October 9, 2018
World Church and All We Can deepens partnership to strengthen mission for global Church. (First published on The Methodist Church website on 6 October 2018)
Integral to the Calling of the Methodist Church is to live out its discipleship in worship and mission.
The World Church Relationships (WCR) team of the Methodist Church plays its role in fulfilling Our Calling by offering relational support to its Partner Churches around the world.
Likewise, from its formation, All We Can, the official Methodist relief and development agency, represents the Methodist Church and aligns with its mission by providing support to locally based organisations and churches around the world. It seeks to respond to the communities it serves by engaging with local people to end the suffering caused by inequality and injustice.
In 2019, these complementary elements of World Church Relationships and All We Can will come together to provide Methodist Global Partner Churches with a more comprehensive and cohesive range of support and resources to enable them to become ever more independent and self-sufficient.
To achieve this, the work of World Church Relationships will be augmented by All We Can’s dedicated support to churches, Church CAN, (Church Community Action for Neighbours), offering organisational assessments, strategic planning and capacity development programmes specifically designed for churches.
The expectation is to create an integrated approach to support that will further encourage and equip Methodist Global Partner Churches to be successful and sustainable in achieving their mission: to be a confident church, sharing God’s love so that people and communities continue to be transformed.
Martin Ashford, Head of Mission and Advocacy for the Methodist Church, said: “The initiatives already undertaken by World Church Relationships and All We Can have helped strengthen the future joint programme of support offered to our Methodist Global Partner Churches. This integrated and comprehensive expertise will enable the Methodist Church to offer a full range of services that Partner Churches may wish to draw upon.”
All We Can has assigned a dedicated member of its team to work with World Church Relationships and the Mission and Advocacy cluster of the Methodist Church.
From January 2019, Maurice Adams (pictured above with the Revd Dr Stephen Skuce), the outgoing CEO of All We Can, will assume the role of Principal Advisor, working specifically on Church CAN initiatives.
Maurice has led All We Can through a dynamic evolution over the past six years and has always worked towards establishing a leadership succession for the charity.
Maurice said: “This is an ideal opportunity to have a new leader for All We Can while I can focus on developing its advisory function, specifically working on the professional support services it offers to others in the sector, with an emphasis on faith-based organisations and churches.
“The Church should be an agent of change and transformation and this inspiring new initiative will strengthen Methodist Global Partner Churches for our mission together.”
Graeme Hodge, Chief Executive Designate at All We Can, sees this move as “a great step forward to help build the capacity, leadership, and long-term stability of Partner Churches globally. Over the past few years, in addition to its successful work with non-governmental organisations, All We Can’s Church CAN initiative has demonstrated the positive changes this type of intervention can create.”
