LAKELAND — Although darkness lurks all around us, the Rev. Dr. Reginald Mallett implored the Florida Annual Conference to go forward and be the light of the world.

Mallett, a physician and an ordained minister of the British Methodist Church, was the featured minister at the 2003 Florida Annual Conference Event May 27-30 at the Lakeland Center here. He preached during the opening service May 27 and the following night when the conference observed the 300th anniversary of the birth of John Wesley, founder of The Methodist Church.

Citing Exodus 14:10 Mallett called conference delegates to adhere to their annual event’s theme, “To Serve the Present Age,” despite the current uncertainty in world affairs.

Mallett said Methodists have an obligation to remember they are a people of memory.

“There’s something very honorable about remembering,” Mallet said. “The children of Israel brought with them the bones of Joseph out of Egypt. This is who we are, this is our heritage. God forgive us if we forget the bones of Joseph.

“We can honor the past with remembrance. But we cannot live in the past. So the past is the point of remembrance, but it’s not a place of residency.”

Mallett reminded the congregation that Moses told the children of Israel to stand firm when they wanted to return to Egypt.

“There is something very noble about standing firm,” he said. “We can stand firm, but we can’t stand still or we become inflexible.”

Mallett said these are times to stand firm and not regress into the past.

“We live in a world where tidal changes are taking place,” Mallett said. “We can look back in gratitude, but we cannot live in the past. Although we stand firm in the present, we cannot remain in the present. The voice of God said to go forward.”

The church must continue to move forward despite being in what Mallett referred to as a crossroads.

“Now as never before, we Methodists have a vital contribution to make,” Mallett said. “God continues to call us to go out into that darkness.”

The words of Mallett resonated throughout Jenkins Hall and landed in the heart of the Rev. Margaret Kartwe.

Kartwe, pastor at Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Orlando, took comfort in his words.

“He challenged me, us, to be ourselves,” Kartwe said. “There is hope in the church. We need to go back to the basics. I have been pondering his words all week. I can feel my heart open and know the Holy Spirit of God is working through me.”

The Rev. James Brazzell, who retired in 1993, said Mallett’s words soothed his soul and his message was an excellent way to kick off the event.

“I’ve been coming to Annual Conference for 30 years,” Brazzell said. “I’m never disappointed. I thought he was really good.”

Mallett was just as good the following night when he encouraged the congregation to model themselves after early Methodists.

“The secret was this: Christ in you, the hope of glory,” Mallett said. “They were participators in divine nature…”

The early Methodists had a deep love for their fellow man, Mallett said.

“You see, there was a glory about these early Methodists, an unconscious goodness that was filled with love,” he said.

Mallett jokingly related love to the bizarre scoring world of tennis.

“…if you finish with no points, you have love,” he laughingly told the congregation. “I don’t know much about tennis, but if you finish with nothing but love, you’ve lost.

“I want to remind you tonight that in the Christian life, if you finish with nothing but love, you’ve won.”

The people of God have won the battle if they have been so close to Christ they are unaware of their virtue, Mallett said. He said they don’t keep track of when they have clothed the naked or fed the hungry because it’s simply who they are.

Wesley gathered around him not royalty or noblemen, but kitchen maids, strong laborers and miners, Mallett said.

“God has chosen the weak to confound the strong,” he said. “God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. It was those simple humble men and women who were transformed inward by Christ. They were powerfully effective.”

What Wesley believed about the Methodist people is that their goodness set them apart from the rest, Mallett said.

“In this world of shifting values, there’s something irresistible about leading a radiant life for Christ,” Mallett said as he closed his remarks. “As we mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of John Wesley, I say there’s a radiance that comes from being in Christ. God grant that this may be so.”

Mazie Johnson, a lay member of Scott Memorial United Methodist Church in Lowell, said she enjoyed hearing Mallett give the Wesley anniversary sermon.