Methodist Council Meeting Receives Report on Suitability of Blessing Civil Partnerships

The Methodist Council came together on 17-18 October 2005 in London’s All Saints Pastoral Centre – the first Council meeting since the Methodist Conference earlier this year in June.

|TOP|The Council received a report back from the Working Party, which was asked in the 2005 Methodist Conference to produce guidelines on the appropriateness or not of blessing Civil Partnerships after they become legal in the UK in December 2005.

The Working Party has been continuing its work on the Pilgrimage of Faith on human sexuality, tell the Methodist Church, and the group will report fully to the 2006 Conference.

The Methodist Church has also announced that the Working Party would not issue any interim or provisional guidelines, nor set any precedent that would in any way undermine the decision of the Conference when it convenes in 2006.

Therefore, the Council agreed a statement clarifying current good practice if a couple registering a Civil Partnership sought to have it blessed by a Methodist minister between the change in the law in December and Conference’s decision in June 2006.

Another central topic reviewed by the Council was the use and future of the thousands of buildings the Church owns across Great Britain. Many of the buildings date back to the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, and it was agreed that positive approaches had to be taken for the use of the rich architectural heritage.

It was decided that 300 Methodist churches would be included in the 2007 Heritage Open Days scheme currently being run by the Civic Trust. The scheme will allow the public to visit areas normally closed to them, and has been a great success over recent years.

Three hundred churches were specifically chosen as a celebration for 2007 to mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Charles Wesley.

The General Secretary of the Methodist Church, Revd David Deeks said, “Our buildings are a visible sign of our presence in people’s communities. But our property must be at the service of contemporary mission, and we cannot afford to have buildings in the wrong place or that are not suitable for modern Church mission.”

The Methodist Church has also announced that a new Methodist London Regional District will be created on 1st September 2006, and in addition, this will see a further two districts be formed in the South-East of England in the areas around London.

The Council agreed that a recommendation will be forwarded to the Conference that Revd John Hellyer be Chair of the new South-East District (the southern region surrounding London), and for Revd Ann Brown to be Chair of the Bedfordshire, Essex and Hertfordshire District.

The knock-on effect of the newly created districts will mean that the current Oxford and Leicester District will be changed to the Northampton District.