Commitment and Curiosity

The UEM Council. Photo by: Martina Pauly, UEM

This March, the new UEM Council met for the first time, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, hosted by UEM member church ELCT-ECD*. Elected by the delegates of UEM’s member churches at the General Assembly, the Council meets twice a year as the highest decision making body of UEM between General Assemblies, electing the Management Team and taking reports from it.

According to UEM Moderator Bishop Dr. Abednego Keshomshahara, the four day meeting was shaped by an atmosphere of commitment and curiosity. Here, the members got to know each other both professionally and socially, and set the foundation for good cooperation over the next six years. They received reports about UEM’s five working areas Evangelism, Diaconia, Partnership, Development and Advocacy during the last year. The council evaluated and confirmed UEM’s financial policy and discussed topics like colonial history and how to deal with it.

Bishop Dr. Keshomshahara points to an important project for the communion of UEM: “The hopes that I took from that meeting was about strengthening the UEM Africa Region by putting in place the infrastructure for the new main office and income generating projects, just like the Asia Region has a big office for UEM work. Also, the spirit of United Action gives us hope for the future of UEM: Here, people from our African and Asian member churches contribute to the sustainability of UEM, thereby taking ownership within the communion.”

The next Council meeting will be held in Sri Lanka next September, hosted by UEM member church MC-SL*.

*ELCT/ECD = Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, Eastern Coastal Diocese

*MC-SL = Methodist Church in Sri Lanka