wfn.org | British Methodists focus on ecumenical ties, racial justice

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July 7, 2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 
ALL-AA-AS-I{351}

NOTE: A sidebar, UMNS story #352, is available with this report.

By Kathleen LaCamera*

LLANDUDNO, Wales (UMNS) - Almost three centuries after Methodism's founder,
John Wesley, first visited Wales, British Methodists gathered in this north
coastal town to worship, debate and make decisions for a 21st century
Methodist Church.

The June 28-July 4 conference tackled a host of issues, including closer
official ties between Methodists and Anglicans, the struggle for racial
justice and the designation of the first ever general secretary for the
denomination. 

In his inaugural speech to the conference, the Rev. Neil Richardson, the
incoming Methodist president, encouraged those assembled to resist the
temptation of "Wesleyan fundamentalism," in the year that sees the 300th
anniversary of Wesley's birth.	

"The world has changed so much; we have changed so much," Richardson told the
conference. "We have to ask what we need to leave behind, what we need to
cherish and take with us into the future."

Answering that challenge, conference members voted 277-86 to accept the
Anglican Methodist Covenant, which paves the way for mutual recognition of
clergy, shared sacraments and joint decision-making structures between the
Church of England and British Methodism (see UMNS story #347, "British
Methodists say 'yes' to closer ties with Anglicans," July 2). They also
accepted a major report from the church's Commission for Racial Equality,
detailing racial justice issues within the denomination and in the larger
community. 

Naboth Muchopa, the author of the report and Methodism's secretary for race
relations, said there are new pressures on race relations since the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks on the United States. 

"Since 9-11, people have made a mental move backwards," Muchopa said. "Some
say surely we have the right to decide who we want to relate to. Surely we
have the right to associate with people who share the same values and views
we hold."

Inderjit Bhogal is the first and so far only person of color to serve as
president of the British Methodist Church. He is also the only church
official selected by the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair to serve on
a high-level advisory panel on racial equality. Bhogal said the Church must
keep holding up this issue and "not grow weary."

"We must more vigorously develop black leadership in the life of the church,"
he told United Methodist News Service. "We must develop broader voices....
Racism has no place in the life of the church."

Conference delegates also urged Methodists to support efforts to get food and
medical aid to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank; called for the release
of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi; voted to work with United
Methodists on banning cluster bombs; voiced concern that AIDS has become the
"new apartheid" and urged more pressure be put on multinational
pharmaceutical companies to release cheap generic drugs; and expressed a
desire to work with the British government to provide aid and end repression
in Zimbabwe. 

Ann Saunkeah, a United Methodist representative from the Oklahoma Indian
Missionary Conference, told UMNS that she observed a refreshing lack of
individual political ambition on the part of British Conference delegates.  

"I sense a real spiritual renewal taking place here," Saunkeah said. "They
really are about the Church."

A fellow United Methodist representative, Bishop Melvin Talbert, said the
results of the Anglican Methodist Covenant process would be an "inspiration"
to U.S. United Methodists who recently have begun similar conversations with
the Episcopal Church USA. Talbert is the ecumenical officer of his
denomination's Council of Bishops.

In additional business, the conference agreed to appoint the Rev. Nigel
Collinson to a six-year term as its first ever general secretary, or top
staff executive. Delegates also elected the Rev. Will Morrey as the new
president designate, scheduled to take office in 2004. Morrey, who became
deaf at age 19, said he hopes his appointment will "encourage others with
disability." 

More information about this year's British Methodist Conference is available
at http://www.methodist.org.uk/news/index.htm.

# # #

*LaCamera is a United Methodist News Service correspondent based in England.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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