Methodist Church of Great Britain
From Open Encyclopedia
| Part of the series on Methodism | |
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Background | |
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Doctrinal distinctives | |
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People | |
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Largest groups | |
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Related movements | |
The Methodist Church of Great Britain or British Methodist Church is the largest Wesleyan / Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain and the Isle of Man.
It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian Church, with around 330,000 members and 6,000 churches.
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History
Methodism arose as a revival movement within the Church of England in the 18th century and was organised by the Church of England clergyman, John Wesley. As Wesley and his colleagues preached around the country they formed local societies, that were given national organisation through Wesley's leadership and conferences of preachers. Wesley insisted that Methodists regularly attend their local parish church as well as Methodist meetings. Although Wesley declared, "I live and die a member of the Church of England", the impact of the movement, especially after Wesley's clandestine ordinations in 1784, made separation from the Church of England virtually inevitable. In 1784 Wesley made provision for the governance of Methodism after his death through the 'Yearly Conference of the People called Methodists'. He nominated 100 people and declared them to be its members and laid down the method by which their successors were to be appointed.
In the 19th century Methodism in Britain divided into several churches, including the Primative Methodists, Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Methodist New Connexion. In 1932 the three main Methodist groups in Britain came together to form the present Methodist Church.
Organisation
Unlike many churches, British Methodism does not have bishops. It has however always been characterised by a strong central organization, the Connexion, which holds an annual Conference. The annual conference is held in three sessions (for ministers, the diaconate and a representative session including lay representatives). It is presided over by a President (a minister, elected by Conference for a year) and a Vice-President (a lay person or deacon). The connexion is divided into thirty-three districts covering Great Britain and the Isle of Man each supervised by a District Synod and a District Chair. The districts are divided into circuits governed by the quarterly Circuit Meeting and led and administrated principally by a "superintendent minister", and ministers are appointed to these rather than to individual churches (though some large inner-city churches, known as Central Halls, are designated as circuits in themselves - Westminster Central Hall in central London being the best known). Most circuits have many fewer ministers than churches, and the majority of services are led by lay local preachers, or by retired ("supernumerary") ministers. The superintendent and other ministers are assisted in the leadership and administration of the Circuit by lay Circuit Stewards, who collectively with the ministers form what is normally known as the Circuit Leadership Team.
There are over 5,900 churches, around 630 Circuits in 33 Districts in Great Britain. Northern Ireland is part of the Methodist Church in Ireland.
The Church is closely associated with the NCH (formerly National Children's Homes) and Methodist Homes charities.
Ecumenical Relations
In the 1960s, the Methodist Church made ecumenical overtures to the Church of England, aimed at church unity. Formally, these failed when they were rejected by the Church of England's General Synod in 1972, however conversations and co-operation continued leading in 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the two churches. From the 1970s onward, the Methodist Church also started several "Local Ecumenical Projects" (LEPs) both with the Church of England and with the United Reformed Church, which involved sharing churches, schools and in some cases ministers.
The Methodist Church is a member of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
Methodist Recorder
An independant weekly newspaper of this title examines events and current affairs within the Methodist community in Great Britain and the Wider World. The Methodist Recorder is available on tape free of charge for blind and visually impaired people from Galloway's Society for the Blind.
