The Methodist movement began within the Church of England in the 18th century, in response to perceived apathy within the established church. The term "Methodist" was first given to a group of students at Christ Church, Oxford, including the brothers Charles and John Wesley, who adopted a very methodical lifestyle. The Methodists received communion and fasted regularly, abstained from most forms of luxury and became enthusiastic preachers.

For a long time John Wesley was nagged by a feeling that he didn't have absolute and personal faith in God, but following his conversion in 1738 he became a great preacher, travelling all around the country and preaching wherever he could find people to listen. The message of Wesley and the Methodists was that all can be saved, and no-one is beyond the reach of God's love.

As the number of Methodists grew, John Wesley formed local societies and groups as well as establishing the annual conference of Methodist preachers. However, he still encouraged people to attend their parish church, not wanting Methodism to become a separate movement. Despite Wesley's declared vow to remain a member of the Church of England, the strength of the Methodists made separation inevitable.

Wesley's giving of legal status to the Methodist Conference, as well as ordaining ministers in America, finally brought about the establishment of a separate Methodist Church. Following his death, the Methodist movement splintered due to internal disagreements and several strands formed, including the Wesleyan Methodists, Primitive Methodists and Bible Christians. By 1932, the main strands had come together to form the modern Methodist Church of Great Britain.

Today, the Methodist Church of Great Britain joins all churches and members in the British Isles together within the Connexion. On a more local level, the country is divided into thirty-one regional districts, each of which is further divided into a number of circuits. It is the circuits which are made up of individual churches.