President-elect Reverend Tuikilakila Waqairatu unveiled the principles of reconciliation in the lead-up to Christmas and the church's continuing effort in nation-building through grace.

Reverend Waqairatu said the principles of reconciliation had been passed in the previous conference and the work of reconciliation is not new to the church.

He said reconciliation was a mission for all the churches but for the Methodist Church, this needed to be internal and external.

"The church needs to clean itself. It needs to reconcile. There are some things we need to clean ourselves of — that is relationships between ministers and relationships between the church and some vanua chiefs," he said.

"We need to clean ourselves before we go out and stretch our hands to say we would like to amend our relationship with other churches and with the vanua and the state."

The Methodist Church is the largest Christian denomination in Fiji.

Source

• The Fiji Times
• The Fiji Sun
• Image: Croz Walsh's Blog

Reverend Tuikilakila Waqairatu is the newly appointed president of the Fiji Methodist Church. At the University of the South Pacific seminar run by the Constitution Commission on Thursday night, Mr Waqairatu said that the government of Fiji is at a critical point.

He pointed out that Fiji is a pluralistic society and went on to say "Their positive inter-church relation in the ecumenical circle and mission should enrich their corporate ministry in the country".

He also said that Islam, Hinduism and other faiths make a contribution to the nation, and this reality must be acknowledged.

Close understanding between religious groups and the government, allied with ongoing communication, would ensure a positive future for the country.

"Fiji has been ravaged by the coup-culture with its negative repercussions psychologically embedded in the minds of the people, especially the young generation, whose behaviour has been heavily affected by the noted phenomenon," he said.

Sources

• The Fiji Times Online
• Image: Peceli Fijian Methodist Church of America