NOTE OF THANKS

The Consultation of the World Council of Churches with African and African Caribbean Churches in Britain was made possible by the active efforts of a number of committed people and organisations. Besides Hubert van Beek of the Office of Church and Ecumenical Relations at the General Secretariat of the WCC, first to be mentioned is the organising caucus. It consisted of six members of diverse Black traditions who, for seven months, met and carefully planned the meeting: Joe Aldred, bishop of the Church of God of Prophecy and theological scholar at Sheffield, who strives for the renewal of Black majority churches in Britain and a socially and theologically relevant ministry; Dr Roswith Gerloff, Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds and former director of the Centre for Black and White Christian Partnership, who researches in the African Diaspora in Europe and helped to contact various wings of the movement; Pauline Huggan, minister of the Shiloh United Church of Christ Apostolic and coordinator of the International Ministerial Council of Great Britain (IMCGB), who, from her experience as the only Black Pentecostal woman at the Central Committee of the Conference of European Churches and (newly elected) deputy convenor of the Enabling Committee of Churches Together in England (CTE), underlined the ecumenical significance of the event; Ronald Nathan, director of the African Caribbean Evangelical Alliance in London and a firm supporter of links between African and African Caribbean churches (he and Roswith also attended the Nairobi Consultation 'Building Bridges' between African Traditional and the Historic Mission Churches in November 1995), who firmly emphasised the needs of the young and the connection between church, culture and identity; James Ozigi, Senior Apostle of the Cherubim and Seraphim (Aladura movement), member of the executive of the Council of African and African Caribbean Churches and member of the Churches' Commission for Racial Justice, who represented the African Indigenous wing and also 'Black Christian Concerns' in London; and Tony Parry, minister of the New Testament Church of God, community worker and chairperson of the West Yorkshire African Caribbean Council of Churches (WYACCC), who represented the North and made all the necessary local contacts.

Thirdly, there is Cyril Hastings with his wife Sister Hastings, host pastor at the Harehills New Testament Church of God where the consultation took place: We were accommodated splendidly, and without the ladies' team we would not have had such wedding-like, festive meals. Mention has also to be made of the New Testament Church of God Gospel Choir and Chorale who helped us to worship the Lord from the bottom of our hearts.

Fourthly, thanks must go to all the participants, especially those who contributed to the lively discussion or led in worship (among others Archbishop Fidelia Onyuku-Opukiri and Bishop L R Graham) and to the presenters Robert Beckford, Birmingham, for the African Caribbean community, and Jerisdan Jehu-Appiah, London, for the African community.

Last but not least, gratitude has to be expressed to the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds, which, in line with its approach of linking community and church life with theological and religious reflection, not only supported the event administratively and financially, but also freed Roswith Gerloff to prepare and convene it. Representing the Department were Professor Haddon Willmer and Dr Kevin Ward, lecturer in African Christianity.

Reporters at the Consultation were Colin Davey of the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland (CCBI), Joe Aldred of the Church of God of Prophecy, and Roswith Gerloff. The latter has composed this booklet.