The All Partners' Consultation kicked off in grand style on Sunday evening with a worship service at Westminster Central Hall.
Mike King welcomed representatives from over 50 countries who had come to the UK for the consultation. The Revd. Martin Turner (team leader at Westminster Central Hall) welcomed us to Westminster Central hall, and shared a bit of its history. Methodist Central Hall was the chosen venue for the inaugural General Assembly of the United Nations in 1946, making it a rather fitting venue for such an international gathering as this.
During the service itself, passages from Genesis and Acts were read in Mandarin and Urdu respectively, and a Ghanaian choir (a big, swaying wave of voices dressed in yellow) sang songs – both on their own, and together with the regular Westminster Central Hall choir.
It was during the gifting that the service really came alive. The Ghanaian choir came up to the altar bearing gifts for everyone (we had a choice of either a rose, a loaf of bread or a candle). The entire hall erupted into dance as people went up to receive a gift. Next minute, someone was hitting a djembe, and a purple banner went flying round the room at breakneck speed! The whole gifting process was full of colour, life and joy!
Dr Richard Vautrey (our soon-to-be ex Vice President, as he introduced himself) and Revd. George Mulrain (President of the Methodist Church of the Caribbean & the Americas) gave a joint reflection, in which they shared stories from Chile, Guyana, Haiti, Uganda, South Africa, Malta, Gibraltar, Spain, Macedonia, India and Palestine. Richard reminded us through his stories of the ongoing role of Methodists in standing alongside the poor, the marginalised and the outcast. “You and I are God's gifts to each other,” George Mulrain said. “Community is one of the gifts God has given to us.”
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