The Methodist Council reaffirmed its commitment to Fresh Expressions and equality within the Methodist Church when it met at the High Leigh Conference Centre last Wednesday and Thursday.

A working group is currently working on an equal opportunities policy for the Church, and a parallel paper presented to Council members during the meeting highlighted the wide scope of national and cultural backgrounds coexisting within the Methodist Church today. These include long-established Chinese Methodist congregations in Epsom, London and Birmingham in addition to the emergence more recently of Urdu-, Punjabi- and Parsee-language Methodist groups in other parts of the country.

The report asks that the Church move away from regarding equality and diversity as simply the concern of special-interest groups to make them part of the core identities of Methodism.

The Council also heard plans for the next phase of Fresh Expressions, a joint initiative with the Church of England encouraging Christians to establish new forms of church. The first five-year period will come to an end in 2009 and plans are already being laid down for its continuation beyond that date, including the longer-term aim of integrating Fresh Expressions into the ongoing life of the churches.

The Rev Ken Howcroft, Coordinating Secretary for Conference and Communication in the Methodist Church, said, "Fresh Expressions has been a great success and we are pleased with the plans for its next phase. It represents a great challenge to the churches, but also wonderful opportunities to meet people in different ways, and to share our faith with them."

The Methodist Council also approved spending plans for a new training framework called Extending Discipleship and Exploring Vocation, which will provide training for lay staff and volunteers.

The Council will meet again in April, which will be its final meeting before the annual Methodist Conference meets in Scarborough on 5-10 July.