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2019/2020
PRESS PACK
www.methodist.org.uk/conference
ABOUT THE CHURCH
CHURCH STRUCTURE
STRUCTURE DIAGRAM OF THE CHURCH
DISTRICT MAP
KEY PEOPLE
PRESS PACK CONTENTS
THE MEDIA SERVICE
THE METHODIST CONFERENCE 2019
Photo: © Getty Images
USEFUL LINKSTHE METHODIST CHURCH PRESS PACK 1
ABOUT THE CHURCH
Methodist faith and worship
Methodists have always believed that no one is
beyond the reach of God’s love. Salvation is there
for everyone who turns to God, and not just for a
chosen few. It is a strong feature of Methodism
that laypeople (those who aren’t ordained) should
play a major part in the running of the Church.
Methodists believe in what John Wesley called
‘social holiness’. The longing for holiness is not
Image: ©TMCP / Photo: TimEPhotography
about wanting to be ‘holier than thou’. It is about
wanting the love of God to permeate all of our lives,
and for that love to be shown through our lives to
other people.
Worship each week is not always led by an ordained
minister, but often by a local preacher - a layperson
who has been trained and authorised to lead
The Methodist movement was founded by the worship. At all levels of the Methodist Church,
Anglican clergyman John Wesley (1703-91). laypeople are involved in decision making, and
Although Wesley declared, “I live and die a member the Vice-President of the Conference is always a
of the Church of England,” the strength and impact layperson or a deacon.
of the movement made a separate Methodist body
virtually inevitable. Music plays an essential role in Methodist worship,
and singing is regarded as an important means
Today, the Methodist Church is one of the largest of learning about, sharing and celebrating faith.
Christian churches serving Great Britain, with Charles Wesley wrote about 6,000 hymns, many of
192,000 members and regular contact with which are still sung by Christians across the world
over 500,000 people. It has 4,374 churches today.
in Great Britain, and also maintains links with
other Methodist churches totalling a worldwide
membership of 80 million. Its activities, both alone
and with ecumenical and secular partners, are
based on four aims known as Our Calling:
To increase awareness of God’s presence and to
celebrate God’s love.
To help people to grow and learn as Christians
through mutual support and care.
To be a good neighbour to people in need and to
challenge injustice.
To make more followers of Jesus Christ.THE METHODIST CHURCH PRESS PACK 2
CHURCH STRUCTURE
The Connexion The Methodist Conference
Methodists belong to local churches, but are The Conference meets annually in June or July in
also part of a larger connected community - the a different location each year. It is the governing
Connexion. In the Methodist Church decisions are body for the Methodist Church.
made as openly as possible, giving opportunities
for all to contribute. Included in the British It first met in 1744 under John Wesley, who
Methodist Connexion are all the districts of gathered together his assistants (both ordained
Scotland, Wales and England, along with the Isle of ministers and itinerant lay preachers) to confer
Man, the Channel Islands and Shetland. together about “what to teach, how to teach,
and what to do, ie how to regulate our doctrine,
discipline and practice”.
The local church
The contemporary Conference is a gathering of
The local church is the congregational place of representatives from each Methodist district,
worship where Methodist members and other along with some who have been elected by the
attendees are nurtured. Local Methodist churches Conference and some ex officio members and
are congregations based on the original Methodist representatives of the Youth Assembly. There is
‘societies’ which met within the Church of England. a mixture of laypeople, ordained presbyters and
When they began to gather in larger buildings, deacons.
Methodists continued the practice of meeting in
small groups or ‘classes’ for Bible study, prayer
and Christian conversation.
The President and Vice-President
At the start of the Representative Session at each
The circuit Methodist Conference, a new President and Vice-
President are appointed to preside over that year’s
A circuit is a group of local churches, served by a Conference. They then spend the year travelling
team of local preachers and ministers, led by the around the Connexion and abroad, representing
superintendent minister. the Methodist Church. The President is always
an ordained presbyter and the Vice-President is
always a layperson or deacon.
The district
The district serves a geographical group of circuits
and is led by the district chair. There are 30 Global relationships
Methodist districts across Great Britain. The Methodist Church in Britain works with 60
Partner Churches worldwide in four geographical
areas: Africa, Europe, the Americas and the
Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, as well as the
Methodist Church in Ireland and the Middle East.
The Church sends and receives mission partners,
arranges scholarships for students and advises on
the mutual sharing of resources and experiences
with our Partner Churches.THE METHODIST CHURCH IN BRITAIN
Its Structure and Organisation
Methodist Homes
• Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Methodist Diaconal The Methodist Conference • Central Finance Board
Order
Action for Children
All We Can The Presidency
Methodist Strategy and
Leaders of Worship Resources
Council
and Preachers Trust Committee
3Generate –
(LWPT)
Children and
Methodist Women
Youth Assembly
in Britain (MWiB) Secretary of the Conference
*
Its Structure and organisation
Senior
Connexional
Leaders Management
Forum Group
District Synod Districts
** District
Connexional Team
Chairs’
Meeting
THE METHODIST CHURCH IN BRITAIN
Chairs of
Districts
Ecumenical Links
Local
Preachers’ Circuit Meeting Circuits Elected representation of Church members
Meeting Diagrammatic only. Based on the Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the
*** Methodist Church
Church Circuit
Pastoral Church Council Superintendent * Registered charities
Committee Ministers ** Districts comprise one or more circuits
*** Circuits comprise one or more churches
Circuit leadership
Churches - Presbyters
- Deacons
- Circuit stewards
- Lay workers
- Others
THE METHODIST CHURCH PRESS PACK 3THE METHODIST CHURCH PRESS PACK 4
DISTRICT MAP
iar
nS
na
31
ea
Eil
h-
Orkney
Na
Islands Shetland
Islands
32
Moray
Highland
Methodist Districts
Aberdeenshire Aberdeen City 1 Synod Cymru
2 Wales Synod
31 5 Birmingham
Angus
6 Bolton & Rochdale
Perth & Kinross 7 Bristol
9 Cumbria
Dundee City 10 Channel Islands
Argyll & Bute Clackmannanshire 11 Chester & Stoke-on-Trent
Stirling Fife
West East 12 Cornwall
Dunbartonshire Dunbartonshire
13 Darlington
Falkirk East
Inv
erc
Rlyd
e -senfrew Glasgow
West
Edinburgh Lothian 14 East Anglia
North
hire Lothian
E.
Re
Lanarkshire Midlothian
15 Isle of Man
North nfr
Ayrshire ew
South 17 Lincolnshire
Lanarkshire
Scottish Borders 18 Liverpool
East
Ayrshire 19 Manchester & Stockport
South
20 20 Newcastle upon Tyne
Ayrshire
Northumberland 21 Lanchashire
Dumfries & Galloway Newcastle North Tyneside
22 Nottingham & Derby
upon Tyne
Gateshead South Tyneside 23 Northampton
Sunderland 24 Plymouth & Exeter
9
County
Stockton
-on-Tees
25 Sheffield
Hartlepool
Durham 26 Southampton
Redcar & Cleveland
Cumbria 13
27 Yorkshire West
Darlington Middlesbrough
28 Wolverhampton &
Isle of
Shrewsbury
Man 15 North Yorkshire
29 Yorkshire North & East
29 31 Scotland
27
York East Riding 32 Shetland
Lancashire
Blackpool
21 of Yorkshire Kingston
Blackburn
Bradford Leeds
upon Hull 34 Bedfordshire, Essex &
with Darwen Calderdale
Wakefield
Hertfordshire
Kirklees North North East
18 35 London
6 Greater Barnsley Doncaster
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
e Manchster Ro 25 36 South East
eysid Sh the
Mer
s 19 eff rh
e
ield am
hir
Isle of Warrington * Districts 1 & 2 together form
ms
Anglesey Cheshi Halton
st 17 the Methodist Church in Wales
Fli
ha
re
Derbyshire
Den
& Ches West Ea
nts
g
ter e
hir
Conwy hir
bigh
11
ttin
Lincolnshire
e
es
Ch
No
shir
Wr Stoke-on
exh -Trent 22 Nottingham
e
am
Derby
Gwynedd
Key Telford &
Wrekin
Staffordshire
Leicestershire
Norfolk
nd
Counties & Unitary 28
tla
Peterborough
1 & 2*
Ru
Authorities Shropshire West
Leicester
14
Midlands e
hir
District ns
Powys
23 pto Cambridgeshire
Boundary Lines m
W
Warwickshire ha
or
Ceredigion r th Suffolk
ce
5 No Bedford
ste
Mil
rsh
Herefordshire Key n
to
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ire
nes ntr hir
Bu
Ce ords
df
cki
Pembroke Carmarthenshire
Blaenau
Be Luton
Merthyr Gwent 34
ngh
-shire Tydfil
e
Monm Gloucestershire rdshir Essex
am
Oxfordshire Hertfo
ou
Port -shire th
shi
T
Nea albot
th
Rh non
Cae
Torfaen
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Cy
sea Swindon Thurrock
on Ta
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Swa Slough
dd f
port South Wokingham
a
New Greater
ly
d Gloucs.
Brid
gen Cardiff
7 Southend-on-Sea
Alderney Vale of
Glamorgan
Bristol West Berkshire London
North
Somerset Bath & NE
Somerset
Windsor 35
Reading Bracknell & Maidenhead
Channel Wiltshire Medway
Guernsey
10 Islands Forest Surrey Kent
Hampshire 36
Somerset
Sark 26
24 Portsmouth West Sussex East Sussex
Jersey
Poole
Dorset Southhampton
Devon Brighton
Isle of
Wight & Hove
Bournemouth
Cornwall
Torbay
12
Plymouth
Isles of 0 50 miles
Scilly © Groundwork GIS 2018. All Rights Reserved. © Ordnance Survey License Number 100041467THE METHODIST CHURCH PRESS PACK 5
KEY PEOPLE
The Revd Dr Barbara Professor Clive Marsh,
Glasson, President of the Vice-President of the
Methodist Conference, Methodist Conference,
2019/2020 2019/2020
The Revd Dr Barbara Glasson is a Methodist Clive has qualifications in theology and education
presbyter, Deputy Chair of the Yorkshire West and has been teaching at university level for over 25
Methodist District and the team leader at years. He has also lectured internationally and held a
Touchstone, an interfaith project based in Bradford, number of church appointments. He has been widely
West Yorkshire. published in academic journals and has written
books on Christianity and theology and cinema.
Barbara studied agricultural sciences at Nottingham
University and worked in agricultural development Clive was brought up in Merseyside with roots in
before entering the ministry. Alongside her the Plymouth Brethren. It was while studying for
ecumenical ministerial training she studied for an his doctorate at Oxford University that he found
MA and subsequently a PhD in pastoral theology. Methodism. In the late 1980s, he worked as a
She gained church experience in Liverpool, before chaplaincy assistant, as well as with the Methodist
working in the city centre where she helped to form Association of Youth Clubs (MAYC). He later became
a new church, based around the making and sharing a doctrine lecturer at Church Army Training College,
of bread. This pioneered new ways to be a church in and a local preacher.
the British context.
He started lecturing in theology at the University
Since 2009 Barbara has been the Team Leader College of Ripon and York St John in 1995, and in
at Touchstone in Bradford, which is a project of 1997 moved to Rotherham when his wife became a
connexional significance for the Methodist Church Methodist presbyter. In 2000 Clive became Secretary
in Britain. It works in the local community and on a of the Faith and Order Committee of the Methodist
national and international level, particularly through Church. He also lectured part-time at the University
the World Church Office with the Church of Pakistan. of Sheffield as well as the University of Nottingham,
where he became Principal of the East Midlands
Barbara has worked extensively with survivors of Ministry Training Course in 2007.
abuse and developed a project called ‘Women
Breaking Free’ which provides counselling services In January 2009, Clive became a senior lecturer
and creative writing opportunities for survivors. She at the University of Leicester and then Head of
facilitates the Methodist Survivor Reference Group. the Vaughan Centre for Lifelong Learning. He was
awarded a Personal Chair in 2016. He has also held
She has written a number of books including: Eating part-time posts at the Queen’s Foundation in
Curry for Heaven’s Sake! (Kevin Mayhew 2015); Birmingham since March 2018 and at Wesley House
Positive Prayers for Cities (KM 2016); and, with Clive in Cambridge since January 2019.
Marsh, So What’s the Story? (DLT 2019).
Clive and his wife Jill have two children, Philip and
Barbara is married to David, and they have three Hannah.
children and two grandchildren.THE METHODIST CHURCH PRESS PACK 6
KEY PEOPLE
The Revd Dr Jonathan Hustler, Secretary of the Methodist Conference
Before becoming Secretary of the Methodist Conference, Jonathan had been
Assistant Secretary since September 2017. Prior to this he was the Ministerial
Coordinator for Oversight of Ordained Ministries in the Connexional Team.
Jonathan trained at Wesley House, Cambridge, and studied as Finch Scholar in
Rome for a year. He was ordained in 1992. He served in circuit appointments in
Leighton Buzzard and Stewkley, Cleveland, and Mid-Lincolnshire, before returning
to Wesley House as Vice-Principal and Director of Pastoral Studies.
Jonathan has served on a number of committees in the Church and as a District Ecumenical Officer. His
involvement in the training of local preachers and ministers has been extensive and he continues to write on
pastoral theology, preaching and church history.THE METHODIST CHURCH PRESS PACK 7
KEY PEOPLE MEDIA SERVICE
Thelma Commey, Youth
President, 2019/2020
Thelma Commey, grew
up in Milton Keynes and
Ghana. Thelma enjoys Michael Ivatt,
music, singing and Lead Media Officer
creative activities. She
appreciates different Tel: 020 7467 5191
cultures and languages,
and can speak English, Twi and Ga. Thelma has ivattm@methodistchurch.org.uk
much experience of interacting and leading young
people of different ages and from a wide range of
backgrounds. She has served as a church youth
leader, Sunday school teacher, nursery worker, a
team leader with the National Citizen Service (NCS)
and a personal maths tutor.
Dave Webster
After recently completing academically rigorous
A-level courses in biology, chemistry and maths,
Digital Content Manager
Thelma hopes to study medicine after her year as
Youth President. Tel: 020 7467 5279
websterd@methodistchurch.org.uk
Thelma decided to stand for Youth President
because she is passionate about the work of God Overseeing the Methodist Church website
and would love to encourage young people to get www.methodist.org.uk
involved.
Running the Methodist Church’s social media
channels.
Her theme for the year which is ‘Jesus Loves All’
focuses on utilising the abundant talents of young Helping members of the media with information
people to express the love of Jesus for everybody, about any aspect of the life and work of the
including those who are the most disadvantaged or Methodist Church in Britain.
marginalised in society.
News releases on stories related to the
She says “I want to spread the gospel of love Methodist Church.
around the world and present the Church as a place Regular podcasts featuring thought-provoking
of love for people from all walks of life. As one interviews with people from across Methodism
who appreciates differences among people, this and beyond.
universal gospel is very dear to my heart.”
First point of contact for the views of the Church
Thelma will take up her position in August 2019 on current issues.
@YouthPresident Media support for local churches.
@MethodistGB
Methodist Church in BritainTHE METHODIST CHURCH PRESS PACK 8
METHODIST CONFERENCE 2019
The 2019 Methodist Conference will take place in Birmingham, from 27 June to 4 July.
The timings of the 2019 Conference are not yet finalised but are expected to be as follows:
• Presbyteral Session: Thursday 27 June – Friday 28 June.
• Opening of the Conference: Saturday 29 June.
• Induction of the President and Vice-President: Saturday 29 June.
• Reception into Full Connexion and Conference Worship: Sunday 30 June.
• Representative Sessions: Saturday 29 June – Thursday 4 July.
Members of the media are welcome to attend the Conference, which will be supported by an on-side media
office.
The Conference sessions will be streamed live at www.methodist.org.uk/conference
Follow the action on Twitter at www.twitter.com/methodistgb
The Twitter hashtag is #methodistconf
For more information, contact the Media Service.
USEFUL LINKS
For news from the Methodist Church in Britain:
www.methodist.org.uk/news
For news and information about the Methodist Conference:
www.methodist.org.uk/conference
Find the Methodist Church on Facebook www.facebook.com/MethodistChurchinBritain
and Twitter: twitter.com/methodistgb
Keep up to date with stories from across Methodism by signing up to one of our mailings:
www.methodist.org.uk/signup
Design and production:
Methodist Publishing and Communications Team
Find out about the views of the Church on key issues: for the Methodist Church in Britain
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© Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes 2019
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