Methodist Structure and Doctrine

Methodist Structure

 "Methodist" was originally a nickname applied to a revival movement in 18th century Britain, based within the Church of England and led by, among others, the brothers John and Charles Wesley.  John went on to undertake numerous preaching tours of Britain and Ireland (it is estimated he travelled more than 250,000 miles on houseback).  Charles became a great hymn writer, writing some 6,000 hymns over a 50 year period.

After the death of John Wesley,leadership of the church passed to the Methodist Conference and instead of one person exercising leadership for a length of time, the President of the Conference became, for the year of office, the representative of the Conference and leading minister of the church.

The Methodist Church has a Connexional structure rather than a congregational one.  This is where the whole church acts and decides together.  It is where the local church is never independent of the rest of the Connexion.  Everyone who becomes a member through confirmation is a member of the Methodist Church as a whole, not just of the local church.

The Church is governed by an annual delegate conference which meets in early June each year with equal numbers of clergy and lay delegates.

The first conference of the Irish Methodist Church was held in Limerick in 1752, with John Wesley presiding.  The first conference in Cork was in 1825 and conferences have been held in Cork on a regular basis since then, the four most recent being at Ardfallen in 1991, 1999, 2007 and 2019.

 The Cork South and Kerry Circuit had been one of the ten circuits making up the Midlands and South District which stretched from Kenmare to Carlow and Galway to Waterford.  This district, in turn, was one of eight districts which made up the Methodist Church in Ireland.

The Cork Conference in 2019 approved that the organisational structure of the church be changed, with the old 8 Districts being regrouped into 3 new Districts, these being North Eastern District, North Western District and Southern District.

Basic Methodist Doctrine

The Methodist Church is part of the whole Church of Jesus Christ.  It claims no superiority or inferiority to any other part of the Church.  All who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and accept the obligations to serve Him in the life of the Church and the world are welcome as full members of the Methodist Church.

The Methodist Church is part of the Protestant tradition, accepting
a.  The supreme authority of scripture,
b.  Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ,
c.  The priesthood of all believers.

The distinctive emphases of Methodism have become known as

"The Four Alls"