Rev. Dr. John Barrett elected Chairman of the World Methodist Council

At a council meeting in Seoul preceding the 19th World Methodist Conference in July this year, the Principal of ACS (International) Rev Dr John Barrett was voted unopposed for a five-year term as the Chairman of the World Methodist Council.

Thanking council members for the opportunity to serve the world body, Rev Dr Barrett said there was a growing sense of expectation and “real concern” among them to “meet on world issues and move forward together”.

An ordained minister of the British Methodist Church, Rev Dr Barrett was the Vice-Chairman of the previous council and served as the Programme Chairman for the 17th World Conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1996. He graduated with a B.A. (Hons) Economics from Newcastle University and an M.A. Theology from Cambridge University, and has many years of experience in teaching the General Certificate of Secondary Education as well as working with students of many nationalities. For 14 years until 2004, he was Headmaster of the prestigious Leys School in Cambridge, England, a Methodist private school founded in 1875 by the Wesleyan Methodist Conference. On retirement, he came to Singapore in January 2005 to become the founding principal of ACS (International).

Bishop Dr Robert Solomon of the Methodist Church in Singapore was one of the keynote speakers at the conference - the first Singaporean ever to give a keynote address at the World Methodist Conference. His address, “Reconciliation Among The Nations” received a standing ovation and a string of compliments from the organizing committee and conference leaders.

The World Methodist Conference meets once every five years. This year’s conference in Seoul attracted about 2,500 participants from 132 countries. The theme was “God in Christ Reconciling”, and Korean Methodists invited fellow Methodists from all over the world to join them in praying for the reunification of the Korean peninsula and for peace and stability in their country.