Methodism

Methodism or the Methodist movement is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity. It originated in 18th century Britain, and due to vigorous missionary activity spread throughout the British Empire, the United States, and beyond. Originally it appealed especially to workers, poor farmers, and slaves. Theologically it is Arminian, emphasizing that all people can be saved, and low church in liturgy. By 2006 it claimed some 75 million members worldwide.

The Wesleyan revival

The Methodist revival originated in England. It was started by a group of men including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles as a movement within the Church of England in the 18th century, focused on Bible study, and a methodical approach to scriptures and Christian living. The term "Methodist" was a pejorative college nickname that was given to a small society of students at Oxford, who met together between 1729 and 1735 for the purpose of mutual improvement. They were accustomed to communicate every week, to fast regularly and to abstain from most forms of amusement and luxury. They also frequently visited poor and sick persons and prisoners in the jail.

The early Methodists reacted against perceived apathy in the Church of England, became open-air preachers and established Methodist societies wherever they went. They were notorious for their enthusiastic sermons and often accused of fanaticism. In those days, members of the established church feared that new doctrines promulgated by the Methodists, such as the necessity to salvation of a New Birth, 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 Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, while Whitefield adopted Calvinistic views. Consequently, their followers separated, those of Whitefield becoming Calvinistic Methodists. Generally Methodists have followed Wesley in Arminian theology.

Missions to America

From the time of the late 1760s, two Methodist lay preachers emigrated to America and formed societies. Philip Embury began the work in New York. Soon, Captain Webb from the British Army aided him. He formed a society in Philadelphia and itenerated along the coast. By 1770, two Methodist missionaries arrived from the British Connection. They were Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor. Shortly thereafter, Francis Asbury arrived. 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. Due to the war and a call from Wesley, all the missionaries left the mid-Atlantic work. By 1778, the mid-Atlantic 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 worked grew rapidly in numbers and in geography. 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. Plus, 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 churches. Most of the Anglican priests fled to England, New York or Canada during the war. As such, 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. It was done. 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 the title.

By the 1792 general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the controversy related to episcopal power boiled over. Ultimately, the delegates sided with Bishop Asbury. However, Primitive Methodists and Republican Methodists split off from the Methodist Episcopal Church in the early 1790s. Both 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 authoritative style alienated many. Soon, he became a missionary bishop of sorts and never had much influence in America.

Theology and liturgy

Traditionally, Methodism has believed in the Arminian view of free will, via God's prevenient grace, as opposed to Calvinistic predestination. This distinguishes it, historically, from Calvinist traditions such as Presbyterianism. However, in strongly Calvinist areas such as Wales, Calvinistic Methodists remain, also called the Presbyterian Church of Wales. Also, more recent theological debates have often cut across denominational lines, so that theologically liberal Methodist and Reformed churches have more in common with each other than with more conservative members of their own denominations. Within the United Methodist Church the Doctrinal Standards -- including, most especially, the Articles of Religion (Methodist) -- serve to govern the external boundaries of theological proclamation and affirmation.

John Wesley was not a systematic theologian; his approach is often termed Practical Divinity because it was often formed, and almost always articulated, with the religious life of the Church. Methodist ministerial students and trainee local preachers do study his Standard Sermons, Explanatory Notes on the New Testament, Hymns, and Journals for how he formulated and articulated his theology. Probably the most popular expression of Wesleyan theology may be found in the hymns of Charles Wesley. Since enthusiastic congregational singing was a part of the Evangelical movement, the theology contained in the Wesley hymns took root and spread far and wide beyond the Church of England, the Methodist Churches, and other Wesleyan denominations.

Methodism follows the traditional and near-universal Christian belief in the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In devotional terms, this confession is 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. Affirmation of the doctrine is supported through the Articles of Religion (Methodist) and articulated in the language of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.

It is a traditional position of the church that any disciplined theological work calls for the careful use of reason. By reason, it is said, one reads and interprets Scripture and applies the traditions of the Church to Christian life. By reason one determines whether one's Christian witness is clear and Christian experience is sound. By reason one asks questions of faith and seeks to understand God's action and will. This church also insists that personal salvation always involves more than just mental assent, but active, faithful expressions of Christian mission and service to the world. Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbor, a passion for social justice and renewal in the life of the world.

Sacramental Theology within Methodism tends to follow the historical interpretations and liturgies of Anglicanism. This stems from the origin of most 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 (Methodist), Methodists recognize two Sacraments as being ordained of Christ: Baptism and Holy Communion. 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.

Not surprisingly, in liturgical matters much Methodist worship is modeled after the Book of Common Prayer. For example, there are many significant similarities between the formal Eucharistic and Baptismal Liturgies of the United Methodist Church ^* and those of the Anglican Communion. While similar in form and structure, a greater degree of diversity and freedom of adaptation is often said to exist among the Methodist churches. Most United Methodists follow the Revised Common Lectionary for scripture readings in worship, and their churches generally follow the most common ecumenical pattern of the Liturgical Year. One unique feature of the United Methodist Church is its observance of the season of Kingdomtide, which encompasses the last 13 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. The vestments worn during this season are green, while under this system the "Sundays after Pentecost" (up to the 12th Sunday after Pentecost) red vestments are worn. Another distinctive liturgical feature of Methodism is the use of Covenant Renewal services. Although practice varies from Methodist denomination to Methodist denomination, and even between churches within each denomination, most Methodist churches annually affirm 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 calendar year, and Wesley's Covenant Prayer is still used, with minor modification, in the order of service. It is a striking and sobering piece of liturgical writing and Christian practice, as the following excerpts illustrate:

...Christ has many services to be done. Some are easy, others are difficult. Some bring honour, others bring reproach. Some are suitable to our natural inclinations and temporal interests, others are contrary to both... Yet the power to do all these things is given to us in Christ, who strengthens us.

...I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal...

Methodism in Britain

Main article: Methodist Church of Great Britain WesleyMemOxford20040124CopyrightKaihsuTai.jpg, where the Wesley brothers studied.]] British Methodism does not have bishops, though a report, "What Sort of Bishops?"What sort of bishops?:Models of episcopacy and British Methodism, to the Conference of 2005, was accepted for study and report. This report considered if this should now be changed and if so what forms of episkopé might be acceptable. It has however always been characterised 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 Chair (who may be male or female). Methodist districts often correspond approximately, in geographical terms, to the dioceses of the Church of England. The districts are divided into circuits governed by the quarterly Circuit Meeting and led and administrated principally by a "superintendent minister", and ministers are appointed to these 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 retired ("supernumerary") ministers. 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.

Schisms within the original 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 United Methodist Church (not connected with the American denomination of the same name, but a union of three smaller denominations). The original church became known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church to distinguish it from these bodies. The three major streams of British Methodism united in 1932 to form the current Methodist Church of Great Britain.

In the 1960s, the Methodist Church made ecumenical overtures to the Church of England, aimed at church unity. Formally, these failed when they were rejected by the Church of England's General Synod in 1972; conversations and co-operation continued, however, leading in 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the two churches.Anglican-Methodist Covenant From the 1970s onward, the Methodist Church also started several "Local Ecumenical Projects" (LEPs) both with the Church of England and with the United Reformed Church, which involved sharing churches, schools and in some cases ministers.

Traditionally, Methodism proved particularly popular in Wales and Cornwall, both regions noted for their non-conformism and distrust of the Church of England.

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.

Methodism in the United States

The First Great Awakening was a religious movement among colonials in the 1730s and 1740s. The English 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 manners 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. 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 1800s, with the northern church leaders fearful of a split with the South, and reluctant to take a stand. The Wesleyan Methodists (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. 200, 354 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 (673Methodist World Peace Commission administered Civilian Public Service units at Duke University Hostpital in Durham, North Carolina and Cherokee State (Psychiatric) Hospital in Cherokee, Iowa (list of CPS Camps).) conscientious objectors.

The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968 as a result of a merger between the Evangelical United Brethren 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 rapidly.

American Methodist churches are generally organized on a connectional model, related but not identical to that used in Britain. Ministers are assigned to churches 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 episcopalian government. 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 Free Methodists and the Wesleyan Church (formerly Wesleyan Methodist), are explicitly Methodist. Others do not call themselves Methodist, but are related to varying degrees. The Salvation Army was founded by William Booth, a former Methodist. It derives some of its theology from Methodism. Another related denomination is the Church of the Nazarene. 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-1800s, the establishment of the first of many holiness camp meetings 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 beginnings 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.

The United Methodist Church allows for a wide range of theological and political beliefs. For example, Republican President George W. Bush is a member. Vice President Dick Cheney attends the United Methodist Church (though he is not a member). Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are both members of the United Methodist Church.

Other countries

An estimated 75 million people worldwide belong to the Methodist community but the number has gone into steady decline especially in North America where an increasing number of people are becoming more inclined to join theologically conservative churches.Cracknell, p. i.

In Australia, the Methodist Church merged with the majority of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia in 1977, becoming the Uniting Church. The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia continues to operate independently. There are also other independent Methodist congregations. Some of these were established by, or have been impacted by, Tongan immigrants.
Methodist Episcopal circuit riders from New York State began to arrive in the Kingston region on the north-east 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. 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.
Bermuda's Methodist Synod, is a separate presbytery of the United Church of Canada's Maritime Conference.
There are small Methodist Churches in many European countries, the strongest being in Germany. These mostly derive from links with the American rather than the British church.
The strongest Methodist church in the world is probably now in 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 which are of Wesleyan/Methodist heritage, but not explicitly Methodist.
A high proportion of the Polynesian population of Fiji are Methodists. Fiji has the highest percentage of Methodists in the world.
Missionaries from Britain, North America, and Australia founded Methodist churches in many Commonwealth 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 a school is the Methodist Boys' School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and The Anglo-Chinese Schools, Methodist Girls Schools and Fairfield Methodist Schools in Singapore
Almost all Methodist churches are members of a consultative body called the World Methodist Council, which has its headquarters at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, USA.
The Igreja Metodista Unida is one of the largest denominations of Mozambique.

Notes

References

Cracknell, Kenneth and Susan J. White. An Introduction to World Methodism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0521818494.

External links

Religion in the United Kingdom | Protestantism | Methodism

The Wesleyan revival

Missions to America

Theology and liturgy

Methodism in Britain

Methodism in the United States

Other countries

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

World

African Americans

USA & Canada

Primary sources

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Methodism

The Wesleyan revival

Missions to America

Theology and liturgy

Methodism in Britain

Methodism in the United States

Other countries

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

World

African Americans

USA & Canada

Primary sources

External links