The Nashville Christian Advocate was a weekly newspaper of 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...

. It served as the central organ of the denomination as well as the official paper of the Tennessee Conference. It was the largest and most influential of the Methodist newspapers

Early American Methodist Newspapers

Newspapers and news magazines have always been an important source of information for Methodist Churches and their members and constituents. In the U.S.A., there have been a variety of instruments published over the years, some by General Conferences, others by Annual Conferences, others by...

 in the South. It was founded under the name Southwestern Christian Advocate in 1836. and remained the "leading weekly" of the church after the Civil War. Prominent editors included Thomas O. Summers, Oscar Penn Fitzgerald

Oscar Penn Fitzgerald

Oscar Penn Fitzgerald was a Methodist clergyman, journalist and educator. He served as California Superintendent of Public Instruction and was elected a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in 1890....

 and Elijah Embree Hoss

Elijah Embree Hoss

Elijah Embree Hoss was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1902. He also distinguished himself as a Methodist pastor, as a college professor and administrator, and as an editor....

.