wfn.org | South Korea will host 2006 World Methodist Council

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Sept. 20, 2002	News media contact: Kathy Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.	10-21-35-71BP{420}

NOTE: A photograph is available. For related coverage, see UMNS story #419.

By Kathy Gilbert*

OSLO, Norway (UMNS) - Seoul, South Korea, has been chosen to host the 2006
World Methodist Council.

The decision came Sept. 18 after the World Methodist Council executive
committee took two votes on potential sites for the next meeting. Brisbane,
Australia, and Durban, South Africa, were the other two possibilities. 

The council, representing 77 denominations with roots in the Methodism,
meets every five years. It brings together the council's 500 members plus
church delegates and other accredited visitors. The last gathering was held
in Brighton, England, in July 2001.

At the Sept. 16-22 executive committee meeting, the South Koreans made an
impassioned plea for their country to be chosen as the council's next site.

"We are a country of 10 million people belonging to a separated people by
the division of Korea. Many are old and worrying about dying without meeting
their families," said Jong Chun Park, Methodist Theological Seminary in
Seoul. The Korean Methodist Church pledged that its 1.5 million members
would contribute to the higher cost of hosting the event in their country.

"This is the fourth time we have come and invited the World Methodist
Council to come to Korea and help us," he said.

Bishop Mvume Dandala, Methodist Church in South Africa, told members of the
committee the people of his country see visitors as "blessings sent by God."

"In the midst of darkness, the light of their faith has not dimmed," he
said. "Methodists have played a large role in that.

"If you come to South Africa, you will arrive not as tourists, but as
pilgrims," he said.

The representative from Australia admitted that hosting the event would be
difficult for his country because the date would come on the heels of a
large gathering of the Uniting Church.

Sunday Mbang, chairperson of the council, gave executive committee members
time for reflection and prayer before a vote was taken. In the first round,
127 votes were cast: South Korea received 58, South Africa received 52 and
Australia received 17. Australia was eliminated from the second round of
voting. With 122 votes cast, 64 went to South Korea and 58 went to South
Africa.

After the voting, the executive committee voted to hold the next meeting of
the World Methodist Council executive committee in Durban, South Africa.

The Rev. George H. Freeman, top staff executive of the council, will visit
South Korea in October. Afterward, the executive committee will make a
formal announcement of the site selection, he said.
# # #
*Gilbert, a news writer for United Methodist News Service, is on assignment
in Norway.

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United Methodist News Service
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