Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche in der Schweiz

The Evangelical Methodist Church (EMC) in Switzerland has been part of the Swiss church landscape for around 150 years. Today, it comprises around 65 congregations with approximately 10,000 members and friends. Its origins date back to the two Anglican priests John and Charles Wesley, who lived in England in the 18th century. The term "Methodist" was originally a derogatory term for the highly structured lifestyle of a group of students at Oxford University, to which the Wesley brothers also belonged at the time. Daily Bible reading, prayer, fasting, and charity were central to this lifestyle.

The message of the Bible is the authoritative basis for the life and ministry of the EMK. The church cultivates a differentiated understanding of the Bible that also incorporates tradition, reason in the sense of common sense, and personal (everyday) experience. This is linked to a great deal of freedom for personal confession in everyday life through a faith that is active in love. The EMK expressly seeks to enable and tolerate this diversity. Church founder John Wesley put it this way: "On all questions that do not touch the root of Christianity, we hold to the rule: Think and let think."

Methodist preaching aims to bring about change in personal lives and in society. From the very beginning, this opened people's eyes to the poor, the disenfranchised, and the neglected in society. For example, Methodists played an important role in the abolition of slavery in England around 200 years ago.

In 1908, the church adopted a declaration on social issues. "We affirm the natural world as God's work and dedicate ourselves to its preservation, improvement, and faithful use by humankind," it stated at the time. "We affirm that all persons are of equal value in the sight of God and therefore work toward a community in which the value of each person is recognized, preserved, and strengthened," states, among other things, the Social Principles adopted in 1946, which are regularly updated to this day. These social commitments are not empty words. Retirement homes, hospitals, a social-therapeutic residential home, holiday camps, and hotels are also expressions of the church's service to society. Individual congregations are also involved in their local communities, for example by visiting the elderly and lonely, providing lunch clubs, working with children and young people, running daycare centers, or supporting marginalized people.

The EMK has its own relief organization, which is financed by donations. Connexio, the network for mission and social welfare, is active in 19 countries on four continents under the motto "Doing good together": Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Cambodia, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia, Zimbabwe, Slovak Republic, Tunisia, Hungary. Projects of partner churches are supported through advice and financial resources.