World Methodist Council

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The World Methodist Council, founded in 1881, is an association of churches in the Methodist tradition which comprises most of the world's Wesleyan denominations.

Contents

[edit] Extension and Organization

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The World Methodist council comprises 76 member denominations in 132 countries and representing about 75 million people, which makes Methodism one of the bigger Protestant denominations worldwide, among them the United Methodist Church, the Free Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the United Church of Canada, the British Methodist Church, the Uniting Church of Australia, the Wesleyan Church, and the Church of the Nazarene.

Affiliated organizations are the World Fellowship of Methodist and Uniting Churches, the Oxford-Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, the World Methodist Historical Society, the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women and the - The General Commission on Archives and History.

The highest organ of the World Methodist Council is the World Methodist Conference meeting every five years. The next conference will be held in 2011. On 24 July, Sunday Mbang stepped down as chairperson of the council and Barrett took over his position as well as elected president for the council. [1]

The headquarters have offices in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia

Current officers are:

General Secretary: George H. Freeman
Chairperson: Rev Dr. John C. A. Barrett
Vice-Chairperson: Bishop Paulo Lockmann
Honorary President: Dr. Frances M. Alguire
Geneva Secretary: Dr. Denis C. Dutton
Treasurer: Dr. James W. Holsinger, Jr.

[edit] Activities

[edit] Continuous activities

The World Methodist Council has eight standing committees:

  • Ecumenics and Dialogue is engaged in ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. It is also working towards a dialogue with the Orthodox Church and with the Pentecostal Churches.
  • Education is concerned with education in churches and with Methodist educational institutions. It has organized an international Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges, and Universities promoting quality and value-centered education. The association links representatives from over 700 Methodist related schools and colleges all over the world.
  • Evangelism is coordinating worldwide evangelism efforts of Methodist churches
  • Family Life is concerned with applying Christian values to issues like relationships in marriage, rights of children, rights of the aged, prevalence of violence and changing roles of women and men in society;
  • Social and International Affairs is focusing currently on economic justice or injustice. It has worked out the World Methodist Social Affirmation which was approved in 1986 and is part of the literature of several Methodist denominations.
  • Theological Education focuses on training for ministry based on basic Christian beliefs and distinctive emphases from the Wesleyan tradition.
  • Worship and Liturgy encourages the study of liturgy and forms of worship, especially issues as language and culture, corporate and private worship, music and liturgy, cultural influences, and balancing Christian tradition with local emphasis. Develops hymnals and resources.
  • Youth focuses on empowering young people, taking its motto from 1st Timothy 4;12 and Ephesians 4:12-13: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set and example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ."

[edit] World Methodist Peace Award

The World Methodist Peace Award is the highest honor bestowed by Methodists around the world. Since 1977, it is given annually by the World Methodist Council.

This award is given to individuals or groups "who have made significant contributions to peace, reconciliation and justice", considering courage, creativity and consistency in awarding it.

Recipients of the World Methodist Peace Award include: Habitat for Humanity International, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Boris Trajkovski, former President of Macedonia; the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, and the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina.

[edit] World Methodist Evangelism Institute

One ministry of the World Methodist Council is the World Methodist Evangelism Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. It is as an educational institution one of its kind in Christianity, being committed to the task of world evangelization and being connected to a major university: Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

[edit] Members

[edit] Churches

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Methodist_Council"
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