The Global Networks for Mission initiative derived from a period of consultation among the Partner Churches and organisations of the Methodist Church in Britain and Methodist Church in Ireland to consider ways of strengthening global mission cooperation.
The result of this consultation was to create interconnected thematic networks, focusing on common global concerns. These networks honour the diverse contexts and experiences of each partner and work to strengthen Methodist connexions. Ultimately, we hope the networks will model new paradigms of evangelism beyond our colonial past.
The networks seek to create a space to listen to each other and learn from one another. In doing so we do not simply exchange news and information but move to a deeper level of personal, church and community transformation.
Land Rights and Social Justice
Pilot Project (2023-2025)
Following consultation Land Rights and Social Justice was agreed as the theme for the first iteration of the project.
The project was led by the co-Chairs Suijthar Sivanayagam (The National Christian Council of Sri Lanka) and Bishop Luis Andrés Caicedo Guayara (The Colombian Methodist Church).
Over 2023 and 2024 a series of online consultations were organised inviting participation, reflection and engagement from church leaders, theological educators and practitioners. The online consultations provided an opportunity for participants to learn more about how issues of land rights and social justice are experienced contextually across the worldwide family of Methodist and United churches and be in solidarity with one another. It also offered space to share innovative and impactful church initiatives and examples of best practice.
The testimonies and contributions of those who participated in the consultations have shaped the resources below (available in both English and Spanish) which we hope will encourage conversation, collaboration and action within local churches.
The resources include chapters that examine:
- Land Theology and Responsibility (Suijthar Sivanayagam, Sri Lanka)
- Gender Equality and Access to Land (Amparo Beltrán, Colombia)
- Social Justice and Redistribution (Horacio Mesones, Argentina)
- Prophetic Complaint and Land Concentration (Ratnamma, Sri Lanka)
- Ecclesiology and Complicity (Graham Philpott, South Africa)
- New Creation: Hope and Restoration (Paul Regan, Great Britain)
It can be downloaded from: