Begining this morning the Methodist Church in Fiji and
Rotuma will hold its first annual conference since 2008. Over the next three
days new leadership will be chosen, about 26 probationary ministers (myself
included) will seek the churches approval for ordination, and a number of
candidates will seek entrance into the ministry. Important issues relating to
the life and work of the Methodist Church will be discussed and decided upon.
While somewhat nervous about appearing in front of the
leaders of the church for the final step in the six-year journey towards
ordination, I am grateful for the journey itself. I am also encouraged about
the future of the church in which standing with me will be a group fellow
servants, who are not only diverse in background but also include six women
(one of our sisters having passed away some years back).
It is the 48th year since the Methodist Church in Fiji
and Rotuma became an independent conference from the Methodist Church in
Australasia. It is also the 268th year since the first Methodist
Conference was held in London August 25th to 30th, 1744)
comprising John and Charles Wesley, four other ordained ministers and four lay
assistants.
According to the Wesley Centre Online, the key items on
the agenda were:
1. What to teach.
2. How to teach.
3. How to regulate doctrine, discipline, and practice.
For two days they conversed on such vital doctrines as
the Fall, the Work of Christ, Justification, Regeneration, Sanctification. The
answer to the question "How to teach " was fourfold: 1. To invite. 2.
To convince. 3. To offer Christ. 4. To build up. And to do this in some measure
in every sermon.
In the light of
later history the questions relating to the Church of England are of great
interest. It was agreed to obey the bishops "in all things
indifferent," and to observe the canons "so far as we can with a safe
conscience." The charge of schism was anticipated thus:
"Q. 12. Do not
you entail a schism on the Church that is, Is it not probable that your hearers
after your death will be scattered into sects and parties Or, that they will
form themselves into a distinct sect
"A. 1. We are
persuaded the body of our hearers will even after our death remain in the
Church, unless they be thrust out. 2. We believe, notwithstanding, either that
they will be thrust out or that they will leaven the whole Church. 3. We do,
and will do, all we can to prevent those consequences which are supposed likely
to happen after our death. 4. But we cannot with good conscience neglect the
present opportunity of saving souls, while we live, for fear of consequences
which may possibly or probably happen after we are dead."
It was decided that
lay assistants should be employed "only in cases of necessity." The
rules of an assistant are terse: "Be diligent. Never be triflingly
employed. Be serious....Speak evil of no one; else your word, especially, would
eat as doth a canker."
It was decided that
the best way to spread the Gospel was "to go a little and little farther
from London, Bristol, St. Ives, Newcastle, or any other society. So a little
leaven would spread with more effect and less noise, and help would always be
at hand." It is evident that the towns here named were regarded as the centers
of Methodism in that year. The belief was expressed that the design of God in
raising up the preachers called Methodists was "to reform the nation,
particularly the Church,': and "to spread scriptural holiness throughout
the land." (Source: http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/john-wesley-the-methodist/chapter-xiii-in-conference-with-the-preachers/)
Two Sundays ago, I had the privilege of reading the
Gospel lesson at the Centenary Church for the long-overdue induction of the
current President, General-Secretary and Deputy General-Secretary along with
some department heads who had been appointed in the last 3 years. The guest
peacher at the service was the Bishop of the Nevada-California Annual
Conference of the United Methodist Church in the United States of America.
As Methodist ministers, deaconesses and lay leaders
gather for the next three days to reflect on the past three year and envision
the future of the Methodist Church, the words of Bishop Brown are food for
thought.
Reminding his brother and sister Methodist of the call by
Jesus to be salt of the earth and light to the world, the Rev. Dr. Brown made
two important challenges to the congregation and to the church. The first was
to align our will with God’s will and the second was to act out of love and
bear witness of God’s unconditional love in all our actions.
These challenges are part of the Methodist tradition as
John Wesley himself practiced what he preached in his constant work with the poor and the despised of the earth, and
his involvement in the societal problems and controversies of his day.
Wesley did not entertain the illusion that we could bring
the good news of God's limitless love to those deep in suffering without
addressing that suffering. How can we
expect anyone to understand (much less believe) the news that they are prized
and welcomed by God when they are despised, disdained, abused and rendered
nearly invisible by the human world on which they depend for identity and for
survival - and when the bearer of God's
invitation is content to leave them there?
For Wesley, the
Christian declaration of the sacredness of human personality (the real
reflection of 18th century individualism in his thought) could not be separated
from addressing the realities, economic, political, social, and technical,
which battered and suppressed that humanity and which wreaked such physical,
moral and spiritual destruction among the poor.
Simply put, for
Wesley, true Christianity meant doing good deeds for the benefit of their
neighbours as a demonstration of God’s love and as a way of actualizing God’s
kingdom.
For those of us who call ourselves Methodists, this is
the tradition in which we are called to live and serve. It is this tradition in
which the church’s leaders and members gathered at this year’s conference will
be tasked with making their decisions.
“Simplicity, Serenity, Spontaneity”
ENDS
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