The Methodist Church in Ireland (Ulster-Scots: Methody Kirk in Airlann, ) is a Wesleyan Methodist church that operates across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on an all-Ireland basis. It is the fourth-largest Christian denomination in Northern Ireland. The Irish Methodist Church has close links with the Methodist Church in Britain. For the year ending 31 December 2012, there were 105 Methodist ministers, 227 local preachers and over six hundred lay people in leadership positions serving over 200 congregations, which combine to form a total community of 49,394 people. The governing body of the Methodist Church in Ireland is the annual Conference. History Methodism was founded in England by John Wesley and his younger brother Charles Wesley during the 18th century, initially as a movement within the Church of England. John Wesley visited Ireland on twenty-one occasions between 1747 and 1789. Wesleyan theology remained close to the Anglican criteria of scripture, tradition and reason. It has been suggested that nobody who lived in the 18th century has influenced more people in the years since than John Wesley, and in the dissemination of that influence Irish people have played a significant role. Methodist belief The Methodist Church as part of the worldwide church shares those core beliefs which it believes to have been passed down from the time of the Apostles. Those beliefs are founded on the Bible and are summed up in the creeds, which are regularly used in Christian services of all denominations. It is widely considered that the Protestant Reformation focused on three main matters of belief: the supreme authority of scripture; salvation by faith through faith in Christ, and; the priesthood of all believers. The Methodist Church affirms the importance of these matters. John Wesley (the founder of Methodism) believed that certain aspects of the Christian Faith required special emphasis. Methodists today still hold to these emphases, known to them as, the 'Four Alls': All need to be saved – "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) – Sin is a deep-seated self-seeking from which no-one is immune. All can be saved – We can be saved from the consequences of our sin through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. This is a Gospel ('good news') for everyone – "God sent the Son into the world... that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17) All