Plenaries

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND NEW CHURCHES (Plenary 1)
Rares Galugar, Romania (pastor, dynamic diaconal church developer)
Three flourishing community centers in Romania serve the social, psychological and spiritual needs of the local people. - The young United Methodist Church in Romania started from zero in 2011 as an NGO under the dynamic leadership of pastor Rares Galugar. Hear the exciting story of how love for people, boldness and a strong sense of calling has shaped a new Methodist Church.

MEET OUR NEW BISHOP (Plenary 2)
Bishop Knut Refsdal
What are the dreams and vision of our new bishop Knut Refsdal for God’s future for the Nordic, Baltic and Ukraine area? This School of Congregational Development will be a unique opportunity to meet, greet and listen to what God has put on the heart of our new bishop, who will preach at the opening and the closing worship, and teach at the morning plenary on Friday 19th.

OFFERING HOPE IN THE SHADOW OF WAR (Plenary 3)
Ukraine has been invaded by Russia and people are killed and injured every day. The rest of Europe is closer to war, than we have been for 80 years. Our governments are telling us to prepare, storing food and water. Jon-Erik Bråthen is leading military chaplain in northern Norway and spends most of his time talking to young soldiers – he will help us reflect on: How we may offer hope to worried and anxious people? How can we prepare to live and be church under extreme circumstances?

RADICAL HOSPITALITY (Plenary 4)
Yulia Starodubets (Ukraine, pastor, leader of the church’s rehabilitation center) + Pavlo Osypenko (Ukraine, former leader of shelter for internally displaced)
What is Jesus calling us to do, when we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of a war with thousands on the run from the danger zone? Roads were packed with vehicles and persons walking, trains and busses were overcrowded, and they were alle moving towards the western parts of Ukraine and towards western Europe. The United Methodists opened their churches and homes, and they opened shelter for the internally displaced. Since the early days of the Russian invasion in February 2022, more than 1.500 have passed through our shelters. How do you serve and lead under such extreme circumstances? - Yulia Starodubets and Pavlo Osypenko share their experiences.

REVIVE US AGAIN (Plenary 5)
Leslie Newton (UK pastor, chair of district, author, works with church renewal)
Would you love to see spiritual and social transformation? In his book ‘Revive Us Again’ Leslie Newton explores how the founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley, achieved extraordinary impact across the UK. With infectious enthusiasm for God and the Methodist movement, Leslie Newton will invite us to be inspired by Wesley’s message and methods and see how, by reclaiming these treasures, Methodism and the wider church may once again transform society. Leslie Newton, is a pastor and district chair (much like a bishop) in the Methodist Church in Britain.

ON THE MOVE – LIVING WHOLEHEARTEDLY (Plenary 6)
Lasse Svensson (Former church leader, current regional leader in the Uniting Church in Sweden)
“A church for life, where the encounter with Jesus Christ transforms me, you and the world” this is the compelling vision of the Uniting Church in Sweden, which Lasse Svensson has championed throughout his 12 years as the top leader of the church. Lasse Svensson in a strong visionary leader with the unique gift of connecting with and embracing people, he will teach from his extensive experience of being a leader in a newly formed ecumenical denomination with partly Methodist roots.

LIVING AS A CHRISTIAN IN THE 21ST CENTURY – RESPONSIBLE LIVING (Plenary 7)
Daniel Steinvig (Denmark, cand phil, theological student, chair UMC children and youth organization, consultant at Green Church)
How can we live responsibly and sustainably – in a world out of balance? Why is it important to be good stewards of creation? How do we connect faith, food and community? It is time for imagination, and for the church to rethink what it means to be Christian in the world we live in.