In response to God's call, and accepting the challenge to be pilgrims together, committed to God and to each other, we, the named churches, hereby publish our intent to constitute a Local Ecumenical Partnership, as understood by our denominations and interpreted in our Constitution.

Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the world has been reconciled to God, and Jesus Christ unity has been offered to all people. Through him we are called into a new relationship with God and with one another as the Children of God. It is a relationship inaugurated by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, appropriated by faith, nurtured and deepened through the ministry of the word and sacrament, and expressed in a confession of one faith and a common life of loving service. Such unity is the gift of God.

With gratitude we have truly experienced this gift growing amongst us in recent years. We affirm our openness to this growing unity in obedience to the Word of God, so that we may fully share, hold in common and offer to the community around us those gifts we have received and still hold in separation. In the unity we seek we recognise that there will not be uniformity but legitimate diversity.

We therefore, now declare our readiness to commit ourselves to each other under God. Our earnest desire is to become fully, in God's own time, the one Church of Christ, united in faith, communion, pastoral care and mission.

We commit ourselves to sharing together in the ministry of Christ to the world, and within this context to explore together the meaning and possibilities of unity for worship, evangelism, mission and service.

We commit ourselves to assessing the resources of Church and Community in terms of people, money and buildings, and to deploying them in the best way in relation to the aspirations and needs of local people.

We commit ourselves to maintaining and developing relationships with Churches Together in Darwen, with our parent bodies and with the Council of Churches Together in Lancashire.