page_title: Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma
section_title: Church history and affiliation
hierarchical_section_title: Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma / Church history and affiliation
caption_attribution_description: English: View of the house enclosing the grave of Rev. William Cross, and the principal heathen temple, at Somosomo, Feejee (IV, November 1847, p.120)
context_page_description: The Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma is the largest Christian denomination in Fiji, with 36.2 percent of the total population at the 1996 census. Of the 280,628 persons identifying themselves as Methodists, 261,972 were indigenous Fijians, 5,432 were Indo-Fijians, and 13,224 were from other ethnic communities.
  Along with the chiefly system and the Fijian government, the Methodist Church forms a key part of Fiji's social power structure. The President of the Church, who must have been an ordained Minister for at least ten years, is elected at the annual conference for a term not exceeding three years. Tevita Nawadra Banivanua was elected President of the Church at the 2014 annual conference, and took office on 1 January 2015. He succeeded Tuikilakila Waqairatu.
context_section_description: Christianity was introduced into Fiji in 1830 by three Tahitian teachers from the London Missionary Society. The Australian-based Wesleyan Missionary Society began work in Lakeba in the Lau Islands on 12 October 1835 under David Cargill and William Cross, along with some Tongans. The conversion of many prominent chiefs, including Seru Epenisa Cakobau, in 1854, led to the conversion of much of the population.
  Large-scale Indian immigration to Fiji began in 1879, and the Indian Mission began in 1892.
  In 1964 the Methodist Church in Fiji became an independent entity.
  The Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma is a member of the World Council of Churches (since 1976), the Pacific Conference of Churches, the Fiji Council of Churches, and the World Methodist Council.
caption: View of the house enclosing the grave of Rev. William Cross, and the principal heathen temple, at Somosomo, Feejee (IV, November 1847, p.120)[4]
exif: {"Image Tag 0x000B": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image DateTime": "2015:11:17 12:07:08", "Image ExifOffset": "2242", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "96", "Thumbnail YResolution": "96", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4516", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "10104", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:11:17 11:55:51", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:11:17 11:55:51", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "75", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "75", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}