Amid war, central conference practices ‘shalom’

Key points:

• United Methodists in the central conference that stretches from North Africa to Poland met March 13-16.
• The gathering focused on bringing peace in a time of strife.
• The central conference also began preparations for the annual conference in the Czech Republic to become an autonomous church.

Around 85 delegates and guests from 15 countries gathered March 13-16 at Winterthur United Methodist Church in Switzerland for the 20th Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe.

The central conference, held as many of its members’ home countries deal with nearby war and rising internal tensions, focused on the Hebrew term “shalom.” The central conference also began preparations to say goodbye to the Czechia (Czech Republic) Annual Conference, which plans to follow the multistep United Methodist process to become an autonomous church.

Central conferences are eight large United Methodist regional bodies in Africa, Europe and the Philippines. Each central conference comprises multiple annual conferences, organizational bodies that, in turn, consist of multiple congregations and other ministries. Typically, central conferences meet every four years after General Conference and hold bishop elections. However, the Central and Southern Europe meeting had no bishop elections this time since the central conference elected Bishop Stefan Zürcher at a COVID-delayed session in 2022.

In the opening worship service as well as during devotions and Bible studies, it was repeatedly emphasized that the Hebrew term “shalom” means much more than the absence of war. Instead, shalom means wholeness; for example, collective well-being or life-enhancing orderliness of the world.

Nevertheless, it became obvious how much the question of peace — or rather the question of non-peace — preoccupied the delegates and guests who had traveled to Winterthur from vastly different circumstances.

Not that the central conference meeting itself was disharmonious. On the contrary, the atmosphere was characterized by great mutual appreciation, honesty, trust and sometimes very deep conversations.

However, the deep longing for peace became palpable when any of the United Methodist leaders gathered spoke of the tense situations in their home countries. The Rev. Freddy Nzambe, the superintendent responsible for work in North Africa, spoke of the difficult situation Christians face in the area. Pastor Novica Brankov from Novi Sad, Serbia, gave insight into the politically and socially very tense situation in Serbia.

A number of central conference delegates also came from Hungary, Poland and Romania — countries that border Ukraine, still at war with the invading Russia. The church in Ukraine is part of the neighboring central conference in Northern Europe.

Those at the Central and Southern Europe meeting considered what it means in concrete terms to be shalom bearers and as individuals, congregations and the whole denomination, to live a hopeful alternative to what is a life-suppressing and even destructive reality in so many places.

The delegates also adopted the “Guidelines for a Responsible Way of Life,” which attempt to concretize John Wesley’s General Rules for today, focusing on shalom in a comprehensive sense. The delegates recommended the guidelines to “do no harm,” “do good” and seek “the space of God’s grace” for active use in home groups and other groups in the congregations.

A public participation evening on the topic of “Migration” also drew on these guidelines and offered plenty of space to listen to each other across geographical and linguistic borders and share personal experiences. The delegates considered how, as individuals and communities, they practice hospitality, integration and inclusion — and the difference between those three terms.

When the central conference was not about welcoming people but about letting them go, the attitude of appreciation did not change in any way.

The decision of the Czechia (Czech Republic) Annual Conference to leave the worldwide United Methodist Church and establish an autonomous church was deeply regretted. At the same time, however, respect for this decision was evident — as was gratitude that The United Methodist Church in the Czech Republic is prepared to take the long path provided for in Paragraph 572 of the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s policy book.

Against this background, the affirmation that the doors are open for a return were not empty words, but an expression of a heartfelt attitude. As of 2024, The United Methodist Church in Czechia had 19 churches and 809 professing members.

The central conference also had a detailed discussion of the future of The United Methodist Church in Europe. The reason for this was the growing solidarity among the three European central conferences on the one hand, but also the reality of a shrinking church on the other.

In the coming years, The United Methodist Church in Europe will have to intensively address the key question of what relationships and structures are needed to live out God’s mission as shalom bearers in a rapidly changing world. Against this backdrop, a joint meeting of all European executive authorities of The United Methodist Church will take place for the first time in spring 2026.

In his “Word to the Central Conference,” Bishop Stefan Zürcher also identified important issues facing United Methodists in Central and Southern Europe.

He asked:

• “How can we get people who have grown up in the church to participate in such a way that it becomes their church, too? And how can we succeed in building a church with people who have not been socialized in a church?”
• “How does the church deal with the increasing shortage of pastors — and which leaders are needed today?”
• “How can management responsibility be spread across more shoulders?”
• “How can increasingly scarce resources be used in the most sustainable way?”
• “How can diversity become a blessing — and what does it mean to participate in God's mission in the context of growing nationalism in Europe?”

Zürcher did not provide ready-made answers to these questions. But he emphasized what is important to him for the path into the future:

• To value the church as a fragile vessel and to act with hope.
• To strengthen the bond across all borders.
• To experiment with diverse forms of church.
• To let children and young people experience that they are already part of the church today.
• To support (young) people in their development as dedicated leaders.
• A commitment to the welfare of all creatures.
• A church as a place where the dignity of all is protected and where there is no room for violation of integrity of any kind.
• Sustainable use of available resources — also with a view to preserving creation as the basis of life for all creatures.

The meeting of the Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe was not a place where the church was turned upside down. But it was a place where trust was strengthened, relationships were reestablished and deepened, and awareness for sustainable cooperation was heightened.

Attendees aimed to return to their respective congregations as shalom bearers and support each other across all borders in passing on God's shalom and, hopefully, changing a part of the world.

Schweizer is assistant to Bishop Stefan Zürcher, Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe, in Zurich.

News media contact: Julie Dwyer at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribeto the free UM News Digests.