Connexional Council 10 October 2025

The Council met at Methodist Church House on 10 October 2025.

Those in attendance at the meeting were Mucha Chisvo, Joanne Cox-Darling, Tom Hart, Keith Hickey, Sonia Hicks (Chair), Jonathan Hustler, Mike Long, Anna Malnutt, David Matthews, Judith Neal, Sarah Parkin, Cliff Shanganya, Alethea Siow, Paul Spray and Dawn Wood. Apologies were received from Richard Andrew, Matt Forsyth and Barbara Easton.

The Council received and approved the minutes of the last meeting which can be found here.

The Council then received a report from the Resourcing Committee.

The Council spent time discussing strategy/vision after a paper presented by the Connexional Secretary and the Executive Director of Finance and Resources.

This continued the work that the Council had engaged with over the previous connexional year, recognising the need to work as a smaller organisation while supporting managing trustees which will enable us to be a connexional church in a digital age.

The Council adopted the two strategic objectives and three work areas put before them and asked the Connexional Secretary to bring a proposal for the December Connexional Council meeting proposing recommendations to be taken to the Conference in 2026 and in 2027.

The Conference Officer for Legal and Constitutional Practice spoke to the Council members about the efficacy of governance, reminding them of their responsibilities as trustees.

The Council considered all the work that had been directed by the Conference, and the workplans of the Resourcing, Mission, Ministries and Audit and Risk Assurance Committees.

The Council appointed members of the Safeguarding Committee, and, acting on behalf of the Conference, a member of the Ministerial Candidates and Probationers Oversight Committee.

The Council confirmed the appointment of the Revd Dr Graham Edwards to Cliff College and of Deacon Angela Allport to the Queen’s Foundation and appointed the Revd Dr Pete Phillips to Cliff College in a part time role for the remainder of this connexional year.

Dealing with the representation of the Council on other bodies, the Council appointed the Revd Sarah Parkin to the Methodist Modern Art Collection Management Committee and the Revd Mike Long to the Justice, Dignity and Solidarity Committee.

Council members were updated on the Gibbs Research Room which has recently opened at the Wesley Memorial Church in Oxford. It has been funded by the Westminster College Oxford Trust and is home to the Wesley Historical Society as well as to other collections and Methodist related research activity in Oxford.

The Council recommended the extension of the Revd Dr Christine Dutton’s appointment as Officer and Tutor in Evangelism and Leadership for five years from 1 September 2026, the Revd David Hardman’s appointment as Coordinator of the Methodist Liaison Office in Jerusalem for one year from 1 September 2026 and the Revd Carla Quenet’s appointment as Learning and Development Officer for five years from 1 September 2026.

The next Council meeting will be on 6 December 2025.