United Methodist Church turns 40

NEW Y ORK – When The United Methodist Church celebrates its 40^th anniversary in 2008, it will have “travelled” 48 km – from its 1968 birthplace in the Dallas Convention Center to the Fort Worth Convention Center, the site of the 2008 General Conference.

Few people can recall the scene on April 23, 19 68 , when the 10.3-million member Methodist Church and the 750,000-member Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUBC) united to become The United Methodist Church.

The Rev R. Bruce Weaver of Dallas has a unique perspective on the Uniting Conference of 1968 and the 40 years that have followed.

As a district superintendent in the Fort Worth-based Methodist Central Texas Conference, he was a first-time delegate to the General Conference and also chaired his conference’s delegation that spring.

“There were five of us,” he recalls. “The other four were all seasoned veterans in the conference, and I felt mighty insignificant in their presence. I had lots of learning and growing up to do in a few short months. It was a thrilling journey and provided me an opportunity to learn more about The Methodist Church.”

Historic photographs captured the moment when Methodist Bishop Lloyd C. Wicke and EUBC Bishop Reuben H. Mueller clasped hands over a table laden with symbolic documents: Holy Scripture, hymnals, the Book of Discipline, Book of Worship and the 307-page Plan of Union.

In unison, the two bishops, 1,300 delegates and more than 10,000 visitors and guests recited these binding words: “Lord of the Church, we are united in Thee, in Thy Church and now in The United Methodist Church. Amen.” – United Methodist News Service.