The Methodist Church has elected the Rev Ruth Gee as President Designate and Dr Daleep Mukarji as Vice-President Designate for the 2013 to 2014 session.

Rev Gee is chair of the Darlington Methodist District and the Church’s representative within Churches Together in England, the Free Churches Group and the Joint Implementation Commission overseeing the Anglican Methodist Covenant.

“It’s an enormous privilege and very humbling to be elected,” she said.

“I am looking forward very much to serving alongside Daleep. I believe that there is a need for us as Christian disciples to raise our eyes beyond ourselves to see glimpses of God’s glory.

“We are called to walk so closely with Christ that we can instinctively recognise him at work in the world and be challenged and inspired by that.”

Dr Mukarji is the recently retired director of Christian Aid. He was born and raised in India, where he trained as a medical doctor.

He remains passionate about international development and is current chair of the Overseas Development Institute.

Reflecting on his election as Vice-President Designate, he said: “It is a huge privilege and a great challenge and opportunity, and one has to prepare spiritually and personally to make the most of it.

“I am passionately committed to the Methodist Church and am very excited about this possibility. I believe the Church has so much potential to reach out to people here and overseas; it needs to be spiritually alive and socially relevant – that is the part of the Church that I want to be associated with.”

Rev Gee and Dr Mukarji will be inducted at the start of the 2013 Methodist Conference, taking place at Methodist Central Hall in Westminster next July.