Methodism in Britain

Methodism is Britain does not have Bishops, as other denominations do but in run by a central organisation called the 'connexion'. The Connexion holds an annual conference and in 2005 a report was put forward suggesting that it might be time for the Methodist faith to consider having Bishops. It was agreed by the conference that this would be put forward for study and discussion. It would also need to be considered what type of Bishop would be suitable for the role.

The Connexion is made up of various districts and has a chairperson for each district. The chair may be male or female. The exception to this rule is in London where there are three chairs for the district. Districts are generally divided according to counties and within each district there are 'circuits'. These circuits hold quarterly meetings which are headed up by a 'superintendent minister'. For the majority of circuits there are fewer ministers than there are churches and services will usually be held by a local lay preacher.

There were schisms within the original Methodist church which led to the formation of separate denominations, still under the Methodist banner. Some notable examples of these were the Primitive Methodist Church, the Bible Christians and the United Methodist Church. In 1932 the three major streams of the Methodist faith in Britain united to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain.

During the 1960's the Methodist Church made proposals to the Church of England to unite the two denominations. However, these were officially rejected by the General Synod of the Church of England in 1972. However, relations between the two continued to be harmonious with cooperation happening fully and regular conversations held. To this end, in 2003, a covenant was signed between the two.

Overall, Methodism has proved to be most popular in the regions of Wales and Cornwall. The populations of which have traditionally held a distrust in the Church of England and are known for their non-conformist nature. However, the faith was also popular in the towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire, largely to their belief in the equality of working and upper classes of society.