It is nearly four years since the Methodists and Anglicans in Great Britain signed a covenant in which both denominations pledged themselves to work more closely together and to develop a greater understanding of the ways in which their ecclesiastical structures differ, and therefore how best to achieve some kind of visible unity in the foreseeable future. The importance of a book such as Authority and order, therefore, cannot be overstated. In what is a comparatively short book, the author examines the way in which practical necessity (initially in North America, then in Scotland and finally in England) drove John Wesley first to authorise and then to ordain preachers. His object was not to create a separate denomination, but if the Church of England had ‘drawn its boundaries in the wrong place’ – which he felt it had – then he felt at liberty to cast his own net wider.

The book follows a clear, logical structure, but the most interesting chapter must surely be the eighth, which is a fascinating comparison between the Prayer Book Ordinal and John Wesley's adaptation of it. Set out in two columns, it enables the reader to make an informed judgement concerning Wesley's claims to be encouraging an evolutionary development in the Church of England's ministry, rather than simply challenging its authority. What Adrian Burdon has done is to open up, in an eminently accessible way, an area which is very sensitive in the current ecumenical climate: that of the way in which Methodists came to have their own independent ordained ministry. This masterpiece of concise analysis will be of great interest to students of church history but will also provide much food for thought for those engaged in the current debate about the nature of oversight and episcope.