World Methodist Council

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

World Methodist Council
Protestant
OrientationMethodism
ScriptureBible
TheologyWesleyan
General SecretaryBishop Ivan M. Abrahams
PresidentBishop Jong Cheon Park
Vice-PresidentGillian Kingston

The World Methodist Council (WMC), founded in 1881, is a consultative body and association of churches in the Methodist tradition. It comprises 80 member denominations in 138 countries which together represent an estimated 80 million people[1][verification needed]; this includes approximately 60 million committed members (of Methodist and united and uniting churches) and a further 20 million adherents.[2][verification needed] But there is also another, contradictory, number of members of the member churches on the WMC's website: about 40 million.[3] It is the fifth-largest Christian communion[verification needed] after the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, and World Communion of Reformed Churches (see list of denominations by membership).

Affiliated organizations are the World Fellowship of Methodist and Uniting Churches, the Oxford-Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, the World Methodist Historical Society, World Council of Confederation of Methodist Youth, the World Council of Methodist Men, World Methodist Council of Teens, the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women.

World Methodist Conference

The highest organ of the World Methodist Council is the World Methodist Conference, which meets every five years. The next Conference, the 22nd, will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2024.[4]

The 21st Conference was held in 2016 in Houston, Texas in the United States. The theme was "ONE". Organized around four sub themes – One God, One Faith, One People, One Mission.[5]

The 2011 conference, gathered under the theme "Jesus Christ - for the Healing of the Nations", was held in August 2011 in Durban, South Africa.[6] On 24 July 2006, Sunday Mbang stepped down as chairperson of the council and John Barrett took over his position as well as elected president for the council.[7]

In 2006, it formally approved the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.

World Methodist Council officers

Current officers are:

The World Methodist Council has offices in

Atlanta, Georgia
.

Activities

Continuous activities

The World Methodist Council has eight standing committees:

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".[8]

Recipients of the World Methodist Peace Award include

Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo
in Argentina.

Former World Methodist Council Museum near the office building (hardly visible on the left) of its former headquarters at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina; nearby is a small park, the Susanna Wesley Garden

Evangelism institute

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

Former headquarters and museum

In the 1950s, area residents and Methodists from the

Dallas, Texas. In Spring 2021, the World Methodist Council sold its headquarters building, including a museum, to the assembly for $1.25 million. The World Methodist Council moved to offices in nearby Waynesville, North Carolina.[9]

At a Lake Junaluska Board of Trustees meeting in March 2022, Lake Junaluska Executive Director Ken Howle announced a $1.1 million gift from Anne and Mike Warren, who also gave $625,000 toward the purchase of the headquarters building and part of the Susanna Wesley Garden next door.[11] The gift from the Warrens helped with $2.5 million in renovations to what is now called the Warren Center, for smaller group events.[12]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Member Churches". Worldmethodistcouncil.org. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Member Churches". World Methodist Council. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Statistical Information". Worldmethodistcouncil.org. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Welcome to the Conference". The World Methodist Conference. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Press and Media - About the 21st World Methodist Conference (past)". The World Methodist Conference. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  6. ^ 2011 World Methodist Conference
  7. ^ World Methodist Council elects Barrett as chairperson
  8. ^ Museum of Methodism and John Wesley's House, World Methodist Peace Award, accessed 27 December 2022
  9. ^ a b Hyatt, Vicki (16 June 2021). "Benefactors discuss significance of World Methodist Council building". The Mountaineer. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Here's to 100 more years for Lake Junaluska". Asheville Citizen-Times. 8 July 2013. p. A7 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Lake Junaluska announces $1.1M gift for renovations to former World Methodist Council building". lakejunaluska.com. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  12. ^ Johnson, Becky (22 December 2022). "Making the grade: Lake Junaluska continues multi-million dollar upgrades with new event venue". The Mountaineer.

Bibliography

External links