The annual Methodist Conference, the most important event in the British Methodist Church's calendar, is a daunting prospect for everyone, from the newest ordinand to the oldest supernumerary.

Each year the Methodist Recorder makes sense of the debates, the meetings and the gossip in the corridors. Over seven weeks, the Recorder presents a comprehensive Conference coverage: in the run-up, it includes a guide to the city or town where the Conference is taking place, profiles of the President-Designate and Vice-President-Designate and the Pastoral Address of the outgoing President; over two weeks, full reports on Conference business, followed by special accounts of the ordinations; and finally, the all-important Conference Digest, a concise and apposite summary of every Conference decision, compiled meticulously by the Rev Stuart Bell.

The Conference Digest is an invaluable resource for all office-holders in local churches and circuits ­ order extra copies at £1 each plus a total postage of 95p.