meorome

Methodists Respond to Crisis in Myanmar

March 15, 2021March 18, 2021meorome

The Rev. Dr. Jong Chun Park, president of the World Methodist Council, recently wrote to Methodist leaders in Myanmar. He concluded his letter with, “we hold the Methodist churches of Myanmar in prayer as you do prophetic witnesses and provide comfort to your people in this anxious and uncertain time. And we want to assure you that we stand in solidarity with the patriotic and courageous people of Myanmar struggling and suffering for the cause of justice, truth, freedom, and peace. May God create a new thing in Myanmar!”

Methodists globally are praying for the end of violence and political oppression, reconciliation, the restoration of democracy, and church leaders and missionaries ministering in Myanmar.

Read the complete text of Dr. Park’s letter.

MEOR Forum Meets to Discuss Strategic Vision

March 12, 2021March 18, 2021meorome

The MEOR oversight committee – the Forum – met virtually on 10 March and 11 March for strategic planning. Mr. Ivan Samdaan from the Methodist Church in Southern Africa was the moderator for the sessions.

Among many decisions, the Forum agreed to several actions to strengthen MEOR’s ministry in Rome including:

The MEOR director will present a revised mission/strategy plan to the Forum.
MEOR will revise its corporate and legal structures to better facilitate business in Italy.
MEOR will seek ways to better integrate into the overall governance and ministry of the World Methodist Council and solicit more diverse voices in oversight.

The Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome is the presence of the World Methodist Council in Rome for ecumenical dialogue, joint action for peace and justice, prayer and reflection, and hospitality.

ENCOUNTER – Methodist representative meets Ambassador Sally Axworthy on 8 March 2021

March 9, 2021April 2, 2026meorome

MEOR director and Methodist representative to the Holy See Matthew A. Laferty met H.E. Sally Axworthy MBE, British ambassador to the Holy See, on 8 March 2021 to discuss the work of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, the role of women in Methodist churches, and issues affecting Methodists globally. He also presented Ambassador Axworthy with a book on women in the early Methodist movement in observance of International Women’s Day.

WEBINAR – “From Denver to Dublin, from Brighton to Seoul: History of International Methodist-Catholic Dialogue from 1967 to 2006”

February 23, 2021March 24, 2021meorome

Ms. Gillian Kingston, vice president of the World Methodist Council and former member of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission (1986-2006), will speak about the history of the international Methodist-Catholic bilateral dialogue from its inception in 1967 to 2006, share the major issues debated during this time period, and reflect on the importance of the Methodist-Catholic bilateral dialogue in the late 20th century.

The webinar will take place on Tuesday, 23 March 2021 at 20:00 Rome (+1 UTC) via Zoom. The event will last 45 minutes.

Join the webinar live via Zoom:
https://zoom.us/j/96953904688?pwd=cmxMVjE1WHhTRkQ2bTNUT09hVWtiUT09
Meeting ID: 969 5390 4688
Passcode: 574735

The webinar will be recorded and posted on YouTube after the event.

The webinar will be conducted in English.

BIOGRAPHY – Ms. Gillian Kingston comes from the Republic of Ireland. She is a lay preacher in the Methodist Church in Ireland and serves as the vice president of the World Methodist Council. For twenty years (1986-2006), she was a member of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission and involved in the production of 4 commission reports. She was the chairperson of the Program Planning Committee for the World Methodist Conference in Seoul, Korea, in July 2006. Ms. Kingston is a past president of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland as well as the Irish Council of Churches. She was the first Lay Leader of the Conference of the Methodist Church in Ireland, a position established in 2010. Gillian is married to Tom, a Methodist minister who is retired; they have four adult children and eight grandchildren.

Italian Methodist Deacon Alessandra Trotta Lectures on Synodality

February 22, 2021March 17, 2021meorome

Italian Methodist deacon Alessandra Trotta, moderator of the Tavola Valdese of the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches in Italy, lectured on “Synodality and the Unity of Christians: A Waldensian Perspective” on Friday, 19 February 2021 as part of the Tillard Chair series jointly organized by the Institute of Ecumenical Studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.