12 April 2010
April 2010 meeting of the Methodist Council
The Methodist Council met on 10-12 April at Royal Holloway
College, University of London in Egham, Surrey. This is the third
Council meeting of this Church year. A key theme running through
the Council's discussions was the vision of Methodist heritage in
its past, present and future forms.
A major issue addressed by Council was the 2009 Methodist
Conference commitment to establishing the Church's position on the
situation in Israel and Palestine. The Council approved a report
submitted by the Israel Palestine Working Group for presentation at
the 2010 Methodist Conference. The report gives guidance on how to
take action to promote justice and peace. One of the report's
resolutions encourages Methodists to write to their MPs, MEPs and
Government ministers and call for urgent help to be given to people
who are suffering as a result of the Occupation. It also encourages
Methodists to visit Israel and Palestine through the help of
agencies that convene meetings with Palestinian Christians engaging
in respectful dialogue with Jews and Muslims. Another resolution
supports the World Council of Churches 2009 call for an
international boycott of Israeli goods from illegal
settlements.
The Church's carbon reduction project was also on the agenda. The
Council accepted a report identifying how established policy and
practice impacts on the carbon footprint of the Methodist Church
and how reductions could be made to reduce the Church's carbon
footprint in line with the Government's targets of 80 per cent
reduction by 2050. The report included recommendations that
Methodist Circuits be encouraged to fund Government sponsored smart
driver training among lay workers, ministers and preachers where
appropriate; that local churches sign up to Hope in God's Future
pledge and that changes are made to Standing Orders in order for
energy performance and energy efficiency requirements to become
mandatory for church buildings and manses.
Thaddeus Dell, Carbon Reduction Policy Officer for The Methodist
Church, said: "The risks and impacts of climate change and the
responses to tackle it are increasing. It presents the Methodist
Church with both a theological and practical challenge. The
recommendations seek to encourage an enabling framework to make it
easier to implement carbon reduction in the key areas that will
maximise benefits whilst tackling other significant impacts."
Methodist Heritage was also discussed. The Council backed
resolutions to financially support four key heritage sites -
Wesley's Chapel in London, John Wesley's Chapel in Bristol, The Old
Rectory in Epworth and the Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum of
Primitive Methodism near Crewe - whose preservation, the report
stated, link heritage to mission.
Jo Hibbard, Methodist Heritage Officer, said: "I am grateful for
the huge support of our work over the past year which I and the
Methodist Heritage Committee have received from the Council today,
particularly the appreciative remarks referring to the new
Methodist Heritage Handbook. I am delighted that we have been given
such a strong and positive mandate today to develop opportunities
for mission offered by our historic sites and the use of our
collections as fresh expressions of heritage."
Other topics discussed at Council included the audit committee
annual report, the Connexional budget, safeguarding, Equality and
Diversity, Wesley College Bristol, the review of the Resourcing
Mission Office, fundraising, ministries learning and development,
social media, Epworth press and the new Methodist hymn
collection.
All the papers discussed by the Council can be found online here:
www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.content&cmid=3050.