MCSA Conference Report

Message To The Methodist People - “Come Holy Spirit, Heal And Transform Your Church”

The 118th Conference of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa convened with the words of Charles Wesley ringing through the Athlone Methodist Church: ‘the Lord will shortly pour all the Spirit of his love”. With this note of expec-tation the Conference met in Cape Town from 19 to 23 September 2007.

The Most Reverend Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah, Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church in Ghana preached at the opening service, and conducted our Bible Studies. We will, he reminded us, in the modem church, and at this Conference, face challenges and issues as the early church did. The incident recorded in Acts 6 of the appointment of the first deacons in the church teaches us that:

1. We should always keep our core business in sight, which is to know Christ and to make disciples.
2. From a situation that threatened to divide the church, the leaders managed through the grace of God to use a potentially divisive issue, to unite the church, So can we.
3. The problem the church was facing at the time did not retard its growth, but instead, it became a vehicle for the continued growth of the church.

Come, Holy Spirit, heal and transform your church!

Conference was deeply moved as a choir of passionate 5-year olds sang “We can change the world… Let the people know that Jesus loves them”. The YMG from Langa stirred us to vibrant African contemporary worship, singing hymns to the accompaniment of saxophone, traditional drum and keyboard.

Come, Holy Spirit, heal and transform your church!

This has been the prayer of the church through the ages. We need to be transformed while we offer healing and transformation to the nations. A study of Ezekiel 47 showed us clearly that the life giving water flowing from the temple had to start in the temple itself. In the same vein, if we want to transform our world, we need to be willing to say:

Come, Holy Spirit heal and transform your church!

The leadership of the church challenged us that “Business as usual” will not lead to transformation. Something new is happening, and it calls for a new approach. In the words of the General Secretary, the church can no longer be a spaza shop, waiting for customers. We need to become hawkers where people are living and working.

The Presiding Bishop, Rev Ivan Abrahams, in his address to Conference, challenged us to rededicate ourselves to our missionary task. He asked the question, ‘Have we become too self sufficient, inward looking, institutionalised, sanitised and beaurocritised leaving little room for the Holy Spirit to disrupt our well prepared agendas and plans as a church?” Assessing our contexts in the nations of our Connexion, as well as the state of our church, the Presiding Bishop set before us key challenges for the church:

• We need to evaluate our role in Education including the Methodist Schools.
• We need an authentic Southern African service and hymn book.
• We need to build international partnerships, especially within Africa.
• We need to act on the commitment that we are a Child and Youth Friendly church.
• We need to develop a Comprehensive Policy and Implementation Plan for the church to respond to the care of refugees.
• We need to take hold of the opportunity that 2010 affords to minister to visitors at the soccer World Cup.

Our Lay President, Mrs Bakhombosile Mkwanazi reminded us in her address entitled ‘Moving from what is toward what can be”, that a healed, transformed church will care for society’s weakest, such as victims of rape, incest and abuse. It will be more aware of our diversity in order to include everyone in our Connexion such as in the use of the various languages in the Connexion. In this vein we heard a plea from the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Angola to be included in our Connexion, which we will investigate. She also asked pertinent questions regarding the role of the Lay Leadership especially on a District level.

Part of the transformation we are in need of, centres on accountability, governance and implementation. This was at the heart of the report of the General Secretary, Rev Vido Nyobole. To this effect the formation of a Board of Missions was approved by Conference to co-ordinate the work of the Connexional Units, Committees and Organisations.

Rev Vido Nyobole was re-elected to a second term as Secretary of Conference. We pray God’s blessing upon him and his family as he continues to serve in this office.

The birth of a new Human Resources Unit in the church was welcomed with joy. It is to provide services to the Connexion in areas of employment, labour relations, management, care of clergy and the like. It will focus on raising levels of care, capacity, competency and compliance throughout the Connexion.

Come, Holy Spirit, heal and transform your church!

The Conference celebrated the news that the MCSA has won the bid to host the 2011 World Methodist Conference, and we look forward to the opportunity to host the international Methodist community at the ICC in Durban!

The 2005 Conference agreed to the relocation of our Seminary to Pietermaritzburg and this Conference received a report on the progress on this project. Key issues concerning the relocation were discussed. R 11 million have already been donated by private donors and the Connexion will also be invited to make contributions. Conference agreed to name the Seminary the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary, in recognition of the link between our Methodist past and future.

The Mayor Ms Helen Zille welcomed the delegates to Cape Town at a Reception where she commended the Methodist Church on its work in the community, especially among children, and encouraged us in our work.

Twenty nine Ministers and four Deacons were received as Ordinands, ready to be ordained at the closing service of this Conference. We celebrated, 30 years after the first ordination of women, that a third or the Ordinands were women. We remembered and celebrated the lives and ministries of eighteen of our Ordained ministers who have died during the past year. Moving from the past to the future, Bishop Meaker who is retiring at the end of the year passed a candle to the youngest Ordinand, Patric Engelbrecht, as a sign of passing on the torch.

The Conference did most of its business in five Commissions, and on the principle of consensus rather than voting. Commissions reported to the Conference for final decisions. Despite initial reservations, this proved to be an effective way of doing our business. Key decisions that were taken at the Conference included:

Specialised Ministries:

The call is to prioritise the issues of gender and the care of children, especially vulnerable children and those between 0 and 6 years.

Circuits are asked to set up groups to offer pastoral care to those offering home based care to families affected by HIV and AIDS.

Conference resolved to explore the appointment of a Connexional Youth President. Decisions involving young people will be done in consultation with the youth structures. The value of Sports Ministry was acknowledged as a vital component of ministry with youth and circuits are encouraged to engage in such ministry.

Property, Administration and Finance:

Various dynamic and creative proposals were presented which would result in re-capitalisation of the church and in so doing to free up resources to grow the capacity to address challenges facing the church and society at large. Jubilee 2008, selling unused church property for funds for mission and ministry, was approved.

The Stipend Task Team, having done their work over a number of years, brought their proposal after having done thorough financial and theological work. Their recommendation of a voluntary Stipend Augmentation Fund was agreed to by Conference. The efficacy of the voluntary fund will be reviewed at Conference 2008.

Policy and Doctrine:

Regarding the Same Sex debate, Conference continues to promote the spirit of unity by encouraging continuing conversation among all members. Conference is determined that we engage differing perspectives to seek a way forward that respects these views, and holds in balance differing views among our ministers and people. We will continue to offer care to homosexual individuals. We decided not to apply to be a designated denomination to officiate in civil unions in the current context.

Mission and Ministry:

Conference call on all Methodists to be tested and know their HIV status. We specifically call on District leaders to take a lead.

“Poverty is our greatest threat”. Towards responding, Synods are to report in 2008 where poverty is experienced within their districts, what the causes of poverty are, and how to structure clear and workable responses to these issues. All members who employ people are called upon to pay at least the minimum wage.

Public Issues, Advocacy and Communication:

Having noted efforts to bring improvements, the MCSA is deeply concerned about reports and experiences of people regarding the poor state of South African Government hospitals, and calls on the Government to take urgent action. The high cost of medical services in the private sector is also of concern.

The church is to be engaged in programmes of reducing crime through education, offender rehabilitation and care of victims.

Poor service delivery in communities is of great concern to the church, as well as the sometimes violent response from residents.

Zimbabwe remains a great concern to the church, and calls on the Zimbabwe Council of Churches and SADC respectively to find ways towards healing. The MCSA will establish a task team to investigate plight of refugees.

We call for legislation to end human trafficking.

The MCSA will set up a Standing Committee on Public Issues and Advocacy to research issues between Conferences.

Our Ghanaian brother reminded us that the church has a mission to fulfil. The church exists for the world. Conscious of its mission, it prays, “Come Holy Spirit, heal and transform our church” This prayer is both dangerous and disturbing. It tells us we can’t remain where we are. We’ve got to be moving. But it is also a rewarding prayer, because the church that prays this prayer is wanting to make a difference.