'A means of grace': reflecting on the World Methodist Conference

written by Rev Prof Glen O'Brien

Glen O’Brien attended the World Methodist Conference as a UCA delegate. He is a Uniting Church minister in the Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, a Professor of the University of Divinity and Research Coordinator at Eva Burrows College where he lectures in Christian History and Theology, specialising in Wesleyan studies. 

What does it mean to be a Uniting or United Church in the world family of Methodists? Our President, Rev Charissa Suli, and ten other UCA members have been finding out over the last week in the beautiful city of Gothenburg, Sweden, while serving as delegates to The World Methodist Council and Conference.

John Wesley believed Christian conferencing was a means of grace and that certainly proved to be the case as we reflected on themes such as migration and pilgrimage, under the larger Conference theme of ‘On the Move’, during a week of rich engagement with people in a genuinely international community.

The Conference met in tandem with the Annual Conference of our hosts, The Uniting Church in Sweden, which was established in a merger between The Baptist Union, The Mission Covenant Church, and The United Methodist Church in June 2011. Dynamic and lively worship services were held throughout the event including a moving ordination service for over thirty new ministers (both deacons and pastors – the latter are ‘Ministers of the Word’ in UCA-speak). The majority were women and most were relatively young. While we had heard much talk of decline in the church in Sweden, this event was a powerful sign of hope for the future of the church here.

Our own President, the Rev Charissa Suli, participated in the Consecration of the new bishop (Karen Wiborn) and assistant bishop (Niklas Piensoho), thus creating a meaningful link between our two churches.

During the Conference, we learned about the spirituality and experience of the Indigenous Sámi peoples of the northern regions of Sweden, Norway and Finland. Sámi leader, Johannes Marainen, spoke of his experience being raised in Swedish schools where his own language was prohibited on pain of corporal punishment. Today he teaches Sámi language at University.

A highlight of the seminars was the presentation of Palestinian Christian women, Areej Murad from Bethlehem and Lamma Mansour from Nazareth on ‘What’s Happening in Palestine?’ It was a brave and articulate act of representation that was moving in its laying out of the tragic realities of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

The Council issued statements calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as statements on the war in Ukraine, and on ‘the Forgotten War’ in Sudan.

United Methodist deaconess, Norma P. Dollaga received the 2024 World Methodist Peace Award for her efforts to stop extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. United Methodist Bishop Christian Alsted received the 2023  Peace Award for his work in Ukraine.

Bishop Debra Wallace Padgett and the Rev Dr Reynaldo Ferreira Leao Neto were elected to lead the World Methodist Council over the next five years, as President and General Secretary respectively.

One of the gifts that the Uniting Church in Australia has brought to the World Methodist Council is our consensus decision making process. While it was clear that the Council was still settling in to the use of the process, it will greatly assist the global community of Methodist, Wesleyan, and Uniting/United churches in its work moving forward.

The Conference was preceded by the meeting of the International Association of Methodist-Related Schools, Colleges, and Universities (IAMSCU). I had the privilege of introducing our President to the Board of IAMSCU, and President Rev Charissa Suli later presented a moving presentation on Inclusion along with Danish theologian, Dr Hilde Marie Ogreid Movafagh.

I also had the opportunity to present a seminar on ‘John Wesley’s Political World’ with Dr Paulo Roberto Garcia, Methodist theologian from Brazil. Uniting Church chaplains, Richard La’Brooy and Vinnie Ravetali were also present and participated widely in IAMSCU seminars as well as the education-themed seminars of the WMC.

Sweden is a successful society which has been free of war for over two hundred years. It has free health care, free university education, twelve months maternity leave, and is welcoming of migrants, maintaining an inclusive multicultural community without the tensions that have emerged in some other European countries. Though its citizens are not particularly avid church goers, the Christian faith is still very much in evidence here, not only in the beautiful churches that dot the landscape but also in the faithful witness of Christian communities of all kinds.

It has been a privilege for our Uniting Church delegation to gain insight into our diverse international community of Methodist, Wesleyan and Uniting/United siblings during these days in Gothenburg and to make our small but significant contribution to that family.