50 years of Methodist church in Fiji

Transcript

Fiji's largest church is planning its biggest conference in years, and says it doesn't expect to have the same kind of run-ins with the government that has plagued previous ones.

This week marks 50 years since the Methodist church of Fiji became a self-governing conference, and is planning a week of celebrations ahead of its annual conference, which in past years has had severe restrictions imposed on it.

A spokesman for the church, James Bhagwan, has told Jamie Tahana the event will be an opportunity to reflect on its successes and failures, and to set a new direction.

JAMES BHAGWAN: We're celebrating 50 years of being a self-governing conference after 129 years of a being a mission of, firstly, the Wesleyan missionary society in Great Britain and then of course the Methodist church in Australasia, so it's a big time for us.

JAMIE TAHANA: And you've got your big jubilee coming up. This will be your biggest annual conference in a while won't it?

JB: Yes, the conference is significant because it's in our 50th year, and at the same time we're in the process of developing a connectional plan that will be our mission for the next 50 years. So we have been this year reflecting on the past 50 years looking at our strengths, our weaknesses, our mistakes and seeking forgiveness from the community for those mistakes that we have made as a way of preparing ourselves for the journey forward.

JT: And what are those successes and those mistakes?

JB: We have become a church that has become heavily involved in education, in social welfare, in being the prophetic voice of the community to the nation. At the same time we've had our unfortunate times where some of our leadership and members have been involved in the coups of '87 and 2000, unrest within the church. So we acknowledge the moments that we have fallen down, but we're also acknowledging that we are now starting to walk and stand as a community of faith in a very changing society in Fiji in this twenty-first century.

JT: In terms of the mistakes, how do you avoid them happening again?

JB: One of the things we've done is we've developed a connectional plan which puts forth twelve pillars and a number of key strategic areas that the church is going to focus on. This is going to be our map in which we follow the direction forward as we navigate through the changing times of this 21st century. And that will help us keep our focus, reminding us that we're an inclusive church; we're a church that is called to be a missionary church, a witnessing church, but also a church that is engaging in positive social transformation. So the connectional plan really is going to be our guide and our compass for the years to come.

JT: This conference is a big one, it's going to be large and in the past few years after various run-ins with the current regime they've been rather subdued. Do you expect any problems with this year's one?

JB: Not at all. Now that we have a constitution in place, the public emergency regulations have been lifted and so we are anticipating no problems in terms of holding our events. The main celebration will take place a week before our annual conference and we have been putting in our applications for permits and things like that, and recognising the spirit in which we are doing things which is also inclusive of the wider community and some of our programmes during the celebrations. We trust that the state will see that as a sign of the nation and our church, our community of faith, moving forward together.