Conference of The Methodist Church in Great Britain Wolverhampton, United Kingdom July 1 9, 2009

Transcription

1 August6,2009 eurasia.ru) FromMoscow,Russia Representative of the Northern Europe and Eurasia Central Conference of the UMC ConferenceofTheMethodistChurchinGreatBritain Wolverhampton,UnitedKingdom July1 9,2009 ItwasagreatblessingandhonorformetorepresenttheNorthernEuropeand EurasiaCentralConferenceoftheUnitedMethodistChurchattheConferenceof the Methodist Church of Great Britain ( I am grateful to God and leaders of our Central Conference for giving me this opportunity. IwouldliketosharesomeofthehighlightsoftheconferencethatIexperienced thereandlearnedabout.amongthemare: 1. experiencewiththerepresentativeoftheworldchurchatthepreconferenceconsultation(july1 3,2009); 2. participationintheordinationservice; 3. decisionaboutnewhymnbook; 4. closingofthemethodistpublishinghouse 5. youthparticipationattheconference 6. president sandvice president saddresses Methodist Church Conference in UK_July 1-9_2009.doc 1

2 7. MethodistChurchinGambiabecameautonomous 8. Rev. Nicola Vidamour appointed to London after mission work in Pskov,Russia(2003 June2009) 9. ColinRide,Europesecretaryandthenewpost 10. StrengthsandweaknessesoftheMethodistChurchofGreatBritain Letusnowlookintoeachofthesepointsinmoredetail. 1. Experiencewiththerepresentativeoftheworldchurchatthe pre conferenceconsultation(july1 3,2009); From July 1 st through July 3 rd, 2009 about thirty of us, World Church representativesfromaroundtheworld,gatheredtogetherforprayer,fellowship, discussions,learningandsinging.ourtimetogetherbeganwiththevisittojohn Wesley s Chapel in London where we learned how our Methodist movement began.everymorningwebeganwithprayersandsingingledbyrepresentatives of certain continent. It was such a blessing to experience singing from Asia Pacific,Africa,Caribbean,SouthAmericaandEurope. Wehaveheardpresentationsanddiscussedissuesofjusticeandwealth,andof climate change. I had the privilege to share some information about Northern EuropeandEurasiaareaandhowpeopleofourcountriesstruggleinthistimeof economicandfinancialcrises.andyetchristcallsustosharethegoodnewsand toshareourresources,especiallywiththoseinneed,inourtimeandplace. Methodist Church Conference in UK_July 1-9_2009.doc 2

3 On the issue of climate change, we reflected on the document Hope in God s Future: Christian Discipleship in the Context of Climate Change ( developedastatementthatwaspresentedattheconference.itreads: Statement from the Pre-Conference Consultation with Partner Churches The Pre-Conference Consultation (July 1-3, 2009), made up of Representatives of the Methodist Church in Great Britain s Partner Churches throughout the world, discussed the Hope in God s Future report to Conference. The group was moved by the wailing of people representing some of the most vulnerable places of the earth. We also reflected on God s love and compassion expressed in creation, and the interdependency of all creation. Therefore, in the context of climate change, Christians are called to confess, to repent and to take urgent action. As part of the created order, the church must be prophetic, exercising the passion and the commitment of a prophet. This would place us at the forefront of initiatives and movements to: a) gather commitments from all nations to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, to set targets for these reductions and to make necessary changes in our individual lifestyles, in our means of transport, land, buildings and investment practices; b) secure food and free fresh water for all; c) support just economic structures and development; d) address the needs of environmental refugees and migrants. In addition, as a community of faith we must seek to mirror God s life-giving and life-sustaining intention for the world. As we study the document, we must be looking for things that we can do personally to reduce to reuse to recycle. We must also be looking for things that we can do as churches to reduce to reuse to recycle to revise our investments. We invite Conference, therefore, to join us as Representatives of the World Church as we commit ourselves, honestly and sincerely, to carry this affirmation and Hope in God s Future to our own churches for further study, deliberation and action. (from Daily Record No. 6 of the Conference, It was a great experience for me to meet and fellowship with the Methodist brothersandsistersfromaroundtheworld.ifelt strangelywarm inmyheart asilistenedtothestoriesoffaithandchurchdevelopmentinsomanycountries andculturesofgod sworld. 2. Participationintheordinationservice I had the privilege to participate in one of the ordination services in St.Chad s ChurchinShrewsbury.Itwasaspecialtimewhenwe,aspastorsfromdifferent partsoftheworld,laidhandsontheordinands.itwasatimeofexperiencingour connection,fellowshipandcommonmission.ihopewecanexperiencethismore inourconferencesaswell. Methodist Church Conference in UK_July 1-9_2009.doc 3

4 3. Decisionaboutnewhymnbook There was a long and emotional debate about the need for new hymn book. Some people wanted to publish new hymn book to replace the old one. Others wanted to move to electronic versions and not spend a lot of money on publishing.thesearevalidargumentsifwethinkaboutourownsituationwith hymnbooks.attheend, The Conference adopted the following as Resolution 35/1C: The Conference confirms its understanding that a new authorised collection of Methodist hymns and songs for use in Methodist worship means one which together with previously authorised collections (such as Hymns & Psalms and The Methodist Hymn Book) shall form the body of authorised Methodist hymnody. (from Daily Record No. 5 of the Conference, 4. ClosingoftheMethodistPublishingHouse This was a painful decision of closing the Methodist Publishing House. Some of the reasons for that are financial efficiency and property management. The conferencedecidedtoincorporatesomeremainingstaffintoconnexionalteam, where publishing project will be done in the future. This brings us to a consideration about our own publishing departments in Northern Europe and Eurasia.Howarewedoingonpublishing? 5. Youthparticipationattheconference Youth reports and video presentation was very inspiring and challenging. It certainly challenged delegates to think about 10 years into the future and how our churches respond to young people today. I was thinking that it would be good to invite youth representatives to our Annual Conferences to share about someoftheissuesthatyoungpeoplefacetoday. 6. President sandvice president saddress The Methodist Church of Great Britain has an interesting system of leadership. They do not have Bishops. They have a president and vice president of the conferencewhoareelectedforone yearterm.thepresidentisaclergyperson, andthevice presidentislay.thistimetwopeople,whowerealreadyelectedat the last year s conference, the president Rev. David Gamble and vice president Dr. Richard Vautrey, began their term of service for They both addressedtheconference. PresidentDavidGamblepresentedhisthemeforthisyear CreatingSaferSpace. Vice presidentrichardvautreyfocusedonimportanceoflayministry. Methodist Church Conference in UK_July 1-9_2009.doc 4

5 7. Methodist Church in Gambia became autonomous It was interesting to learn that the Methodist Church in Gambia is the last church that became autonomous from the Methodist Church of Great Britain. It was a special moment of celebration and the symbolic threshold of a new era for the partnership of the Methodist Church in Great Britain and its partners around the world. 8. Rev. Nicola Vidamour appointed to London after mission work in Pskov, Russia (2003 June 2009) After six years of mission work in Pskov, Russia Nicola Vidamour returned to England and received an appointment in London. We are very grateful to Nicola and the Methodist Church of Great Britain for partnership in mission in Wesleyan spirit. The people of Pskov especially thankful to Nicola for the gifts and graces she brought to their ministry. Although far from Russia, Nicola will continue to be in partnership with us. She is the editor of the Mesto Vstrech (Meeting place) devotional magazine, which is a Russian edition of the Upper Room magazine of the United Methodist Church. Nicola will continue this ministry and stay in contact with us through the Internet and E mails. Methodist Church Conference in UK_July 1-9_2009.doc 5

6 9. Colin Ride, Europe secretary, and the new post The conference adopted a resolution about adding a new full time senior member of staff to World Church Relationships team. For us in Europe this has implications. Colin Ride, Europe Secretary in the World Church Relationships team has been a key leader in partnership with the Methodist Church of Great Britain. We are grateful to Colin for his active and generous leadership during many years of our partnership. Colin will retire in August His post as Europe Secretary will not be replaced. New post will be created in September 2009 Partnership Co ordinator in the World Church Relationships team, with a special responsibility for Europe. The person appointed to this new post will be our main contact for partnership. Methodist Church Conference in UK_July 1-9_2009.doc 6

7 10. Strengths and weaknesses of the Methodist Church of Great Britain Rev. Nicola Vidamour and Colin Ride shared some of their thoughts about strengths and weaknesses of the Methodist Church of Great Britain. Here are someofthem: Strengths: RediscoveringourMethodistheritage Growingcommitmenttomission Layleadership Theologicaleducation GrowingpartnershipamongMethodistsinEurope Engaginginissuesthatarerelevanttothesocietytoday Weaknesses: Lackofconfidencebecauseofsubstantialdeclineinmembership Agingmembership Notenoughevangelismwork Conclusion In conclusion, I am grateful to God for gifting us with Methodist movement aroundtheworld.wearebigandwonderfulfamilyofpeoplewhoarepassionate about making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We havemanychallengesandstrugglesinmanycountriesontheplanet.yetweare eager to do mission and share the good news of Jesus Christ, to help people in needandworkforthecleanerandsaferenvironment,topracticejusticeanduse ourresourceswisely.iamgratefultogodforthemethodistmovement.weare very diverse and rich, and we have so much to learn from each other. Let us continue to learn from each other and be faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. God blessyou! Methodist Church Conference in UK_July 1-9_2009.doc 7