As the global Methodist family gathered in El Salvador for the World Methodist Council meeting (August 13-17, 2026), as a voice from the Reformed tradition, Rev. Philip Vinod Peacock, general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), delivered a keynote address that challenged the assembly to consider the radical demands of God’s justice.
Speaking to approximately 180 participants from around the world, Peacock rooted his message in the Gospel of John, exploring the character of the Kingdom of God as revealed in Christ’s life and ministry.
“The theme of this panel is that the Kingdom of God is justice,” Peacock declared. “I want to suggest we cannot understand what that means until we have sat, uncomfortably, with this fact: the one we call Lord and Saviour was executed by an empire, in public, using the method that empire reserved for those it considered its most dangerous enemies.”
A Vision for Economic Justice
Peacock linked his biblical reflection to the ecumenical movement’s contemporary witness, highlighting the ongoing collaboration among the WCRC, the World Methodist Council, the World Council of Churches, and other partners in advocating for a New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA), a framework rooted in economic, social, and climate justice.
This partnership is currently underway in Panama, where the GEM School (Governance, Economics, and Management for an Economy of Life) is in its second week of gathering. Running from August 17-28, 2026, the ecumenical school marks its 10th anniversary this year, equipping church leaders to engage boldly with global economic systems. The program responds to the urgent call for economic transformation, building literacy within churches so that faith voices can shape policy decisions that affect the most vulnerable.
Standing with the Vulnerable
Peacock closed his address by reflecting on a joint ecumenical delegation to Cuba in March 2026, where he stood alongside World Methodist Council General Secretary Rev. Reynaldo Ferreira Leao Neto. Amid a near-total fuel blockade, the delegation witnessed the collapse of basic services and found solidarity in friendship, not condescension.
Peacock said, “If the Kingdom of God is justice, it is finally tested not in what we say about the vulnerable, but in whether we are willing to stand, again and again, exactly where they stand.”
Photo by Michaela Bryson/WMC
