The President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference

The Revd Graham Thompson and Anthony Boateng were inducted as President and Vice-President at the Methodist Conference on Saturday 25 June 2022.

The Revd Graham Thompson, President of the Methodist  Conference 2022/2023

Graham Thompson serves as Chair of the Plymouth and Exeter District, a role which he assumed following his service as Chair of the East Anglia District. Before offering for Methodist ministry, Graham worked as an accountant.

He has served in a variety of Circuits, urban and rural, both as Presbyter and Superintendent as well as serving on variety of Methodist trusts, boards and Connexional committees. He has broad ecumenical experience and is an ecumenical Canon of Exeter Cathedral.

Anthony Boateng, Vice-President of the Methodist  Conference 2022/2023

Anthony Boateng is a Local Preacher from the London District, with a passion for social action, politics, church unity, spiritual revival and creative ways of worship. He has been a member of the Conference since 2014.

Anthony serves on several committees across the Church including as a convenor of the London District Social Responsibility Commission and member of Church Action for Tax Justice management committee. In his ‘day job’ Anthony is a caseworker for Ingeus - a government Work and Health Programme.

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The Secretary of Conference

The Revd Dr Jonathan Hustler has been a member of the Connexional Team since 2014 and was Assistant Secretary of the Conference since 2017. Prior to this he was the Ministerial Coordinator for Oversight of Ordained Ministries in the Connexional Team.

He has a wide experience of ministry having entered circuit ministry after graduating from Wesley House, Cambridge in Theology and Religious Studies during which time he studied as a Finch Scholar in Rome for a year. He was ordained in 1992 and served in three circuit appointments over 20 years, in Leighton Buzzard and Stewkley, Cleveland, and Mid-Lincolnshire (including 10 years as Superintendent). He returned to Wesley House in 2011 as Vice-Principal and Director of Pastoral Studies.

Jonathan obtained his PhD in Mediaeval Ecclesiastical History through part-time study during his first two circuit appointments and has served on a number of committees in the Church and as a District Ecumenical Officer. His involvement in the training of local preachers and ministers has been extensive and he continues to write on pastoral theology, preaching and church history.

Jonathan is married to Lesley and they have two adult children. He is an avid Archers listener and has published articles and spoken about the long-running radio soap.

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The Methodist Church in Great Britain is still organised in a methodical way using many of the structures introduced by its founder, John Wesley. However, the Church is quite pragmatic, and is willing to make changes where they seem desirable. 

Structures exist to enable decision making that takes account of all concerns and views within the Church. No one is given supreme authority, but consultation is vital. At the same time, Churches cannot simply arrange their own affairs, but have some shared disciplines and ways of working. Methodists belong to local churches or ecumenical partnerships, but also feel part of a larger connected community, i.e., the Connexion.

Being connected

This sense of being ‘connected’ makes a difference to how the Methodist Church as a whole is structured. At its heart is an understanding of the Christian community as the 'body of Christ'. Just as a human body contains different limbs and organs that depend on each other, so we should be close and caring enough to feel each other's pain and delight. We should put the good of the whole body before our own individual needs.

When ministers or deacons are ordained in the Methodist Church, they are also 'received into full Connexion.’ Included in the British Methodist Connexion are all the districts of Scotland, Wales and England, along with the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and Shetland.

“Do not allow yourself one thought of separating from your brothers and sisters, whether their opinions agree with yours or not.” (John Wesley)

Find out more here about our calling, our structure, the views and doctrine of the Methodist Church, and more about what makes Methodism distinctive:

http://methodist.org.uk
http://www.methodist.org.uk/about-us/the-methodist-church/views-of-the-church/

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