Category: News

The Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome and the Methodist Liaison Office Jerusalem invite you to the webinar “Voices from Bethlehem: Christian Unity in the Birthplace of Jesus” on Friday, 21 January 2022 at 09:00 Rome/10:00 Jerusalem.

The webinar celebrates the theme of the 2022 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity – “we saw the star in the East, and we came to worship him” from Matthew 2 – which was selected by the Middle East Council of Churches. In this webinar Christian leaders from Bethlehem and environs will discuss the importance of Christian unity in contemporary times in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus.

Speakers for the events are:

• Daoud Nassar (Lutheran) is the director of Tent of Nations, a receipent of the World Methodist Peace Award
• Zoughbi Zoughbi (Latin-rite Catholic) is the founder and director of Wi’am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center
• Fr. Issa Michael Thaljieh (Greek Orthodox) is the parish priest of the Greek Orthodox Nativity Church in Bethlehem
• Dn. Ashot Ghazaryan (Armenian Apostolic) is the secretary of the Armenian Theological Seminary of Jerusalem
• Revd Angleena Keizer (Methodist) is a mission partner assigned to the Methodist Liaison Office Jerusalem and a resident of Bethlehem.

The Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, will moderate the webinar.

The webinar is free and will last 90 minutes. The webinar will be conducted in English on Zoom.

Please register online to receive the Zoom link. Click here to register.

Photo: The Adoration of the Magi. Image in public domain.

The Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, and the MEOR staff wish you and your loved ones a very merry Christmas. May God richly bless you in 2022!

“Come, let us with speed to Bethlehem go,
The house of that Bread which God doth bestow:
To all He hath given and sent from above
The Banquet of Heaven, the Son of His love.”

Methodist hymnographer Charles Wesley

The Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission is seeking applications and member suggestions for new Methodist members for a new dialogue round beginning in 2022. The Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission is the official theological dialogue body between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church. The commission has a long and accomplished history of fostering greater understanding internationally as Methodists and Catholics seek unity in Christ through faith, mission, and sacraments.

The 16-member commission has 8 Methodist members and 8 Catholic members. The commission meets in-person each year, usually in October, for a week-long meeting that is marked by joint prayer, conversation and dialogue, and friendship. The commission selects a theme each cycle as the focus of their work and, historically, produces a comprehensive theological report which bears the fruit of dialogue. The next dialogue round will last approximately five years. The first meeting of the next round is tentatively scheduled for 2-9 October 2022 in Rome, Italy.

Persons interested in serving as a Methodist commission member should be:

• Fluent in English as English is the official language of the commission
• Conversant in Wesleyan theology
• Willing to travel internationally and attend all meetings
• Able to write papers or theological texts
• A member-in-good standing of a World Methodist Council member church

The commission is seeking a diverse pool of nominees who engender the diversity of the World Methodist Council. The commission is especially seeking applications and suggestions of women, persons from the Wesleyan Holiness movement, and persons from the Global South.

Commission nominees will be approved by the Ecumenical Relationships Committee of the World Methodist Council and affirmed by the WMC Steering Committee.

The selection committee is seeking suggestions and/or applications. To offer suggestions and/or applications to be a member of the Methodist-Roman Catholic International Commission, please send suggestions or applications (a letter of interest and CV) to the Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, at director@meorome.org by 11 February 2022.

Please contact Rev. Laferty if you have any questions.

The Rev. Matthew A. Laferty, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, spoke to Andy Dye in the Methodist Church Britain’s Global Relationships Office in a short interview on 22 November 2021. Rev. Laferty is a mission partner of the Methodist Church in Britain.

How would you summarize your work as a Mission Partner?

My work is to promote dialogue between Methodists and other Christians, to provide education on how to engage ecumenically and to share the work that Methodists are doing ecumenically, particularly with Catholics.  Also to provide hospitality for Methodists passing through Rome.

Why is the Methodist Ecumenical Office in Rome important for Methodists in Britain and Ireland?

In a place where Methodists are a minority, the work of dialogue and understanding is critical.  It is a way of trying to mirror the experience of Methodists here. In scripture, the prayer of Jesus is, ‘May they be one….so that the world may believe’ – its part of our mission imperative.  It is also a way to deal with the difficult issues that have divided Christians for so long.

While you have been a Mission Partner in Rome, what has been your greatest challenge?

Eating too much pasta!  But seriously, the office is still a newcomer in Rome.  We are the new kid on the block, we started in 2014, so in Rome a lot of the work is convincing people that Methodists have something interesting to bring to conversations and gifts to contribute in ecumenism. On a personal level adjusting to culture and ways of going about things is very different from my previous work in Austria.

What impact do you feel you have made?

Continuing to build on the core relationships and strengthen them.  Covid has even helped us, to give us time to focus on these core relationships and use technology in useful ways.  We have been developing other programs, including webinars that everyone can access and understand the work more widely.

How do you think that God is guiding you in your work?

I have started a Thursday prayer group with an Anglican colleague.  I am good at work items, less good at prayer and I have sensed a calling back to prayer with colleagues is important.  Calling us back in to prayer with one another. Its significant that the week of prayer for Christian unity is the highlight of the ecumenical calendar.

What has surprised you most of all?

It is so hot!  It’s important to prepare for the three changes of shirt days, especially in meetings that might include people like the pope!  The goodwill toward me and toward the office is also surprising, I was expecting people to keep me away from things, but actually, in the main, from cardinals to those interested in social issues, people are open to hearing a Methodist point of view.