Praise God for the UMC in Albania!

For many years, ESUMC has been in mission partnership with the United Methodist Church in Albania. Our congregation has been blessed by a number of exchange visits by pastors and laity of the two communities, and each year ESUMC makes a missions donation to the UMC in Albania to support its growing ministry in five congregations across the country.

Over the weekend of 21-22 September, I had the great privilege of traveling to Albania to represent the UMC in Austria at a pastoral seminar and the ordination of two lay pastors.

On Saturday 21 September, a total of 16 pastors from United Methodist congregations in Albania, Serbia, and North Macedonia gathered in the southern Albanian town of Pogradec for a day-long seminar on pastoral ministry. Bishop Stefan Zürcher, the episcopal leader of the annual conference comprising these three countries, gave the morning devotion and led a conversation on the various callings of local church ministry. The Rev. Wilfried Nausner, Superintendent of the Albanian district, offered reflections on the covenantal character of United Methodist ministry. After the lunch break, I shared a reflection on my ministerial priorities, based on the context in which I serve in Vienna. It was a blessed day of sharing, visioning, and spiritual growth.

Then on Sunday, the UMC congregation in Pogradec hosted a service of ordination. Two lay pastors of the UMC in Albania, Gjergj Lushka (above left) and Florian Cela (above right), were ordained by Bishop Zürcher into the ministry of elders in the United Methodist Church, and appointed to serve as pastors of local churches.

Following the service of ordination, the congregation congratulated the two new ordinands and their families, and enjoyed a blessed time of fellowship and faith sharing.

We offer our congratulations and best wishes to Pastor Gjergj and Pastor Florian, and give thanks to God for their commitment to the ministry of Jesus Christ and their inspired service to the United Methodist Church.