World Methodist Council

Last updated

World Methodist Council
World-methodist-council-logo.png
Logo
AbbreviationWMC
Type Communion
Classification Protestant
Orientation Methodism
Scripture Bible
Theology Wesleyan
General SecretaryRevd. Dr. Reynaldo Ferreira Leão Neto [1]
PresidentBishop Debra Wallace-Padgett
Vice-PresidentJoshua Rathnam
Members33,679,626 (2014-2024)

The World Methodist Council (WMC), founded in 1881, is a consultative body and association of churches in the Methodist tradition. It comprises 80 member denominations in 138 countries which together represent the majority of Methodists worldwide.

Contents

It is among the largest global communions of churches, after the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Anglican Communion, World Communion of Reformed Churches, World Assemblies of God Fellowship, Lutheran World Federation and World Baptist Alliance (see list of denominations by membership).

Affiliated organizations are the World Fellowship of Methodist and Uniting Churches, the Oxford-Institute of Methodist Theological Studies, the World Methodist Historical Society, World Council of Confederation of Methodist Youth, the World Council of Methodist Men, World Methodist Council of Teens, the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women.

Members

In 2016, the World Methodist Council was made up of 80 member denominations: [2]

Countrydenominational subfamilyDenominationNumber of membersYear
InternationalMethodist United Methodist Church [n 1]
  • Central African Conference
  • Central and Southern European Central Conference
  • Congo Central Conference
  • German Central Conference
  • Northern Europe Central Conference
  • Philippines Central Conference
  • West Africa Central Conference
  • US Conferences
  • Liberia Conference
9,087,322 [n 2] 2022-2023 [3] [4]
InternationalMethodist Church of the Nazarene 2,471,5532016 [5]
InternationalMethodist Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church 1,432,7952014 [6]
InternationalMethodist Wesleyan Church 140,9542017 [7]
InternationalMethodist Free Methodist Church 1,547,8202018 [8]
InternationalMethodist African Methodist Episcopal Church 2,5002014 [6]
South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and NamibiaMethodist Methodist Church of Southern Africa 2,600,0002014 [6]
ArgentinaMethodist Evangelical Methodist Church in Argentina 8,9402014 [6]
AustraliaMethodist Chinese Methodist Church in Australia 3,5882014 [6]
AustraliaMethodist Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia 2,4522014 [6]
AustraliaUnited Churches (Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists) Uniting Church in Australia 243,0002018 [9]
BahamasMethodistBahamas Conference of the Methodist Church1,9002014 [6]
BangladeshMethodistBangladesh Methodist Church18,2012014 [6]
BelgiumUnited Churches (Continental Reformed and Methodist) United Protestant Church in Belgium 3,4012014 [6]
BeninMethodist Protestant Methodist Church in Benin 90,0002014 [6]
BoliviaMethodist Evangelical Methodist Church in Bolivia 9,0532014 [6]
BrazilMethodist Methodist Church in Brazil 262,4492022 [10]
CanadaUnited Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Methodists) United Church of Canada 325,3152023 [11]
CaribbeanMethodist Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas 62,1202014 [6]
ChileMethodist Methodist Church in Chile 9,8822014 [6]
China (People's Republic of China)United Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists and Methodists)Hong Kong Church of Christ Council in China35,0002014 [6]
China (People's Republic of China)MethodistMethodist Church, Hong Kong12,0002014 [6]
ColombiaMethodistColombian Methodist Church1,0002014 [6]
South KoreaMethodist Korean Methodist Church 1,133,8372023 [12]
Costa RicaMethodistEvangelical Methodist Church in Costa Rica16,0002014 [6]
CubaMethodist Methodist Church in Cuba 33,0002014 [6]
Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo)MethodistFree Methodist Church of the Democratic Republic of the Congo151,6952014 [6]
Dominican RepublicMethodist Evangelical Church of the Dominican Republic 10,0002014 [6]
EcuadorUnited Churches (Presbyterians and Methodists)United Evangelical Church of Ecuador1,5002014 [6]
SpainUnited Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Waldensians, Methodists and Lutherans) Spanish Evangelical Church 3,0002014 [6]
FijiMethodist Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma 212,8602014 [6]
GambiaMethodistGambia Methodist Church2,0002014 [6]
GhanaMethodist Methodist Church Ghana 634,6892014 [6]
IndiaMethodist Methodist Church in India 648,0002014 [6]
IndiaUnited Churches (Presbyterians, Anglicans, Methodists and Disciples of Christ) Church of North India 1,250,0002018 [13]
IndiaUnited Churches (Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Continental Reformed, Anglicans and Methodists) Church of South India 2,800,0002018 [14]
IndonesiaMethodist Methodist Church in Indonesia 119,0002014 [6]
IrelandMethodist Methodist Church in Ireland 15,0002014 [6]
ItalyMethodist Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy 4,0002014 [6]
KenyaMethodistMethodist Church in Kenya450,0002014 [6]
MalaysiaMethodist Methodist Church in Malaysia 97,1972014 [6]
MexicoMethodistMethodist Church of Mexico40,0002014 [6]
MyanmarMethodistMethodist Church, Lower Myanmar2,3002014 [6]
MyanmarMethodist Methodist Church, Upper Myanmar 27,5432014 [6]
NepalMethodistNepal Methodist Church2642014 [6]
NigeriaMethodistMethodist Church of Nigeria2,000,0002014 [6]
New ZealandMethodist Methodist Church of New Zealand 14,7362014 [6]
New ZealandMethodistNew Zealand Wesleyan Methodist Church7942014 [6]
PakistanUnited Churches (Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans and Anglicans) Church of Pakistan 500,0002014 [15]
PanamaMethodistEvangelical Methodist Church of Panama1,3002014 [6]
ParaguayMethodistMethodist Evangelical Community of Paraguay1,0252014 [6]
PeruMethodist Methodist Church of Peru 32,0002014 [6]
PhilippinesMethodist Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands 34,3812014 [6]
PhilippinesUnited Churches (Presbyterians, Baptists, Disciples of Christ and Methodists) United Church of Christ in the Philippines 470,7922020 [6] [16]
PortugalMethodistPortuguese Evangelical Methodist Church1,2002014 [6]
Puerto RicoMethodistPuerto Rico Methodist Church12,0002014 [6]
RwandaMethodistRwanda Free Methodist Church108,5592014 [6]
SamoaMethodistSamoa Methodist Church35,9832014 [6]
Sierra LeoneMethodistSierra Leone Methodist Church50,0002014 [6]
Sierra LeoneMethodistWest African Methodist Church in Sierra Leone4,0002014 [6]
SingaporeMethodist Methodist Church in Singapore 38,0002014 [6]
Sri LankaMethodist Methodist Church in Sri Lanka 25,0002014 [6]
SwedenUnited Churches (Baptists, PT and Methodist) Uniting Church in Sweden 58,5692021 [17]
TanzaniaMethodistTanzania Methodist Church3,6812014 [6]
Taiwan (Republic of China)MethodistMethodist Church in the Republic of China4,5002014 [6]
TogoMethodistTogo Methodist Church75,0002014 [6]
TongaMethodist Free Wesleyan Church 38,6922014 [6]
United KingdomMethodist Methodist Church in Great Britain 136,8912022 [18]
United States of AmericaMethodist Christian Methodist Episcopal Church 858,6702014 [6]
ZambiaUnited Churches (Presbyterians and Methodists) United Church of Zambia 3,000,0002006 [19]
ZimbabweMethodistZimbabwe Methodist Church111,7232014 [6]
ZimbabweMethodistAfrican Methodist Church of Zimbabwe12,0002014 [6]
GlobalSub-totalMethodists24,962,0492014-2022
GlobalSub-totalUnited Churches8,718,0742014-2022
GlobalTotalWorld Methodist Council33,679,6262014-2024

Member Profile

   United Methodist Church (26.98%)
  Other Methodist denominations (47.13%)
   United Churches (25.88%)

The WMC is made up of around 80 member denominations.

In 2014 it was estimated that together, the member denominations had about 39,745,196 members and 51,286,152 adherents. [n 3] [6] [20]

According to the most up-to-date statistics available, among member denominations, the United Methodist Church represents 26.98% of individual members, other Methodist churches are 47.13% and united churches represent 25.88% of individual members.

However, some of the largest WMC member denominations face a rapid decline in membership between 2000 and 2024. [12] [21]

In 2018, the WMC disclosed that its 80 member denominations represented an estimated 80 million people [22] These numbers would supposedly include around 60 million members and 20 million adherents. [23] [ verification needed ]

Still, the 2018 figures oppose all independent statistics, based on national censuses.

A 2011 report by the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life estimated that members of Methodist churches (excluding United churches) represent 3.5% of the world's approximately 801 million Protestants, or about 27,234. 000 people. [24]

According to Christianity Global: A Guide to the World's Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, in 2020, there were 31,683,000 Methodists in the world (not including United Churches), corresponding to 0.4% of the global population . [25]

The WMC does not represent all Methodists in the world and the organization's member united and uniting churches total only 8.718 million members, according to their own denominational statistics.

Therefore, WMC statistics from 2014 are considered more reliable compared to independent sources.

World Methodist Conference

The highest organ of the World Methodist Council is the World Methodist Conference, which meets every five years. The next Conference, the 22nd, will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2024. [26]

The 21st Conference was held in 2016 in Houston, Texas in the United States. The theme was "ONE". Organized around four sub themes – One God, One Faith, One People, One Mission. [27]

The 2011 conference, gathered under the theme "Jesus Christ - for the Healing of the Nations", was held in August 2011 in Durban, South Africa. [28] On 24 July 2006, Sunday Mbang stepped down as chairperson of the council and John Barrett took over his position as well as elected president for the council. [29]

In 2006, it formally approved the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.

World Methodist Council officers

Current officers are:

The World Methodist Council has offices in Waynesville, North Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; New York City; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Activities

Continuous activities

The World Methodist Council has eight standing committees:

Peace award

The World Methodist Peace Award is the highest honor bestowed by Methodists around the world. Since 1977, it is given annually by the World Methodist Council. This award is given to individuals or groups "who have made significant contributions to peace, reconciliation and justice". [30]

Recipients of the World Methodist Peace Award include Habitat for Humanity International, Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Boris Trajkovski, former President of Macedonia; the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, and the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina.

Former World Methodist Council Museum near the office building (hardly visible on the left) of its former headquarters at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina; nearby is a small park, the Susanna Wesley Garden World methodist council 9058.JPG
Former World Methodist Council Museum near the office building (hardly visible on the left) of its former headquarters at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina; nearby is a small park, the Susanna Wesley Garden

Evangelism institute

One ministry of the World Methodist Council is the World Methodist Evangelism Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. It is an educational institution committed to the task of world evangelization and connected to a major university, Candler School of Theology, Emory University.

Former headquarters and museum

In the 1950s, area residents and Methodists from the Southeastern United States raised money for the construction of a building in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina to attract the World Methodist Council headquarters. Until the 1970s, the museum building was to go to the Lake Junaluska Assembly if no longer needed, although that plan was changed. The Royce and Jane Reynolds Headquarters building, intended to resemble the house where John Wesley lived when he was young, was added in the 1990s after a donation from the Reynolds family. The museum housed letters written by Wesley, [31] a pulpit Wesley used, [32] and a 1594 Geneva Bible, as well as ancient items from the Holy Land. Starting in 2013, with the museum having problems, the sale of the building was considered but the assembly made no formal offer. The COVID-19 pandemic finally made closing the museum necessary, and its contents went to Bridwell Library of Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. In Spring 2021, the World Methodist Council sold its headquarters building, including a museum, to the assembly for $1.25 million. The World Methodist Council moved to offices in nearby Waynesville, North Carolina. [31]

At a Lake Junaluska Board of Trustees meeting in March 2022, Lake Junaluska Executive Director Ken Howle announced a $1.1 million gift from Anne and Mike Warren, who also gave $625,000 toward the purchase of the headquarters building and part of the Susanna Wesley Garden next door. [33] The gift from the Warrens helped with $2.5 million in renovations to what is now called the Warren Center, for smaller group events. [34]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ https://worldmethodistcouncil.org/general-secretary/
  2. ↑ "Minutes of the 21st World Methodist Conference" (PDF). 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "United Methodist Church Statistics in the USA in 2023" . Retrieved 5 January 2025.
  4. ↑ "Global Statistics of the United Methodist Church" . Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  5. ↑ "2016 Church of the Nazarene Statistics, Page 26" (PDF). 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 "Statistics of World Methodist Council". 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 10 July 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Jubilee of the Wesleyan Church". 7 May 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "Free Methodist Church Statistics" . Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  9. ↑ "Official data of the United Church in Australia". Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "National Statistics: the challenge and reality of your data". Christian Expositor. 4 March 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  11. ↑ "United Church of Canada Statistics 2023" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  12. 1 2 ""More than 200,000 members are leaving mainline denominations" The decline of Korean churches is becoming a reality". 24 September 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  13. ↑ "Church of North India". World Methodist Council. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "Church of South India". World Methodist Council. 9 November 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  15. ↑ "Church of Pakistan". World Council of Churches. January 1971. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  16. ↑ "2020 Philippine Census". Philippine Statistics Authority. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
  17. ↑ "Churches flourish in one of Sweden's Biblical Button cities taking care of neighbors". 11 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "Statistical Summary of the Methodist Church of Great Britain for October 2022" (PDF). Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "United Church of Zambia". World Council of Churches. January 1966. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  20. ↑ "About the World Methodist Council" . Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  21. ↑ "United Methodist Church membership in the US falls 21.9% in 2023". 23 November 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  22. ↑ "Member Churches". Worldmethodistcouncil.org. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  23. ↑ "Member Churches". World Methodist Council. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  24. ↑ Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life (19 December 2011), Global Christianity (PDF), pp. 21, 70, archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2012
  25. ↑ Gina A. Zurlo (2022). Global Christianity: A Guide to the World's Largest Religion from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Grand Rapids, Michigan. p. 5. ISBN   9780310113614 . Retrieved 2 January 2025.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  26. ↑ "Welcome to the Conference". The World Methodist Conference. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  27. ↑ "Press and Media - About the 21st World Methodist Conference (past)". The World Methodist Conference. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  28. ↑ 2011 World Methodist Conference
  29. ↑ World Methodist Council elects Barrett as chairperson
  30. ↑ Museum of Methodism and John Wesley's House, World Methodist Peace Award, accessed 27 December 2022
  31. 1 2 Hyatt, Vicki (16 June 2021). "Benefactors discuss significance of World Methodist Council building". The Mountaineer . Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  32. ↑ "Here's to 100 more years for Lake Junaluska". Asheville Citizen-Times . 8 July 2013. p. A7 – via newspapers.com.
  33. ↑ "Lake Junaluska announces $1.1M gift for renovations to former World Methodist Council building". lakejunaluska.com. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  34. ↑ Johnson, Becky (22 December 2022). "Making the grade: Lake Junaluska continues multi-million dollar upgrades with new event venue". The Mountaineer.

Notes

  1. ↑ Each of the internal conferences listed is considered a member of the World Methodist Council, even though it is a body part of the United Methodist Church.
  2. ↑ Including 4,526,440 members (4,238,097 professed members and 288,343 baptized members) in the United States of America, according to 2023 statistics and 4,560,882 members in other countries in 2022.
  3. ↑ adherents are unbaptized people who participate in worship services. In Credobaptist denominations, the children of members, not yet baptized, are counted as adherents.

Bibliography

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