This is a chronological list of presidents of the Methodist Conference of the Methodist Church of Great Britain and its predecessor churches. William Thompson 1733-1799

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

, founder of

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...

, 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 Conference to serve a one-year term. Presidents follow Wesley's example in travelling the length and breadth of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, visiting and preaching in local Methodist chapels. Presidents also have an important role representing the Methodist Church in the wider world (most prominently, appearing at the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

). 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 The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

, Bible Christian Church and the Methodist New Connexion had their own conferences and presidents. The various branches were re-united in 1932.

John Wesley and the early conference

Methodism traces its roots to the 18th-century

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

preacher

and, to a lesser extent, his brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

. The Wesley brothers began an evangelical revival within the Church of England. Over time, John Wesley organised converts locally, founding Methodist "societies", organised into " circuits", and linked in a "

connexion Connexion is a variant spelling of connection and may refer to: Technology and Internet * Connexion by Boeing, an in-flight online connectivity service * Connexions (now called OpenStax CNX), a repository of open educational resources started at ...

". All preachers were in were in connexion primarily with him and thence with each other. John and Charles Wesley, along with four other ministers and four

lay preacher Lay preacher is a preacher or a religious proclaimer who is not a formally ordained cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presidi ...

s, 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. In 1773, John Wesley had designated

John William Fletcher John William Fletcher (born Jean Guillaume de la Fléchère; 12 September 1729 – 14 August 1785) was a Swiss-born English divine and Methodist leader. Of French Huguenot stock, he was born in Nyon in Vaud, Switzerland. Fletcher emigrated to E ...

to be his successor, however he outlived Fletcher. 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. Wesley himself was the original president of the Methodist Conference – although at the 1780 conference in Bristol, Christopher Hopper presided in Wesley's absence – but after his death it was agreed that in future, so much authority would not be placed in the hands of one man. Instead, the president would be elected for one year only, to sit in Wesley's chair. BpThomasCoke

A list of Wesley's early successors was produced by the Wesleyan Methodist Church, listing all Presidents up to 1890. The ''My Methodist History'' website has compiled a list of all Methodist presidents from the 1932 deed of union to 2000, and the ''My Primitive Methodist Ancestors'' site has collated the list for the Primitive Methodist presidents from their first conference up to union of 1932. The gap in the Wesleyan records is filled from entries in the ''Methodist Who's Who'' of 1912, and the Wesleyan Historical Society's ''Dictionary of Methodism''. The Methodist Church of Great Britain website had a list of presidents (and

lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village *Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) * ...

vice-presidents) from 2000 onwards. Additional information on twentieth century Presidents is provided by the Manchester University's ''Methodist Archives and Research Centre''.The Methodist Archives Biographical Index
, The John Rylands University Library, The University of Manchester Archive Accessions, 1977–2011

1791–1819

1820–1932 Wesleyans and Primitives

(During the early years of the Primitives' conference the presidents were not recorded, and may have been elected for each day of the conference. A later record indicates that amongst those serving as Primitive Methodist presidents before 1849, there were, in addition to those listed below, Hugh Bourne, William Garner, Thomas Bateman, Joseph Bailey, George Tetley, Sampson Turner.History of the Primitive Methodist Connexion
J H Kendall, (undated, 1888?))

Post–1932

In 1932 each denomination held a conference which elected their own interim presidents, followed a few months later by a unified conference at which a new president and lay vice-president were elected.

References

External links