The Institute for Multicultural Mission

The Institute for Multicultural Mission

The Methodist Church in Britain has recently supported three ministers to attend the inaugural meeting of the Institute for Multicultural Mission. Read the reports below:

From Integration to Transformation: Multicultural Ministry in the Midst of Migration Highlights of the Recent Session of the Institute for Multicultural Ministry, By Klaus Ulrich Ruof and John Calhoun

In recent years, many Methodist congregations across Europe have opened their doors to refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants from distant lands in search of greater freedoms and opportunities. In addition to providing humanitarian assistance to those in need, local churches are also receiving new members who speak different languages and worship according to different traditions than those of their host communities. While local congregational life can be energized by the inclusion of new persons representing other cultural norms, many local churches also experience difficulty integrating these new members from faraway lands.

In response to the rise of these new multicultural patterns within local churches, the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church recently launched a pilot project to provide training to pastors and laity leading congregations impacted by migration. The first session of the newly established Institute for Multicultural Ministry was held during August 22-30, 2019….. read more here

A reflection from Rev David Markay

Bong, bong, bong….

Zzzt, zzzzt, zzzzt…

Each August morning of the Institute for Multicultural Ministry, we were awakened by the bells of a nearby church and the arrival of a construction crew to an adjacent worksite. For our group gathered at the Germany UMC’s Educational and Training Center (BBZ) in Stuttgart, these two recurring sounds -- the chimes of tradition and the buzz of construction -- provided an appropriate audio background for our group’s discussions……read more here