List of Presidents of the Methodist Conference

This is a chronological list of Presidents of the Methodist Conference of the Methodist Church of Great Britain and its predecessor churches.

John Wesley, founder of Methodism, organised and presided over the first Methodist Conference, which was to become the church's governing body. This article lists his successors, who are elected by the British Methodist Conference to serve a one-year term. Presidents follow Wesley's example in travelling the length and breadth of Great Britain, visiting and preaching in local Methodist chapels. Presidents also have an important role representing the Methodist Church in the wider world (notably appearing at the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall).

The first century of British Methodism was characterised by multiple splits from the original Wesleyan Methodist Church. Other Methodist branches, such as the Primitive Methodist Church, Bible Christian Church and the Methodist New Connexion had their own conferences and presidents. The various branches were re-united in 1932.

Methodism traces its roots to 18th century Anglican preacher John Wesley and, to a lesser extent, his brother Charles. The Wesley brothers began an evangelical revival within the Church of England. They adopted unconventional and controversial practices, such as open-air preaching, to reach factory labourers and newly urbanised masses uprooted from their traditional village culture at the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Over time, John Wesley organised converts locally, founding Methodist "societies", organised into "circuits", and linked in a "Connexion". John and Charles Wesley, along with four other clergy and four lay preachers, met for consultation in London in 1744. This set a precedent for future conferences; subsequently, the annual conference became the ruling body of the Methodist movement.

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