The General Board of Global Ministries will discuss these and other issues with international partners, starting at the Pacific Islands Regional Gathering in Tonga, May 20 to 24. The gathering is the first of six sponsored by the United Methodist mission agency to sound out partner churches in Africa , Asia , Europe , Latin America and the Caribbean . Representatives of mission projects in the US will get a chance to weigh in during the fourth Global Gathering , to be held in Birmingham, AL, in April 2003. There the Board, its mission partners in the central conference, and partner churches from some 75 countries asked how they could affirm and accompany one another at local, national and international levels in the third millennium of Christianity. Weaving palm leaves in Vava'u, Tonga Inequities in financial resources and how they've affected partnership emerged as a key issue.
Partnership presumes equal status.
Mission and ministry under these conditions are no longer marked by mutual respect and shared objectives. The church's oneness in the Body of Christ is severely compromised. For the GBGM's eight Pacific Islands church partners, the enduring environmental impact of nuclear testing is another major concern. The autonomous, affiliated churches in Tonga, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Guinea, Western Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are also worried about the effects of tourism, the mainstay of the South Pacific's economy. According to Nuessle, new partnerships are needed because Pacific Island emigrants to Australia, New Zealand and the US want to be involved in mission in their countries of origin.