EMYC
EMYC ( European Methodist Youth and Children, Methodist Council for Working with Children and Young People in Europe ) is a Methodist umbrella organization for coordinating work with children and young people in Europe.
history
The EMYC has its origins in the fact that the youth committee of the European Council of the United Methodist Church and representatives of the Methodist youth organizations of Great Britain and Ireland met in 1970 to establish a joint working group for European youth work. On January 1st, 1975 this joint working group was given the title "European Methodist Youth Council". As a result, the work of this council was expanded to include work with children.
The EMYC brings together responsible persons from the work with young people and children as well as representatives of young people from the Methodist conferences of Europe. It is related to the Methodist European Council (EMC).
Purposes and goals of the EMYC
The EMYC serves as a tool for the conferences and areas to:
- to provide a forum for those responsible for Methodist work with children and young people in Europe and to strengthen the connection between them.
- to provide a forum for the national youth representatives in European methodism , which strengthens the links among them and facilitates the discussion of matters of public interest in view of the activities initiated.
- to represent work with children and youth in European Methodism and in other agencies and bodies.
- To provide a forum for discussion, reflection and activities on relevant contemporary issues related to theology, church, society and politics.
Representations
The members of the EMYC are:
- Representatives of child and youth work from the central conferences of the Evangelical Methodist Church ,
- Representative for the Department of Youth and Children's Work of the Methodist Church in Ireland,
- Representative of the Division of Education and Youth of the United Kingdom Methodist Conference,
- Representatives of other Methodist conferences in Europe,
The following 23 countries are represented in the EMYC: Austria (AUT), Bulgaria (BGR), Switzerland (CHE), Czech Republic (CZE), Germany (DEU), Denmark (DNK), Estonia (EST), Finland (FIN), France (FRA), Great Britain (GBR), Hungary (HUN), Ireland (IRL), Italy (ITA), Lithuania (LTU), Latvia (LVA), Macedonia (MKD), Norway (NOR), Poland (POL), Portugal (PRT), Russia (RUS), Serbia (SRB), Slovakia (SVK), Sweden (SWE).
Council meetings
The EMYC Council meets in the 40th week of each year for a period of four days. The Central Conference of Central and Southern Europe meets the day before for its annual meeting. This meeting is also considered part of the Council meeting.