THE METHODIST Conference has called on the Government to stop all deportations to Zimbabwe immediately, and to grant Zimbabwean refugees the indefinite right to remain in Britain (News, 11 July).
Meeting in Scarborough, the Conference condemned the Government’s failure to care for the refugees, and expressed support for all international efforts to bring about a peaceful, sustainable democratic future for Zimbabwe.
The Conference’s new President, the Revd Stephen Poxon, said in his opening address: “We look in horror and sorrow at what has been happening in Zimbabwe. How slow as a nation we have been to condemn Mugabe and his regime, and only now are people waking up to the violence and the genocide.”
The Conference received a report on early human life, Created in God’s Image, jointly produced by the Methodist Church, the Baptist Union, and the United Reformed Church. It voted to revisit its stance on abortion, last reviewed in 1976. The report, which looked at the ethical and theological issues raised by stem-cell research and fertility treatment, said that embryos should not be created solely for the purpose of research, but that it was acceptable for embryos created during treatment to be used for research.
The Conference also endorsed the concerns of the Youth Conference, which included knife crime, the plight of the Burmese people, and the pressures on young people combining church activities with further education or work.
The Conference offered prayer and support to the General Synod, meeting almost simultaneously in York; affirmed the Covenant with the C of E; and supported the creation of a new body to continue the work of implementing it. It also renewed the Fresh Expressions scheme for a further five years.
In his opening address, Mr Poxon asked: “What is God saying about our future ecumenical journey? How can we offer hospitality to other Churches? We need to work for a reconciled unity which is informed by the mission of the Church . . . learning to be Christians Together, and not Churches Together.”
A new Pioneer Ministries scheme was launched, in which the Methodist Church will invest more than £4 million in establishing new congregations across the country, aimed especially at young adults. The scheme will involve the establishment of new Christian communities and congregations in a variety of locations.
There will initially be 20 new projects, beginning in 2009. Each project will serve the spiritual and practical needs of those who have previously had little or no experience of church. The secretary for evangelism and church- planting, the Revd Graham Horsley, said: “This is clearly a risky strategy, but sometimes the Church is called to take risks.”
The report Equally Different? was presented to the Conference. It addresses discrimination faced by groups within churches and in society, including sexism, racism, and homophobia. Alison Parker, equalities and diversity project worker for the Methodist Church, described the report as “a major step on the road to creating a more inclusive, welcoming, and credible Church”. |
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