The Methodist church in Fiji will teach its ministers to speak the Indo-Fijian language and educate them so that they can understand the Indian culture.
This follows the passing of a motion at the church’s annual Bose ko Viti conference at the Centenary Church in Suva last month.
The president of the Methodist Indian Division, Reverend Emmanuel Rueben, supported the proposal to teach the language but proposed an amendment.
He suggested educating students in the customs and traditions of Indo-Fijian also be included in the Davuilevu Theological College’s programme.
The church sees this as important because of the number of Indo-Fijians who are members of circuits headed by leaders not well versed in Indian traditions and culture.
The Indian Division of the Methodist Church of Fiji has eleven circuits with more than 3000 members.
Reverend Tevita Vanua said they needed to teach students and pastors the Indo-Fijian language, so it could make their church services easier to understand.
He said looking back at open-air sessions, Indo-Fijian brothers and sisters would often attend the service but the message was not delivered in the language they understood.
Secularism and postmodernism were having a powerful impact on the church’s growth according to the church’s president Reverend Dr Epineri Vakadewavosa.
In his opening address, he said Pacific Methodist leaders had been deliberating seriously on how best to advise local churches to withstand the challenge of declining membership.
“There is a very real need to revisit the first church in Jerusalem and recapture what we have lost,” he said.
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