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The 22nd World Methodist Conference is set to begin

The five-yearly gathering brings together the global family of Wesleyan, Methodist and Uniting Churches

August 12, 2024

The 22nd World Methodist Conference is set to begin later today, 13 August, in the beautiful Swedish city of Gothenburg.

The Uniting Church in Australia will have a strong presence at the Conference with 10 delegates attending alongside Uniting Church President Rev Charissa Suli. The President has been invited to speak on a panel about intercultural ministry and to take part in the closing worship of the Conference, commissioning new office bearers for the World Methodist Council.

The WMC is the five-yearly conference of the World Methodist Council which is made up of more than 80 different churches representing more than 82 million people in 132 countries. It brings together this global family of Wesleyan, Methodist and Uniting Churches to deepen faith, identify the contours of future ministry and to set the direction for the World Methodist Council for the next five years.

We're excited that the Uniting Church delegates will be taking over the Uniting Church in Australia Facebook page for the week of the WMC, sharing photos, highlights and decisions with the wider UCA directly from Sweden. Make sure you're following!

Please pray for the Conference and for our delegates as they travel to and from Sweden, connect with old and new friends in our global family and make their unique contributions to this body of Christ.

Follow official communications from the World Methodist Council on Facebook and on the website.

"The Council and Conference helps me reflect upon the Wesleyan roots of the UCA, centring around God's unconditional grace and call to social justice and evangelism"

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Uniting Church delegates

The Uniting Church delegates to the WMC are: President Rev Charissa Suli, Rev Ann Perrin, Rev Lyn Burden, Isabel Thomas Dobson, Rev Kevin Dobson, Richard La'Brooy, Joyce Tangi, Dr Deidre Palmer, Rev Viniana Ravetali, Rev Dr Amelia Koh-Butler and Rev Prof Glen O'Brien.

Read below as some of our delegates share their hopes for the Conference.

Richard La'Brooy

I’m looking forward to being a part of the World Methodist Conference in Sweden. It’s a fantastic opportunity to connect with people from across the globe and understand different expressions of Methodism worldwide. As a Chaplain at a former Methodist, now Uniting Church, School I know the profound impact the Methodist movement has had in Australia, and I am looking forward to seeing what that looks like in the 21st Century.

Isabel Thomas Dobson

This will be my 3rd Conference, and 4th Council meeting. For me it is a bit like an extended family reunion- meeting many I’ve never or rarely met, wondering at and noticing similarities and differences that come from our shared past and different contexts now. The UCA is a very little church in global terms so I believe it is vital we keep links with other Christians and learn from them. I know I will come away yet again thanking God for our Manual for Meetings and discernment processes.

Rev Kevin Dobson

I've attended WMC meetings since Durban in 2011 where I was an observer. I was so impressed that I was appointed a member in London in 2013, Houston in 2016 and Seoul in 2018. I'm looking forward to Gothenburg next week. The Council and Conference helps me reflect upon the Wesleyan roots of the UCA, centring around God's unconditional grace and call to social justice and evangelism.

Dr Deidre Palmer

I am looking forward to being part of this global gathering of Christians, sharing our hopes and challenges, and drawing strength and wisdom from their witness to Christ’s love, justice and reconciliation.

Rev Ann Perrin

I’m looking forward to being part of the Methodist Family and getting to know the worldwide Methodist Church.

Rev Lynette Burden

I'm excited to be going to WMC to experience John Wesley’s 'Word and Deed' as it is being lived out across the world through the wider 'Wesley family' and to engage with the issues facing the church across the globe. I'm expecting awesome cross-cultural worship and incredible depth in studying the scriptures.

Siosiana (Joyce) Tangi

Throughout the last few months, it has been enriching to join Youthful Delegates from across the world as we journey towards the World Methodist Council. Meeting on zoom once a month, it’s been exciting listening to new stories and meeting new friends. Listening to journeys of discovering peace and justice, from vastly different communities and yet still similar hopes, it emphasises the importance of collective action and finding common ground as young people. There has been an eagerness to pray for each other, share wisdom and support one another as we all come from different parts of the world. I’m excited!

Rev Dr Amelia Koh-Butler

I have served 8 years on the WMC Steering Committee as the Convenor of Worship and Liturgy. It has been rewarding, frustrating and exhausting. I think we have a lot to offer global ecumenism, but maybe different from what we think we have to offer. We are amongst the smallest of the member churches, so we can easily over-estimate our influence, but also undersell the task God might have for us.

E.g. the things we value, like inclusion and ‘fair go’ are not common values for many of our sister churches. We are able to operate as go-betweens and peacemakers in ecumenism because of our combo heritage. We have a huge advantage in not having bishops as we have a freedom to speak that many others do not have. We have no idea how truly valuable our multiculturalism is and how helpful it can be in multivocal discourses. We come from a land of larrikans and nonconformists, which makes other churches regard us with some suspicion.

I am looking forward to concluding this chapter of work, but continuing in global ecumenism in my work with Council for World Mission (as Mission Secretary for Education, Formation and Empowerment AND Pacific) and the World Communion of Reformed Churches (Theological Working Group and Worship/Liturgy Team).

Global ecumenical work is complex and often very frustrating, but UCA leaders have a lot to offer. Our theological breadth, our consensus habits, our whole continent perspective and our isolation can sometimes feel like disadvantages, but they also make us adaptive and a bit more creative with our problem solving.

Having been part of the planning for this event, I am looking forward to being hosted by a Uniting Church and meeting up with colleagues from other continents.

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