Methodism
Encyclopedia
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley
's evangelistic
revival movement within Anglicanism
. His younger brother Charles
was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. George Whitefield
, another significant leader in the movement, was known for his unorthodox ministry of itinerant open-air preaching. The Methodist Church is known for its missionary work, and its establishment of hospitals, universities, orphanages, soup kitchens, and schools to follow Jesus
' command to spread
the Good News and serve
all people.
Wesley, along with his brother founded the Holy Club
while they were at Oxford, where John was a fellow and later a lecturer at Lincoln College
. The holy club met weekly and they systematically set about living a holy life. They were branded as "Methodist" by students at Oxford who derided the methodical way they ordered their lives. Wesley took the attempted mockery and turned it into a title of honour
. Initially Whitefield and the Wesleys merely sought reform, by way of a return to the gospel, within the Church of England, but the movement spread with revival and soon a significant number of Anglican clergy became known as Methodists in the mid-18th century. The movement did not form a separate denomination in England until after John Wesley's death in 1791. Although Wesley and the majority of his followers were decidedly Arminian in their theological outlook, George Whitefield, Howell Harris
, and Selina Hastings (the Countess of Huntingdon) were notable for being Calvinistic Methodists
.
The influence of Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon on the Church of England was a factor in the founding of the Free Church of England
in 1844. Through vigorous missionary activity Methodism spread throughout the British Empire
and, mostly through Whitefield's preaching during what historians call the First Great Awakening
, colonial America. After Whitefield's death in 1770, however, American Methodism entered a more lasting Wesleyan and Arminian phase of development.
Early Methodists were drawn from all levels of society, including the aristocracy, but the Methodist preachers took the message to labourers and criminals who tended to be left outside of organized religion at that time. Wesley himself thought it wrong to preach outside a church building until persuaded otherwise by Whitefield.
Doctrinally, the branches of Methodism following the Wesleys are Arminian
, while those following Harris
and Whitefield are Calvinistic. Wesley maintained the Arminian doctrines that were dominant in the 18th-century Church of England, while Whitefield adopted Calvinism through his contacts with Calvinists in Scotland and New England. This caused serious strains on the relationship between Whitefield and Wesley, with Wesley becoming quite hostile toward Whitefield in what had been previously very close relations. Whitefield consistently begged Wesley not to let these differences sever their friendship and, in time their friendship was restored, though this was seen by many of Whitefield's followers to be a doctrinal compromise. As a final testimony of their friendship, John Wesley's sermon on Whitefield's death is full of praise and affection.
Methodism has a very wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church
to low church
in liturgical
usage. Both Whitefield and the Wesleys themselves greatly valued the Anglican liturgy and tradition, and the Methodist worship in The Book of Offices was based on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer
.
and his younger brother Charles, as a movement within the Church of England in the 18th century. The movement focused on Bible
study and a methodical approach to scriptures and Christian living. The name "methodist" was a pejorative name given to a small society of students at Oxford who met together between 1729 and 1735 for the purpose of mutual improvement, given because of their methodistic habits. They were accustomed to receiving communion every week, fasting regularly, and abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury. They also frequently visited the sick and the poor, as well as prisoners.
The early Methodists acted against perceived apathy in the Church of England, preaching in the open air and establishing Methodist societies wherever they went. These societies were divided into groups called classes — intimate meetings where individuals were encouraged to confess their sins to one another and to build each other up. They also took part in love feasts which allowed for the sharing of testimony
, a key feature of early Methodists.
George Whitefield
, another significant leader in the movement, and one of the Wesley brothers' fellow students at Oxford, became well known for his unorthodox ministry of itinerant open-air preaching.
Methodist preachers were notorious for their enthusiastic
sermons and often accused of fanaticism. In those days, many members of England's established church feared that new doctrines promulgated by the Methodists, such as the necessity of a new birth for salvation
, of justification by faith, and of the constant and sustained action of the Holy Spirit
upon the believer's soul, would produce ill effects upon weak minds. Theophilus Evans, an early critic of the movement, even wrote that it was "the natural Tendency of their Behaviour, in Voice and Gesture and horrid Expressions, to make People mad." In one of his prints, William Hogarth
likewise attacked Methodists as "enthusiasts" full of "Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism." But the Methodists resisted the many attacks against their movement.
John Wesley came under the influence of the Moravians, and of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius
, while George Whitefield adopted Calvinistic
views. Consequently, their followers separated, those of Whitefield becoming Calvinistic Methodists
. Wesleyan Methodists
have followed Arminian
theology.
In 1766, Reverend Laurence Coughlan
arrived in Newfoundland and opened a school at Black Head
in Conception Bay
.
In the late 1760s, two Methodist lay preachers emigrated to America and formed societies. Philip Embury
began the work in New York at the instigation of fellow Irish Methodist Barbara Heck
. Soon, Captain Webb from the British Army aided him. He formed a society in Philadelphia
and traveled along the coast. In 1770, two authorized Methodist preachers, Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor, arrived from the British Connexion. They were immediately preceded by the unauthorized Robert Williams who quietly set about supporting himself by publishing American editions of Wesley's hymnbooks without obtaining permission to do so. These men were soon followed by others, including Francis Asbury
. Asbury reorganized the mid-Atlantic work in accordance with the Wesleyan model. Internal conflict characterized this period. Missionaries displaced most of the local preachers and irritated many of the leading lay members. During the American Revolution, "the mid-Atlantic work" (as Wesley called it) diminished, and, by 1778, the work was reduced to one circuit. Asbury refused to leave. He remained in Delaware
during this period.
Robert Strawbridge
began a Methodist work in Maryland
at the same time as Embury began his work in New York. They did not work together and did not know of each other's existence. Strawbridge ordained himself and organized a circuit. He trained many very influential assistants who became some of the first leaders of American Methodism. His work grew rapidly both in numbers and in geographical spread. The British missionaries discovered Strawbridge's work and annexed it into the American connection. However, the native preachers continued to work side-by-side with the missionaries, and they continued to recruit and dispatch more native preachers. Southern Methodism was not dependent on missionaries in the same way as mid-Atlantic Methodism.
Up until this time, with the exception of Strawbridge, none of the missionaries or American preachers was ordained. Consequently, the Methodist people received the sacraments at the hands of ministers from established Anglican churches. Most of the Anglican
priests were Loyalists who fled to England, New York or Canada during the war. In the absence of Anglican ordination, a group of native preachers ordained themselves. This caused a split between the Asbury faction and the southern preachers. Asbury mediated the crisis by convincing the southern preachers to wait for Wesley's response to the sacramental crisis. That response came in 1784. At that time, Wesley sent the Rev. Dr. Thomas Coke
to America to form an independent American Methodist church. The native circuit riders met in late December. Coke had orders to ordain Asbury as a joint superintendent of the new church. However, Asbury turned to the assembled conference and said he would not accept it unless the preachers voted him into that office. This was done, and from that moment forward, the general superintendents received their authority from the conference. Later, Coke convinced the general conference that he and Asbury were bishops and added the title to the discipline. It caused a great deal of controversy. Wesley did not approve of 'bishops' who had not been ordained by bishops.
By the 1792 general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the controversy relating to episcopal power boiled over. Ultimately, the delegates sided with Bishop Asbury. However, the Republican Methodists
split off from the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) in 1792. Also, William Hammet (a missionary ordained by Wesley who traveled to America from Antigua with Bishop Coke), led a successful revolt against the MEC in 1791. He opposed Bishop Asbury and the episcopacy. He formed his people into the American Primitive Methodist Church (not directly connected with the British Primitive Methodist Church). Both American churches operated in the Southeast and presaged the episcopal debates of later reformers. Regardless, Asbury remained the leading bishop of early American Methodism and did not share his "appointing" authority until Bishop McKendree was elected in 1808. Coke had problems with the American preachers. His authoritarian style alienated many. Soon, he became a missionary bishop of sorts and never had much influence in America.
conception of free will
, through God's prevenient grace
, as opposed to the theological determinism
of absolute predestination
. This distinguishes Methodism from the Calvinist tradition prevalent in Reformed churches
. In strongly Reformed areas such as Wales, however, Calvinistic Methodists
remain, also called the Presbyterian Church of Wales
. The Calvinist Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
was also strongly associated with the Methodist revival.
John Wesley is studied by Methodist ministerial students and trainee local preachers
for his interpretation of Church practice and doctrine. One popular expression of Methodist doctrine is in the hymn
s of Charles Wesley. Since enthusiastic congregational singing was a part of the early Evangelical
movement, Wesleyan theology took root and spread through this channel.
Methodism affirms the traditional Christian belief in the triune Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as well as the orthodox understanding of the consubstantial
humanity and divinity of Jesus. Most Methodists also affirm the Apostles' Creed
and the Nicene Creed
. In devotional terms, these confessions are said to embrace the biblical witness to God's activity in creation, encompass God's gracious self-involvement in the dramas of history, and anticipate the consummation of God's reign.
Sacramental theology
within Methodism tends to follow the historical interpretations and liturgies of Anglicanism
. This stems from the origin of much Methodist theology and practice within the teachings of John and Charles Wesley, both of whom were priests of the Church of England. As affirmed by the Articles of Religion
, Methodists recognize two Sacraments as being ordained of Christ: Baptism
and Holy Communion. Methodism also affirms that there are many other Means of Grace
which often function in a sacramental manner, but most Methodists do not recognize them as being Dominical sacraments.
Methodists, stemming from John Wesley's own practices of theological reflection, make use of tradition, drawing primarily from the teachings of the Church fathers, as a source of authority. Though not infallible like holy Scripture, tradition may serve as a lens through which Scripture is interpreted (see also Prima scriptura
and the Wesleyan Quadrilateral
). Theological discourse for Methodists almost always makes use of Scripture read inside the great theological tradition of Christendom.
It is a historical position of the church that any disciplined theological work calls for the careful use of reason
. By reason, it is said, one reads and is able to interpret Scripture coherently and consistently. By reason one determines whether one's Christian witness is clear. By reason one asks questions of faith and seeks to understand God's action and will.
Methodism insists that personal salvation always implies Christian mission and service to the world. Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbours and a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world.
A distinctive liturgical feature of Methodism is the use of Covenant
services. Although practice varies between different national churches, most Methodist churches annually follow the call of John Wesley for a renewal of their covenant with God. It is not unusual in Methodism for each congregation to normally hold an annual Covenant Service on the first convenient Sunday of the year, and Wesley's Covenant Prayer
is still used, with minor modification, in the order of service. In it, Wesley avers man's total reliance upon God, as the following excerpt demonstrates:
The original body founded as a result of Wesley's work was later known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Schisms
within the original (Wesleyan) Methodist church, and independent revivals
, led to the formation of a number of separate denominations calling themselves Methodist. The largest of these were the Primitive Methodist
church, deriving from a revival at Mow Cop
in Staffordshire
, the Bible Christians
and the Methodist New Connexion
. The original church became known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church to distinguish it from these bodies. In 1907, a union of smaller groups with the Methodist New Connexion and Bible Christian Church brought about the British "United Methodist Church", then the three major streams of British Methodism united in 1932 to form the current Methodist Church of Great Britain
. The Wesleyan Reform Union
and the Independent Methodist Connexion
still remain separate. The Primitive Methodist Church had branches in the USA which still continue.
Traditionally, Methodism was particularly prominent in Wales and Cornwall
, both regions noted for their non-conformism and distrust of the Church of England. It was also very strong in the old mill town
s of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where the Methodists stressed that the working classes were equal to the upper classes in the eyes of God.
British Methodism does not have bishops; however, it has always been characterized by a strong central organization, the Connexion
, which holds an annual Conference (note that the Church retains the 18th century spelling "connexion" for many purposes). The Connexion is divided into Districts in the charge of a Chairman (who may be male or female). Methodist districts often correspond approximately, in geographical terms, to counties – as do Church of England diocese
s. The districts are divided into circuits
governed by the Circuit Meeting and led and administrated principally by a superintendent minister. Ministers are appointed to Circuits rather than to individual churches (though some large inner-city churches, known as Central Halls, are designated as circuits in themselves – Westminster Central Hall
, opposite Westminster Abbey
in central London is the best known). Most circuits have fewer ministers than churches, and the majority of services are led by lay local preachers, or by supernumerary ministers (ministers who have retired, called supernumerary because they are not counted for official purposes in the numbers of ministers for the circuit in which they are listed). The superintendent and other ministers are assisted in the leadership and administration of the Circuit by lay Circuit Stewards, who collectively with the ministers form what is normally known as the Circuit Leadership Team.
The Methodist Council also helps to run a number of schools, including two leading Public Schools in East Anglia
: Culford School
and The Leys
. It helps to promote an all round education with a strong Christian ethos
.
in 1972; conversations and co-operation continued, however, leading in 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the two churches. From the 1970s onward, the Methodist Church also started several Local Ecumenical Projects (LEPs, later renamed Local Ecumenical Partnerships) with local neighbouring denominations, which involved sharing churches, schools and in some cases ministers. In many towns and villages there are United Churches which are sometimes with Anglican or Baptist churches, but most commonly are Methodist and URC, simply because in terms of belief, practice and churchmanship the Methodist Church is closer to the United Reformed Church than it is to other denominations such as the Church of England.
In the 1990s and early 21st century, the Methodist Church was involved in the Scottish Church Initiative for Union, seeking greater unity with the established and Presbyterian Church of Scotland
, the Scottish Episcopal Church
and the United Reformed Church in Scotland.
Many Methodist bodies around the world see the British Methodist Church as their parent church. Some strong groups include the Methodist Church Ghana
and the Methodist Church Nigeria.
was a religious movement among colonials in the 1730s and 1740s. The English Calvinist Methodist preacher George Whitefield played a major role, traveling across the colonies and preaching in a dramatic and emotional style, accepting everyone as his audience.
The new style of sermons and the way people practiced their faith breathed new life into religion in America. People became passionately and emotionally involved in their religion, rather than passively listening to intellectual discourse in a detached manner. People began to study the Bible at home, which effectively decentralized the means of informing the public on religious matters and was akin to the individualistic trends present in Europe during the Protestant Reformation.
The first American Methodist bishops were Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury, whose boyhood home, Bishop Asbury Cottage
, in West Bromwich
, England, is now a museum. Upon the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church
in America at the Baltimore Christmas Conference
in 1784, Coke (already ordained in the Church of England) ordained Asbury a deacon
, elder
, and bishop each on three successive days. Circuit riders
, many of whom were laymen, traveled by horseback to preach the gospel and establish churches until there was scarcely any crossroad community in America without a Methodist expression of Christianity. One of the most famous circuit riders was Robert Strawbridge
who lived in the vicinity of Carroll County, Maryland
soon after arriving in the Colonies around 1760.
The Second Great Awakening
was a nationwide wave of revivals, from 1790 to 1840. In New England
, the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism among Yankees; Methodism grew rapidly and established several colleges, notably Boston University
. In the "burned over district" of western New York, the spirit of revival burned brightly. Methodism saw the emergence of a Holiness movement
. In the west, especially at Cane Ridge, Kentucky
and in Tennessee
, the revival strengthened the Methodists and the Baptists.
Disputes over slavery placed the church in difficulty in the first half of the 19th century, with the northern church leaders fearful of a split with the South, and reluctant to take a stand. The Wesleyan Methodist Connexion
(later became The Wesleyan Church) and the Free Methodist Churches were formed by staunch abolitionists, and the Free Methodists were especially active in the Underground Railroad
, which helped to free the slaves. Finally, in a much larger split, in 1845 at Louisville, the churches of the slaveholding states left the Methodist Episcopal Church and formed The Methodist Episcopal Church, South
. The northern and southern branches were reunited in 1939, when slavery was no longer an issue. In this merger also joined the Methodist Protestant Church
. Some southerners, conservative in theology, and strongly segregationist, opposed the merger, and formed the Southern Methodist Church
in 1940.
The Third Great Awakening
from 1858 to 1908 saw enormous growth in Methodist membership, and a proliferation of institutions such as colleges (e.g., Morningside College
). Methodists were often involved in the Missionary Awakening and the Social Gospel
Movement. The awakening in so many cities in 1858 started the movement, but in the North it was interrupted by the Civil War. In the South, on the other hand, the Civil War stimulated revivals, especially in Lee's army.
In 1914–1917 many Methodist ministers made strong pleas for world peace. To meet their demands, President Woodrow Wilson
(a Presbyterian), promised "a war to end all wars." In the 1930s many Methodists favored isolationist policies. Thus in 1936, Methodist Bishop James Baker, of the San Francisco Conference, released a poll of ministers showing 56% opposed warfare. However, the Methodist Federation did call for a boycott of Japan, which had invaded China and was disrupting missionary activity there. In Chicago, sixty-two local African Methodist Episcopal churches voted their support for the Roosevelt administration's policy, while opposing any plan to send American troops overseas to fight. When war came in 1941, the vast majority of Methodists strongly supported the national war effort, but there were also a few (673) conscientious objectors.
The United Methodist Church
was formed in 1968 as a result of a merger between the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) and the Methodist Church. The former church had resulted from mergers of several groups of German Methodist heritage. There was no longer any need or desire to worship in the German language. The merged church had approximately 9 million members as of the late 1990s. While United Methodist Church in America membership has been declining, associated groups in developing countries are growing rapidlyhttp://www.methodistreview.org/index.php/mr/article/view/48.
American Methodist churches are generally organized on a connectional model, related but not identical to that used in Britain. Pastors are assigned to congregations by bishops, distinguishing it from presbyterian government. Methodist denominations typically give lay members representation at regional and national meetings (conferences) at which the business of the church is conducted, making it different from most episcopal government
(The Episcopal Church USA, however, has a representational polity giving lay members, priests, and bishops voting privileges). This connectional organizational model differs further from the congregational
model, for example of Baptist
, and Congregationalist Churches
, among others.
In addition to the United Methodist Church, there are over 40 other denominations that descend from John Wesley's Methodist movement. Some, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church
, the AME Zion Church
, the Free Methodist Church
, the Wesleyan Church (formerly Wesleyan Methodist Connection), the Congregational Methodist Church
, Cumberland Methodist Church and First Congregational Methodist Church
are explicitly Methodist. The Primitive Methodist Church is a continuing branch of the former British Primitive Methodist Church. Others do not call themselves Methodist, but are related to varying degrees. The Evangelical Church was formed by a group of EUB congregations who dissented from the merger which formed the United Methodist Church. The Salvation Army
was founded by William Booth
, a former Methodist, and derives some of its theology from Methodism. Similar "social justice" denominations include the Church of the Nazarene
and the Christian and Missionary Alliance
. Some of the Charismatic or Pentecostal churches such as the Pentecostal Holiness
Church and the Assemblies of God
also have roots in or draw from Wesleyan thought.
The holiness revival was primarily among people of Methodist persuasion , who felt that the church had once again become apathetic, losing the Wesleyan zeal. Some important events of this revival were the writings of Phoebe Palmer
during the mid-19th century, the establishment of the first of many holiness camp meeting
s at Vineland, New Jersey
in 1867, and the founding of Asbury College, (1890), and other similar institutions in the US around the turn of the 20th century.
From its beginning in England, Methodism laid emphasis on social service and education. Numerous originally Methodist institutions of higher education were founded in the United States in the early half of the 19th century, and today altogether there are about twenty universities and colleges named as "Methodist" or "Wesleyan" still in existence.
Additionally, the Methodist Church has created a number of Wesley Foundation
establishments on college campuses. These ministries are created to reach out to students, and often provide student housing to a few students in exchange for service to the ministry.
There are a wide range of theological and political beliefs in The United Methodist Church. For example, former Republican President George W. Bush
is a member, and former Vice President
Dick Cheney
attends the United Methodist Church (though he is not a member). Democrat Hillary Clinton is a member of the United Methodist Church.
United Methodist elders and pastors may marry and have families. They are placed in congregations by their bishop. Elders and pastors can either ask for a new appointment or their church can request that they be re-appointed elsewhere. If the elder is a full-time pastor, the church is required to provide either a house or a housing allowance for the pastor.
Whereas most American Methodist worship is modeled after the Anglican Communion
's Book of Common Prayer, a unique feature was the once practiced observance of the season of Kingdomtide
, which encompasses the last thirteen weeks before Advent
, thus dividing the long season after Pentecost
into two discrete segments. During Kingdomtide, Methodist liturgy emphasizes charitable work and alleviating the suffering of the poor. This practice was last seen in The book of Worship for Church and Home by The United Methodist Church, 1965, and The Book of Hymns, 1966. While some congregations and their pastors might still follow this old calendar, the Revised Common Lectionary, with its naming and numbering of Days in the Calendar of the Church Year, is used widely. However, congregations who strongly identify with their African American roots and tradition would not usually follow the Revised Common Lectionary.
Adding more complexity to the mix, there are United Methodist congregations who orient their worship to the "free" church tradition, so particular liturgies are not observed. The United Methodist Book of Worship and The Hymns of the United Methodist Church are voluntarily followed in varying degrees. Such churches employ the liturgy and rituals therein as optional resources, but their use is not mandatory.
injected much of his own social philosophy into the movement as a whole. Wesley’s personal social philosophy was characterized by “an instructive reluctance to criticize existing institutions [which] was overborne by indignation at certain abuses which cried out for rectification.” The Methodist Church’s responses to injustices in society are embodiments of the Wesleyan traditions of mercy and justice.
At the end of the 19th- and beginning of the 20th-centuries, the Methodist Church responded strongly to what it regarded as social ills (i.e. gambling, use of intoxicating beverages, etc.) with attention to the Methodist doctrines of sanctification and perfection through Christ. In the United States, today’s United Methodist Church
continues to embody Methodist traditions in their response to social needs through the General Board of Church and Society
and the General Board of Global Ministries.
dispute. Both sides of the argument used the doctrines of the movement and scriptural evidence to support their case.
The initial statement of the Methodist position on slavery was delivered in the Conference minutes from 1780’s annual conference. After a comprehensive statement of the varied reasons slavery goes against “the laws of God, man, and nature,” the Conference answered in the affirmative to the question, “do we pass our disapprobation on all our friends who keep slaves and advise their freedom?” This position was put into action in 1783. Preachers from the Baltimore Conference were required, under threat of suspension, to free their slaves. By 1784, similar requirements were made of Methodists as a whole, laity and clergy alike. The negative reaction to this requirement was so strong that it had to be abandoned, but the rule was kept in the Book of Discipline
.
As slavery disputes intensified in the 19th century, there emerged two doctrines within the Methodist Church. Churches in the South were primarily proslavery, while northern churches started antislavery movements. The apologia of the Southern churches was largely based in Old Testament
scriptures, which often represent slavery as a part of the natural order of things. New Testament
writings were sometimes used to support the case for slavery as well. Some of the writings of Paul
, especially in Ephesians, instruct slaves to remain obedient to their masters. Southern ideology also argued that slavery was beneficial for slaves, as well as their owners, saying that they were offered protections from many ills because of their slavery.
The antislavery movement in northern churches strengthened and solidified in response to the pro-slavery apologia of Southern churches.
and religion was a powerful force in their lives. No denomination was more active in supporting the Union than the Methodist Episcopal Church
. Carwardine argues that for many Methodists, the victory of Lincoln in 1860 heralded the arrival of the kingdom of God in America. They were moved into action by a vision of freedom for slaves, freedom from the terror unleashed on godly abolitionists, release from the Slave Power
's evil grip on the state, and a new direction for the Union. Methodists formed a major element of the popular support for the Radical Republicans with their hard line toward the white South. Dissident Methodists left the church.
The Methodist family magazine Ladies' Repository promoted Christian family activism. Its articles provided moral uplift to women and children. It portrayed the War as a great moral crusade against a decadent Southern civilization corrupted by slavery. It recommended activities that family members could perform in order to aid the Union cause.
During Reconstruction the Methodists took the lead in helping form Methodist churches for Freedmen, and moving into Southern cities even to the point of taking control, with Army help, of buildings that had belonged to the southern branch of the church. To help the Freedmen the church set up the Freedmen’s Aid Society focused on creating an educational system for former slaves. This organization, along with the church’s Department of Education for Negroes of the Board of Education, helped provide education to former slaves and their children. Within three months of its organization, the Freedmen’s Aid Society had begun work in the South. By the end of the first year, the society had more than fifty teachers.
and Francis Asbury, opened a preparatory school in Abingdon, Maryland
in 1787. The school was a strict environment, with seven hours a day devoted to study. The venture ended when a fire destroyed the building in which the school was housed.
In the 1870s, there was a broad movement toward incorporating Sunday schools into the doctrines of churches as a way to take ownership of the Christian education of children. This was the first great interdenominational movement the United States had ever seen. Methodists invested heavily in the cause of Christian education because of their emphasis on the child’s right to and ability to “respond to divine influences from the beginning.”
Beginning after World War II, the Methodist churches in the United States continued developing, at a much greater pace, ministries on Universities, Colleges, Junior Colleges and other higher education institutions, on campuses of both church-owned and state schools throughout the United States and Canada, and to a lesser degree in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Methodism boasts the largest number of higher education ministries, including teaching positions, of any Protestant denomination in the world in close competition with the Southern Baptist Convention
. This emphasis is, in part, a reflection of the Methodist movement's earliest roots in The Oxford Holy Club
, founded by John Wesley
, his brother Charles, George Whitefield
and others as a response to what they saw as the pervasive permissiveness and debauchery of Oxford University, and specifically Lincoln College
when they attended. It is from the Holy Club that the earliest Methodist societies were formed and spread.
was the social concern which most broadly captured the interest and enthusiasm of the Methodist Church. The movement was strongly tied to John Wesley’s theology and social principles. Wesley’s abhorrence of alcohol use was taken up by American Methodists, many of whom were active and prominent leaders within the movement.
The temperance movement appealed strongly to the Methodist doctrines of sanctification
and Christian perfection
. The Methodist presentation of sanctification includes the understanding that justification before God comes through faith. Therefore, those who believe are made new in Christ. The believer’s response to this sanctification then is to uphold God’s word in the world. A large part of this, especially in the late-19th century, was “to be their brother’s keepers, or […] their brother’s brothers.” Because of this sense of duty toward the other members of the church, many Methodists were personally temperate out of a hope that their restraint would give strength to their brothers. The Methodist stance against drinking was strongly stated in the Book of Discipline. Initially, the issue taken was limited to distilled liquors, but quickly, teetotalism
became the norm and Methodists were commonly known to abstain from all alcoholic beverages.
In 1880, the general conference included in the Discipline a broad statement which included, “Temperance is a Christian virtue, Scripturally enjoined.” Due to the temperate stance of the church, the practice of Eucharist
was altered — to this day, Methodist churches most commonly use grape juice symbolically during Communion
rather than wine. The Methodist church distinguished itself from many other denominations in their beliefs about state control of alcohol. Where many other denominations, including Roman Catholics, Protestant Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Unitarians
, believed that the ill-effects of liquor should be controlled by self-discipline and individual restraint, Methodists believed that it was the duty of the government to enforce restrictions on the use of alcohol. In 1904, the Board of Temperance was created by the General Conference to help push the Temperance agenda.
The women of the Methodist Church were strongly mobilized by the temperance movement. In 1879, a Methodist woman, Frances E. Willard, was voted to the presidency of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, an organization which was characterized by heavy Methodist participation. To this day, the Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Missions holds property across on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, which was built using funds provided by laypeople. Women of the church were responsible for 70% of the $650,000 it cost to construct the building in 1922. The building was intended to serve as the Methodist Church’s social reform presence of the Hill. The Board of Temperance, Prohibition and Public Morals was especially prominent within the building.
An estimated 75 million people worldwide belong to the Methodist community, however the number has gone into steady decline, especially in North America, where an increasing number of people are leaving the old-line churches to join theologically conservative denominations.
Almost all Methodist churches are members of a consultative body called the World Methodist Council
, which is headquartered at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
, in the United States.
When Nathaniel Gilbert died in 1774 his work in Antigua was continued by his brother Francis Gilbert to approximately 200 Methodists. However, within a year Francis took ill and had to return to England and the work was carried on by Sophia Campbell ("a Negress") and Mary Alley ("a Mulatto"), two devoted women who kept the flock together with Class and Prayer meetings as best as they could.
On 2 April 1778, John Baxter , a local preacher and skilled shipwright from Chatham in England, landed at English harbour in Antigua (now called Nelson's Dockyard) where he was offered a post at the naval dockyard. Baxter was a Methodist and had heard of the work of the Gilberts and their need for a new preacher. He began preaching and meeting with the Methodists leaders, and within a year the Methodist community had grown to 600 persons. By 1783 the first Methodist Chapel was built in Antigua, with John Baxter as the local preacher, where its wooden structure now seated some 2,000 people.
In 1786 the missionary endeavour in the Caribbean was officially recognised by the Conference in England, and that same year Rev. Dr. Thomas Coke, having been made Superintendent of the Church two years previously in America by Wesley, was travelling to Nova Scotia, but providence forced his ship to Antigua.
(1779–1866) a free-born coloured woman of reasonable comfort who, following Rev. William J. Shrewsbury's 1820's preachings used Civil Disobedience in an attempt to thwart magistrate rulings that prevented parishioners holding prayer meetings, to the point of paying and extraordinary £1700.00 in hopes to build a new chapel and having militia appointed by the Governor to protect her home from demolition.
In 1884 an attempt was made at autonomy with the formation of two West Indian Conferences, however by 1903 the venture had failed. It was not until the 1960s that another attempt was made at autonomy. This second attempt resulted in the emergence of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA) in May 1967.
In the island of Barbados Francis Godson (1864–1953) became a Methodist who, having served briefly in several of the Caribbean islands, eventually immersed himself in helping those in hardship of the first world war in Barbados and later was appointed to the Legislative Council there and fought for the Pensioners. He was later followed by renowned Barbadian Augustus Rawle Parkinson (1864-19??) who also was the first principal of the Wesley Hall School in Barbados (which celebrated its 125 anniversary back in September 2009).
In more recent times in Barbados, Victor Alphonso Cooke (born 1930) and Lawrence Vernon Harcourt Lewis (born 1932) are strong influences on the Methodist Church in the island. Their contemporary and late member of the Dalkeith Methodist Church, was the former secretary of the University of the West Indies
, consultant of the Canadian Training Aid Programme and a man of letters – Francis Woodbine Blackman
(1922–2010) – it was his research and published works that enlightened much of this information on Caribbean Methodism.,
, inaugurated with the arrival of Joseph Rhodes Dunwell to the Gold Coast (Ghana) in 1835. Like the mother church, the Methodist Church in Ghana was established by people of Anglican background. Roman Catholic and Anglican missionaries came to the Gold Coast from the 15th century. A school was established in Cape Coast by the Anglicans during the time of Philip Quaque, a Ghanaian priest. Those who came out of this school had scriptural knowledge and scriptural materials supplied by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. A member a resulting Bible study groups, William De-Graft, requested Bibles through captain Potter of the ship Congo. Not only were Bibles sent, but also a Methodist missionary. In the first eight years of the Church’s life, 11 out of 21 missionaries who worked in the Gold Coast died. Thomas Birch Freeman, who arrived at the Gold Coast in 1838 was a pioneer of missionary expansion. Between 1838 and 1857 he carried Methodism from the coastal areas to Kumasi in the Asante hinterland of the Gold Coast. He also established Methodist Societies in Badagry and AbeoKuta in Nigeria with the assistance of William De-Graft.
By 1854, the church was organized into circuits constituting a district with T.B. Freeman as chairman. Freeman was replaced in 1856 by William West. The district was divided and extended to include areas in the then Gold Coast and Nigeria by the synod in 1878, a move confirmed at the British Conference. The district were Gold Coast (Ghana) District, with T.R. Picot as chairman and Yoruba and Popo District, with John Milum as chairman.
Methodist evangelization of northern Ghana began in 1910. After a long period of conflict with the colonial government, missionary work was established in 1955. Paul Adu was the first indigenous missionary to northern Ghana.
In July 1961, the Methodist Church in Ghana became autonomous, and was called the Methodist Church Ghana, based on a deed of foundation, part of the church's Constitution and Standing Orders.
The Methodist Church Ghana has a total membership of close to 600,000. The church has 15 dioceses, 3,814 societies, 1,066 pastors, 15,920 local preachers, 24,100 lay leaders, many schools, an orphanage, hospitals and clinics.
n migrants who settled there were Methodists.
is a member church of the World Methodist Council
.
Methodism in Southern Africa began as a result of lay Christian work by an Irish soldier of the English Regiment, John Irwin, who was stationed at the Cape and began to hold prayer meetings as early as 1795. The first Methodist lay preacher at the Cape, George Middlemiss, was a soldier of the 72nd regiment of the British Army stationed at the Cape in 1805. This foundation paved the way for missionary work by: Methodist missionary societies from Great Britain, many of whom sent missionaries with the 1820 English settlers to the Western and Eastern Cape. Among the most notable of the early missionaries were Barnabas Shaw and William Shaw. The largest group was the Wesleyan Methodist Church, but there were a number of others that joined together to form the Methodist Church of South Africa, later known as The Methodist Church of Southern Africa.
The Methodist Church of Southern Africa is the largest mainline Christian denomination in South Africa – 7.3% of the South African population recorded their religious affiliation as 'Methodist' in the last national census.
Peter J. Harley born 24 November 1931 in Acres Goodwood Cape Town is the longest serving Local Preacher in the Cape of Good Hope District. Renowned throughout for the futuristic type of youth programs which today is the norm, teaching young people in disadvantaged areas about terms such organograms, resource, co-ordinator,liaison,scrounger as far back as 1969 way ahead of its time. Harley worked in an that area to quote his original statement in '69 "Our premise was that within every community there are organisations and groupings exercising an influence for good. Organisations like sports clubs, Boy Scouts, Ratepayers Associations etc, etc, including ofcourse the Churches and Mosques as the main sources of good influence. However, through investigation we discovered the these influences for good on a community (including the churches) penetrated the community only up to a point beyond which the influence of the church were either diminished or not felt at all. Even though it was impossible to mark on a map where the good influences diminished or stopped. It was decided rightly or wrongly to make such a marking. That mark became for us a line, a sort of FRONTIER and it was specifically beyond that frontier where we would concentrate our efforts.From 1969 through 1974 they drew up to 450 of the youth in the area unfailingly attending its activities week by week. An outspoken and challenging local preacher, the preached word more often than not sending parishioners home with much food for thought as the unadulterated word is preached as a pure Methodist. The originator of many Bible Study groups throughout the Peninsula of which some are still in operation. Many young people orginally from that group have advanced to become leaders in various fields with much thanks and gratefulness to the commitment and dedication of Peter Harley for the spreading of the Gospel and above all: teaching others to teach.
is one of the largest Christian denominations of Mozambique.
and Moses Clark White
, who sailed from Boston
15 April 1847, and reached Foochow 6 September. They were followed by Henry Hickok and Robert Samuel Maclay
, who arrived 15 April 1848. In 1857 it baptized the first convert in connection with its labors. In August 1856, a brick church, called the "Church of the True God" (真神堂), the first substantial church building erected at Foochow by Protestant Missions, was dedicated to the worship of God. In the winter of the same year another brick church, located on the hill in the suburbs on the south bank of the Min, was finished and dedicated, called the "Church of Heavenly Peace" (天安堂). In 1862, the number of members was 87. The Foochow Conference was organized by Isaac W. Wiley on 6 December 1867, by which time the number of members and probationers had reached 2,011.
In 1867, the mission sent out the first missionaries to Central China, who began work at Kiukiang. In 1869 missionaries were also sent to the capital city
Peking, where they laid the foundations of the work of the North China Mission. In November 1880, the West China Mission was established in Sichuan Province. In 1896 the work in the Hinghua prefecture (modern-day Putian
) and surrounding regions was also organized as a Mission Conference.
In 1947, the Methodist Church in the Republic of China celebrated its centennial. In 1949, however, the Methodist Church moved to Taiwan with the Kuomintang
government. On 21 June 1953, the Taipei Methodist Church was erected, then local churches and chapels with a baptized membership numbering over 2,500. Various types of educational, medical and social services are provided (including Tunghai University
). In 1972 the Methodist Church in the Republic of China became autonomous and the first bishop was installed in 1986.
) in 1817 at a place called Black Town (Broadway), later known as George Town. Lynch conducted the first Methodist missionary service on 2 March 1817, in a stable. The first Methodist church was dedicated in 1819 at Royapettah
. A chapel at Broadway (Black Town) was later built and dedicated on 25 April 1822. This church was rebuilt in 1844 since the earlier structure was collapsing. At this time there were about 100 Methodist members in all of Madras, and they were either Europeans or Eurasians (European and Indian descent). Among those names associated with the founding period of Methodism in India are Elijah Hoole & Thomas Cryer, who came as missionaries to Madras. In 1857, the Methodist Episcopal Church started its work in India, and with prominent Evangelists like William Taylor the Emmanuel Methodist Church, Vepery, was born in 1874. Famous evangelist Bishop James Mills Thoburn established the Thoburn Memorial Church in calcutta (Kolkata) in 1873 and the famous Calcutta Boys' School in 1877. In 1947 the Wesleyan Methodist Church in India merged with Presbyterians, Anglicans and other Protestant churches to form the Church of South India while the American Methodist Church remained affiliated as the Methodist Church in southern Asia (MCSA) to the mother church in USA- the United Methodist Church till 1981, when by an enabling act the Methodist Church in India (MCI) became an autonomous church in India. Today, the Methodist Church in India is governed by the General Conference of the Methodist Church of India headed by 6 Bishops, with headquarters at Methodist Centre, 21 YMCA Road, Mumbai, India...
countries. These are now independent and many of them are stronger than the former "mother" churches. In addition to the churches, these missionaries often also founded schools to serve the local community. A good example of such schools are the Methodist Boys' School in Kuala Lumpur
, Malaysia and Anglo-Chinese School
, Methodist Girls' School
and Fairfield Methodist Schools
in Singapore
.
. On 21 June 1898, the American executives of the Mission Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church expressed their desire to join other Protestant denominations in starting mission work in the islands and to enter into any comity agreement that would facilitate the establishment of such mission. The first Protestant worship service was conducted on 28 August 1898 by an American military chaplain named Rev. George C. Stull. Rev. Stull was an ordained Methodist minister from the Montana Annual Conference of The Methodist Episcopal Church (Later became The United Methodist Church in 1968).
Methodist and Wesleyan
traditions in the Philippines are shared by three of the largest mainline Protestant churches in the country – The United Methodist Church
, Iglesia Evangelica Metodista En Las Islas Filipinas
(IEMELIF) (Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands), and The United Church of Christ in the Philippines
. There are also evangelical Protestant churches in the country with Methodist and Wesleyan tradition like The Wesleyan Church of the Philippines, Inc. Free Methodist Church
of the Philippines, and the Church of the Nazarene
in the Philippines. There are also the IEMELIF Reform Movement (IRM), The Wesleyan (Pilgrim Holiness) Church of the Philippines, the Philippine Bible Methodist Church, Inc., the Pentecostal Free Methodist Church, Inc., the Fundamental Christian Methodist Church, The Reformed Methodist Church, Inc., The Methodist Church of the Living Bread, Inc., and the Wesley Evangelical Methodist Church & Mission, Inc.
There are three Episcopal Areas of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines namely: Baguio Episcopal Area, Davao Episcopal Area and Manila Episcopal Area.
The first missionary sent out was R. S. Mclay, who sailed from Japan 1884, and was given the authority of medical and schooling permission from Gojong, Korean Emperor. Next year, H. G. Apenzeller from North Methodist church, who arrived 5 April 1885, started to evangelize with Dr. Scranton and his mother. They established "Jeongdon Metheodist Church"(정동감리교회), "Sangdong Pharmacy Store"(상동약국) becoming "Sangdong Methodist Church"(상동감리교회) and "Baejae School"(배재학당). In 1895, there were Bishop E. R. Hendrix and Dr. C. F. Reid from South Methodist Church, who established "Jonggyo Methodist Church"(종교감리교회) and "Baewha School"(배화학당).
In 1930, the Korean Methodist Church was reunited as "Joseon Methodist Church"(기독교조선감리회) before United Methodist Church in U.S.
The Korean Methodist Church has 11 bishops and 12 Annual Conferences in the Republic of Korea. The Korean Methodist Church is also a strong Methodist Church for international mission, sending missionaries to 76 countries in the world.
covers the entire island of Ireland including Northern Ireland
(United Kingdom) and the Republic of Ireland. Eric Gallagher
was the head of the Church in the 1970s. He was one of the group of Protestant churchmen who met with Provisional IRA officers in Feakle, County Clare
to try to broker peace. The meeting was unsuccessful due to a Garda raid on the hotel. The church suffered a split in Ireland in 1973 when a group of churches formed the Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches. Another strong Methodist movement in Ireland is the Church of the Nazarene
which takes its roots from American Methodism as opposed to British whilst still rejecting episcopacy
The Reverend Emmanuel Briglia. has founded, in 1998, an independent conservative and high-church Anglican-Methodist mission in South-East of France named Mission Méthodiste Episcopale du Var. and commonly named "Mission anglicane méthodiste du Christ-Roi" (Anglican Methodist mission of Christ the King). This small community tries to keep the original link between Methodism and Anglicanism, through the devotional practices, liturgy and customs of early Western or medieval and increasingly Eastern European origin, according to the famous words of Reverend John Wesley : "I simply described the plain old religion of the Church of England, which was now almost everywhere spoken against under the new name of Methodism".
province of Vojvodina
) and in 1905 in Budapest. The church in Hungary split in 1974-5 over the question of interference by the communist state. Today, the Hungarian Methodist Church has 40 congregations in 11 districts. The seceding Hungarian Gospel Brotherhood has 8 full congregations and several mission groups. It runs a range of charitable organizations, notably hostels and soup kitchens for the homeless, a theological college, a dozen schools of various kinds, and four old people's homes. The Brotherhood was granted official church status by the state in 1981. Both Methodist churches lost official church status under discriminatory legislation passed in 2011, limiting the number of recognized churches to 37. The Salvation Army was banned in Hungary in 1949 but returned in 1990 and currently has four congregations. The Hungarian Methodist Church, the Salvation Army, and the Church of the Nazarene, which entered Hungary in 1996, have formed an association mainly for publishing purposes.
. The Italian Methodist Church was previously an overseas district of the British Methodist Church.
Bertrand Tipple, pastor of the American Methodist Church in Rome, founded a college there.
in the west and the Vladivostok
region in the east, with big Methodist centers right in the middle, in Moscow
and Ekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk)
. Methodists began their work in the west amongst Swedish immigrants in 1881 and started their work in the east in 1910. On 26 June 2009, Methodists celebrated the 120th year since Methodism arrived in Czarist Russia by erecting a new Methodist centre in Saint Petersburg. A Methodist presence was continued in Russia for 14 years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 through the efforts of Deaconess Anna Eklund. In 1939, political antagonism stymied the work of the Church and Deaconess Anna Eklund was coerced to return to her native Finland.
After 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union gave way to the surge of religious freedoms and people's hunger for spiritual and hopeful message. During the 1990s, Methodism experienced a powerful wave of revival in the nation. Three sites in particular carried the torch - Samara, Moscow and Ekaterinburg. Today, The United Methodist Church in Eurasia has 116 congregations, each with a native pastor. There are currently 48 students enrolled in residential and extension degree programs at the United Methodist Seminary in Moscow.
's Methodist Synod
, is a separate presbytery of the United Church of Canada
's Maritime Conference.
who began preaching in settlements along the Petitcodiac River
of New Brunswick
in 1781. A few years afterwards, Methodist Episcopal circuit riders from New York State began to arrive in Canada West at Niagara, and the north shore of Lake Erie
in 1786, and at the Kingston
region on the northeast shore of Lake Ontario
in the early 1790s. At the time the region was part of British North America
and became part of Upper Canada after the Constitutional Act of 1791
. Upper
and Lower Canada
were both part of the New York Episcopal Methodist Conference until 1810 when they were transferred to the newly formed Genesee Conference. Reverend Major George Neal
began to preach in Niagara in October 1786, and was ordained in 1810 by Bishop Philip Asbury, at the Lyons, New York Methodist Conference. He was Canada's first saddlebag preacher, and travelled from Lake Ontario to Detroit for 50 years preaching the gospel. The spread of Methodism in the Canadas was seriously disrupted by the War of 1812
but quickly gained lost ground after the Treaty of Ghent
was signed in 1815. In 1817 the British Wesleyans arrived in the Canadas from the Maritimes but by 1820 had agreed, with the Episcopal Methodists, to confine their work to Lower Canada (present-day Quebec
) while the later would confine themselves to Upper Canada (present-day Ontario
). In 1828 Upper Canadian Methodists were permitted by the General Conference in the United States to form an independent Canadian Conference and, in 1833, the Canadian Conference merged with the British Wesleyans to form the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada. The Methodist Church of Canada was an 1884 union of pioneering groups.
In 1925, they merged with the Presbyterians
, then by far the largest Protestant communion in Canada, most Congregationalists, Union Churches in Western Canada, and the American Presbyterian Church in Montreal
, to form the United Church of Canada
. In 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren Church's Canadian congregations joined after their American counterparts joined the United Methodist Church.
in 1902.
In 1945 the Rev. Dr. Kingsley Ridgway offered himself as a Melbourne based "field representative" for a possible Australian branch of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America, after meeting an American serviceman who was a member of that denomination. The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia
was founded on his work.
The Methodist Church of Australasia merged with the majority of the Presbyterian Church of Australia
and the Congregational Union of Australia
in 1977, becoming the Uniting Church
.Wesley Mission in Pitt Street Sydney is not only the largest parish in the Uniting Church but also strongly in the Wesleyan tradition. The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia continues to operate independently. There are also other independent Methodist congregations, some of which were established by, or have been impacted by, Tongan immigrants.
are Methodists today (the others are largely Roman Catholic), and the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma
is in important social force.
was the fourth most frequent religious affiliation chosen by those who declared one in the 2006 national census.
was established in Lufilufi
on the north coast of Upolu
island in Samoa and serves as the main headquarters of the Methodist church in the country. The college includes the historic Piula Monastery as well as Piula Cave Pool
, a natural spring situated beneath the church by the sea. The Methodist Church is the third largest denomination throughout the Samoan Islands, in both Samoa and American Samoa
.
:Category:Methodism
:Category:Methodists
:Category:Methodist theologians
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
's evangelistic
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
revival movement within Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
. His younger brother Charles
Charles Wesley
Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. George Whitefield
George Whitefield
George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
, another significant leader in the movement, was known for his unorthodox ministry of itinerant open-air preaching. The Methodist Church is known for its missionary work, and its establishment of hospitals, universities, orphanages, soup kitchens, and schools to follow Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' command to spread
Great Commission
The Great Commission, in Christian tradition, is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples, that they spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. It has become a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing missionary work, evangelism, and baptism...
the Good News and serve
Works of Mercy
The Works of Mercy or Acts of Mercy are actions and practices which Christianity in general, and the Methodist Church, Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church in particular, consider expectations to be fulfilled by believers, and are a means of grace, which aid in sanctification.The...
all people.
Wesley, along with his brother founded the Holy Club
Holy Club
The Holy Club was an organisation at Christ Church, Oxford, set up by brothers John and Charles Wesley in 1729, who later contributed to the formation of the Methodist Church....
while they were at Oxford, where John was a fellow and later a lecturer at Lincoln College
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
. The holy club met weekly and they systematically set about living a holy life. They were branded as "Methodist" by students at Oxford who derided the methodical way they ordered their lives. Wesley took the attempted mockery and turned it into a title of honour
Reappropriation
Reappropriation is the cultural process by which a group reclaims—re-appropriates—terms or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. For example, since the early 1970s, much terminology referring to homosexuality—such as gay, queer, and faggot—has been reappropriated...
. Initially Whitefield and the Wesleys merely sought reform, by way of a return to the gospel, within the Church of England, but the movement spread with revival and soon a significant number of Anglican clergy became known as Methodists in the mid-18th century. The movement did not form a separate denomination in England until after John Wesley's death in 1791. Although Wesley and the majority of his followers were decidedly Arminian in their theological outlook, George Whitefield, Howell Harris
Howell Harris
Hywel Harris was one of the main leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century, along with Daniel Rowland and William Williams Pantycelyn.-Life:...
, and Selina Hastings (the Countess of Huntingdon) were notable for being Calvinistic Methodists
Calvinistic Methodists
Calvinistic Methodists are a body of Christians forming the Presbyterian Church of Wales and claiming to be the only denomination of the Presbyterian order in Wales which is of purely Welsh origin.-Early history:...
.
The influence of Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon on the Church of England was a factor in the founding of the Free Church of England
Free Church of England
The Free Church of England is an Anglican church which separated from the established Church of England in the course of the 19th century. The church was founded by evangelical clergy and congregations in response to the rise of Anglo-Catholicism. The first congregations were formed in 1844...
in 1844. Through vigorous missionary activity Methodism spread throughout the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and, mostly through Whitefield's preaching during what historians call the First Great Awakening
First Great Awakening
The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
, colonial America. After Whitefield's death in 1770, however, American Methodism entered a more lasting Wesleyan and Arminian phase of development.
Early Methodists were drawn from all levels of society, including the aristocracy, but the Methodist preachers took the message to labourers and criminals who tended to be left outside of organized religion at that time. Wesley himself thought it wrong to preach outside a church building until persuaded otherwise by Whitefield.
Doctrinally, the branches of Methodism following the Wesleys are Arminian
Arminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
, while those following Harris
Howell Harris
Hywel Harris was one of the main leaders of the Welsh Methodist revival in the 18th century, along with Daniel Rowland and William Williams Pantycelyn.-Life:...
and Whitefield are Calvinistic. Wesley maintained the Arminian doctrines that were dominant in the 18th-century Church of England, while Whitefield adopted Calvinism through his contacts with Calvinists in Scotland and New England. This caused serious strains on the relationship between Whitefield and Wesley, with Wesley becoming quite hostile toward Whitefield in what had been previously very close relations. Whitefield consistently begged Wesley not to let these differences sever their friendship and, in time their friendship was restored, though this was seen by many of Whitefield's followers to be a doctrinal compromise. As a final testimony of their friendship, John Wesley's sermon on Whitefield's death is full of praise and affection.
Methodism has a very wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church
High church
The term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
to low church
Low church
Low church is a term of distinction in the Church of England or other Anglican churches initially designed to be pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the established church in the 16th and 17th centuries, commentators and others began to refer to those groups...
in liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
usage. Both Whitefield and the Wesleys themselves greatly valued the Anglican liturgy and tradition, and the Methodist worship in The Book of Offices was based on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
.
History
- See John WesleyJohn WesleyJohn Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
and George WhitefieldGeorge WhitefieldGeorge Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
for a much more complete discussion of early Methodism.
Wesleyan revival
The Methodist revival originated in Epworth, North Lincolnshire, England. It began with a group of men, including John WesleyJohn Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
and his younger brother Charles, as a movement within the Church of England in the 18th century. The movement focused on Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
study and a methodical approach to scriptures and Christian living. The name "methodist" was a pejorative name given to a small society of students at Oxford who met together between 1729 and 1735 for the purpose of mutual improvement, given because of their methodistic habits. They were accustomed to receiving communion every week, fasting regularly, and abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury. They also frequently visited the sick and the poor, as well as prisoners.
The early Methodists acted against perceived apathy in the Church of England, preaching in the open air and establishing Methodist societies wherever they went. These societies were divided into groups called classes — intimate meetings where individuals were encouraged to confess their sins to one another and to build each other up. They also took part in love feasts which allowed for the sharing of testimony
Testimony
In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. All testimonies should be well thought out and truthful. It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on a Bible when taking an oath...
, a key feature of early Methodists.
George Whitefield
George Whitefield
George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
, another significant leader in the movement, and one of the Wesley brothers' fellow students at Oxford, became well known for his unorthodox ministry of itinerant open-air preaching.
Methodist preachers were notorious for their enthusiastic
Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm originally meant inspiration or possession by a divine afflatus or by the presence of a god. Johnson's Dictionary, the first comprehensive dictionary of the English language, defines enthusiasm as "a vain belief of private revelation; a vain confidence of divine favour or...
sermons and often accused of fanaticism. In those days, many members of England's established church feared that new doctrines promulgated by the Methodists, such as the necessity of a new birth for salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
, of justification by faith, and of the constant and sustained action of the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
upon the believer's soul, would produce ill effects upon weak minds. Theophilus Evans, an early critic of the movement, even wrote that it was "the natural Tendency of their Behaviour, in Voice and Gesture and horrid Expressions, to make People mad." In one of his prints, William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
likewise attacked Methodists as "enthusiasts" full of "Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism." But the Methodists resisted the many attacks against their movement.
John Wesley came under the influence of the Moravians, and of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius
Jacobus Arminius , the Latinized name of the Dutch theologian Jakob Hermanszoon from the Protestant Reformation period, served from 1603 as professor in theology at the University of Leiden...
, while George Whitefield adopted Calvinistic
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
views. Consequently, their followers separated, those of Whitefield becoming Calvinistic Methodists
Calvinistic Methodists
Calvinistic Methodists are a body of Christians forming the Presbyterian Church of Wales and claiming to be the only denomination of the Presbyterian order in Wales which is of purely Welsh origin.-Early history:...
. Wesleyan Methodists
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
have followed Arminian
Arminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
theology.
Missions to America
Laurence Coughlan
Laurence Coughlan was an Irish-born itinerant preacher who was active in Newfoundland during the period 1766–1773. Though born a Roman Catholic, ordained and employed as an Anglican, and at one point even ordained by a Greek Orthodox bishop, his true religious affiliation was Methodism, to which...
arrived in Newfoundland and opened a school at Black Head
Black Head
Black Head may be various headlands:* Black Head, Cornwall, England* Black Head, Devon, England* Black Head, Dorset, England* Black Head, New South Wales, Australia* Black Head, South Georgia* Black Head, County Antrim, Northern Ireland...
in Conception Bay
Conception Bay
Conception Bay is a Canadian bay located on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland. The bay indents the Avalon Peninsula with the opening of the bay to the Atlantic Ocean at the northeast. It is bounded by Cape St. Francis in the south and Split Point near Bay de Verde in the north...
.
In the late 1760s, two Methodist lay preachers emigrated to America and formed societies. Philip Embury
Philip Embury
Philip Embury was a Methodist preacher, a leader of one of the earliest Methodist congregations in the United States.-Biography:...
began the work in New York at the instigation of fellow Irish Methodist Barbara Heck
Barbara Heck
Barbara Heck was an early American Methodist, known as the “mother of American Methodism.”-Biography:...
. Soon, Captain Webb from the British Army aided him. He formed a society in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and traveled along the coast. In 1770, two authorized Methodist preachers, Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor, arrived from the British Connexion. They were immediately preceded by the unauthorized Robert Williams who quietly set about supporting himself by publishing American editions of Wesley's hymnbooks without obtaining permission to do so. These men were soon followed by others, including Francis Asbury
Francis Asbury
Bishop Francis Asbury was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now The United Methodist Church in the United States...
. Asbury reorganized the mid-Atlantic work in accordance with the Wesleyan model. Internal conflict characterized this period. Missionaries displaced most of the local preachers and irritated many of the leading lay members. During the American Revolution, "the mid-Atlantic work" (as Wesley called it) diminished, and, by 1778, the work was reduced to one circuit. Asbury refused to leave. He remained in Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
during this period.
Robert Strawbridge
Robert Strawbridge
Robert Strawbridge was a Methodist preacher born in Drumsna, County Leitrim, Ireland.A member of the single Protestant family in the area, he moved first to Sligo, then emigrated to Frederick County, Maryland between 1760 and 1766. He began preaching in Maryland soon after his arrival, making him...
began a Methodist work in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
at the same time as Embury began his work in New York. They did not work together and did not know of each other's existence. Strawbridge ordained himself and organized a circuit. He trained many very influential assistants who became some of the first leaders of American Methodism. His work grew rapidly both in numbers and in geographical spread. The British missionaries discovered Strawbridge's work and annexed it into the American connection. However, the native preachers continued to work side-by-side with the missionaries, and they continued to recruit and dispatch more native preachers. Southern Methodism was not dependent on missionaries in the same way as mid-Atlantic Methodism.
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
priests were Loyalists who fled to England, New York or Canada during the war. In the absence of Anglican ordination, a group of native preachers ordained themselves. This caused a split between the Asbury faction and the southern preachers. Asbury mediated the crisis by convincing the southern preachers to wait for Wesley's response to the sacramental crisis. That response came in 1784. At that time, Wesley sent the Rev. Dr. Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke (bishop)
Thomas Coke was the first Methodist Bishop and is known as the Father of Methodist Missions.Born in Brecon, south Wales, his father was a well-to-do apothecary...
to America to form an independent American Methodist church. The native circuit riders met in late December. Coke had orders to ordain Asbury as a joint superintendent of the new church. However, Asbury turned to the assembled conference and said he would not accept it unless the preachers voted him into that office. This was done, and from that moment forward, the general superintendents received their authority from the conference. Later, Coke convinced the general conference that he and Asbury were bishops and added the title to the discipline. It caused a great deal of controversy. Wesley did not approve of 'bishops' who had not been ordained by bishops.
By the 1792 general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the controversy relating to episcopal power boiled over. Ultimately, the delegates sided with Bishop Asbury. However, the Republican Methodists
Christian Connection
The Christian Connection or Christian Connexion was a Christian movement which began in several places during the late 18th and early 19th centuries and were secessions from three different religious denominations. The Christian Connection claimed to have no creed, instead professing to rely...
split off from the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) in 1792. Also, William Hammet (a missionary ordained by Wesley who traveled to America from Antigua with Bishop Coke), led a successful revolt against the MEC in 1791. He opposed Bishop Asbury and the episcopacy. He formed his people into the American Primitive Methodist Church (not directly connected with the British Primitive Methodist Church). Both American churches operated in the Southeast and presaged the episcopal debates of later reformers. Regardless, Asbury remained the leading bishop of early American Methodism and did not share his "appointing" authority until Bishop McKendree was elected in 1808. Coke had problems with the American preachers. His authoritarian style alienated many. Soon, he became a missionary bishop of sorts and never had much influence in America.
Beliefs
Most Methodists identify with the ArminianArminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
conception of free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
, through God's prevenient grace
Prevenient grace
Prevenient grace is a Christian theological concept rooted in Augustinian theology. It is embraced primarily by Arminian Christians who are influenced by the theology of Jacob Arminius or John Wesley. Wesley typically referred to it in 18th century language as prevenient grace...
, as opposed to the theological determinism
Theological determinism
Theological determinism is a form of determinism which states that all events that happen are pre-ordained, or predestined to happen, by a monotheistic God. Theological determinism exists in a number of religions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam....
of absolute predestination
Predestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
. This distinguishes Methodism from the Calvinist tradition prevalent in Reformed churches
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
. In strongly Reformed areas such as Wales, however, Calvinistic Methodists
Presbyterian Church of Wales
The Presbyterian Church of Wales , also known as The Calvinistic Methodist Church , is a denomination of Protestant Christianity. It was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival and the preaching of Hywel Harris Howell Harris in the 18th century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811...
remain, also called the Presbyterian Church of Wales
Presbyterian Church of Wales
The Presbyterian Church of Wales , also known as The Calvinistic Methodist Church , is a denomination of Protestant Christianity. It was born out of the Welsh Methodist revival and the preaching of Hywel Harris Howell Harris in the 18th century and seceded from the Church of England in 1811...
. The Calvinist Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina, Countess of Huntingdon as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist Methodist movement of George Whitefield...
was also strongly associated with the Methodist revival.
John Wesley is studied by Methodist ministerial students and trainee local preachers
Methodist local preacher
A Methodist local preacher is a lay person who has been accredited by a Methodist church to lead worship on a regular basis. Local preachers play an important role in the Methodist Church of Great Britain and other churches historically linked to it, and have also been important in English social...
for his interpretation of Church practice and doctrine. One popular expression of Methodist doctrine is in the hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s of Charles Wesley. Since enthusiastic congregational singing was a part of the early Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
movement, Wesleyan theology took root and spread through this channel.
Methodism affirms the traditional Christian belief in the triune Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as well as the orthodox understanding of the consubstantial
Consubstantiality
Consubstantial is an adjective used in Latin Christian christology, coined by Tertullian in Against Hermogenes 44, used to translate the Greek term homoousios...
humanity and divinity of Jesus. Most Methodists also affirm the Apostles' Creed
Apostles' Creed
The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...
and the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
. In devotional terms, these confessions are said to embrace the biblical witness to God's activity in creation, encompass God's gracious self-involvement in the dramas of history, and anticipate the consummation of God's reign.
Sacramental theology
Sacrament
A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
within Methodism tends to follow the historical interpretations and liturgies of Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
. This stems from the origin of much Methodist theology and practice within the teachings of John and Charles Wesley, both of whom were priests of the Church of England. As affirmed by the Articles of Religion
Articles of Religion (Methodist)
The Articles of Religion are an official doctrinal statement of American Methodism. John Wesley abridged for the American Methodists the Thirty-Nine Articles of Anglicanism, removing the Calvinistic parts among others. The Articles were adopted at a conference in 1784 and are found in paragraph 103...
, Methodists recognize two Sacraments as being ordained of Christ: Baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
and Holy Communion. Methodism also affirms that there are many other Means of Grace
Means of Grace
The Means of Grace in Christian theology are those things through which God gives grace. Just what this grace entails is interpreted in various ways: generally speaking, some see it as God blessing humankind so as to sustain and empower the Christian life; others see it as forgiveness, life, and...
which often function in a sacramental manner, but most Methodists do not recognize them as being Dominical sacraments.
Methodists, stemming from John Wesley's own practices of theological reflection, make use of tradition, drawing primarily from the teachings of the Church fathers, as a source of authority. Though not infallible like holy Scripture, tradition may serve as a lens through which Scripture is interpreted (see also Prima scriptura
Prima scriptura
Prima scriptura is a doctrine that says canonized scripture is "first" or "above all" sources of divine revelation.Implicitly, this view acknowledges that, besides canonical scripture, there are other guides for what a believer should believe, and how he should live, such as the created order,...
and the Wesleyan Quadrilateral
Wesleyan Quadrilateral
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral is a methodology for theological reflection that is credited to John Wesley, leader of the Methodist movement in the late 18th Century. The term itself was coined by 20th century American Methodist Albert C...
). Theological discourse for Methodists almost always makes use of Scripture read inside the great theological tradition of Christendom.
It is a historical position of the church that any disciplined theological work calls for the careful use of reason
Reason
Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ...
. By reason, it is said, one reads and is able to interpret Scripture coherently and consistently. By reason one determines whether one's Christian witness is clear. By reason one asks questions of faith and seeks to understand God's action and will.
Methodism insists that personal salvation always implies Christian mission and service to the world. Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbours and a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world.
A distinctive liturgical feature of Methodism is the use of Covenant
Covenant (religion)
In Abrahamic religions, a covenant is a formal alliance or agreement made by God with that religious community or with humanity in general. This sort of covenant is an important concept in Judaism and Christianity, derived in the first instance from the biblical covenant tradition.An example of a...
services. Although practice varies between different national churches, most Methodist churches annually follow the call of John Wesley for a renewal of their covenant with God. It is not unusual in Methodism for each congregation to normally hold an annual Covenant Service on the first convenient Sunday of the year, and Wesley's Covenant Prayer
Wesley Covenant Prayer
Wesley's Covenant Prayer or A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition is a prayer adapted by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, for use in services for the Renewal of the believer's Covenant with God. In his Short history of the people called Methodists , Wesley describes the first covenant...
is still used, with minor modification, in the order of service. In it, Wesley avers man's total reliance upon God, as the following excerpt demonstrates:
Great Britain
Schism (religion)
A schism , from Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization or movement religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a break of communion between two sections of Christianity that were previously a single body, or to a division within...
within the original (Wesleyan) Methodist church, and independent revivals
Revival meeting
A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held in order to inspire active members of a church body, to raise funds and to gain new converts...
, led to the formation of a number of separate denominations calling themselves Methodist. The largest of these were the Primitive Methodist
Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
church, deriving from a revival at Mow Cop
Mow Cop
Mow Cop is an isolated village which straddles the Cheshire–Staffordshire border, and is thus divided between the North West and West Midlands regions of England...
in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, the Bible Christians
Bible Christian Church
The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O’Bryan, a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall, with the first society, just 22 members, meeting at Lake Farm in Shebbear, Devon.-Early history:...
and the Methodist New Connexion
Methodist New Connexion
Methodist New Connexion was a Protestant nonconformist church, also known as the Kilhamite Methodists. It was formed in 1797 by secession from the Wesleyan Methodists, and merged in 1907 with the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodist Free Churches to form the United Methodist...
. The original church became known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church to distinguish it from these bodies. In 1907, a union of smaller groups with the Methodist New Connexion and Bible Christian Church brought about the British "United Methodist Church", then the three major streams of British Methodism united in 1932 to form the current Methodist Church of Great Britain
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...
. The Wesleyan Reform Union
Wesleyan Reform Union
The Wesleyan Reform Union is an Independent Methodist Connexion based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1859 by the members of the Wesleyan Reform movement who did not join the United Methodist Free Churches-Statement of Faith:...
and the Independent Methodist Connexion
Independent Methodist Connexion
The Independent Methodist Connexion is a British group of Non-Conformist congregations that have their roots in the 18th century revival.-Origins:...
still remain separate. The Primitive Methodist Church had branches in the USA which still continue.
Traditionally, Methodism was particularly prominent in Wales and Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, both regions noted for their non-conformism and distrust of the Church of England. It was also very strong in the old mill town
Mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories .- United Kingdom:...
s of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where the Methodists stressed that the working classes were equal to the upper classes in the eyes of God.
British Methodism does not have bishops; however, it has always been characterized by a strong central organization, the Connexion
Connexionalism
The term Connexionalism is today most commonly used to describe the theological understanding and foundation of Methodist polity, as practised in the British Methodist Church and the American United Methodist Church...
, which holds an annual Conference (note that the Church retains the 18th century spelling "connexion" for many purposes). The Connexion is divided into Districts in the charge of a Chairman (who may be male or female). Methodist districts often correspond approximately, in geographical terms, to counties – as do Church of England diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s. The districts are divided into circuits
Methodist Circuit
The Methodist Circuit is part of the organisational structure of British Methodism,or at least those branches derived from the work of John Wesley. It is a group of individual Societies or local Churches under the care of one or more Methodist Ministers. In the scale of organisation, the Circuit...
governed by the Circuit Meeting and led and administrated principally by a superintendent minister. Ministers are appointed to Circuits rather than to individual churches (though some large inner-city churches, known as Central Halls, are designated as circuits in themselves – Westminster Central Hall
Westminster Central Hall
The Westminster Central Hall or Methodist Central Hall is a Methodist church in the City of Westminster. It occupies the corner of Tothill Street and Storeys Gate just off Victoria Street in London, near the junction with The Sanctuary next to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and facing...
, opposite Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in central London is the best known). Most circuits have fewer ministers than churches, and the majority of services are led by lay local preachers, or by supernumerary ministers (ministers who have retired, called supernumerary because they are not counted for official purposes in the numbers of ministers for the circuit in which they are listed). The superintendent and other ministers are assisted in the leadership and administration of the Circuit by lay Circuit Stewards, who collectively with the ministers form what is normally known as the Circuit Leadership Team.
The Methodist Council also helps to run a number of schools, including two leading Public Schools in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
: Culford School
Culford School
Culford School is a coeducational HMC and IAPS public school for pupils age 3–18. Founded in 1881, it is situated in Culford, four miles north of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England.-History:...
and The Leys
The Leys School
The Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is a day and boarding school for about 550 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years...
. It helps to promote an all round education with a strong Christian ethos
Ethos
Ethos is a Greek word meaning "character" that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the power of music to influence its hearer's emotions, behaviors, and even morals. Early Greek stories of...
.
Ecumenical relations
In the 1960s, the Methodist Church made ecumenical overtures to the Church of England, aimed at denominational union. Formally, these failed when they were rejected by the Church of England's General SynodGeneral Synod
-Church of England:In the Church of England, the General Synod, which was established in 1970 , is the legislative body of the Church.-Episcopal Church of the United States:...
in 1972; conversations and co-operation continued, however, leading in 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the two churches. From the 1970s onward, the Methodist Church also started several Local Ecumenical Projects (LEPs, later renamed Local Ecumenical Partnerships) with local neighbouring denominations, which involved sharing churches, schools and in some cases ministers. In many towns and villages there are United Churches which are sometimes with Anglican or Baptist churches, but most commonly are Methodist and URC, simply because in terms of belief, practice and churchmanship the Methodist Church is closer to the United Reformed Church than it is to other denominations such as the Church of England.
In the 1990s and early 21st century, the Methodist Church was involved in the Scottish Church Initiative for Union, seeking greater unity with the established and Presbyterian Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
, the Scottish Episcopal Church
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
and the United Reformed Church in Scotland.
Many Methodist bodies around the world see the British Methodist Church as their parent church. Some strong groups include the Methodist Church Ghana
Methodist Church Ghana
The Methodist Church Ghana is one of the largest and oldest Protestant denominations in Ghana. It traces its roots back to the landing of Rev. Joseph Dunwell on 1 January 1835 in Cape Coast, Ghana. Rev...
and the Methodist Church Nigeria.
United States
The First Great AwakeningFirst Great Awakening
The First Awakening was a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, and especially the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact on American religion. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal...
was a religious movement among colonials in the 1730s and 1740s. The English Calvinist Methodist preacher George Whitefield played a major role, traveling across the colonies and preaching in a dramatic and emotional style, accepting everyone as his audience.
The new style of sermons and the way people practiced their faith breathed new life into religion in America. People became passionately and emotionally involved in their religion, rather than passively listening to intellectual discourse in a detached manner. People began to study the Bible at home, which effectively decentralized the means of informing the public on religious matters and was akin to the individualistic trends present in Europe during the Protestant Reformation.
The first American Methodist bishops were Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury, whose boyhood home, Bishop Asbury Cottage
Bishop Asbury Cottage
Bishop Asbury Cottage is the boyhood home of Francis Asbury, the first American Methodist Bishop, in Great Barr, England.Now a grade II listed museum, the 18th century cottage is furnished in period style, with memorabilia and information relating to Asbury's life in West Bromwich and Great Barr...
, in West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
, England, is now a museum. Upon the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
in America at the Baltimore Christmas Conference
Christmas Conference (Methodism)
The Christmas Conference was an historic founding conference of the newly independent Methodists within the United States held just after the American Revolution at Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore, Maryland in 1784....
in 1784, Coke (already ordained in the Church of England) ordained Asbury a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
, elder
Elder (Methodism)
An Elder in the Methodist Church — sometimes called a Presbyter or Minister — is someone who has been ordained by a Bishop to the ministry of Word, Sacrament, Order, and Service...
, and bishop each on three successive days. Circuit riders
Circuit rider (Religious)
Circuit rider is a popular term referring to clergy in the earliest years of the United States who were assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations...
, many of whom were laymen, traveled by horseback to preach the gospel and establish churches until there was scarcely any crossroad community in America without a Methodist expression of Christianity. One of the most famous circuit riders was Robert Strawbridge
Robert Strawbridge
Robert Strawbridge was a Methodist preacher born in Drumsna, County Leitrim, Ireland.A member of the single Protestant family in the area, he moved first to Sligo, then emigrated to Frederick County, Maryland between 1760 and 1766. He began preaching in Maryland soon after his arrival, making him...
who lived in the vicinity of Carroll County, Maryland
Carroll County, Maryland
Carroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 167,134. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton , signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Its county seat is Westminster....
soon after arriving in the Colonies around 1760.
The Second Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
was a nationwide wave of revivals, from 1790 to 1840. In New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism among Yankees; Methodism grew rapidly and established several colleges, notably Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. In the "burned over district" of western New York, the spirit of revival burned brightly. Methodism saw the emergence of a Holiness movement
Holiness movement
The holiness movement refers to a set of beliefs and practices emerging from the Methodist Christian church in the mid 19th century. The movement is distinguished by its emphasis on John Wesley's doctrine of "Christian perfection" - the belief that it is possible to live free of voluntary sin - and...
. In the west, especially at Cane Ridge, Kentucky
Cane Ridge, Kentucky
Cane Ridge, Kentucky, USA was the site, in 1801, of a large camp meeting that drew thousands of people and had a lasting influence as one of the landmark events of the Second Great Awakening. Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians all participated, and many of the "spiritual exercises", such as...
and in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, the revival strengthened the Methodists and the Baptists.
Disputes over slavery placed the church in difficulty in the first half of the 19th century, with the northern church leaders fearful of a split with the South, and reluctant to take a stand. The Wesleyan Methodist Connexion
Wesleyan Church
"Wesleyan" has been used in the title of a number of historic and current denominations, although the subject of this article is the only denomination to use that specific title...
(later became The Wesleyan Church) and the Free Methodist Churches were formed by staunch abolitionists, and the Free Methodists were especially active in the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
, which helped to free the slaves. Finally, in a much larger split, in 1845 at Louisville, the churches of the slaveholding states left the Methodist Episcopal Church and formed The Methodist Episcopal Church, South
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, or Methodist Episcopal Church South, was the so-called "Southern Methodist Church" resulting from the split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church which had been brewing over several years until it came out into the open at a conference...
. The northern and southern branches were reunited in 1939, when slavery was no longer an issue. In this merger also joined the Methodist Protestant Church
Methodist Protestant Church
The Methodist Protestant Church is a regional Church body which was officially formed in 1828 by former members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, remaining Wesleyan in doctrine and worship, but adopting congregational governance....
. Some southerners, conservative in theology, and strongly segregationist, opposed the merger, and formed the Southern Methodist Church
Southern Methodist Church
The Southern Methodist Church is a conservative Protestant Christian denomination with churches located in the southern part of the United States...
in 1940.
The Third Great Awakening
Third Great Awakening
The Third Great Awakening was a period of religious activism in American history from the late 1850s to the early 1900s. It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong sense of social activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial theology that the Second Coming of Christ...
from 1858 to 1908 saw enormous growth in Methodist membership, and a proliferation of institutions such as colleges (e.g., Morningside College
Morningside College
Morningside College is a private, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church located in Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside College is a private, four-year, co-educational liberal arts institution. Morningside has 21 buildings on a ...
). Methodists were often involved in the Missionary Awakening and the Social Gospel
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada...
Movement. The awakening in so many cities in 1858 started the movement, but in the North it was interrupted by the Civil War. In the South, on the other hand, the Civil War stimulated revivals, especially in Lee's army.
In 1914–1917 many Methodist ministers made strong pleas for world peace. To meet their demands, President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
(a Presbyterian), promised "a war to end all wars." In the 1930s many Methodists favored isolationist policies. Thus in 1936, Methodist Bishop James Baker, of the San Francisco Conference, released a poll of ministers showing 56% opposed warfare. However, the Methodist Federation did call for a boycott of Japan, which had invaded China and was disrupting missionary activity there. In Chicago, sixty-two local African Methodist Episcopal churches voted their support for the Roosevelt administration's policy, while opposing any plan to send American troops overseas to fight. When war came in 1941, the vast majority of Methodists strongly supported the national war effort, but there were also a few (673) conscientious objectors.
The United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
was formed in 1968 as a result of a merger between the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB) and the Methodist Church. The former church had resulted from mergers of several groups of German Methodist heritage. There was no longer any need or desire to worship in the German language. The merged church had approximately 9 million members as of the late 1990s. While United Methodist Church in America membership has been declining, associated groups in developing countries are growing rapidlyhttp://www.methodistreview.org/index.php/mr/article/view/48.
American Methodist churches are generally organized on a connectional model, related but not identical to that used in Britain. Pastors are assigned to congregations by bishops, distinguishing it from presbyterian government. Methodist denominations typically give lay members representation at regional and national meetings (conferences) at which the business of the church is conducted, making it different from most episcopal government
Episcopal polity
Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...
(The Episcopal Church USA, however, has a representational polity giving lay members, priests, and bishops voting privileges). This connectional organizational model differs further from the congregational
Congregationalist polity
Congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of church governance in which every local church congregation is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous"...
model, for example of Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
, and Congregationalist Churches
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
, among others.
In addition to the United Methodist Church, there are over 40 other denominations that descend from John Wesley's Methodist movement. Some, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
, the AME Zion Church
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or AME Zion Church, is a historically African-American Christian denomination. It was officially formed in 1821, but operated for a number of years before then....
, the Free Methodist Church
Free Methodist Church
The Free Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement. It is evangelical in nature and has its roots in the Arminian-Wesleyan tradition....
, the Wesleyan Church (formerly Wesleyan Methodist Connection), the Congregational Methodist Church
Congregational Methodist Church
The Congregational Methodist Church is a Christian denomination located primarily in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It is within the Holiness movement and has its theological roots in the Wesleyan teachings of John Wesley....
, Cumberland Methodist Church and First Congregational Methodist Church
First Congregational Methodist Church
The First Congregational Methodist Church is a Christian denomination in the Southern United States. It has its theological roots in the teachings of John Wesley and adheres to the Methodist Articles of Religion....
are explicitly Methodist. The Primitive Methodist Church is a continuing branch of the former British Primitive Methodist Church. Others do not call themselves Methodist, but are related to varying degrees. The Evangelical Church was formed by a group of EUB congregations who dissented from the merger which formed the United Methodist Church. The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
was founded by William Booth
William Booth
William Booth was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General...
, a former Methodist, and derives some of its theology from Methodism. Similar "social justice" denominations include the Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
and the Christian and Missionary Alliance
Christian and Missionary Alliance
The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...
. Some of the Charismatic or Pentecostal churches such as the Pentecostal Holiness
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
Church and the Assemblies of God
Assemblies of God
The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
also have roots in or draw from Wesleyan thought.
The holiness revival was primarily among people of Methodist persuasion , who felt that the church had once again become apathetic, losing the Wesleyan zeal. Some important events of this revival were the writings of Phoebe Palmer
Phoebe Palmer
Phoebe Palmer was an evangelist and writer who promoted the doctrine of Christian perfection. She is considered one of the founders of the Holiness movement in the United States of America and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom.- Early life :Palmer was born Phoebe Worrall in New York...
during the mid-19th century, the establishment of the first of many holiness camp meeting
Camp meeting
The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in Britain and once common in some parts of the United States, wherein people would travel from a large area to a particular site to camp out, listen to itinerant preachers, and pray...
s at Vineland, New Jersey
Vineland, New Jersey
Vineland is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 60,724...
in 1867, and the founding of Asbury College, (1890), and other similar institutions in the US around the turn of the 20th century.
From its beginning in England, Methodism laid emphasis on social service and education. Numerous originally Methodist institutions of higher education were founded in the United States in the early half of the 19th century, and today altogether there are about twenty universities and colleges named as "Methodist" or "Wesleyan" still in existence.
Additionally, the Methodist Church has created a number of Wesley Foundation
Wesley Foundation
A Wesley Foundation is a United Methodist campus ministry sponsored in full or in part by the United Methodist Church on a non-church owned and operated campus...
establishments on college campuses. These ministries are created to reach out to students, and often provide student housing to a few students in exchange for service to the ministry.
There are a wide range of theological and political beliefs in The United Methodist Church. For example, former Republican President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
is a member, and former Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
attends the United Methodist Church (though he is not a member). Democrat Hillary Clinton is a member of the United Methodist Church.
United Methodist elders and pastors may marry and have families. They are placed in congregations by their bishop. Elders and pastors can either ask for a new appointment or their church can request that they be re-appointed elsewhere. If the elder is a full-time pastor, the church is required to provide either a house or a housing allowance for the pastor.
Whereas most American Methodist worship is modeled after the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
's Book of Common Prayer, a unique feature was the once practiced observance of the season of Kingdomtide
Kingdomtide
Kingdomtide is a liturgical season observed in the autumn by the United Methodist Church, particularly in the United States, and certain other Protestant denominations.-Methodist and Presbyterian Usage:...
, which encompasses the last thirteen weeks before Advent
Advent
Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
, thus dividing the long season after Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
into two discrete segments. During Kingdomtide, Methodist liturgy emphasizes charitable work and alleviating the suffering of the poor. This practice was last seen in The book of Worship for Church and Home by The United Methodist Church, 1965, and The Book of Hymns, 1966. While some congregations and their pastors might still follow this old calendar, the Revised Common Lectionary, with its naming and numbering of Days in the Calendar of the Church Year, is used widely. However, congregations who strongly identify with their African American roots and tradition would not usually follow the Revised Common Lectionary.
Adding more complexity to the mix, there are United Methodist congregations who orient their worship to the "free" church tradition, so particular liturgies are not observed. The United Methodist Book of Worship and The Hymns of the United Methodist Church are voluntarily followed in varying degrees. Such churches employ the liturgy and rituals therein as optional resources, but their use is not mandatory.
Social principles and participation in movements
From the movement’s beginnings, with its roots in Wesleyan theology, Methodism has distinguished itself as a religious movement strongly tied to social issues. As father of the movement, John WesleyJohn Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
injected much of his own social philosophy into the movement as a whole. Wesley’s personal social philosophy was characterized by “an instructive reluctance to criticize existing institutions [which] was overborne by indignation at certain abuses which cried out for rectification.” The Methodist Church’s responses to injustices in society are embodiments of the Wesleyan traditions of mercy and justice.
At the end of the 19th- and beginning of the 20th-centuries, the Methodist Church responded strongly to what it regarded as social ills (i.e. gambling, use of intoxicating beverages, etc.) with attention to the Methodist doctrines of sanctification and perfection through Christ. In the United States, today’s United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
continues to embody Methodist traditions in their response to social needs through the General Board of Church and Society
General Board of Church and Society
The United Methodist Board of Church and Society is a general agency of the United Methodist Church. It is one of four international general program boards of The United Methodist Church as set out the UMC Book of Discipline. The General Board has headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C....
and the General Board of Global Ministries.
Attitudes toward slavery
Like most other national organizations, the Methodist Church experienced tensions and rifts over the slaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
dispute. Both sides of the argument used the doctrines of the movement and scriptural evidence to support their case.
The initial statement of the Methodist position on slavery was delivered in the Conference minutes from 1780’s annual conference. After a comprehensive statement of the varied reasons slavery goes against “the laws of God, man, and nature,” the Conference answered in the affirmative to the question, “do we pass our disapprobation on all our friends who keep slaves and advise their freedom?” This position was put into action in 1783. Preachers from the Baltimore Conference were required, under threat of suspension, to free their slaves. By 1784, similar requirements were made of Methodists as a whole, laity and clergy alike. The negative reaction to this requirement was so strong that it had to be abandoned, but the rule was kept in the Book of Discipline
Book of Discipline
A Book of Discipline or Book of Order is a book detailing the beliefs, practices, doctrines, laws, organisational structure and government of many Christian denominations...
.
As slavery disputes intensified in the 19th century, there emerged two doctrines within the Methodist Church. Churches in the South were primarily proslavery, while northern churches started antislavery movements. The apologia of the Southern churches was largely based in Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
scriptures, which often represent slavery as a part of the natural order of things. New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
writings were sometimes used to support the case for slavery as well. Some of the writings of Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
, especially in Ephesians, instruct slaves to remain obedient to their masters. Southern ideology also argued that slavery was beneficial for slaves, as well as their owners, saying that they were offered protections from many ills because of their slavery.
The antislavery movement in northern churches strengthened and solidified in response to the pro-slavery apologia of Southern churches.
Civil War and Reconstruction
Many Northerners had only recently become religious (thanks to the Second Great AwakeningSecond Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
and religion was a powerful force in their lives. No denomination was more active in supporting the Union than the Methodist Episcopal Church
Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
. Carwardine argues that for many Methodists, the victory of Lincoln in 1860 heralded the arrival of the kingdom of God in America. They were moved into action by a vision of freedom for slaves, freedom from the terror unleashed on godly abolitionists, release from the Slave Power
Slave power
The Slave Power was a term used in the Northern United States to characterize the political power of the slaveholding class of the South....
's evil grip on the state, and a new direction for the Union. Methodists formed a major element of the popular support for the Radical Republicans with their hard line toward the white South. Dissident Methodists left the church.
The Methodist family magazine Ladies' Repository promoted Christian family activism. Its articles provided moral uplift to women and children. It portrayed the War as a great moral crusade against a decadent Southern civilization corrupted by slavery. It recommended activities that family members could perform in order to aid the Union cause.
During Reconstruction the Methodists took the lead in helping form Methodist churches for Freedmen, and moving into Southern cities even to the point of taking control, with Army help, of buildings that had belonged to the southern branch of the church. To help the Freedmen the church set up the Freedmen’s Aid Society focused on creating an educational system for former slaves. This organization, along with the church’s Department of Education for Negroes of the Board of Education, helped provide education to former slaves and their children. Within three months of its organization, the Freedmen’s Aid Society had begun work in the South. By the end of the first year, the society had more than fifty teachers.
Education of young people
The Methodist church has always been strongly oriented towards the religious lives of the young. In 1848, the General Conference stated, “when the Church has collected…a great population born within [her] bosom, she cannot fulfill her high mission unless she takes measure to prevent this population from being withdrawn from under her care in the period of its youth.” The first two American bishops of the Methodist Church, Thomas CokeThomas Coke (bishop)
Thomas Coke was the first Methodist Bishop and is known as the Father of Methodist Missions.Born in Brecon, south Wales, his father was a well-to-do apothecary...
and Francis Asbury, opened a preparatory school in Abingdon, Maryland
Abingdon, Maryland
Abingdon is an unincorporated community in Harford County, Maryland, United States. It lies 25 miles northeast of Baltimore, near the Bush River.- History :Abingdon was named after Abingdon, England....
in 1787. The school was a strict environment, with seven hours a day devoted to study. The venture ended when a fire destroyed the building in which the school was housed.
In the 1870s, there was a broad movement toward incorporating Sunday schools into the doctrines of churches as a way to take ownership of the Christian education of children. This was the first great interdenominational movement the United States had ever seen. Methodists invested heavily in the cause of Christian education because of their emphasis on the child’s right to and ability to “respond to divine influences from the beginning.”
Beginning after World War II, the Methodist churches in the United States continued developing, at a much greater pace, ministries on Universities, Colleges, Junior Colleges and other higher education institutions, on campuses of both church-owned and state schools throughout the United States and Canada, and to a lesser degree in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Methodism boasts the largest number of higher education ministries, including teaching positions, of any Protestant denomination in the world in close competition with the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
. This emphasis is, in part, a reflection of the Methodist movement's earliest roots in The Oxford Holy Club
Holy Club
The Holy Club was an organisation at Christ Church, Oxford, set up by brothers John and Charles Wesley in 1729, who later contributed to the formation of the Methodist Church....
, founded by John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
, his brother Charles, George Whitefield
George Whitefield
George Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
and others as a response to what they saw as the pervasive permissiveness and debauchery of Oxford University, and specifically Lincoln College
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
when they attended. It is from the Holy Club that the earliest Methodist societies were formed and spread.
Temperance movement
The temperance movementTemperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
was the social concern which most broadly captured the interest and enthusiasm of the Methodist Church. The movement was strongly tied to John Wesley’s theology and social principles. Wesley’s abhorrence of alcohol use was taken up by American Methodists, many of whom were active and prominent leaders within the movement.
The temperance movement appealed strongly to the Methodist doctrines of sanctification
Sanctification
Sanctity is an ancient concept widespread among religions, a property of a thing or person sacred or set apart within the religion, from totem poles through temple vessels to days of the week, to a human believer who achieves this state. Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity,...
and Christian perfection
Christian perfection
Christian perfection, also known as perfect love; heart purity; the baptism of the Holy Spirit; the fullness of the blessing; Christian holiness; the second blessing; and entire sanctification, is a Christian doctrine which holds that the heart of the regenerant Christian may attain a state of...
. The Methodist presentation of sanctification includes the understanding that justification before God comes through faith. Therefore, those who believe are made new in Christ. The believer’s response to this sanctification then is to uphold God’s word in the world. A large part of this, especially in the late-19th century, was “to be their brother’s keepers, or […] their brother’s brothers.” Because of this sense of duty toward the other members of the church, many Methodists were personally temperate out of a hope that their restraint would give strength to their brothers. The Methodist stance against drinking was strongly stated in the Book of Discipline. Initially, the issue taken was limited to distilled liquors, but quickly, teetotalism
Teetotalism
Teetotalism refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal...
became the norm and Methodists were commonly known to abstain from all alcoholic beverages.
In 1880, the general conference included in the Discipline a broad statement which included, “Temperance is a Christian virtue, Scripturally enjoined.” Due to the temperate stance of the church, the practice of Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
was altered — to this day, Methodist churches most commonly use grape juice symbolically during Communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
rather than wine. The Methodist church distinguished itself from many other denominations in their beliefs about state control of alcohol. Where many other denominations, including Roman Catholics, Protestant Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Unitarians
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
, believed that the ill-effects of liquor should be controlled by self-discipline and individual restraint, Methodists believed that it was the duty of the government to enforce restrictions on the use of alcohol. In 1904, the Board of Temperance was created by the General Conference to help push the Temperance agenda.
The women of the Methodist Church were strongly mobilized by the temperance movement. In 1879, a Methodist woman, Frances E. Willard, was voted to the presidency of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, an organization which was characterized by heavy Methodist participation. To this day, the Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Missions holds property across on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, which was built using funds provided by laypeople. Women of the church were responsible for 70% of the $650,000 it cost to construct the building in 1922. The building was intended to serve as the Methodist Church’s social reform presence of the Hill. The Board of Temperance, Prohibition and Public Morals was especially prominent within the building.
Other countries
Almost all Methodist churches are members of a consultative body called the World Methodist Council
World Methodist Council
The World Methodist Council, founded in 1881, is an association of churches in the Methodist tradition which comprises most of the world's Wesleyan denominations.- Extension and organization:...
, which is headquartered at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
Lake Junaluska, North Carolina
Lake Junaluska is a census-designated place in Haywood County, North Carolina, USA. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,675 at the 2000 census...
, in the United States.
Caribbean
Methodism came to the Caribbean in 1760 when the planter, lawyer and Speaker of the Antiguan House of Assembly – Nathaniel Gilbert III (~1719–1774) returned to his sugar estate home in Antigua.Antigua
The story is often told that in 1755, Nathaniel Gilbert, while convalescing, read a treatise of John Wesley, "An Appeal to men of Reason and Religion" sent to him by his brother Francis. As a result of having read this book Gilbert, two years later, journeyed to England with three of his slaves and there in at drawing room meeting arranged in Wandsworth on 15 January 1759, met the preacher John Wesley. He returned to the West Indies that same year and on his subsequent return began to preach to his slaves in Antigua.When Nathaniel Gilbert died in 1774 his work in Antigua was continued by his brother Francis Gilbert to approximately 200 Methodists. However, within a year Francis took ill and had to return to England and the work was carried on by Sophia Campbell ("a Negress") and Mary Alley ("a Mulatto"), two devoted women who kept the flock together with Class and Prayer meetings as best as they could.
On 2 April 1778, John Baxter , a local preacher and skilled shipwright from Chatham in England, landed at English harbour in Antigua (now called Nelson's Dockyard) where he was offered a post at the naval dockyard. Baxter was a Methodist and had heard of the work of the Gilberts and their need for a new preacher. He began preaching and meeting with the Methodists leaders, and within a year the Methodist community had grown to 600 persons. By 1783 the first Methodist Chapel was built in Antigua, with John Baxter as the local preacher, where its wooden structure now seated some 2,000 people.
St. Barts
It was at this time, in 1785, that William Turton (1761–1817) a Barbadian son of a planter, met John Baxter in Antigua, and later as layman assisted in the Methodist work in the Swedish colony of St. Bartholomew from 1796.In 1786 the missionary endeavour in the Caribbean was officially recognised by the Conference in England, and that same year Rev. Dr. Thomas Coke, having been made Superintendent of the Church two years previously in America by Wesley, was travelling to Nova Scotia, but providence forced his ship to Antigua.
Jamaica
Later Edward Fraser (1798-Aft.1850) a privileged Barbadian slave who in 1818 moved to Bermuda and subsequently met the new minister James Dunbar. The Nova Scotia Methodist Minister noted young Fraser's sincerity and commitment to his congregation and encouraged him by appointing him as assistant. By 1827 Fraser assisted in building a new chapel, was later freed, admitted to the Methodist Ministry to serve in Antigua and Jamaica.Barbados
Ann GillSarah Ann Gill
Sarah Ann Gill was a social and religious leader in Barbados during the era of slavery. By an act of Parliament in 1998, she was named as one of the ten National Heroes of Barbados.-Biography:...
(1779–1866) a free-born coloured woman of reasonable comfort who, following Rev. William J. Shrewsbury's 1820's preachings used Civil Disobedience in an attempt to thwart magistrate rulings that prevented parishioners holding prayer meetings, to the point of paying and extraordinary £1700.00 in hopes to build a new chapel and having militia appointed by the Governor to protect her home from demolition.
In 1884 an attempt was made at autonomy with the formation of two West Indian Conferences, however by 1903 the venture had failed. It was not until the 1960s that another attempt was made at autonomy. This second attempt resulted in the emergence of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA) in May 1967.
In the island of Barbados Francis Godson (1864–1953) became a Methodist who, having served briefly in several of the Caribbean islands, eventually immersed himself in helping those in hardship of the first world war in Barbados and later was appointed to the Legislative Council there and fought for the Pensioners. He was later followed by renowned Barbadian Augustus Rawle Parkinson (1864-19??) who also was the first principal of the Wesley Hall School in Barbados (which celebrated its 125 anniversary back in September 2009).
In more recent times in Barbados, Victor Alphonso Cooke (born 1930) and Lawrence Vernon Harcourt Lewis (born 1932) are strong influences on the Methodist Church in the island. Their contemporary and late member of the Dalkeith Methodist Church, was the former secretary of the University of the West Indies
University of the West Indies
The University of the West Indies , is an autonomous regional institution supported by and serving 17 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica,...
, consultant of the Canadian Training Aid Programme and a man of letters – Francis Woodbine Blackman
Woodie Blackman
Francis Woodbine Blackman was a Caribbean author, former secretary of the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, a member of the Dalkeith Methodist Church, and a retired consultant of the Canadian Training Aid Programme.-Early life:His parents, James T. Blackman and his mother Etta ,...
(1922–2010) – it was his research and published works that enlightened much of this information on Caribbean Methodism.,
Africa
The adherents of Methodism in Africa are now estimated to number 20 million. The latest figures indicate that the continent's largest groups of Methodists are in Sudan, East Africa, South Africa, Congo-Zaire and Liberia.Ghana
The Methodist Church Ghana came into existence as a result of the missionary activities of the Wesleyan Methodist ChurchWesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)
The Wesleyan Methodist Church was the name used by the major Methodist movement in Great Britain following its split from the Church of England after the death of John Wesley and the appearance of parallel Methodist movements...
, inaugurated with the arrival of Joseph Rhodes Dunwell to the Gold Coast (Ghana) in 1835. Like the mother church, the Methodist Church in Ghana was established by people of Anglican background. Roman Catholic and Anglican missionaries came to the Gold Coast from the 15th century. A school was established in Cape Coast by the Anglicans during the time of Philip Quaque, a Ghanaian priest. Those who came out of this school had scriptural knowledge and scriptural materials supplied by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. A member a resulting Bible study groups, William De-Graft, requested Bibles through captain Potter of the ship Congo. Not only were Bibles sent, but also a Methodist missionary. In the first eight years of the Church’s life, 11 out of 21 missionaries who worked in the Gold Coast died. Thomas Birch Freeman, who arrived at the Gold Coast in 1838 was a pioneer of missionary expansion. Between 1838 and 1857 he carried Methodism from the coastal areas to Kumasi in the Asante hinterland of the Gold Coast. He also established Methodist Societies in Badagry and AbeoKuta in Nigeria with the assistance of William De-Graft.
By 1854, the church was organized into circuits constituting a district with T.B. Freeman as chairman. Freeman was replaced in 1856 by William West. The district was divided and extended to include areas in the then Gold Coast and Nigeria by the synod in 1878, a move confirmed at the British Conference. The district were Gold Coast (Ghana) District, with T.R. Picot as chairman and Yoruba and Popo District, with John Milum as chairman.
Methodist evangelization of northern Ghana began in 1910. After a long period of conflict with the colonial government, missionary work was established in 1955. Paul Adu was the first indigenous missionary to northern Ghana.
In July 1961, the Methodist Church in Ghana became autonomous, and was called the Methodist Church Ghana, based on a deed of foundation, part of the church's Constitution and Standing Orders.
The Methodist Church Ghana has a total membership of close to 600,000. The church has 15 dioceses, 3,814 societies, 1,066 pastors, 15,920 local preachers, 24,100 lay leaders, many schools, an orphanage, hospitals and clinics.
Sierra Leone
Methodism became rooted in Sierra Leone during the late 19th century. Many of the Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
n migrants who settled there were Methodists.
Southern Africa
The Methodist Church of Southern AfricaMethodist Church of Southern Africa
The Methodist Church of Southern Africa is a member church of the World Methodist Council.Methodism in Southern Africa began as a result of lay Christian work by an Irish soldier of the English Regiment, John Irwin, who was stationed at the Cape and began to hold prayer meetings as early as 1795...
is a member church of the World Methodist Council
World Methodist Council
The World Methodist Council, founded in 1881, is an association of churches in the Methodist tradition which comprises most of the world's Wesleyan denominations.- Extension and organization:...
.
Methodism in Southern Africa began as a result of lay Christian work by an Irish soldier of the English Regiment, John Irwin, who was stationed at the Cape and began to hold prayer meetings as early as 1795. The first Methodist lay preacher at the Cape, George Middlemiss, was a soldier of the 72nd regiment of the British Army stationed at the Cape in 1805. This foundation paved the way for missionary work by: Methodist missionary societies from Great Britain, many of whom sent missionaries with the 1820 English settlers to the Western and Eastern Cape. Among the most notable of the early missionaries were Barnabas Shaw and William Shaw. The largest group was the Wesleyan Methodist Church, but there were a number of others that joined together to form the Methodist Church of South Africa, later known as The Methodist Church of Southern Africa.
The Methodist Church of Southern Africa is the largest mainline Christian denomination in South Africa – 7.3% of the South African population recorded their religious affiliation as 'Methodist' in the last national census.
Peter J. Harley born 24 November 1931 in Acres Goodwood Cape Town is the longest serving Local Preacher in the Cape of Good Hope District. Renowned throughout for the futuristic type of youth programs which today is the norm, teaching young people in disadvantaged areas about terms such organograms, resource, co-ordinator,liaison,scrounger as far back as 1969 way ahead of its time. Harley worked in an that area to quote his original statement in '69 "Our premise was that within every community there are organisations and groupings exercising an influence for good. Organisations like sports clubs, Boy Scouts, Ratepayers Associations etc, etc, including ofcourse the Churches and Mosques as the main sources of good influence. However, through investigation we discovered the these influences for good on a community (including the churches) penetrated the community only up to a point beyond which the influence of the church were either diminished or not felt at all. Even though it was impossible to mark on a map where the good influences diminished or stopped. It was decided rightly or wrongly to make such a marking. That mark became for us a line, a sort of FRONTIER and it was specifically beyond that frontier where we would concentrate our efforts.From 1969 through 1974 they drew up to 450 of the youth in the area unfailingly attending its activities week by week. An outspoken and challenging local preacher, the preached word more often than not sending parishioners home with much food for thought as the unadulterated word is preached as a pure Methodist. The originator of many Bible Study groups throughout the Peninsula of which some are still in operation. Many young people orginally from that group have advanced to become leaders in various fields with much thanks and gratefulness to the commitment and dedication of Peter Harley for the spreading of the Gospel and above all: teaching others to teach.
Mozambique
The Igreja Metodista UnidaIgreja Metodista Unida
Igreja Metodista Unida is one of the largest Protestant denominations in Mozambique. It is a Methodist church.The church lost about 40% of its members from 1975 to 1980....
is one of the largest Christian denominations of Mozambique.
China
Methodism was brought to China in the fall of 1847 by the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first missionaries sent out were Judson Dwight CollinsJudson Dwight Collins
Rev. Judson Dwight Collins was the first Methodist missionary to China.- Life :On February 12, 1823, Judson Dwight Collins was born into a Methodist family in Rose, Wayne County, New York. His parents, Alpheus and Betsay Collins, were of English and German origin...
and Moses Clark White
Moses Clark White
Moses Clark White was both an American Methodist pioneer missionary in China and a physician.- Life :Moses Clark White was born in Paris, Oneida County, New York on July 24, 1819. White matriculated at Wesleyan University in 1842 and graduated in 1845...
, who sailed from Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
15 April 1847, and reached Foochow 6 September. They were followed by Henry Hickok and Robert Samuel Maclay
Robert Samuel Maclay
Rev. Robert Samuel Maclay, D.D. was an American missionary who made pioneer contributions to the Methodist Episcopal missions in China, Japan and Korea.- Early life :...
, who arrived 15 April 1848. In 1857 it baptized the first convert in connection with its labors. In August 1856, a brick church, called the "Church of the True God" (真神堂), the first substantial church building erected at Foochow by Protestant Missions, was dedicated to the worship of God. In the winter of the same year another brick church, located on the hill in the suburbs on the south bank of the Min, was finished and dedicated, called the "Church of Heavenly Peace" (天安堂). In 1862, the number of members was 87. The Foochow Conference was organized by Isaac W. Wiley on 6 December 1867, by which time the number of members and probationers had reached 2,011.
In 1867, the mission sent out the first missionaries to Central China, who began work at Kiukiang. In 1869 missionaries were also sent to the capital city
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
Peking, where they laid the foundations of the work of the North China Mission. In November 1880, the West China Mission was established in Sichuan Province. In 1896 the work in the Hinghua prefecture (modern-day Putian
Putian
Putian is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders Fuzhou City to the north, Quanzhou City to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east.-Administration:...
) and surrounding regions was also organized as a Mission Conference.
In 1947, the Methodist Church in the Republic of China celebrated its centennial. In 1949, however, the Methodist Church moved to Taiwan with the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
government. On 21 June 1953, the Taipei Methodist Church was erected, then local churches and chapels with a baptized membership numbering over 2,500. Various types of educational, medical and social services are provided (including Tunghai University
Tunghai University
Tunghai University was founded by Methodist missionaries in 1955 as a comprehensive university. It is a top-ranked private school and a leading institution in Taiwan. Moreover, Tunghai University was founded as the first private university making it the second oldest university in Taiwan, which...
). In 1972 the Methodist Church in the Republic of China became autonomous and the first bishop was installed in 1986.
India
Methodism came to India twice, in 1817 and in 1856, according to P. Dayanandan who has done extensive research on the subject. Dr. Thomas Coke and six other missionaries set sail for India on New Year's Day in 1814. Dr. Coke, then 66, died en route. Rev. James Lynch was the one who finally arrived in Madras (present day ChennaiChennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
) in 1817 at a place called Black Town (Broadway), later known as George Town. Lynch conducted the first Methodist missionary service on 2 March 1817, in a stable. The first Methodist church was dedicated in 1819 at Royapettah
Royapettah
Royapettah is a centrally located suburb in the city of Chennai, India. It is situated to the west of the famous Marina Beach of Chennai. The locality features one of the developed commercial centres lying adjacent to the Chennai city center....
. A chapel at Broadway (Black Town) was later built and dedicated on 25 April 1822. This church was rebuilt in 1844 since the earlier structure was collapsing. At this time there were about 100 Methodist members in all of Madras, and they were either Europeans or Eurasians (European and Indian descent). Among those names associated with the founding period of Methodism in India are Elijah Hoole & Thomas Cryer, who came as missionaries to Madras. In 1857, the Methodist Episcopal Church started its work in India, and with prominent Evangelists like William Taylor the Emmanuel Methodist Church, Vepery, was born in 1874. Famous evangelist Bishop James Mills Thoburn established the Thoburn Memorial Church in calcutta (Kolkata) in 1873 and the famous Calcutta Boys' School in 1877. In 1947 the Wesleyan Methodist Church in India merged with Presbyterians, Anglicans and other Protestant churches to form the Church of South India while the American Methodist Church remained affiliated as the Methodist Church in southern Asia (MCSA) to the mother church in USA- the United Methodist Church till 1981, when by an enabling act the Methodist Church in India (MCI) became an autonomous church in India. Today, the Methodist Church in India is governed by the General Conference of the Methodist Church of India headed by 6 Bishops, with headquarters at Methodist Centre, 21 YMCA Road, Mumbai, India...
Malaysia and Singapore
Missionaries from Britain, North America, and Australia founded Methodist churches in many CommonwealthCommonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
countries. These are now independent and many of them are stronger than the former "mother" churches. In addition to the churches, these missionaries often also founded schools to serve the local community. A good example of such schools are the Methodist Boys' School in Kuala Lumpur
Methodist Boys' School (Kuala Lumpur)
Methodist Boys' School, Kuala Lumpur is a cluster secondary school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was founded in July 1897, making it one of the oldest schools in Malaysia. It is known as MBS and its students are known as MBSians. The school is also known as Marble School or Horley School to the...
, Malaysia and Anglo-Chinese School
Anglo-Chinese School
The Anglo-Chinese School ; is a family of Methodist schools in Singapore, and Indonesia.The name is usually abbreviated as "ACS", with the junior college as "ACJC", and its students and alumni referred to as "ACSians" , or "ACS boys" .ACS was the first school...
, Methodist Girls' School
Methodist Girls' School
Methodist Girls' School is a girls' independent school, consisting of two sections - the Primary School and Secondary School, located in Bukit Timah, Singapore. It is affiliated to the Anglo-Chinese School family and the Methodist Church in Singapore...
and Fairfield Methodist Schools
Fairfield Methodist Secondary School
Fairfield Methodist School is an autonomous co-educational Methodist secondary school in Dover, Singapore. It covers Secondary 1 to Secondary 5 inclusive .-History:...
in Singapore
Methodist Church in Singapore
The Methodist Church in Singapore is the church that Methodists in Singapore belong to. The Church has 44 churches island-wide with more than 38,000 members, making it one of the largest Protestant denominations in Singapore. Its current bishop and head of the Church is Bishop Dr Robert M...
.
Philippines
The beginnings of Methodism in the Philippines islands grow from the American invasion of the Philippines following the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. On 21 June 1898, the American executives of the Mission Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church expressed their desire to join other Protestant denominations in starting mission work in the islands and to enter into any comity agreement that would facilitate the establishment of such mission. The first Protestant worship service was conducted on 28 August 1898 by an American military chaplain named Rev. George C. Stull. Rev. Stull was an ordained Methodist minister from the Montana Annual Conference of The Methodist Episcopal Church (Later became The United Methodist Church in 1968).
Methodist and Wesleyan
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
traditions in the Philippines are shared by three of the largest mainline Protestant churches in the country – The United Methodist Church
Philippines Central Conference (United Methodist Church)
The Philippines Central Conference of The United Methodist Church is a collections of Annual Conferences of The United Methodist Church located in the islands of the are organized into central conference, much like Jurisdictional Conferences in the United States...
, Iglesia Evangelica Metodista En Las Islas Filipinas
Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las Islas Filipinas
Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las Islas Filipinas was founded February 28, 1909 by Bishop Nicholas Zamora...
(IEMELIF) (Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands), and The United Church of Christ in the Philippines
United Church of Christ in the Philippines
The United Church of Christ in the Philippines is a Christian denomination in the Philippines...
. There are also evangelical Protestant churches in the country with Methodist and Wesleyan tradition like The Wesleyan Church of the Philippines, Inc. Free Methodist Church
Free Methodist Church
The Free Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement. It is evangelical in nature and has its roots in the Arminian-Wesleyan tradition....
of the Philippines, and the Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
in the Philippines. There are also the IEMELIF Reform Movement (IRM), The Wesleyan (Pilgrim Holiness) Church of the Philippines, the Philippine Bible Methodist Church, Inc., the Pentecostal Free Methodist Church, Inc., the Fundamental Christian Methodist Church, The Reformed Methodist Church, Inc., The Methodist Church of the Living Bread, Inc., and the Wesley Evangelical Methodist Church & Mission, Inc.
There are three Episcopal Areas of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines namely: Baguio Episcopal Area, Davao Episcopal Area and Manila Episcopal Area.
South Korea
One of the strongest current Methodist churches in the world is that of South Korea. There are many Korean-language Methodist churches in North America catering to Korean-speaking immigrants, not all of which are named as Methodist. There are several denominations that are of Wesleyan and Methodist heritage, but are not explicitly Methodist.The first missionary sent out was R. S. Mclay, who sailed from Japan 1884, and was given the authority of medical and schooling permission from Gojong, Korean Emperor. Next year, H. G. Apenzeller from North Methodist church, who arrived 5 April 1885, started to evangelize with Dr. Scranton and his mother. They established "Jeongdon Metheodist Church"(정동감리교회), "Sangdong Pharmacy Store"(상동약국) becoming "Sangdong Methodist Church"(상동감리교회) and "Baejae School"(배재학당). In 1895, there were Bishop E. R. Hendrix and Dr. C. F. Reid from South Methodist Church, who established "Jonggyo Methodist Church"(종교감리교회) and "Baewha School"(배화학당).
In 1930, the Korean Methodist Church was reunited as "Joseon Methodist Church"(기독교조선감리회) before United Methodist Church in U.S.
The Korean Methodist Church has 11 bishops and 12 Annual Conferences in the Republic of Korea. The Korean Methodist Church is also a strong Methodist Church for international mission, sending missionaries to 76 countries in the world.
Europe
There are small Methodist Churches in most European countries, the strongest outside the British Isles being in Germany. A few of these derive from links with the American rather than the British church.Ireland
The Methodist Church in IrelandMethodist Church in Ireland
The Methodist Church in Ireland is a Wesleyan Methodist church that operates across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on an all Ireland basis, It is the 4th largest Christian denomination in both jurisdictions and on the island as a whole...
covers the entire island of Ireland including Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
(United Kingdom) and the Republic of Ireland. Eric Gallagher
Eric Gallagher
Rev. Dr Eric Gallagher CBE, BA, BD was the former President of the Methodist Church in Ireland.In 1974 he was one of a group of Protestant clergymen who met with Provisional IRA officers in Feakle, County Clare in the 1970s to try to broker a peace after achieving a temporary ceasefire. The...
was the head of the Church in the 1970s. He was one of the group of Protestant churchmen who met with Provisional IRA officers in Feakle, County Clare
Feakle, County Clare
Feakle is a village in County Clare, Ireland. Its population in 2006 was 122. It neighbours Lough Derg and the towns of Tulla and Scarriff. Feakle is famous for its traditional music festival.-History:...
to try to broker peace. The meeting was unsuccessful due to a Garda raid on the hotel. The church suffered a split in Ireland in 1973 when a group of churches formed the Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches. Another strong Methodist movement in Ireland is the Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
which takes its roots from American Methodism as opposed to British whilst still rejecting episcopacy
France
In France, the methodist movement was founded in the 1820s , and several sections of the Methodist Church joined the Reformed Church of France in 1938. The Methodist Church exists today in France under various names. The best-known is the "UEEM" (l'Union de l'Eglise Evangélique Méthodiste de France), the Union of Evangelical Methodist Churches of France. It is the fruit of a fusion in 2005 between the Methodist Church of France and the Union of Methodist Churches (in France). The UEEM is a part of the world organization: The United Methodist Church.The Reverend Emmanuel Briglia. has founded, in 1998, an independent conservative and high-church Anglican-Methodist mission in South-East of France named Mission Méthodiste Episcopale du Var. and commonly named "Mission anglicane méthodiste du Christ-Roi" (Anglican Methodist mission of Christ the King). This small community tries to keep the original link between Methodism and Anglicanism, through the devotional practices, liturgy and customs of early Western or medieval and increasingly Eastern European origin, according to the famous words of Reverend John Wesley : "I simply described the plain old religion of the Church of England, which was now almost everywhere spoken against under the new name of Methodism".
Hungary
The first Methodist missions in Hungary were established in 1898 in the German-speaking Bácska region (since 1918 part of the SerbianSerbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
province of Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
) and in 1905 in Budapest. The church in Hungary split in 1974-5 over the question of interference by the communist state. Today, the Hungarian Methodist Church has 40 congregations in 11 districts. The seceding Hungarian Gospel Brotherhood has 8 full congregations and several mission groups. It runs a range of charitable organizations, notably hostels and soup kitchens for the homeless, a theological college, a dozen schools of various kinds, and four old people's homes. The Brotherhood was granted official church status by the state in 1981. Both Methodist churches lost official church status under discriminatory legislation passed in 2011, limiting the number of recognized churches to 37. The Salvation Army was banned in Hungary in 1949 but returned in 1990 and currently has four congregations. The Hungarian Methodist Church, the Salvation Army, and the Church of the Nazarene, which entered Hungary in 1996, have formed an association mainly for publishing purposes.
Italy
The Italian Methodist Church ("OPCEMI – Opera per le Chiese Evangeliche Metodiste in Italia) is small,with c.5,000 members. Since 1975 it is in a formal covenant partnership with the Waldensian ChurchUnion of Methodist and Waldensian Churches
The Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches is an Italian united church.It was founded in 1975 with the union of the Waldensian Evangelical Church and the Italian Methodist Church....
. The Italian Methodist Church was previously an overseas district of the British Methodist Church.
Bertrand Tipple, pastor of the American Methodist Church in Rome, founded a college there.
Russia
The Methodist Church established several strongholds in Russia – Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in the west and the Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
region in the east, with big Methodist centers right in the middle, in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and Ekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk)
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
. Methodists began their work in the west amongst Swedish immigrants in 1881 and started their work in the east in 1910. On 26 June 2009, Methodists celebrated the 120th year since Methodism arrived in Czarist Russia by erecting a new Methodist centre in Saint Petersburg. A Methodist presence was continued in Russia for 14 years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 through the efforts of Deaconess Anna Eklund. In 1939, political antagonism stymied the work of the Church and Deaconess Anna Eklund was coerced to return to her native Finland.
After 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union gave way to the surge of religious freedoms and people's hunger for spiritual and hopeful message. During the 1990s, Methodism experienced a powerful wave of revival in the nation. Three sites in particular carried the torch - Samara, Moscow and Ekaterinburg. Today, The United Methodist Church in Eurasia has 116 congregations, each with a native pastor. There are currently 48 students enrolled in residential and extension degree programs at the United Methodist Seminary in Moscow.
Bermuda
BermudaBermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
's Methodist Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
, is a separate presbytery of the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
's Maritime Conference.
Canada
The father of Methodism in Canada was William BlackWilliam Black (methodist)
William Black was a Yorkshireman and founder of the Methodist congregation in colonial Nova Scotia....
who began preaching in settlements along the Petitcodiac River
Petitcodiac River
The Petitcodiac River is a Canadian river in south-eastern New Brunswick. The river runs about through the province's Westmorland, Albert, and Kings counties, draining a watershed area of about . The region around the river features valleys, ridges, and rolling hills, and is home to a diverse...
of New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
in 1781. A few years afterwards, Methodist Episcopal circuit riders from New York State began to arrive in Canada West at Niagara, and the north shore of Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
in 1786, and at the Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
region on the northeast shore of Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
in the early 1790s. At the time the region was part of British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
and became part of Upper Canada after the Constitutional Act of 1791
Constitutional Act of 1791
The Constitutional Act of 1791, formally The Clergy Endowments Act, 1791 , is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain...
. Upper
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
and Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
were both part of the New York Episcopal Methodist Conference until 1810 when they were transferred to the newly formed Genesee Conference. Reverend Major George Neal
Reverend Major George Neal
Methodist Episcopal circuit riders from New York State began to arrive in Canada West at Niagara, and the north shore of Lake Erie in 1786, and at the Kingston region on the northeast shore of Lake Ontario in the early 1790s. At the time the region was part of British North America and became part...
began to preach in Niagara in October 1786, and was ordained in 1810 by Bishop Philip Asbury, at the Lyons, New York Methodist Conference. He was Canada's first saddlebag preacher, and travelled from Lake Ontario to Detroit for 50 years preaching the gospel. The spread of Methodism in the Canadas was seriously disrupted by the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
but quickly gained lost ground after the Treaty of Ghent
Treaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
was signed in 1815. In 1817 the British Wesleyans arrived in the Canadas from the Maritimes but by 1820 had agreed, with the Episcopal Methodists, to confine their work to Lower Canada (present-day Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
) while the later would confine themselves to Upper Canada (present-day Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
). In 1828 Upper Canadian Methodists were permitted by the General Conference in the United States to form an independent Canadian Conference and, in 1833, the Canadian Conference merged with the British Wesleyans to form the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada. The Methodist Church of Canada was an 1884 union of pioneering groups.
In 1925, they merged with the Presbyterians
Presbyterian Church in Canada
The Presbyterian Church in Canada is the name of a Protestant Christian church, of presbyterian and reformed theology and polity, serving in Canada under this name since 1875, although the United Church of Canada claimed the right to the name from 1925 to 1939...
, then by far the largest Protestant communion in Canada, most Congregationalists, Union Churches in Western Canada, and the American Presbyterian Church in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, to form the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
. In 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren Church's Canadian congregations joined after their American counterparts joined the United Methodist Church.
Australia
Various branches of Methodism in Australia merged in the 20 years from 1881, with a union of all groups except the Lay Methodists forming the Methodist Church of AustralasiaMethodist Church of Australasia
The Methodist Church of Australasia was a Methodist denomination based in Australia.It ceased to exist in 1977 when most of its congregations joined with the many congregations of the Congregational Union of Australia and the Presbyterian Church of Australia to form the Uniting Church in...
in 1902.
In 1945 the Rev. Dr. Kingsley Ridgway offered himself as a Melbourne based "field representative" for a possible Australian branch of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America, after meeting an American serviceman who was a member of that denomination. The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia
Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia
The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia is a Christian denomination with its origins in Wesleyan Methodism. It is the organizational name for The Wesleyan Church in Australia.-Background and formation:...
was founded on his work.
The Methodist Church of Australasia merged with the majority of the Presbyterian Church of Australia
Presbyterian Church of Australia
The Presbyterian Church of Australia is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Australia. .-Beginnings:...
and the Congregational Union of Australia
Congregational Union of Australia
The Congregational Union of Australia was a Congregational denomination in Australia.Two hundred and sixty of its congregations joined the Uniting Church in Australia, which was formed in 1977 by the union of congregations of the Congregational Union, Methodist Church of Australasia, and...
in 1977, becoming the Uniting Church
Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....
.Wesley Mission in Pitt Street Sydney is not only the largest parish in the Uniting Church but also strongly in the Wesleyan tradition. The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia continues to operate independently. There are also other independent Methodist congregations, some of which were established by, or have been impacted by, Tongan immigrants.
Fiji
As a result of the early efforts of missionaries, most of the natives of the Fiji Islands were converted to Methodism in the 1840s and 1850s. Most ethnic FijiansFijian people
Fijian people are the major indigenous people of the Fiji Islands, and live in an area informally called Melanesia. The Fijian people are believed to have arrived in Fiji from western Melanesia approximately 3,500 years ago, though the exact origins of the Fijian people are unknown...
are Methodists today (the others are largely Roman Catholic), and the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma
Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma
The Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma is the largest Christian denomination in Fiji, with 36.2 percent of the total population at the 1996 census...
is in important social force.
New Zealand
The Methodist Church of New ZealandMethodist Church of New Zealand
The Methodist Church of New Zealand — Te Hahi Weteriana O Aotearoa is a Methodist denomination headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is a member of the World Council of Churches.-External links:*...
was the fourth most frequent religious affiliation chosen by those who declared one in the 2006 national census.
Samoan Islands
In 1868, Piula Theological CollegePiula Theological College
Piula Theological College is a Methodist training institution in Samoa. It was established in 1868 in Lufilufi on the north coast of Upolu island after its initial beginnings in 1859 at Satupa'itea on the south coast of Savai'i island. The Methodist Mission in Samoa purchased the land at the...
was established in Lufilufi
Lufilufi
Lufilufi is a historical village situated on the north coast of Upolu island in Samoa. The village is part of the electoral constituency Anoamaa East which is within the larger political district of Atua....
on the north coast of Upolu
Upolu
Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long, in area, and is the second largest in geographic area as well as the most populated of the Samoan Islands. Upolu is situated to the east of...
island in Samoa and serves as the main headquarters of the Methodist church in the country. The college includes the historic Piula Monastery as well as Piula Cave Pool
Piula Cave Pool
Piula Cave Pool is a natural freshwater pool by the sea beneath the historic Methodist Chapel at Piula on the north coast of Upolu island in Samoa. It is situated at Lufilufi in the political district of Atua, 26km east from the capital Apia, along the scenic coastal road...
, a natural spring situated beneath the church by the sea. The Methodist Church is the third largest denomination throughout the Samoan Islands, in both Samoa and American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
.
See also
- Wesleyan theologyWesleyanismWesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
:Category:Methodism
:Category:Methodists
:Category:Methodist theologians
World
- Dowson, Jean and Hutchinson, John (2003) John Wesley: His Life, Times and Legacy [CD-ROM], Methodist Publishing House, TB214
- Forster, DA and Bentley, W (eds.) (2008)What are we thinking? Reflections on Church and Society from Southern African Methodists. Methodist Publishing House, Cape Town. ISBN 978-91988352-6.
- Forster, DA and Bentley, W (eds.) (2008) Methodism in Southern Africa: A celebration of Wesleyan Mission AcadSA Publishers, Kempton Park. ISBN 978-1-920212-29-2
- Harmon, Nolan B. (ed.) (1974) The Encyclopedia of World Methodism, Nashville: Abingdon Press, ISBN 0-687-11784-4.
- Heitzenrater, Richard P. (1994) Wesley and the People Called Methodists, Nashville: Abingdon Press, ISBN 0-687-01682-7
- Hempton, David (2005) Methodism: Empire of the Spirit, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10614-9
- Hempton, David (1984) Methodism and Politics in British Society, 1750–1850, Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-1269-7
- Kent, John (2002) Wesley and the Wesleyans, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-45532-4
- Warner, Wellman J. (1930) The Wesleyan Movement in the Industrial Revolution, London: Longmans, Green, 299 p.
United Kingdom
- Brooks, Alan (2010) West End Methodism: The Story of Hinde Street, London: Northway Publications, 400pp.
African Americans
- Campbell, James T. (1995) Songs of Zion: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and South Africa, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-507892-6
- George, Carol V.R. (1973) Segregated Sabbaths: Richard Allen and the Rise of Independent Black Churches, 1760–1840, New York: Oxford University Press, LCCN 73076908
- Montgomery, William G. (1993) Under Their Own Vine and Fig Tree: The African-American Church in the South, 1865–1900, Louisiana State University Press, ISBN 0-8071-1745-5
- Walker, Clarence E. (1982) A Rock in a Weary Land: The African Methodist Episcopal Church During the Civil War and Reconstruction, Louisiana State University Press, ISBN 0-8071-0883-9
- Wills, David W. and Newman, Richard (eds.) (1982) Black Apostles at Home and Abroad: Afro-American and the Christian Mission from the Revolution to Reconstruction, Boston, MA: G. K. Hall, ISBN 0-8161-8482-8
USA and Canada
- Cameron, Richard M. (ed.) (1961) Methodism and Society in Historical Perspective, 4 vol., New York: Abingdon Press
- Lyerly, Cynthia Lynn (1998) Methodism and the Southern Mind, 1770–1810, Religion in America Series, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-511429-9
- Meyer, Donald (1988) The Protestant Search for Political Realism, 1919–1941, Wesleyan University Press, ISBN 0-8195-5203-8
- Rawlyk, G.A. (1994) The Canada Fire: Radical Evangelicalism in British North America, 1775–1812, Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, ISBN 0-7735-1221-7
- Schmidt, Jean Miller (1999) Grace Sufficient: A History of Women in American Methodism, 1760–1939, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press ISBN 0-687-15675-0
- Semple, Neil (1996) The Lord's Dominion: The History of Canadian Methodism, Buffalo: McGill-Queen's University Press, ISBN 0-7735-1367-1
- Sweet, William Warren (1954) Methodism in American History, Revision of 1953, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 472 p.
- Wigger, John H. (1998) Taking Heaven by Storm: Methodism and the Rise of Popular Christianity in America, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-510452-8 – p. ix & 269 focus on 1770–1910
Primary sources
- Richey, Russell E., Rowe, Kenneth E. and Schmidt, Jean Miller (eds.) (2000) The Methodist Experience in America: a sourcebook, Nashville: Abingdon Press, ISBN 0-687-24673-3 – 756 p. of original documents
- Sweet, William Warren (ed.) (1946) Religion on the American Frontier: Vol. 4, The Methodists,1783–1840: A Collection of Source Materials, New York: H. Holt & Co., – 800 p. of documents regarding the American frontier