|
Austria honors United Methodist bishop
March 17, 2006
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
The Republic of Austria has honored a United Methodist bishop for being a “bridge
builder” in Europe.
Bishop Heinrich Bolleter, who is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and oversees
15 countries for the denomination, was honored in Vienna, particularly for
his ability to build connections with Eastern European nations.
The Austrian government held the event in the audience hall of the Palace
Starhemberg, which has served as the seat of its Ministry for Education, Science
and Culture for more than 110 years. The Great Silver Medal of Honor with The
Star was awarded in the name of the president of the republic.
“It was the first time that a United Methodist person received an award,” Bolleter
told United Methodist News Service from Zurich in a March 16 telephone interview.
Methodism was started in Austria through a small
house group in Vienna in 1870. Recognized by the Austrian government in 1951,
the
denomination is known
there as “Evangelisch-Methodistische-Kirche.” But its membership
has been such a minority in Austria “that it was always overlooked,” according
to the bishop. This award, he believes, gives the church a new level of recognition
by the government.
During the ceremony, Karl Schwarz, a ministry staff member, pointed to the
role and importance of the United Methodist Church in Austrian society. Elisabeth
Gehrer, the minister for education, science and culture, acknowledged the
role of churches in educating youth and communicating moral values before
presenting Bolleter with the medal.
Part of the recognition came from a training institution
that United Methodists have established in Austria for pastors from the Balkans.
The program is unique
in that it brings “these people very close to human beings in need,” the
bishop said. “They are, at the same time, studying and working in the
social institutions.”
United Methodists also are engaged in the ecumenical
movement in Austria. In 1990, Austrian Lutherans, Presbyterians and United
Methodists
officially
declared themselves “in communion” with regard to preaching and
Holy Communion.
A representative of the Lutheran church was present at the award ceremony,
along with all members of the executive committee of the United Methodist Central
Conference for Central and Southern Europe, which Bolleter oversees, and the
13 superintendents who work with the bishop.
The central conference executive committee, which
met March 7-10 in Vienna, is still working on adapting the United Methodist
Church’s
2004 Book of Discipline into the various languages found in the conference.
Commissioning
of pastoral candidates who come for formation and education also was discussed,
the bishop said.
Training and retention of new clergy remains a
financial problem for the conference. “When
they have finished their education, we are not able to pay their salaries,” Bolleter
explained. “We have a lot more candidates for the ministry than we can
accept.”
The church as a whole is “very much” affected by the widening
gap between the rich and poor in Europe, according to the bishop. In central
Europe and the Balkans in particular, “the membership of the United Methodist
Church is more from among the poor.”
Bolleter, who grew up in Zurich, was ordained an elder in 1969 and elected
bishop in 1989. He is retiring May 2 and moving to Aarau, Switzerland, about
150 kilometers away, to be closer to his three children.
His successor is the Rev. Patrick Streiff, also
from Switzerland. Bolleter noted that for practical reasons — the conference could not afford a
special meeting for an episcopal election and it wanted to ensure a smooth
transition — Streiff was elected in April 2005. The two have been working
together since then.
The Central Conference for Central and Southern Europe includes United Methodists
in France, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary
and all Balkan states, along with Tunisia and Algeria.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
|
