The Methodist Church in Britain
Aim
Increase awareness of God's presence and to celebrate God's love; Help people to grow and learn as Christians, through mutual support and care; Be a good neighbour to people in need and to challenge injustice; Make more followers of Jesus Christ
History
In 1784 Wesley made provision for the continuance as a corporate body after his death of the 'Yearly Conference of the People called Methodists'. He nominated 100 people and declared them to be its members and laid down the method by which their successors were to be appointed. In 1784 Wesley gave legal status to his Conference, which moved towards the legal separation of Methodism from the Anglican Church.
IRD Activities
- Interfaith Relations
The Report 'Called to Love and Praise', adopted by the 1999 Methodist Conference, says of interfaith dialogue- 'Christians may enter such dialogues in the faith that God will give them deeper insight into the truth of Christ'. The Methodist Church encourges churches and members to get involved in interfaith dialogue to increase awareness of God's presence and to celebrate God's love/ to help people to grow and learn as Christians, through mutual support and care/ to be a good neighbour to people in need and to challenge injustice/ to make more followers of Jesus Christ
- Publications
The Methodist Church provides resources for people who are interested in interfaith dialogue
- The Feast Initiative
The Feast is an interfaith initiative which brings teenagers together to explore faith and to build confidence and friendships. Facilitators work hard to create intimate and safe spaces and the topics they discuss are ones that young people are concerned about. The Feast allows young people to develop listening and sharing skills which they can use in their everyday lives. Initiative works by building good relationships with groups of young people and then invites them to ‘encounter’ events where they can meet one another. The relationships between the young people have to be developed in distinctive ways, as their varied communities have different structures and youth programmes based on faith and culture.
Main Focus Countries of Activities
World - World - World