ORGANISATION OF THE METHODIST CHURCH: PART 7

Annual General Meeting

Each year, a local church has an Annual General Meeting (AGM). Anybody can attend, but only those who are members of the local church can vote. At Solihull Methodist Church, we normally have the AGM following the morning service on a Sunday, usually in April or May.

While other items may be discussed, there are two important ones to consider. The first is to elect two new people to become stewards for the next three years starting during the following summer; it is usual also to thank the two senior stewards who are retiring. The other is to elect people to be members of the Church Council.

Any member of the church is always free to offer themselves to be a steward or a member of the Church Council. There is a procedure for doing this which needs to be followed and completed at least a week before the AGM is held. The Secretary of the Church Council can provide details of the procedure.

Membership of the Church Council

The membership of the Church Council at Solihull is as follows. The minister normally acts as the chair and there is also a secretary to the Council. The superintendent ministers of the Circuit are members and so is a Circuit steward. There are a number of church members who are automatically members of the Council: the stewards, the church treasurer, and the secretary of the Pastoral Committee. Then there are between six and fifteen people acting as representatives of the church membership: these are elected annually by the church AGM. Finally, there are up to fifteen further people appointed by the Council itself to try to ensure that all areas of the church’s life are adequately represented: these are usually people from the various church committees.