Presidential Address

The Revd Loraine Mellor, President of the Methodist Conference, gives her inaugural address at the Methodist Conference 2017, in Birmingham.
In her inaugural address made at the beginning of conference, The Revd Loraine N Mellor, the newly elected President of the Methodist Conference, asked: "How are we disturbing the present in the Church today?" as she shared her concerns with the current state of the Church and her vision for taking radical risks to change its culture.
Reflecting on her worries over the"declining Church",Loraine took a sobering look at the current state of the Methodist Church and its dwindling membership."We don't have too many churches, we just don't have enough people in them..."

As a potential solution, Loraine implored Methodists to take radical steps to change the shape of the Church, through a renewed focus on God-centred worship, generous hospitality and being unafraid of failure in evangelism.

"I know I am part, at present, of a declining Church, but I am not part of a declining gospel.

"The gospel of Jesus Christ is here to stay, but has the time not come of us to be radical? To take some risks in order that we can grow...

"Because, you see... I don't believe that God is done with us just yet."
go here for the video which may be downloaded or here for the transcript