EMYC | European Methodist Youth and Children's Council

I've just updated some brief notes about EMYC | European Methodist Youth and Children's Council for the Methodist Church website.  There are links to the Methodist churches in Europe on the website because it is through the European Methodist Council and its associated bodies that the Methodist Church of Great Britain relates to churches of other traditions in Europe.

EMYC has an International Mission Team (IMT) and this is what I want to focus upon in this blog post.  Details can be found on the EMYC website and there is also an IMT blog which, although it is in German, has some photographs.

Four young people are recruited each year to this team.  They start in September and work as volunteers in Chemnitz, Germany through to June of the following year. 

For 2011-12

We are looking for young people from 18 years old who want to walk a special path with God and encounter people with God’s love. As it will be an international team, it is very important to be prepared to be open to others and to be able to work with other mentalities. Alongside the main projects, the year offers many opportunities and room for developing and implementing your own ideas for social outreach and mission work.

The Team will work mainly with children, young people and families. The main focus of the work will lie in social outreach. The team will look after and expand Kidsclub in Chemnitz/Hilbersdorf and Flöha, where the kids can receive help with their homework, have the chance to do something meaningful with their freetime, and also encounter the love of God. The main goal of the Kidsclubs is to offer the attention and acceptance that the children, from socially difficult areas, so desperately lack.  Furthermore, the Team will support the Mission Projects of the Churches and of the Hospital. Through this we can build the Kingdom of God.

For the Team members the year offers the opportunity to discover God in new ways, to grow in faith, to take part in social and mission projects, and to discover a new country and a new way of life.

• Time: 1th September 2011 til 30th June 2012
• Where: Methodist Circuit Chemnitz-Erlöserkiche, Hospital and School of Nursing Bethanien/Chemnitz
• Size of Team: 4 People
• Status: Voluntary Workers
• Language: Basic knowledge of German necessary -fluent German not required
• Accommodation: will be provided
• Food: weekdays lunch in Bethanien and €100 per month for groceries
• Pocket Money: €75 per Month per Person
• Closing Date for application: 31th March 2011

For more information, go to this page on the EMYC website.  If a British Methodist applies and is successful, it would be good to hear from them and perhaps they could contribute to this blog.

The Pope's View of Britain




Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury
at Westminster Abbey, Friday 17 September 2010
Copyright: Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey.

 
Revd Dr Trevor Hoggard was appointed by the British Methodist Conference and the European Methodist Council as their representative to the Holy See, in Rome in 2007.  You can find out more about his ministry from his website.  The following paragraphs record his experience of the Pope's visit to Britain.  I'm hoping Trevor will be able to publish more about his work here in due course.

Like many others last week I found myself drawn in to the television broadcast of the papal visit. Again, like many others, I found myself warming to the unfolding story to a degree I hadn't anticipated. Whilst having seen a good deal of the mounting excitement and trepidation in Catholic friends prior to the visit, I was relieved for their sakes that the visit went better than many had feared - and others had maliciously hoped. But as a Methodist, I had assumed that it was a spectacle for the Catholic faithful and not of huge importance to other Christians. As I watched, I changed my mind. Perhaps the visit had enabled the grassroots of British society to give voice to a faith that is constantly discounted and derided in the modern media by the so-called intelligentsia and television celebrity alike. Christian faith is perhaps proving just as obstinate in the face of modern secularism as it has done when faced with other threatening world views of the past. If so, this is a happy surprise for Christians of any persuasion.

On Wednesday morning I was sitting just a few rows away from Pope Benedict at his weekly audience in Rome when he recounted the highlights of his visit to Britain to a global audience. I was fascinated to see how Benedict appeared to be genuinely enthused by the visit. I think he found reassurance that the old fabric of Christian Europe had not yet been irreparably torn. One also suspected he had a renewed esteem for the Anglican church and a belief that a new and healthier phase in Vatican - British relations might well be dawning. His enthusiasm was infectious. I wonder if other nationalities in the huge crowd felt the same? The real question now is to what extent any of these effects endure long enough to produce real and lasting benefit. Time alone, as they say, can tell us that.