Methodist Conference: Revising The Methodist Worship Book

The Methodist Conference, meeting in Telford, has voted to revise the Church’s authorised liturgies. This decision sets in motion a major project to equip the Church with new and revised liturgical resources, available in a wide variety of formats, including digital and printed versions.

The first stage of the process is to consider the style and language to be used in the resources, in order to enable the Church’s worship to be as inclusive as possible, in line with the Conference’s commitments in its strategy for Justice, Dignity and Solidarity.

The report outlined a rolling programme of renewing existing authorised liturgy while consideration is given to what needs to be resourced with authorised liturgy and what can be appropriately resourced in other ways. There will also be consideration of what it might mean for a liturgical resource no longer to be authorized.

The Conference voted to adopt the principle that authorised liturgy is defined as that which has been authorised by the Conference, rather than that which is contained in a particular book. This will mean resources can be produced in formats, digital and print, according to needs which may vary through the life of the resource. The work will also consider what happens to official texts when they have been superseded.

Discussions have already been held with the Methodist Survivors’ Advisory Group and Solidarity Circles for Disability and for Women who have indicated that the needs and patterns of the Methodist Church are changing and are likely to change yet further over time.

All resources are expected to be made available online in formats appropriate to their use, for example PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and ready-to-print PDFs. Rather than produce a single book containing everything, it is intended that booklet versions be produced that contain liturgies regularly used in local churches or where it may be convenient for ministers and others engaged in pastoral ministry to be able to carry copies.

It was agreed that details should be brought to the Conference in 2026 seeking to set out principles along with an outline of the plan of work and revision.

Should the 2026 Conference adopt the report, the expectation is that the first new liturgies to be commended for experimental use will be brought to the Conference of 2028, and formally authorised in 2030.

The Revd Dr Mark Rowland, Secretary of the Faith and Order Committee commented, “To embark upon a revision of our authorised liturgy is a significant task. It is the committee’s hope that the way forward provides a suitable way in which we may serve the present, and future ages, and fulfil our calling.”