In his inaugural address as President of the Methodist Conference, the Revd Kenneth Howcroft spoke of the ‘desperate need’ for the Church to ‘speak biblically to serve the present age.’ He encouraged Conference representatives to turn outwards to face the world with renewed self-confidence in their Methodist identity. Addressing the opening of the annual Methodist Conference in Birmingham, Mr Howcroft spoke of the challenge of communicating the Gospel in contemporary society, saying; ‘We seem less and less able to speak the languages of the people and cultures round us. We are communities of very different people, sometimes multi-cultural and sometimes multi-national. We are for holiness and mission, and have been given the grace by God to speak biblically in order to serve the present age. Can we go on doing it? Since God has not given up on us yet, by God's grace yes, we can!’