Russian Methodists celebrate centennial

NEW YORK – A “great cloud of witnesses” surrounded United Methodists in Russia as they celebrated the 100^th anniversary of Methodism recently with festivities that included the announcement of the opening of a new centre in St Petersburg.

The anniversary was celebrated in an ecumenical service of worship. The occasion also marked the 120^th year since Methodism arrived in what was then Czarist Russia, in the region that is today the Baltic countries.

“The St Petersburg observance brought to mind the image of a great crowd of witnesses – from the past and the present,” said the Rev James Athearn, a retired Virginia clergyman who attended as coordinator of the Russia Initiative of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.

The Minnesota Annual Conference contributed US$600,000 (S$870,000) last year toward the purchase and equipping of the St Petersburg Centre, which is centrally located in the city and accessible to United Methodist congregations in the region. The Minnesota Conference has a mission partnership with the Northwest Russian Annual Conference.

The centre serves as headquarters for the Annual Conference and the district, and worship and educational space for St Petersburg congregations. The first worship services were held last month. – United Methodist News Service.