IAMSCU and the leadership of the Network of Methodist Schools in the United Kingdom reaffirmed their partnership and appointed a Joint Steering Committee to support the preparation, implementation, and evaluation of the Joint Methodist Schools Conference they are planning for 2023. This conference will be held at Kingswood School in Bath, the first Methodist school founded by John Wesley in 1748, which will be celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2023.
To prepare this special event, a Joint Steering Committee has been appointed with representatives from both associations:
- IAMSCU members: Adriana Murriello (Primary & Secondary Education), Jørgen Thaarup (Previous IAMSCU Conference Planning Committee), Christopher Stephens (Higher Education), Jane Leach (Theological Education), Brad Fenner (Primary & Secondary Education), Amos Nascimento (IAMSCU Secretary), Kimberly Lord (IAMSCU Staff).
- MIST/MAST/Epworth Trust members: David Humphreys (MIST), Barbara Easton (MAST), Julie-Ann Hewitt (Epworth Trust), Andrew Gordon-Brown (Kingswood Headmaster), Gary Best (former Kingswood Headmaster, former IAMSCU BOD member, organizer of the 1998 IAMSCU Conference at Kingswood), Sue Roxby, and Sandra Commins (MIST staff).
- Conference Champions: The Committee will include other representatives from Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America to promote the event among students, faculty, staff and community members as well as develop programmatic activities, create promotional material, recruit participants, and perform other actions.
The Joint Steering Committee will plan the conference, submit reports and updates to IAMSCU and the UK Methodist Schools network in the UK, oversee the execution of conference activities, and provide a final report to IAMSCU and the UK Methodist Schools network.