OUR VISION: To see the Methodist Movement alive, vibrant, growing and yearning to spread the good news of Christ Jesus throughout the whole world through word, deed and sign!

WORLD METHODIST COUNCIL DECLARES EVANGELISM PRIORITY FOR NEXT FIVE YEARS


20- page report of World Evangelism Division ministries to the World Methodist Council. Get your personal copy by emailing to WMEPress@WorldMethodist.org or calling toll-free 1-866-400-8573.

At its quintennial conference in Seoul, Korea, the World Methodist Council set evangelism as its worldwide priority for the next five years.  This followed dynamic reports on the work of the World Evangelism Division of the Council by Dr. Maxie Dunnam, Chairperson, Dr. Winston Worrell, Director of the World Methodist Evangelism Institute, and Dr. H. Eddie Fox, World Director of Evangelism.  Worldwide, Methodism is growing at more than one million persons per year.

In his report, Dunnam reminded the delegates of the uniqueness of World Evangelism, pointing out that the World Methodist Council is the only World Communion to have an evangelism division, a full-time director of evangelism and also an Evangelism Institute for extensive worldwide evangelism training. He announced the re-election of Fox as the World Director of Evangelism for the Council for the next five years.   Dunnam declared, “What World Evangelism is doing in leadership development, faith-sharing and Connecting Congregations throughout the world Methodist movement is one of the most powerful dynamics in contemporary Christianity.”


Dr. Eddie Fox

Worrell told the delegates of the special 25th Anniversary of the World Methodist Evangelism Institute, a ministry of the World Methodist Evangelism Division and Candler School of Theology, Emory University, being planned for 2007.

Fox’s report to the 2,500 Methodists from 71 countries at the Conference centered on the theme, “The Bells Are Ringing.” He began with the dramatic story of the bell in the Methodist Church in Varna, Bulgaria, which rang from the bell tower for seventy years before it was removed by the communist regime in the 1960s. Then, three brave young men, pretending to be workers, secretly moved the bell from the church grounds and buried it in a garden where it laid silent in its tomb for forty years.

The conference responded with great applause when Fox declared, “Evil never has the last word!  The bell was raised from its tomb and when a new church was erected in the heart of the city, the bell was placed in a new tower, in the highest point above the city skyline.  The congregation would not ring the bell until the church was dedicated.  Through World Methodist Evangelism, a family made a huge sacrifice to help finish the church on September 29, 2002 and the bell rang again!”

In a moving moment, Fox announced that
Bulgarian Methodist Superintendent Bedros
Altunian was one of the three youth who
originally hid the bell and introduced
Altunian’s son, Samuel, who was a delegate
to the conference in Korea.

Fox’s message resonated with the audience
as he declared that the bell rang at creation,
through the message of the prophets, in the
songs of the Psalmist and, uniquely, in the birth,
life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  He declared, “The bells are ringing around the world today through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Fox said, “The Moment is Urgent” and declared that it is not God’s intent that we should live in a world of violence, destruction, and war.  We are called to ring the bell of salvation, healing and hope in the world.”

Fox carried the bell image throughout his presentation, sharing how the bell rings through the World Evangelism outreach, including:

Fox reminded the delegates that they would have to make sacrifices if they were committed to the world evangelism mission, “‘That the world may know Jesus Christ!’ Our unity is in Christ Jesus, full of grace and truth.” He indicated that, "There are parts of our movement which are in decline, and in denial, who are suffering from 'truth' decay."

Referencing the song “If I Had a Hammer,” he reminded delegates that the second verse begins, "If I had a bell."  He concluded, "You have a bell, the name is Jesus, and we are called to be the bell ringers through word, deed, and sign in the world!"

At the end of Fox’s presentation, the meeting hall was filled with the sound and video images of Methodist church bells ringing in Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Tonga.  The entire conference stood with sustained applause and delegates received “bell labels” to attach to their official name tags as signs that they were “Bell ringers of the good news ‘That the world may know Jesus Christ!’”

The “bell ringing” emphasis continued as many of the delegates gathered around the Peace Bell at the Korean Demilitarized Zone following Sunday worship services during the conference, declaring that the bell would ring in the name of Jesus Christ for all the people on the Korean peninsula.  Dr. Fox and the new Chairperson of the Evangelism Division, Bishop Robert Fannin joined with other delegates in this unique moment.

The Vice Chairpersons of the Division for the next five years are Bishop John Bryant, Dr. Maxie Dunnam, and Bishop Lawi Imathiu.

World Evangelism Convocation

The Saturday World Evangelism Convocation – a sub-meeting of the World Methodist Conference -- offered another opportunity to hear how the Methodist Church is bringing hope through worldwide evangelistic outreach.

Rev. Taavi Hollman, Superintendent of the Methodist Church in Estonia, shared how God sustained the people during difficult times and how the church in the former Soviet satellite nation is reaching out today.

Dr. Wilson Bonfim of Brazil told stories of EvangeMed, a ministry of World Evangelism and the Methodist Church in Brazil, which offers medical care to "the poorest of the poor" in Rio and the Amazonian region.

Katherine Ng, a member of the World Methodist Council presidium and a leader in the Methodist Church of Hong Kong, told how "Faith-Sharing Ambassadors," are trained and sent out as witnesses.  They expressed to the Convocation that the very being of their church has been changed by this emphasis.

Bishop Mvume Dandala, chief executive of the All-Africa Council of Churches, challenged participants to be faithful ambassadors of the Gospel and Dr. Darryl Starnes of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, affirmed the assurance of the power of God's Spirit for sharing the Gospel message.

A highlight of the convocation came as individuals committed to support the work of many young evangelists on bicycles in the Mt. Kenya region in Meru, Kenya, through the ministry of World Evangelism and the Kaaga Synod of the Methodist Church in Kenya. Others gave to the call to provide "EvangeBicys" for young evangelists in Ghana.  A Missionary in Ghana said, “Young evangelists are today shedding their flip-flops for a speedy EvangeBicy!”

Through the ministry of World Methodist Evangelism the bells will continue to ring around the world.

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