The second part of the IAMSCU Conference started in Bristol, UK, on April 27. The Opening Service was held at The New Room, the chapel built by John Wesley in Bristol in 1739. The program was magnificent and inspiring, including the hymns by Charles Wesley, participation of Kingswood School’s choir and students, a sermon by Revd Roger Walton, and a congregation formed by representatives from five continents.
The Opening Service in the New Room was one of the highlights of the conference, as participants reconnected in a direct way with the Wesleyan heritage, worshiping in the same place where John Wesley and Charles Wesley once met with the early Methodists. The program also included the Choir of Kingswood School as well as the participation of young students representing various countries in multiple continents. Their participation in the worship, singing, reading the Scriptures, leading the Litany, and in other capacities, showed that Methodist education is not only celebrating its past, but also projecting its future!
The Opening Session of the conference, which included a conference by Gary Best, the eminent expert in the history of Kingswood School, with reactions by Calvin Samuel (UK), Jennifer Smith (UK) – who leads Wesley Chapel in London – Jeffrey Kuan (US), Vinita Prakash (India), and Julio Vilanculos (Mozambique) who brought up a series of comments highlighting the importance of social justice in Methodist education. This discussion set the tone for the following sessions and seminars during the conference, where many speakers and the audience highlighted the need for more focus on critical issues facing society today.
The program in Bristol is being streamed live and recorded on YouTube. To access the available footage, please visit the conference website: 2023methodistschools.org.uk. To watch the conference, see https://2023methodistschools.org.uk/index.php/watch-the-conference/. Videos are being posted every day. For any questions, please contact the conference organization at bookings@2023methodistconference.org.uk or iamscu@iamscu.org.