Listening together as a global Church ahead of the Conference

Representatives from 11 Partner Churches, alongside the Methodist Liaison Office, gathered in Telford for the Methodist Church in Britain’s Pre‑Conference Consultation (PCC). Together, Methodist, United and Uniting Churches met in a spirit of connexionalism, creating a space of listening, relationship and preparation ahead of the Methodist Conference.

The PCC is a space of conferring: where leaders from Partner Churches share experience, reflect theologically and attend together to what God is doing across the world. It helps ensure that the Conference is shaped not by a single perspective, but through the shared discernment. Over several days, participants spoke from their own contexts, naming both challenge and hope. We heard of churches living with persecution, responding to climate crisis, navigating migration and seeking renewal. These were lived realities offered into the life of the Church, inviting both reflection and response.

A visit to John Wesley’s New Room in Bristol provided a shared point of theological reflection. Standing at the place where Methodism began invited both gratitude and honesty – for the energy of early mission, and for the Church’s entanglement in systems of exploitation, including the transatlantic traffic in enslaved African people.

Participants reflected on how this history shapes the Church’s response to justice today. Bishop Festus Chulu (The United Church of Zambia) noted that “God uses ordinary people who are dedicated to His calling,” and that the Church must respond faithfully to the questions of its own time.

This call came into sharp focus in a powerful joint session with District Chairs on peace. Partners and those from across the Methodist Church in Britain reflected on conflict and division – both globally and within the British context – and what these demand of the Church today.

The Revd Louise Aaen (United Methodist Church Northern Europe, Baltic and Ukraine/Moldova) shared that ministers in her region have been asked to prepare a sermon for when war comes, not if, prompting reflection on what it means to be ready to speak with clarity and courage in our own contexts.

Alongside this, Bishop Samuel Kayinamura (Free Methodist Church in Rwanda) spoke of the long work of healing and reconciliation in the aftermath of conflict, reminding the gathering that peace is a sustained ministry to which the whole Church is called.

There were also clear signs of hope: growing churches, emerging communities of faith and the leadership of young people. Bishop Samuel described the importance of gathering in this way as a Church, “to meet different people and share our experiences is very important for ministry.”

Echoing this, the Revd Luca Anziani, speaking on behalf of Partner Churches at the Opening of the Conference, described koinonia, communion, as a priority for the global Church, particularly in a time when isolation and division are increasingly present across the world.

He reminded the Conference of the importance of ensuring that no part of the Church stands alone. These conversations reaffirm the Methodist Church in Britain’s commitment to global relationships as essential to how it listens, responds and participates in God’s mission alongside others.

Church partners and concordat partners present:

• Methodist Church of the Caribbean and the Americas
• Free Methodist Church in Rwanda
• The Methodist Church Ghana
• The United Church of Zambia
• Methodist Church of Samoa
• United Church in the Solomon Islands
• The Church of Pakistan
• Igreja Metodista do Brasil (Methodist Church of Brazil)
• Opera Per Le Chiese Evangeliche Metodiste In Italia (OPCEMI, Methodist Churches in Italy)
• Igreja Evangélica Metodista Portuguesa (Portuguese Evangelical Methodist Church)
• United Methodist Church Northern Europe, Baltic and Ukraine/Moldova
• United Methodist Church