Greetings to the Methodist Church in Croatia
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
It is a great joy and privilege to be part of this wonderful historical event. On behalf of the Eastern European Regional Chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, I would like to greet you all on the occasion of reestablishing the Methodist Church in Croatia.
There were few attempts in the past to establish a permanent presence of the Methodist Church in your country. The last one ended in October 2010. However, eleven years later, you are making a new attempt to restart the work of the Methodist Church in Croatia. Therefore, I am with you today to tell you that our regional chapter of the WCA stands by you, and we are going to do our best to support you with our prayers and all other means available.
You all probably know that we live in very turbulent times. Unfortunately, the postmodern culture of our world heavily influences the lives of many Christian denominations. The United Methodist Church is not excluded from this alarming trend. The constant fights around human sexuality resulted in a proposal to split the existing denomination. The Wesleyan Covenant Association is working for the preparation of a new conservative worldwide Methodist denomination, which will uphold the integrity of our belief in the authority of Scripture under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, as well as seek the best framework for a vital, growing church that is sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.
Our Regional Chapter accepts the Methodist church in Croatia as a partner in preparing the new conservative (traditional) Methodist denomination. The first sign of our cooperation is the presence of your pastor in our chapter’s council. We want to work together to establish a new denomination that will keep the values of the Gospel unchanged, including the biblical understanding of human sexuality and marriage between a man and a woman. This does not mean that we will withdraw from an active dialogue with the culture of our time. On the contrary, the evangelization of culture will remain our top priority. In achieving this goal, we will try to Christianize the culture of our contemporaries, not to secularize Christian culture any further.
From the very beginning, you are challenged to join an ambitious and complex project. But you know that the Gospel is not a promise for an easy life. So far from it, Christ promised his disciples sufferings and struggles. I pray that God will give you guidance, wisdom, and strength so that you do not give up in the face of difficulties but overcome them with faith and courage. Every beginning is difficult, but God will bless you to walk your way to the end if you do not give up.
It is my pleasure also to greet you on behalf of Rev. Keith Boyette – President of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, and Frank Hinkelman – President of the European Evangelical Alliance.
Once again – I wish you all God’s abundant blessings and grace!
Comment (1)
My prayers are with for your boldness in defending God’s truth ! As a member of St. Andrews UMC, Cullman, Alabama. USA we are faced with the same dilemma. I applaud your stance and pray we will do the same. Hallelujah, your brother in Christ. Richard Bryant