Council

of BishopsCouncil of Bishops Berlin • May 1-7 • 2015

The United Methodist Church

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MethodisminEurope

M any people may know that Methodism has its origins in England and, indeed, the Methodist Churches in Great Britain and Ireland have their place till today and some limited influence in the society of these countries. But that there are

Methodist Churches also in Continental Europe is often not known outside Europe and people are surprised when they are told about their existence. Sure enough, these chur-ches have always been rather small compared to the number of inhabitants in the res-pective countries. But nonetheless many of them have played an important role as mis-sionary witness and for Christian social ministry in these countries. Similar to many parts of the world Methodism came to the different countries in Continental Europe by two different routes: On one hand from England, the motherland of Methodism, but on the other hand also from the United States and its various missi-onary active Methodist Churches. In one way especially, Central- and Northern Europe are different from other continents: immigrants played a very important role for the propagation of Methodism. They came to the States, and some of them also to England, often only as nominal Christians with a Lutheran or Reformed background. They were converted by Methodist preaching, joined Methodist churches and classes, and repor-ted back to their relatives or former neighbors that they found real faith in Christ. Some of them came back to Europe as missionaries; others urged their denomination to send missionaries to their home countries. British Methodists made it their task to start mis-sionary work in the Catholic countries of Europe, but they were reluctant to build up churches in regions where protestant churches were the State Church. In the following text we will give a brief overview about the present situation of Methodism in Europe, country by country, but will also include a few remarks about the history of Methodist ministry in the respective countries.

In GreatBritain (population of 61 million without Northern Ireland), the mo-therland of Methodism, the different branches of the Methodist movement

merged in 1932 to create the Methodist Church. In 2013 there were 210 000 full mem-bers and about 800 000 people considered themselves affiliated to this church. Al-though it diminished in size considerably during the last decades, the Methodist Church still has a voice which is heard in public and its social ministry has some impact in the British society. Since 2003 the Church lives in a Covenant between the Church of England and Methodist Church in Britain which is the basis of many forms of cooperation bet-ween these churches but does not include full communion or a kind of organic union. There is still no full agreement about the understanding of the episcopacy and ordained

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ministry. The Methodist Church in Great Britain is connected with the UMC by a special Concordat. Alongside the Methodist Church there still exist some congregations of the Indepen-dent Methodists, the Free Methodists and the Wesleyan Reform Church. Through migra-tion and missionary activities in the last two decades local churches of the African Me-thodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church Zion, the Wesleyan und the United Methodist Church (especially among people from Zimbabwe), and the Church of the Nazarene were established.

Ireland was the first region outside of England where Methodism took roots. Today the Methodist Church of Ireland is at work, namely in the Republic of

Ireland (population of 4.6 million) as well as in Northern Ireland (1.8 million). The church counts about 15 150 people in full membership and a total community of about 47 000 people. It is engaged in many ecumenical activities and very much involved in the reconciliation work in Northern Ireland.

Methodism came rather early (1769) from England to Gibraltar on the Iberian Peninsula. From there it attempted to establish missionary activities in Spain

(population of 46.5 million). But this was often halted by the Spanish government. Especially under the Franco-Regime the Methodist movement was brutally oppressed. In the 1950’s of the last century the existing Methodist churches merged with other Protestant groups to form the Iglesia Evangelica Espanola, which counts about 3 000 full members and 6 000 other adherents. The Church is an Affiliated Church of the UMC.

In Portugal (population of 10.5 million) the British Methodists started their missionary activities relatively late (1871). Despite many obstacles, step by

step some small local churches came into existence, especially in the region around Porto. For a long time the work there was a district of the British Methodist Church. Only in 1996 the church became independent as the Igreja Evangélica Methodista Portuguesa and elected its own bishop. Today it has about 1 000 full members and 2 000 are affilia-ted and worship there.

In Italy (population of 60.6 million) missionary work was started by the Bri-tish Methodists in 1861. Independently, but with a different regional focus,

the Methodist Episcopal Church came to Italy in 1871. Both branches had a checkered history; out of legal reasons the longstanding efforts to unite them were successful only in 1946. In 1975 the United Methodist Church and the Waldensian Church merged

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to form the Unione delle chiese metodiste e valdesi in Italia. The roughly 50 Methodist local churches retained their Methodist identity and are organized as separate unit within the church. About 3 000 full members and 4 000 additional worshippers belong to this part of the united church. The church is growing because many of the local con-gregations have opened their ranks to immigrants from Africa.

In the Netherlands (population of 16.8 million) no systematic Methodist mis-sionary work seems to have ever taken place. Because of migration and some

recent missionary activities two local churches with Methodists from the Caribbean and three “societies” of Methodists from Ghana exist, but also some missionary work of the Church of the Nazarene which reaches out to around 1 500 people.

In Belgium, an almost completely Catholic country (population of 11.2 milli-on), the British Methodists started missionary activities already in 1816 in

Brussels, which were not very successful. (The famous Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh worked 1879 for a short time as a missionary of the Wesleyan Methodist Mission Society in the village of Petit Wasmes in the coal-mining district of Borinage in Belgium.) Inspi-red by their missionary work in Belgian Congo the Methodist Episcopal Church South started to work in Belgium which resulted in the foundation of a number of local chur-ches. After World War II the church grew up to about 5 000 members and in 1969 merged with the Eglise Evangélique Protestante de Belgique to form the Eglise Protestante Unie de Belgique with about 20 000 members and a circle of friends of about 50 000 people. The Eglise Protestante Unie de Belgique is an Affiliated Church of the UMC. In 2002 Ghanaian Methodists from the Netherlands founded a “society” in Antwerp, and since 2010 there is also a congregation of the UMC which is affiliated to the Eglise Protestante Unie de Belgique and consists almost entirely of migrants coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Methodism came rather early (1791) via the Channel Islands from England to France (population of 65.8 million). But it saw itself first as a movement within

the Reformed Church. But in 1852 an independent Annual Conference was established. After years of moderate growth financial problems forced the congregations to join the Eglise reformée. But seven local churches in the South East remained independent. The history of the mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church was similar: Its ministry in France which began in 1904 flourished quickly, especially after World War I, so that from 1928-1932 a bishop was even stationed in Paris. But in 1935, when the financial benefits from the States were cancelled in the wake of the Great Depression, the church had to cease its mission and to transfer the local churches to the Eglise reformée. The work of the Evangelical Association/Evangelical Church (Evangelische Gemeinschaft) was more stable. It started in 1868 in Alsace-Lorraine (then German speaking) and was

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always connected with the Annual Conference of the Evangelical Association in Swit-zerland. Its congregations belong now to the Annual Conference Switzerland-France-North Africa of the UMC (see below) together with the churches in the Southeast of France belonging to the British mission which did not join the Eglise reformée, as men-tioned earlier. They have about 1 170 professing members and 700 additional baptized members and friends.

Methodist presence in all other countries of Europe is mostly part of the United Metho-dist Church. Apart from some small independent Methodist churches, for instance in Hungary, Poland, and Romania, there are only three other Methodist Churches working in several countries: the Church of the Nazarene, which has its strongest presence in Germany with about 1 200 members and 2 300 friends, and the Korean Methodist Church, which has established an European district of the Seoul Annual Conference with pastors serving Korean immigrants and other people all over Europe, and the Free Me-thodist Church, which has a presence in 11 European countries.

The United Methodist Church in Continental Europe is organized in three Cen-tral Conferences. The largest of them is the Central Conference of Germany

(population of the country about 81 million). It has three Annual Conferences (North Germany, East Germany and South Germany) and forms one Episcopal Area (presently served by Bishop Rosemarie Wenner). The German name is Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche. It has about 31 000 professing members, 22 500 baptized members plus 2 100 children who are not baptized, but are registered as belonging to the church because they were blessed as infants, and about 15 000 people who are friends of the local chur-ches. They worship in 500 local churches which are served by 325 active pastors. Methodism came to Germany by different routes, but all have in common the fact that immigrants to England or the United States came into contact with the Methodist mo-vement and experienced their conversion. They joined one of the Methodist churches and either came back to Germany as a kind of missionary or urged their church to send missionaries to Germany. These new believers were convinced that the people at home did not find in the Lutheran state church the kind of preaching, teaching and living together they had experienced in their Methodist church. The first impulse came from England. In 1831 Georg Müller, a lay preacher who had fled to England 1806 to avoid being drafted for Napoleon’s army went back to his home-town Winnenden in Württemberg and started to build up Methodist societies, first

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within the Lutheran state church. Afterward, under the leadership of two British missi-ona-ries, the work grew and after it became possible in Württemberg to organize an independent Free Church. They took this step in 1873. In 1897 the church joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. This branch of Methodism had started its ministry in Bre-men in 1849. The pioneer missionary was Ludwig Sigismund Jacoby, who was born in Germany as a Jew, was baptized in the Lutheran Church when he was 22, but immigrated to the States, found Christ in a Methodist church, became a Methodist preacher and was sent as a missionary to Germany. Almost at the same time, in 1850, the Evangelical Asso-ciation (Evangelische Gemeinschaft) sent a missionary to Germany who began his work near Stuttgart. Some years later, in 1869, the United Brethren in Christ also sent a mis-sionary to Germany who started the work in his hometown in Northern Bavaria. This branch did not grow very much and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1905. From the beginning of the 20th century till the union in 1968 the Bischöfliche Metho-distenkirche (Methodist Episcopal Church) and the Evangelische Gemeinschaft (Evange-lical Association/Evangelical United Brethren) represented the Methodist movement in Germany. Both churches experienced considerable growth, especially after World War I and II and in the States of Württemberg and Saxonia, but also in large cities like Ham-burg, Berlin and in the Ruhrgebiet, and also in regions of former East Germany which are no longer part of Germany. They established Seminaries (in Bremen, Frankfurt and Reutlingen), publishing houses and printing shops and had very active deaconess or-ders who worked in their own hospitals. The ministry among youth and children gave them an influence far beyond their own membership. Both churches experienced the highest level of membership and attendance in the 1950’s and 1960’s; the Bischöfliche Methodistenkirche (MEC) numbered about 53 000 full members and 12 000 baptized children (40% of them in the former German Democratic Republic!), the Evangelische Gemeinschaft (EUB) about 27 000 full members and almost 20 000 children in Sunday Schools. Since then the churches suffered a slow but steady decline which could not be halted. Merging the two churches was supposed to turn this development around but did not succeed. In 1970, shortly after the union of the churches, because of the political situation in the divided country, it became necessary to establish a separate Central Conference and Episcopal area in the German Democratic Republic. But even during the entire time of the forced separation there were active links between both parts of the church and the inclusion in the connectional system of the UMC helped to maintain these links. In 1992, after the political reunification, a renewed Germany Central Conference was established with one Episcopal area. From the current work of the church we can only mention (1) the Theological School in Reutlingen which is sponsored by the Annual Con-

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ferences of Germany, Switzerland and Austria and serves all German speaking Metho-dists in Europe and with its Online teaching program (E-learning) and also the small conferences in Eastern Europe, (2) the ministry of the Tent mission whose mission-tents and “EmK-mobil” (a double decker bus) are important evangelistic instruments also beyond Germany (especially in Eastern and Northern Europe) and – last but not least – (3) the Methodist Hospitals and the Rehabilitation Clinics for people with addictions in different parts of Germany. The ministry of the UMC in Germany also includes about 20 churches that serve im-migrants and expatriates in various languages. Seven of them are English or English-German bi-lingual, and there are ten Ghanaian “societies” where the primary language is Twi. They are part of the UMC in Germany but also have a close relationship to the Methodist Church in Ghana. There is one Farsi (Iran and Afghan) church and one church in the Vietnamese language. The Korean Methodist Church which has 10 local churches in Germany cooperates with the UMC when the need arises.

The Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe of the United Methodist Church works in 14 European countries and two countries in North Africa. It has about 16 000 professing members and probably the same number of people who belong to the local churches as baptized members or friends. The Central Conference forms one Epi-scopal area with its office in Zurich and Patrick Streiff is serving as the current bishop.

The largest conference in the Central Conference is the Switzerland-France-North Africa Annual Conference. Besides the churches in France (see above)

and a few local churches in Algeria and Tunisia most of its congregations are in Switzer-land (population of 8.1 million, among them about 2 million foreigners). Along with many German speaking and a few French speaking local churches there exists also a whole network of congregations of immigrants, in which the work of the church is done – sometimes since many years – in other languages (Arabic, Cambodian, Korean, Lin-gala [from Congo], Portuguese or Spanish). Methodism came first via France and through British Methodists to the French spea-king part of Switzerland (Lausanne). But only the ministry of both the Methodist Epi-scopal Church (Bischöfliche Methodistenkirche; since 1856) and the Evangelical Asso-ciation/Evangelical Church (Evangelische Gemeinschaft; since 1866), yielded larger and stable local churches. Both came from Germany and worked in the German speaking part of the country. Already in 1876 (Evangelical Church) and 1886 (MEC) separate Swiss

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Annual Conferences were established. In the time before World War II both conferences saw the highest numbers in membership (ca. 12 000 full members in the MEC and 7 500 in the EC). The merger of the two churches to form the United Methodist Church (Ger-man: Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche) took place only in 1971; today the church has about 5 780 professing members and 4 000 baptized members and friends. Along with the congregations in France and Switzerland there is also the ministry in Algeria and Tunesia and – for different reasons – one local church each in Austria, Belgium and Germany are part of the Annual Conference.

The small Provisional Annual Conference in Austria (population of 8.6 million) traces back to a mission of the Wesleyan Methodists from Germany. They star-

ted their work in Vienna in 1870. The conference, with today 740 professing members and about 740 additional baptized members and friends, has remained small. But through its social and pastoral initiatives for refugees and immigrants and its ecumeni-cal commitment since World War II, it displays a remarkable influence in the life of the churches in Austria. There is close cooperation with the Lutheran Church and the Refor-med Church in Austria, which in the predominantly Catholic country are also in a mino-rity situation.

At the end of the 19th century Methodism came to Hungary (population of 9.9 million) via Austria. First confined to the German speaking population

later the work in the multi-ethnic state was done in up to six languages. Through the reduction of the territory of the state, and the expulsion of the German and Slovak minorities after World War II the conference suffered serious losses. Today an impor-tant activity of the Hungary Provisional Annual Conference with its 450 professing and 1 380 baptized members and friends is the ministry with the Roma people.

Even after the disbanding of the multi-national state of Yugoslavia the Metho-dists in Serbia and Macedonia remained together in the Serbia-Macedonia Pro-

visional Annual Conference. The work of the Methodists in this region has different roots. The local churches in the district of Serbia (population of 7.5 million) are situa-ted in the Vojvodina, the region around Novi Sad, and trace back to the Methodist mi-nistry among German speaking people who in the 19th century had settled in this area. After the expulsion of these people the work continued with Serbs and Slovaks, but grew only to a viable size after some congregations of the Blue Cross (a temperance movement) joined the Methodist Church. The district numbers 490 professing and 410 baptized members and friends.

The congregations in Macedonia (population of 2.1 million) originate from the work of the free standing American Mission Society which worked at the

end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century in the southern Balkans and han-

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ded over its local churches in 1921 to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Especially in Strumica and its vicinity a considerable part of the population joined these congrega-tions, which number today about 4 000 professing members as well as baptized mem-bers and friends. The commitment of the small church to the reconciliation between the Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority may be seen in the fact that one of its active members (he was chair of the church council of the district and delegate to the General Conference), Boris Trajkovski, served as President of the country from 1999 un-til his untimely death in a plane crash in 2004.

In the course of a new mission which started in 1990 with a relief action of German Methodists also in Albania (population of 3 million), four local chur-

ches came into being with about 190 professing members as well as baptized members and friends. An effort to build up in Croatia a Methodist presence had to be given up, but there is still a ministry of reconciliation at work with Methodist

involvement. In Romania (population of 21.9 million) the Korean Methodist missionaries have launched a few local churches. They are in no official relationship with

the UMC in Europe, because some of the local churches have ceased to exist and others have joined other churches. But since 2011 there is an official and very dynamic United Methodist presence in this country. The three local churches with about 90 professing members as well as baptized members and friends are part of the Bulgaria-Romania Provisional Annual Conference.

In Bulgaria (population 7.3 million) missionary activities started in 1857. Alt-hough work was rather difficult, because the Orthodox country was still under

Turkish supremacy, one of the missionaries, Dr. Long, was able to publish the first trans-lation of the Bible in modern Bulgarian in 1871. After World War I the church flourished to a certain extent, but in 1949 under the Communist rule all pastors were detained and convicted in show trials and the local churches brought into line in a forced union of Protestant churches. The Methodist Church was almost totally destroyed. But after 1989 the surviving pastors and some of the younger lay speakers organized the Church anew. The local churches gained new strength and today there are missionary and so-cial ministries even among the minorities of the country. The 32 local churches have about 1 260 professing members and more than 860 baptized members and friends.

Even after the division of Czechoslovakia into the CzechRepublic (population of 10.2 million) and Slovakia (population of 5.4 million) the Methodists re-

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mained together in the Czech and Slovak Republics Annual Conference with about 1 100 professing members as well as about 700 baptized members and

friends. Due to relational connections in 1920 the Methodist Episcopal Church South started a mission which was rather successful at first. But under the German occupation and the repression under the Communist regime the number of members declined. Du-ring the last decades some of the local churches have experienced strong charismatic awakenings, and, although there were setbacks, as well, the Church is very mission-oriented and has established, particularly in the Czech Republic, a number of diaconal ministries.

In Poland (population of 38.5 million) Methodist missionary activities among the Polish people started in 1920 with a relief action of the Methodist Epis-

copal Church South. (The local churches of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Association/Evangelical Church which were founded earlier in the former eastern territories of Germany were mostly German speaking.) Despite resistance in the almost completely Catholic country the church grew slowly. Especially the English lan-guage schools in Warsaw and other places were important points of contact. After World War II the Methodist Church took over some church buildings in East Prussia – with the consent of the churches in question, as they were empty because of the expulsion of the German speaking population. At the time many Polish Protestant people joined the Methodist Church. The attitude of the communist regime towards the UMC was ambi-valent, which at least allowed its continued existence; however, membership declined. Today the Poland Annual Conference numbers about 2 140 professing members as well as 620 baptized members and friends.

The Central Conference of Northern Europe and Eurasia covers the largest geographi-cal region within the UMC. It encompasses fifteen countries and ten time zones. It is divided into two Episcopal Areas: The Nordic and Baltic Area (Bishop Christian Alsted), including Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden, and the Eurasia Area (Bishop Eduard Khegay), including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mol-davia, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. About 12 500 professing members live and work in the local churches of the Central Conference. Methodism in Scandinavia has its primary roots in the influence of immigrants and sailors who were converted in the United States and came back home and told their fa-milies and neighbors about their new experience of faith. Immigration influenced the work of the church in these countries again as they suffered considerably from the fact that well into the 20th century many members of the church immigrated to the States.

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Official Methodist missionary activity started in Norway (population of 5.2 million) in 1853. At first it was strongly obstructed by the Lutheran State

Church. Norwegian Methodism was always shaped by the struggle for holiness and the longing for an awakening. Despite not a few crises the church grew steadily. It is dis-tinguished by a strong commitment for social work (Foundation Betanien) and the sup-port for mission and developmental work in so called Third-World-Countries. Today the Norway Annual Conference numbers about 5 000 professing and 7 000 baptized members.

In Denmark (population of 5.6 million) Methodist work started in 1857. It was always characterized by a strong social commitment. A heavy crisis in the

1920’s reduced the number of members considerably. Today the church shows a re- markable ability to reach out to young people (e.g. through Gospel choirs). Presently about 1 300 professing and 1 000 baptized members belong to the Denmark Annual Conference.

In Sweden (population of 9.6 million) the mission among Swedish people be-gan only in 1866. The first Methodist preacher, however, came to Sweden ear-

lier than that: from 1826-1842 a British preacher worked with English speaking foreign workers and interested Swedes. The Conference grew at the beginning of the 20th cen-tury rather rapidly and was in 1925 with 16 500 full members the largest European con-ference of the Methodist Episcopal church. But then a slow decline began which was fueled in the 1980’s by secessions of charismatic groups (esp. Word of Life). In 2012 the Sweden Annual Conference, the Svenska Missionskyrkan and the Baptist Union merged to establish a united free church, the Equmeniakyrkan resp. The Uniting Church in Sweden. In 2012 the new denomination became an Affiliated United Church with the UMC, by General Conference decision. Currently an agreement of full communion between the two denominations is being prepared. Two local churches and 12 pastors in Sweden de-cided not to join in the merger. They have become part of the Finland Swedish Provisio-nal Annual Conference and the boundaries of this conference have been expanded to include Sweden.

After earlier attempts by Swedish lay speakers the first official missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church came to Finland (population of 5.4 million) in

1883. The first local churches developed among the Swedish speaking population, but later also among the Finnish speaking people. But still today the small church is divided into two conferences along this language boundary: The Finland-Finnish Provisional

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Annual Conference with about 700 professing members in the Finnish speaking part and the Finland-Swedish Provisional Annual Conference with 825 professing members in the Swedish speaking part. Nevertheless, both conferences in Finland are growing and starting new churches.

The only part of the Methodist Church which in the area of the former Soviet Union was able to continue its work and to survive despite the persecution by

the Communist regime was the conference in Estonia (population of 1.3 million). The mission there began only in 1907 through the evangelistic work of a Bible distributer. But after World War I the church flourished and grew. During the German and Soviet occupation, especially till the end of the Stalinist era, it went through very difficult times. But afterwards the church began to grow rapidly and the local church in Tallinn was for some time the largest Methodist congregation on the continent. But here, too, secessions of charismatic groups broke out. It is important to note that the church ser-ves Estonian speaking people as well as Russian speaking. In 2000 the Baltic Mission Center in Tallinn was consecrated which is home for the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary and other institutions and serves as missionary center for the whole region. Today the Estonia Annual Conference numbers about 1 600 professing members.

At the turn of the 20th century preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church came to Latvia (population of 2 million; capital Riga) and Lithuania (popula-

tion of 2.9 million; capital Vilnius). In Latvia the Evangelical Association (Evangelische Gemeinschaft), too, started a mission. In both countries lively congregations were founded, mostly among German speaking people, but also among Latvi-

ans and Lithuanians. In the turmoil of World War II the German speaking congregations were totally destroyed and the work with Latvians and Lithuanians was banned by the Soviet regime. Only after the peaceful revolution of 1989/90 which brought these coun-tries independence was it possible to start the work anew: in 1991 for Latvia and in 1996 for Lithuania. These were moving moments because there were people who still had waited for the Methodists to come again. The Church is organized as the Latvia and Lithuania Districts of the Estonia Annual Conference, with 650 professing members in Latvia and about 500 in Lithuania. These small churches are growing and work with children and youth, but also with drug addicts and alcoholics.

In Russia (population of 143.6 million) since 1889 Methodist preaching was organized regularly from Finland in the St. Petersburg area, but the actual

mission started only in 1907. After the takeover of power by the Communists the work first continued, coupled with relief actions for the suffering population and with subs-tantial support for the Russian Orthodox Church. But because the Methodist Episcopal Church in the US had to cut their funds and due to the beginning of Stalinist persecution

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of churches the work was disrupted. But after 1989 through quite various impulses and at different places Methodist congregations within the Soviet Union were founded. In 1991 Bishop Rüdiger Minor was sent to Russia in order to coordinate the various Mission initiatives. At present the United Methodist Church works within the Eurasia Episcopal Area in five Annual Conferences (Central Russia Annual Conference, Eastern Russia and Central Asia Provisional Annual Conference, Northwest Russia Provisional Annual Confe-rence, Southern Russia Provisional Annual Conference, Ukraine-Moldova Provisional Annual Conference) in the following countries: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. In the present conflict between Russia and Ukraine the church tries to be a reconciliatory voice. Due to the difficult circumstances in many of these countries the number of professing members with 2 100 and a total community of about 3 800 is rather small; but there is a much larger circle of people who are affiliated to the various social ministries of the church. In the Asian part of the area there is also a rather strong missionary presence of the Korean Methodist Church.

All Methodist churches in Europe who are members of the World Methodist Council are also part of the European Methodist Council. The Council is an important common plat-form for talks about challenges for the churches in Europe, for the exchange of informa-tion from the different churches and for the agreement on joint actions. Because of the work of the Council it became possible for all Methodist churches in Europe to agree in 1997 to the Leuenberg Agreement (or Leuenberg Concord). They entered into full com-munion with the Lutheran, United and Reformed churches in Europe and became part of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe. The European Commission on Mission (ECOM) coordinates the cooperation with the partner churches outside Europe and the Fund for Mission in Europe supports social and missionary projects in 15 to 20 countries in Europe.

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CentralandSouthernEuropeCentralConference 1 • Switzerland 2 • France 3 • Belgium 4 • Austria 5 • Hungary 6 • Serbia 7 • Macedonia 8 • Albania 9 • Croatia 10 • Romania 11 • Bulgaria 12 • Czech Republic 13 • Slovakia 14 • Poland 15 • Algeria 16 • Tunisia

NorthernEuropeandEurasiaCentralConference 1 • Norway 2 • Denmark 3 • Sweden 4 • Finland 5 • Estonia 6 • Latvia 7 • Lithuania 8 • Russia 9 • Belarus 10 • Moldova 11 • Ukraine 12 • Kazakhstan 13 • Kyrgyzstan 14 • Tajikistan 15 • Uzbekistan

OtherEuropeanCountries 1 • Great Britain 2 • Ireland 3 • Spain 4 • Portugal 5 • Italy 6 • Netherlands 7 • Luxembourg 8 • Slovenia 9 • Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 • Montenegro 11 • Kosovo 12 • Greece 13 • Cyprus

© map: wikimedia.commons.org modified by Daniel Schmidt

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