First Friday Letter
The World Methodist Council
Greetings from the General Secretary
Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace!
September 2024
I pray with the great Apostle that you may be rooted in Christ and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17)
It is a time of war and want around the world. It’s a time for prayer and proclamation about the Kingdom of God of justice and peace. As the Methodist and Wesleyan people, we are engaged locally and globally with this mission, in word and deed.
You will find in this First Friday Letter examples of this engagement coming out of the World Methodist Council and Conference that took place in Gothenburg in August 2024.
Together the Methodist, Wesleyan, United, and Uniting Churches met to pray and worship, to reflect and proclaim, to listen and respond. There are here plans from the Youth and Young Adults, and greetings from the WMC President, Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett. Click here to view the Resolutions adopted at the Council Meetings regarding the situation in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and Korea. Other Resolutions inlcude the lack of Visa approval for Conference participants, Second WMC Consultation on Migration in Manila, Philippines and New International Financial and Economical Movement (NIFEA). See more articles about the Conference throughout this newsletter.
It was a powerful Conference; the President in her greetings (page 7) speaks on her behalf and mine in thanking those who made it happen. Not least, the United Church in Sweden, who was our host. Above all, with the saints celestial and terrestrial, let all honour, praise and glory be given to God, who redeemed us in Christ Jesus, and sent us in the power of the Holy Spirit to be a Church On the Move.
I have a vision for this quinquennium, 2024-2029: that we work more and more in becoming an Association of Churches distinctly like a community, a fellowship (koinonia), connected with one another, respectful and appreciative of our differences, meanwhile accountable to each other in love. The parallel Seminar to the Conference of the IAMSCU - the International Association of Methodist Schools, Colleges and Universities explored this very theme in reflecting on: community, conciliation, and connectivity. My vision is well expressed in a phrase coined by the Rev. Kenneth Howcroft, one of the founders of the Methodist Office in Rome: the World Methodist Council is a Connexion of Connexions. Let us be that, for the sake of mission!
In this quinquennium we will celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed in 2025 and prepare for a great celebration of the 150th anniversary of the World Methodist Council, in 2031.
So let it begin under the calling from God received by the Wesley brothers: to proclaim scriptural holiness through out the world. This is nothing less than seeking perfection in love, to put love divine at the centre. To think and let think. To journey together in companionship and respect.
At the end of the Commissioning service for the newly elected leadership of the WMC, we sang the following Charles Wesley’s hymn:
A charge to keep I have:
To serve the present age, A God to glorify; My calling to fulfil;A never-dying soul to save,
O may it all my powers engage And fit it for the sky;
To do my Master’s will!
Let these words guide and inspire us as we seek to serve the present age. Your brother in Christ,
The Rev. Dr. Reynaldo Ferreira Leão Neto (Léo)
General Secretary
Peace Award Acceptance
I need to pause, deep breaths, (even just had my yoga meditation this morning). I was overwhelmed and prayed that the peace that passes understanding would convince me that this recognition is for me.
This is a moment of another grace revealed. On behalf of people’s unbending hope and persisting struggle for a life with dignity and just peace. I am humbly accepting the 2024 World Methodist Peace Award.
To be nominated is already an honor, to be awarded is a deeper responsibility. I accept this with tears, as I am reminded of the many martyrs in our land some of whom I personally know as co-workers and friends in the ministry of social justice, human rights advocacy, and peacebuilding. Many are in detention because they believe and work for just peace. Some are abducted, harassed, and slapped with unfair charges because of their commitment. I share this award with them.
I am also in tears as I am a witness and in accompaniment to many mothers and loved ones, the poor victims of extra-judicial killings by the war on drugs. Years passed and justice has not been served. I am in awe of how the mothers are unrelenting in seeking justice.
This is quite a long response, as I have to find ways how this collective hope of ours, their commitment, and persistence that nurtured my resolve as a deaconess to carry on the work would strengthen my affirmation to accept the award.
I am humbled.
Maraming salamat.
Norma Dollaga, 2024 Peace Award Recipient
Thank you very much indeed for your most kind and I must say very surprising letter.
I am deeply humbled and honored to have been voted as recipient of the 2023 World Methodist Peace Award. There are so many pastors and leaders in Ukraine, who daily are doing self-sacrificing ministry in offering radical hospitality, comfort, and care to people suffering from the war - they would qualify much more than I to receive the World Methodist Peace Award.
I will prayerfully accept the award and dedicate it to the pastors and leaders in Ukraine, who I hold in such high esteem.
Christian Alsted, 2023 Peace Award Recipient
Officers for the Quinquennium
Rev. Dr. Reynaldo F. Leão Neto
General Secretary
Officers:
President – Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett
Vice President - Joshua Rathnam
Treasurer - Rev. Myron Howie
Youth and Young Adults President - Rev. Samuel Murillo
Staff:
General Secretary - Rev. Dr. Reynaldo F. Leão Neto
Geneva Secretary - Bishop Rosemarie Wenner
Regional Officers:
Mr. Doug Godfrey-Swanney – Europe
Ms. Andrea Gutierrez – South American
Rev. Dr. Jean Hawxhurst – North America
Most Rev. Bannie Managa - Africa
Mr. Richard Tsang – Asia
Rev. Brett Jones – Pacifica and Oceania
Mr. John Delaney – Caribbean and Latin America
At Large Delegates:
Rev. Tara Tautari
Rev. Miguel Angel Ulloa Moscoso
Standing Committee Chairs:
Education and Theological Education – Rev. Dr. Connie Mella
Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs – (to be filled later)
Evangelism – Bishop Daryl Starnes
Social and International Affairs – Rev. Dogbeda Kpavuvu
Youth and Young Adults – Ms. Stephanie Gabuyo
Affiliate Committes:
World Methodist Evangelism - Rev. Dr. Kim Reisman
WesleyMen - Rev. Steve Hickle
World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women - Ms. Sipiwe Chisvo
Immediate Past President:
Rev. Dr. J.C. Park
Looking Forward
Planning for the future. Reviewing the last Quinquennium. Renewing friendships and making new ones. Seeking justice.
These and more were among the many things that made the 22nd World Methodist Conference, held in Gothenburg, Sweden, successful in August.
Starting with Council meetings comprised of delegates elected for 2016 - 2024 and ending with a Council meeting of delegates that will serve until 2029 when the next Conference is held, much work was accomplished and much work was planned for the future.
Many things were the same. Many changed. The WMC headquarters administrative office will relocate from the USA to London, England, the home of the newly elected General Secretary Reynaldo Ferreira Leao Neto. (see his information on page 3)
The Uniting Church of Sweden served as the host for this meeting of Methodists and Wesleyan brothers and sisters who attended from 87 countries.
Speakers and leaders challenged, blessed and called on Conference attendees to be the change that is needed to make the world a better place for all people. General Secretary Ivan Abrahams, also the Program Committee Chair, selected speakers from around the world, which highlighted the similarities of all of us but also pointed out the disparity in some locations caused by climate change, poverty, and war.
Incoming Officers of The World Methodist Council (Treasurer Myron Howie, General Secretary Reynaldo F. Leao Neto, President Debra Wallace-Padgett, Vice President Joshua Rathnam)
Liturgical dance from part of the Nordic Host Group
Bishop Gordon Wong preaching his sermon on Pilgrimage
Crowd during an Evening Worship Service
Learning from Sailing for Life
The 2024 Methodist World Conference ended with a church service on Sunday, August 18. Together with the conference visitors, around three thousand people gathered to celebrate this service at the exhibition center in Gothenburg, Sweden. In the long history of the Methodist World Conferences, it was held on the European mainland for the first time.
Only with a connecting line to God on the way
During the Methodist World Conference with the motto “On the Move” – a conference of the United Church in Sweden took place at the same time in the Gothenburg exhibition center. The divine service on Sunday was the joint closing service of both conferences. The sermon in the closing service was given by Lasse Svensson, the bishop of the United Church in Sweden, which is also called the Ecumenical Church (Swedish: “Equmeniakyrkan”) and to which Methodists also belong.
Tradition teaches us to look ahead
This is what the conference motto is about: “Our life is about finding the connecting line to the goal, to God.” Previous generations in the congregations and churches had already done the same. Good things have come out of it and traditions have become it. This can be looked back on gratefully. However, it is important not to let this bind you backwards. Every generation has the task of allowing itself to be oriented “forward” from the connecting line to the goal, even if the congregations and churches change as a result. Tradition teaches us to be on the move with God and to look ahead”, said the Bishop. This motto brought people from all over the world to Gothenburg, and so they all parted ways again. “We are on the move together – we are ‘on the move’.”
There are Methodists from Nepal
This ended a three-and-a-half-day conference, which was affected by several postponements due to the Corona pandemic. Now people from many parts of the world had come to Gothenburg. The name tags named places of origin from opposite sides of the world such as Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga or Chile and Brazil. From Singapore and Switzerland, Germany and Denmark, of course from Sweden, the USA, India and many countries in Africa, there were people who belong to a wide variety of churches of Methodist and Wesleyan origin. Methodists had even traveled from Nepal, and the list could go on.
Read more stories about the 22nd World Methodist Conference here!
In his sermon, Svensson referred to a passage in the letter to the Philippians (chapter 3, verses 1214). There Paul speaks of “forgetting” the past and, according to Paul, “I reach out to what is ahead”, which he then wants to “pursue” without hesitation. It is easy, the bishop said, to read biblical passages such as those from the letter to the Philippians. However, it is difficult to give up traditions that have become cherished in the church and the congregations. When it comes to “forgetting” the past, as Paul put it very directly, and to orient oneself towards new goals, then there is resistance.
Svensson illustrated the task with a picture from sailing navigation. From his own experience as a recreational sailor through the archipelago off Gothenburg, he knows how to reach the goal by navigating. As a rule, it can never be approached directly. “But,” says the sailing bishop, “it’s always about the connecting line to the destination, which every sailor always has in view.”
Ivan Abrahams, speaks the blessing at the closing service, thus concluding the Methodist World Conference. It was the last official act of the outgoing General Secretary of the World Methodist Council. He was in office for thirteen years.
Photo credit and story: Klaus Ulrich Ruof, EMK Public Relations
Bishop
President Lasse Svensson of the Uniting Church in Sweden
Listening to Youth Voices and Global Challenges
The International Methodist Youth Leaders Seminar (IMYLS) ‘On the Move,’ a crucial precursor to the 22nd World Methodist Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, convened 26 young people from Methodist, Wesleyan, Uniting, and United Churches from 15 countries. The seminar served as a platform to address urgent worldwide shared witnessing challenges, such as migration, peacebuilding, and justice, highlighting Youth and Young Adults’ (YYA) immediate and future roles in our faith communities. The WMC-IMYLS partnered with Equmenia, GBGM, and the Community of Taizé with the support of ecumenical partners from the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.
Participants at the IMYLS voiced concerns about the intergenerational gap within the Church and the need for greater inclusion of young people in decision-making service roles. They also challenged the Church’s Eurocentric perspectives, advocating for a more inclusive approach. Importantly, they urged the Methodist communion to move beyond mere statements about pain and struggle, calling for active engagement in regions affected by conflict and structural violence.
A key topic of discussion was the limitations resulting from political correctness, which participants argued often obstruct effective responses to ongoing genocides, struggles and conflicts. They pointed out the Church’s failure to address the root causes of these issues, including the sources of weapons and financial support, as well as the ideologies that perpetuate many of the necropolitical structures of our time. The YYA’s urge the Church to take a more proactive and responsible role in dismantling harmful structures. They highlighted pervasive problems like xenophobia, racism, classism, and homophobia, which result in discrimination within exclusivist homogeneous communities that continuously struggle with imposed patriarchal, colonial, and disposable understanding of human life. How do we respond theologically to the challenges of transhumanism and the digital condition of life? To the challenges of mental health, considering increasing numbers of isolation of young
people with depression and anxiety? How do we respond to the pain, suffering and trauma of majorities being killed and forced to migrate across the globe? We aim for inclusive communities that recognise the human dignity of all, truly loving and embracing all.
In their address to the World Methodist Council, the YYA Committee urged member churches to prioritise the inclusion of youth and young adults in their representative delegations. They emphasised the importance of gender balance, age diversity, and varied roles and stressed that this inclusion is essential for ensuring young voices are heard in decision-making.
All previous pain and urgency for immediate responses have taken the WMC to support the YYA leadership in creating a continuous training programme focusing on justice, peace and reconciliation, to bring together diverse intercultural and intergenerational voices from across the globe to address a practice of mutual listening and awareness in response to manipulative fake news and propaganda ideologies existing worldwide today. This programme aims to run online training and physical witnessing in territories of struggle in different regions while reinforcing existing partnerships within the methodist/Wesleyan communion (globally, regionally and nationally as needed) and with ecumenical/interfaith partners.
IMYLS and broader youth involvement at the World Methodist Conference underscore the growing recognition of the need for the Church to evolve in responding to today’s real needs. The YYA Committee advocates for a more inclusive, just, and responsive Church committed to addressing worldwide challenges while witnessing the good news of grace and love grasped in our shared faith. Their vision is to foster a more profound commitment to global peace and justice, shaping the present and future.
Written by Rev. Samuel Murillo Torres, YYA President and Ms. Stefanie Gabuyo, YYA Coordinator
We build peace when we resist in communitarian non-violent violence.
We build peace when we give time to others and place our gifts at the service of others.
We build peace when we empathise.
We build peace when I treat others with dignity and love, as Jesus does.
We build peace when we want to take accountability for our actions.
We build peace when we welcome and serve the least, the lost, and the last.
We build peace when we have peace in our hearts.
We Build peace when we show vulnerability and still get the love we and others need.
We build peace when we understand/listen to each other.
We build peace when we see God in each other’s eyes.
we build peace by living with each other’s burdens with broad inclusivity.
We build peace when we share and live for others.
We build peace when we share a “fika”.
(Collective poem written at the IMYLS in Gothenburg, 2024)
Hello from the New President
Dear Friends,
Greetings to you via this First Friday Newsletter. What a joy it was to be “On the Move” with many of you in Gothenburg, Sweden earlier in the month. As decided at our post-Conference Council meeting we will continue to highlight the On the Move theme, applying it in new ways throughout this quinquennium.
Thank you to all those who planned an excellent 2024 World Methodist Conference. Former General Secretary Bishop Ivan Abrahams, past President Dr. J.C. Park, staff Jackie Bolden and Michaela Bryson, the Uniting Church in Sweden, plenary speakers, workshop leaders, the planning team and many others teamed together to provide a wonderful experience for participants.
Congratulations to Rev. Dr. Reynaldo F. Leão Neto on his election as our new General Secretary. He is off to a great start in his new role. Also, many thanks to the Steering Committee for their commitment to serve in leadership during this quinquennium. The Steering Committee’s next meeting is November 21 via Zoom, 8:00 am – Noon EST. Because we are comprised of members from around the world, this will be an inconvenient time for some. To prevent a situation where the same people are inconvenienced on each occasion that we meet, we intend to rotate the times for the quarterly Steering Committee meetings.
The Nominating Committee’s organizing meeting will be convened by the General Secretary via Zoom on Thursday September 12, beginning at 8:00 am EST. In addition to naming the chair for the Ecumenical and Interreligious Relationships Standing Committee, the Nominating Committee will be asked to recruit members for the Standing and Operational Committees as well as chairs of Budget and Finance, Audit, Personnel, Investment and Communications and Publications.
The Steering Committee will soon receive a copy of the resolution that Bishop Rosemarie Wenner and Mrs. Gillian Kingston have developed as requested at our August 18 meeting. It will then be sent to the full Council for action.
I look forward to our ministry together during the next several years. Blessings to you as we continue “On the Move” together.
In Christ,
Debra Wallace-Padgett, President
Conference spotlights Methodism ‘On the Move’
Siblings Agnes and Alfred Quint (on screen) join with singers from the Uniting Church in Sweden to lead worshippers in “O Store Gud,” the original Swedish name of the hymn English speakers know as “How Great Thou Art,” during the World Methodist Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden. Photo by Klaus Ulrich Ruof, Germany Central Conference.
When the clamor of a midday thunderstorm in 1885 gave way to cheerful birdsong and a brilliant rainbow, the Rev. Carl Gustav Boberg felt moved to write down his awesome wonder at God’s creation.
The result was the Swedish pastor’s most famous hymn, titled “O Store Gud” in his native language — literally “O Great God” in English.
The hymn journeyed from Sweden to Germany to Ukraine and eventually to England, where missionaries gave it the title most English speakers know it by today: “How Great Thou Art.”
In a similarly roundabout way, Boberg’s home denomination, the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, is now part of the Methodist movement. In 2011, Sweden’s Mission Covenant members, Baptists and United Methodists — with The United Methodist Church’s blessing — joined to form the Uniting Church in Sweden.
So Boberg’s well-traveled hymn made a fitting opening when the Uniting Church in Sweden hosted the 22nd World Methodist Conference, bringing together Wesleyan-rooted Christians from around the globe.
“Now sings my soul, my Savior God to thee, how great thou art! How great thou art!” sang out the booming voices of worshippers from six continents.
The August 14 evening service doubled as opening worship for both the World Methodist Conference and the annual conference of the Uniting Church in Sweden.
“We are one huge family together,” Bishop Lasse Svensson, the outgoing president of the Uniting Church in Sweden, told the worshippers. He also credited the United Methodist conferences in Denmark and Norway for helping with hosting duties.
“We are so grateful to God for this opportunity here in Gothenburg to get to know each other even more,” he said, “and to get a deeper relationship with God.”
Read about more Conference stories here!
Methodists engage in the NIFEA GEM School in Limuru, Kenya
Immediately after the adjournment of the World Methodist Conference and Council meetings in Gothenburg, Sweden, I headed to Limuru, Kenya, since I am working with the NIFEA staff team on behalf of the World Methodist Council. Together with the World Council of Churches, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, and the Council for World Mission, we explore ways to work towards on an Economy for Life, grounded in our theological conviction that God calls us to be co-workers for justice, in faithful stewardship of natural resources, because we are part of God’s creation.
In Limuru, Kenya, 27 church and youth leaders gathered from 19 to 30 August 2024 for the 7th edition of the Ecumenical School on Governance, Economics and Management for an Economy of Life (GEM School). Participants came from 23 countries in Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America and the Pacific and included church leaders, pastors, theological students, as well as experts in finance and economic and ecological justice advocates, with five participants from the Methodist church family.
GEM School offered an intergenerational and multidisciplinary space to collectively re-think economics from ethical, theological, ecological and feminist perspectives and to imagine new economic systems for a more equitable and sustainable planet. The ten-day program interrogated the relationship between theology and economics through bible studies and theological reflection, discussed holistic economic perspectives and policy proposals, as well identified strategic entry points for advocacy for an Economy of Life.
“Inequality, sustainability, sovereign debt and taxation were key topics at GEM School,” said Athena Peralta, WCC director of the Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development. “More importantly, GEM School explored alternatives: new economic visions, indicators, policies and economic governance structures for a more compassionate economy and an ecologically-flourishing planet.”
Building on rich exchanges and learnings over nearly two weeks, participants developed a wide range of project proposals promoting an Economy of Lide. “E3: Engaging Ecumenically in Economics” proposes to develop a curriculum embodying a holistic approach to economics that can be taught in seminaries. The “Manna Project” shall provide support for mobilizing resources for projects aimed at advocacy and community-rooted initiatives for an Economy of Life. “Put People and Earth Over Debt” is a NorthSouth campaign for debt cancellation and climate finance in Ethiopia, Kenya, Canada and Germany.
Rubia C.G. Cruz from the Methodist Church of Brazil summarized her learnings as such: “Participating in the GEM School was a transformative and enriching experience, where I recognized the importance of rethinking economic systems in favor of an economy of life that prioritizes social justice, environmental sustainability and human dignity. The school provided a platform to deconstruct neoliberal logic, revealing how profit-centered policies exacerbate inequalities and degrade the environment. By exploring alternatives for a new global financial architecture, I recognized the importance of advocating for systems that promote care, solidarity and equity. During this process, it became clear that the church can be a crucial agent in this transformation, especially when we reconcile theology and economics, promoting a liberating theology that challenges oppressive systems and inspires action for a more just society. This learning has strengthened my commitment to economic and social justice, inspiring me to work actively for a more just and sustainable world for all.”
Rev. Gelin Rosamour from the Methodist Church in the Caribbeans and the Americas, who is from Haiti, stated: “GEM School is a bolstering and energizing school, that transforms people’s conception on how to advocate on behalf of the planet in general. It empowers leaders by building their capacity for a transforming life. It also pushes people to engage in Ecumenical consultations.”
GEM School ended with a Consultation on Land as Commons, not Commodity, with leaders, theologians and activists joining in.
Former WCC General Secretary Rev. Dr. Sam Kobia from the Methodist Church in Kenya was one of the keynote speakers, highlighting the biblical mandate to preserve land as a common good, to preserve God’s creation, and to put people over profit.
Dr. Kepifri Lakoh from The United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone introduced the GBGM Yambasu Agricultural Initiative as a model in search for community based work towards sustainable agriculture.
Convened by the World Council of Churches, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Lutheran World Federation, World Methodist Council and Council for World Mission as part of the New International Financial and Economic Architecture or NIFEA initiative, GEM School was hosted by St. Paul’s University and the National Council of Churches in Kenya.
Written by Bishop Rosemarie Wenner, Geneva Secretary
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About the First Friday Letter
The First Friday Newsletter is a monthly publication of the World Methodist Council.
Publisher: Rev. Dr. Reynaldo F. Leão Neto, General Secretary Communications: Michaela Bryson
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