| Events To Consider United Methodist Future in Eurasia | |||||||||||
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by Elliott Wright |
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New York, NY, Sept. 9, 2009 -- United Methodist leaders from three continents will convene in mid-October to focus on the future of the church in Eurasia, a vast area incorporating most of the former Soviet Union. Some forty bishops, mission executives, educators, and persons active in the United Methodist Russia and Central Asia Mission Initiatives are invited for a Eurasia United Methodist Roundtable. Participants from Asia, Europe, and North America will look at expectations related to growth in five areas of church life: Worship attendance, financial self-sufficiency, lay leadership, Christian service, and achievement of annual ministry goals. The roundtable will take place October 14-15 immediately following the annual meeting of the directors of the General Board of Global Ministries. Many participants will be drawn from the directors and staff of the agency. Bishop Hans Växby, the episcopal leader of the Eurasia Area, is a director of the mission agency and a convener of the roundtable in cooperation with the mission board. The emphases will be on the questions, "Where do we want to be in 2015 and how do we get there?" Methodist mission work existed in both far eastern and far western sections of Russia prior to the Communist Revolution of 1917. It ceased to exist in the Soviet period but was revived in 1989. The Russia Mission Initiative of the General Board of Global Ministries incorporates Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and a new Bible fellowship in Azerbaijan. Today, there are some 120 United Methodist Churches in these countries served by indigenous pastors, many trained at the new United Methodist seminary in Moscow. The Eurasia episcopal area also includes the five republics of Central Asia, once also inside the Soviet Union. This region is part of a Central Asia Mission Initiative and incorporates congregations in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, and both a Bible college and extension center of the Moscow seminary in Almaty, Kazakhstan. There are a total of five annual or provisional annual conferences in Bishop Växby's area. At the roundtable, the bishop will present a Eurasia United Methodist "Roadmap" developed last summer during meetings of the five annual conferences in the episcopal area. Bishop Växby referred to the five elements of the plan as "signposts" into the future. A team from Eurasia will accompany the bishop to assist in presenting the roadmap at the roundtable. Issues of mission collaboration will also be explored at the mid-October event. Mission Initiatives of Global Ministries involve networks of international partners. The networks incorporate volunteers in mission, the development of connectional resources, and financial assistance.
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Date posted: Sep 10, 2009 |
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Russia Intiative web page
