The Methodist Church

in Middlesbrough

The calling of the Methodist Church is to respond to the Gospel of God’s love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission.

Inspired by Our Calling, we aim:

  • to increase awareness of God’s presence and to celebrate God’s love
  • to help people to grow and learn as Christians through mutual support and care
  • to be a good neighbour to people in need and to challenge injustice
    * to make more followers of Jesus Christ

There are around 6,100 Methodist Churches in Britain. These churches have a total membership of about 330,000 people

There are around one million people in Britain who in one way or another have a connection with the Methodist Church. There are 70 million such people across the world.

So how did Methodism come about?

Methodism has at its roots one person whose vision, determination and faith inspired fellow seekers to re-assess their lives and renew their relationship with God. John Wesley (1703-1791) challenged the religious assumptions of his day, urging those to whom he preached to ‘trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation’ for the assurance that we are all forgiven through Christ.

When John Wesley was at Oxford University, he was part of a small group of students who held regular meetings for Bible study, prayer and Communion. This earned them the nickname ‘The Holy Club’ or ‘Methodists’.

Wesley became a priest in the Church of England, but in 1738 had a spiritual experience that he described as God working in his heart through faith in Christ. He launched a hugely influential preaching ministry and had a flair for organising people into small groups. These he named classes, with locally appointed preachers and leaders, which studied the gospels and prayed together. Wesley’s new movement became a separate Church which grew rapidly throughout the 18th century and afterwards.

(The above was taken from the Methodist Church Website which can be found on www.methodist.org.uk)

The Middlesbrough and Eston Circuit

Each Methodist Church belongs to a Circuit, each Circuit belongs to a District and each District belongs to the Methodist Connexion. In the Middlesbrough and Eston Circuit there are 11 Churches.

These are:

Each Church has its own mission statement and has a range of activities that take place throughout the week. (Contact the Minister for more details on those).

Layworkers

There are also layworkers who are employed by the Methodist Church and who work within the Middlesbrough and Eston Circuit on a number of projects:

  • Pat Barrett is the project manager at the Linthorpe Road Resource Centre. You can contact Pat on 225396.
  • Chris Stephens works with families and young people. He can be contacted on 515522.
  • Linda Harkins is involved mainly with a refugee and asylum seeker project, which currently has drop-in on Wednesday afternoons from 12.30pm till 3pm held at Avenue Methodist Church and one at Eston Grange on Thursday from 1pm till 3pm. You can contact Linda on 868774.

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