke an ecumenical panel about the relevance of the Nicene Creed for Methodist churches today, particularly as a doctrinal standard in Methodist church law. In addition to Rev. Laferty, the panel also included the Most Rev. Bernhard Longley, Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, H.E. Archbishop Nikitas Lulias, Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Prof. Anna Tronet, a canonist from the Church of Sweden, and the Ven. Moira Astin, bishop-designate of Crediton in the Church of England.
Plenary speakers for the conference were His All-Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, Prof. Dr. Myriam Wijlens, Catholic canonist-theologian, and the Rt. Rev. Dr. Christopher Cocksworth, dean of Windsor.
Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome 