The autumn meetings of the various district synods through which the Irish Methodist Church is administered are used for discussion of whichever theme or themes the district considers most important at the time.
They are much less formal than the spring meetings.
The Dublin Synod this year chose to examine both the state of work among children and young people and the principles upon which the Department of Youth and Children's Work is basing its strategy.
The most striking feature of the last few days is the way in which the role of the youth pastor has developed.
Five or six years ago such appointments were extremely rare; at present there are about 30 of them throughout the country, organising a wide variety of programmes.
These are attracting young people who are finding them both enjoyable and useful as places in which to discuss serious questions.
The youth programme of the church as a whole has been developed to reflect the same interest. One such is Soul Mates, an event which this year takes place at Lurgan over the weekend from October 10th to 12th. It is designed to cater for those in the 9-12 age range and will attract children from all districts. The programme balances creative activity, recreation and worship.
The North East District, which embraces the counties of Donegal, Derry and Tyrone, chose to discuss the Covenant with the Church of Ireland, and there were several observers present from that church.
While the discussion began with a focus on the Covenant, it developed somewhat more widely into the whole field of inter-church relations.
It reflected a growth of understanding between churches of several denominations in towns right across the district.
Methodists are inclined to think of Charles Wesley as particularly theirs, but like every hymn-writer he belongs to all who find his hymns enriching.
The younger brother of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, Charles wrote some 6,000 or 7,000 hymns, about 200 of which are still in regular use.
He is in the news at present as a question has arisen about his remains. He died on March 29th, 1788, and was buried in the Church of England graveyard of St Marylebone.
Part of that graveyard, including Charles's grave, is to be redeveloped next year as part of the site of a sports and arts venue.
So Charles Wesley and a number of other people will have to be moved to other graves; the exact locations have not been decided.
The Methodist Recorder quoted the Rev Reynaldo Leao-Neto of the West London Circuit as saying:"Whatever is decided, and talks are under way, we want to honour the memory of Charles Wesley. He is a link in the common heritage of Methodists and Anglicans".
The World Council of Churches has appointed a new general secretary, and it is the first time that an African has held the post. The new general secretary is the Rev Dr Samuel Kobia.
He is a minister of the Methodist Church of Kenya and has been serving with the WCC for some years. He has been noted for his commitment to dialogue not only between Christian churches but also with other world faiths.
Tomorrow morning the service of worship to be broadcast by RTE Radio 1 will be led by the Rev Dr Sahr Yambasu and members of the United Methodist and Presbyterian Church in Galway. Dr Yambasu, from Sierra Leone, has been working in Ireland for some years.
The president of the church, the Rev James Rea, will tomorrow morning visit the Methodist churches at Adare and Ballingrane in Co Limerick. In the evening he will preach at the United Presbyterian and Methodist Church in Waterford city.
On Sunday, October 5th, he will begin a tour of Cork city and west Cork which will bring him to the Methodist churches in that area over a period of a few days.