New all-female President and Vice President team to take office

This year's Methodist Conference will be the first ever to be presided by an all-female presidential team.

The new Methodist Conference President, Rev Christina Le Moignan, and Vice President, Mrs Ann Leck, will be inducted at the beginning of the Methodist Conference on Saturday 23 June. The President gives her Conference address after the induction to her year of office. The Vice President addresses Conference on Sunday 24 June. 

Rev Dr Christina Le Moignan is currently Chairman of the Birmingham Methodist District. She was born in Harrogate 58 years ago. Dr Le Moignan was a student at Ibadan University, Nigeria (1965-70), and eventually taught at Queen's College, Birmingham (1989-94) and was Principal of the West Midlands Ministerial Training Course (1994-96). As a minister, she has served in Huntingdon, Southampton, Gosport and Fareham.

Mrs Ann Leck MBE is a member of her local Methodist church in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. She is 64 and has four children. Mrs Leck was a teacher before training as a counsellor, sex therapist and trainer for Relate. She was a member of Relate's National Executive for 12 years, including four years as Chair. In 1996, she was awarded an MBE for this work.

There has been only one woman elected previously as Methodist President, Kathleen Richardson (now Baroness Richardson) in 1992. This, the highest office in the Methodist Church in Britain, is open only to ministers. There have been 17 female Vice Presidents, all lay people, since the first woman was elected to the post in 1948.

The Methodist Conference 2001 takes place at Ipswich Town Hall from 23-29 June.

ENDS