November 25, 2002
by Edna Steinman

LOS ANGELES – Members of a pan-Methodist commission, meeting Nov. 19-21, agreed on the need to improve visibility and cooperation among their four denominations.

Adopting a vision statement of "One body . . . many members," the 2-year-old Commission on Pan-Methodist Cooperation and Union signaled its interest in moving toward spiritual unity among churches in the African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Christian Methodist Episcopal and United Methodist traditions. The four denominations represent more than 12 million members and share a common Methodist heritage.

The new chairman, United Methodist Bishop Fritz Mutti of the Kansas Area, said his goal for the coming year would be to keep the movement progressing toward more cooperation and union through its relationships with Jesus Christ. He said he sees no interest in achieving unity through merger but rather in developing unity through a spiritual movement, a theological commitment within "our common heritage in the Wesleyan tradition."

The commission was born through the merger of two separate commissions on pan-Methodist cooperation and union. It has spelled out its goals in its mission statement: "As members of the family of Methodism, we are called to move toward union by redefining and strengthening our relationship in Jesus Christ." The 36-member group works to foster meaningful cooperation among the four denominations in evangelism, missions, publications, social concerns and higher education.

The problem always has been "what will union look like," said African Methodist Episcopal Zion Bishop Nathaniel Jarrett of Tinley Park, Ill. "What is the model? We've said some things that the model will not be. We keep coming back with a model of cooperation. Maybe a model (of union) will come out of that step."

Juanita Bryant of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, a member of the Christian Methodist Episcopal church, expressed another concern. "Lay people and grass-roots folks don't know about pan-Methodism. We need to communicate what we are and why we exist," she said.

The trend toward saying "We're Methodists" and not claiming a specific denomination is troubling to commission member Thelma Milner of Atlanta. "I say I'm AME, and then I get to explain what African Methodist Episcopal is."

"In the past, we quickly dismissed merger and started talking about cooperation," said the Rev. Sylvester Williams, a Christian Methodist Episcopal member from Chicago. "How can you decide on a model when we don't know where we are going? We should identify ministries that we can do together and that will foster commitment and perhaps lead to a further step."

The commission's two committees, one focusing on models of union and the other on program and ministry, recommended ideas for sharing, cooperating and interpreting pan-Methodism. Both committees hoped the colleges and universities of the four denominations could be encouraged to teach about the polity of the other Methodist churches as a way to create understanding.

Both committees also called for drawing on the concepts and visible marks of the Churches Uniting in Christ – an ecumenical network that includes the four denominations and others – for developing new relationships.

"We all want to be what we are, but we need some model to become unified without losing our identity," said the Rev. George W. Maize IV of Los Angeles, a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, as he presented the report of the Committee on Models of Union.

The commission accepted the recommendation to create a symbol that would incorporate the logos of the four denominations and further interpret the gifts each brings to the body. A sub-committee, chaired by the Rev. Taylor Thompson of Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Forest Park, Ohio, will accept proposals from graphic designers.

The members also agreed that the commission's brochure should be included in the group's report to each denomination's general conference.

The program and ministry committee recommended ideas for promoting pan-Methodism by using regional meetings to encourage cooperation; sharing information; offering programs about pan-Methodism; and developing coordinating committees of clergy and laity. Other suggestions included developing strategies to help immigrant populations and ethnic communities start new churches.

The commission also accepted broad recommendations to eliminate boundaries (such as language) that prevent each from including the other; to share costs (joint purchasing agreements, guest houses); to participate in one another's ordinations; and to provide opportunities for bishops to work together, perhaps with one overseeing all four denominations on a specific ministry.

Mutti will name a committee to develop a packet of these ideas that could be refined and shared at the Eighth Consultation of Methodist Bishops, March 11-13 in Atlanta.

The commission also plans on having a member attend the student gathering sponsored by the Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministry, Dec. 28-Jan. 1, 2003, in Albuquerque, N.M. A Dec. 31 celebration at the event will focus on the Pan-Methodist movement.

United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert, chairman of the Committee on Program and Ministry, agreed to explore the possibility of opening the United Methodist Church's training for new district superintendents to new presiding elders from the three other denominations.

The commission will meet again March 10-13 in Atlanta, in conjunction with the bishops' consultation. The meeting's theme will be "Wesley's Message to the Pan-Methodist Family," in recognition of the 300th anniversary of the birth of John Wesley, Methodism's founder. Various sessions will focus on Wesley's messages about worship, reconciliation, war and peace, education and the future.

In the 1700s, Wesley laid Methodism's groundwork by leading a renewal movement within the Church of England. He appointed two missionaries in 1769 to organize Methodism in America. In 1784, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Baltimore. The denomination became the United Methodist Church in 1968 through a merger with the Evangelical United Brethren Church.

Racism within the old Methodist Episcopal Church prompted a group of African-Americans to leave the denomination and form the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1787. For similar reasons in 1796, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was formed. In 1870, 41 African- American men, representing eight annual conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, organized the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, now known as the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

United Methodist News Service