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Methodist Church in Britain

Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church with "orb and cross" logo
Classification Protestant
Orientation Methodist
Governance Connexionalism
President Loraine Mellor
Vice-President Jill Baker
Associations
Region Great Britain
Channel Islands · Isle of Man · Gibraltar · Malta
Headquarters Methodist Church House,
25 Marylebone Road,
London NW1 5JR
Origin 1932 (Methodist Union)1
Great Britain
Merger of
Congregations 4,650 (2014)
Members 202,000 (2014)
575,000 adherents in total
Ministers 1,760
Aid organization All We Can
Official website methodist.org.uk
1. The Methodist movement originated in the 18th century

The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the fourth-largest Christian denomination in Britain and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical associations. In July 2014 the church had approximately 202,000 members in 4,650 congregations, and 575,000 adherents in total.

Methodism began primarily through the work of John Wesley (1703–1791), who led an evangelical revival in 18th century Britain. An Anglican priest, Wesley 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. His preaching centred upon the universality of God's grace for all, the effect of faith on character and the possibility of perfection in love during this life. He organised the new converts locally and in a "Connexion" across Britain.

Following Wesley's death, the Methodist revival became a separate church and ordained its own ministers; it is called a nonconformist church because it does not conform to the rules of the established Church of England. In the 19th century, the Wesleyan Methodist Church experienced many secessions, with the largest of the offshoots being the Primitive Methodists. The main streams of Methodism were reunited in 1932, forming the Methodist Church as it is today.


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