wfn.org | School Association Organizes

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3121 notes).

Note 3115 by UMNS on Aug. 12, 1996 at 16:18 Eastern (3822 characters).

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CONTACT:  Thomas S. McAnally                401(10-21-22-71){3115}
          Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470           Aug. 12, 1996

International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges
and Universities holds organizational meeting

by Tom McAnally*

     RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (UMNS) -- The first meeting of a new
International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges and
Universities (IAMSCU) was held here Aug. 7-9 in conjunction with
the eight-day World Methodist Conference, which opened Aug. 7.
     The organization was formed by educational leaders meeting at
the previous World Methodist Conference in Singapore in 1991.  A
steering committee met in Tokyo in 1992 to plan this year's
gathering in Rio.
     More than 200 educators participated in the meeting here,
representing Africa, South America, Asia, Europe and the United
States.
      A directory of educational institutions around the globe
that have a common Wesleyan heritage, distributed here, was one of
the first projects of the new association.  The book lists more
than 524 schools located in 52 nations.
     Convener of the Rio meeting was the Rev. Roger Ireson,
Nashville, Tenn., staff executive for the Board of Higher
Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church.
     Goals of the "informal, flexible, and highly functional"
organization are to "increase the availability of educational
opportunities, improve the quality of education and to enable
schools with a Methodist tradition to cooperate through the
development of common understandings."
     "Part of our long-term strategy," Ireson said, "Is to work
with the globalization of the church, particularly in the area of
education."  He also expressed hope that out of the association
would grow bilateral agreements where schools would work together
and share programs.
     The meeting here focused primarily on the challenges facing
the institutions in a new century.  Keynote speaker was Paul
Kennedy, a British historian and popular writer and lecturer who
teaches at Yale (see separate story).
     A second major address on the theology of university
education was given by Yasuo Furuya of the International Christian
University in Japan.
     In addition to hearing and responding to the two major
lectures, participants met in small groups according to types of
institutions they represented and their roles and
responsibilities.
     Hosting the event was the General Council of Methodist
Educational Institutions in Brazil, representing 48 schools in the
country.
     Among those on the steering committee for the new association
is Masanoby Fukamachi, chancellor of Aoyama Gakuin University in
Tokyo.  In a press interview, Fukamachi said educational
institutions related to the United Church of Christ in Japan
graduate 230,000 students annually.  
     "This is particularly significant when you consider the fact
that only one percent of the Japanese people are Christian", he
said.  "It is an important way to take the Gospel to the
Japanese."
     Methodism merged into the united church in Japan following
World War II.  Because of their Methodist roots, several of these
united churches are members of the World Methodist Council, which
is sponsoring the larger conference here.  The council,
headquartered in Lake Junaluska, N.C., represents 71 member
denominations, 30 million members and 107 countries.
                              #  #  #
     * McAnally is director of United Methodist News Service
headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

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