Meeting Minutes List

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Ecumenical Relationships Commission (via teleconference)
January, 20, 2026, 2:00 p.m., U.S. Eastern Time
Members present: David Duggan, Scott Field, Han Koh, Patti Molik, Bishop Carolyn Moore, Ed Murphy, Debbie Smalley, Zak Vakadewatabua, and Vatroslav Zupancic. Also present: Teresa Marcus and Lauren Yates.
Chair Bishop Carolyn Moore called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m., U.S. ET.
Devotional: Vatroslav Zupancic shared about the issue of the increasing number of persecuted Christians worldwide. They’re persecuted because of their faith in Jesus Christ regardless of their denomination making it an ecumenical issue. He then opened the meeting with prayer.
Minutes: The minutes of the 11/11/2025 meeting were unanimously approved.
Budget Report: David Duggan reported on the budget, explaining that we have spent $4,526.62 so far this year - $2,700 to John Harrell and $1,826.62 to Bishop Moore for travel. The GMC does not yet have a budget and is operating under a continuing resolution. Scott Field will stay in touch with John Harrell about the invoice payment status.
Prayer Initiative Update: Lauren Yates shared updates on prayers for various initiatives, including: 1) Bishop Moore's trip to Cuba 2) Operation Christmas Child (prayers over all of the boxes) 3) for the Lord to make the local church more global and unity minded 4) the Lenten Season 5) the persecuted church in countries like Nigeria, Myanmar, Iran, and India, and 6) Patti Molik’s health. The following prayer requests were spoken: 1) Bishop Moore spoke of the importance of developing a partnership with Open Doors and the challenge to know how to use them as a resource 2) the WHWC conference in February in Minneapolis, where 600 registrations have been received. Prayer is requested for safety and boldness among attendees. 3) Field shared insights from his son, a professor at Concordia University in St. Paul, about the local situation and the Christian community's response 4) Cuba situation needs prayer 5) the development of the Curriculum Project.
ERC Curriculum Project: The team of Zak Vakadewatabua, Ed Murphy, Molik, and Field reviewed progress on the curriculum project, including meetings with John Harrell and the development of a global review team that will read, review, and critique material. The team reported the plan for translation services for the curriculum into six official languages, with a potential budget impact of $5,000.
Work Product Timeline and Updates
The team discussed the timeline for the first draft of the work product, which is expected in early February and will be reviewed by the global team. Field explained the review process and target completion date of the first of May.
Book of Doctrines and Disciplines – Revision of ERC description: Bishop Moore requested feedback for proposed revisions on the Ecumenical Relationships section in the Book of Doctrines and Discipline. Duggan and Ed Murphy are in the early stages of work on this.
Connectional Updates: Updates were shared on ecumenical relationships with various countries, including: 1) Australia – Vakadewatabua reported that there are official churches there now that are hoping to get into the Annual Conference in the West 2) Fiji - the GMC is not an issue with them now, but they are still open to it and 3) Cuba - with a focus on fostering local church connections and avoiding overly formal covenants 4) Costa Rica – Their Annual Conference is in two weeks. Bishop Paloma would like to strengthen ecumenical relationships and to promote opportunities for local churches to connect.
ERC Second Term of Service: Teresa Marcus explained the process for nominating candidates for the ERC, emphasizing that conferences have to nominate potential commission members. Debbie Smalley noted that delegates can sign up for administrative, legislative, or commission roles, and suggested distinguishing between current serving members and new nominees. Molik highlighted the importance of maintaining continuity on the commission which has only eight members and Teresa agreed that a transition plan might be necessary if there is a significant change in membership.
250 Years of American Methodism: Zupancic led a discussion about the 250 years of Methodism celebration in the US and how to make the GMC visible in this celebration because we have so much to offer. Bishop Moore proposed the idea for ecumenical outreach to other Methodist traditions. Zupancic will write a letter for this potential ecumenical idea for Bishop Moore to send out.
New Business: The following new business was discussed: 1) The group addressed a retreat opportunity for April 27-29 for Glen Mary Missionarty in Indiana 2) Duggan shared details about the ongoing Awake 21 event, which features nightly worship services in Cleveland across different Christian denominations over the first 21 days of January, attracting participants from 42 nations 3) Marcus announced that the Commissions and Council pages have gone live under the About section of the GMC website and requested feedback on approved work products to be added to the site 4) Han Koh reported that the Korean Methodist Church will be attending our General Conference 5) The team then discussed plans for the General Conference with Bishop Moore requesting the names and email addresses of key leaders from various regions to send invitations including those from Fiji, Tonga, Venezuela, Korea, and Costa Rica.
The next meeting of the ERC will be on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. U.S. EST. The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m. U.S. EST.
Minutes submitted by: Debbie Smalley, Secretaryze this text with bullets, italics or bold, and add links.