Methodism

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John Wesley

Methodism is a branch of Christianity partly based on the teachings of John Wesley. When Wesley was a student at Oxford University, he founded a group of Bible students dedicated to prayer and a methodical discipline. Others made fun of them, calling them "Methodists."

Methodists Today

Today Methodists are particularly strong (and conservative) in Africa. In the United States, there are several major Methodist bodies:

All of these Methodist churches have the "connectional" form of government in which there are bishops, annual conferences and general conferences. The annual conference, presided over by a bishop, is divided into districts presided over by superintendents. The bishops together with the superintendents appoint the local ministers. In some of the smaller Methodist bodies, such as the Southern Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodist Church, and the Evangelical Methodist Church, there are no bishops.

John Wesley, the founder of the movement, was a minister of the Church of England (Anglican) who on May 22, 1739 had a conversion experience while listening to the reading of Luther's commentary on St. Paul's Letter to the Romans. He preached the Gospel in England and America for over 40 years following his conversion, and tens of thousands joined his lay groups. They remained in the Church of England until after Wesley's death.
In 1763, Greek Orthodox bishop Erasmus of the Diocese of Arcadia, who was visiting London at the time,[2] consecrated Rev. John Wesley a bishop,[3][4] and ordained several Methodist lay preachers as priests, including John Jones.[5] However, Wesley could not openly announce his episcopal consecration without incurring the penalty of the Præmunire Act.[6] In light of Wesley's episcopal consecration, the Methodist Church can lay a claim on apostolic succession, although not as understood in the traditional sense.[7] Because Wesley ordained and sent forth every Methodist preacher in his day—those who preached and baptized and ordained—and since every Methodist preacher who has ever been ordained as a Methodist was ordained in this direct "succession" from Wesley, then the Methodist Church teaches that it has all the direct merits coming from apostolic succession, if any such there be.[8] See Apostolic_succession

In the United States, with Wesley's permission and support, the Methodists organized themselves as a separate denomination in December, 1784. Held in Baltimore, the Christmas Conference saw the ordination of pastors and the election of Francis Asbury as Superintendent, or bishop, of the newly formed Methodist Episcopal Church.

Beliefs

John Wesley

Methodists are Protestants and believe the Bible to be divine revelation and the ultimate guide to doctrine. Scripture is understood through the use of reason, church tradition, and personal experience. This fourfold approach to religious truth—scripture, reason, tradition, and experience—is referred to as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. By comparison, the Anglican church from which Methodism came speaks of a three-legged stool consisting of scripture, reason, and tradition.

Methodists are Arminian in doctrine, but unlike Arminian Baptists, Methodists baptize infants and believe in the real presence. They are also characterized by their belief in perfectionism, the teaching that a person in his earthly life can reach a state where he is no longer under the domination of sin. Methodists have long taught the Christian obligation to tend to the needs of the poor and unfortunate and, like Pentecostals, they emphasize the importance of revival in the church.

Colleges and Universities with a Methodist Affiliation

  • Northwestern University (Illinois)
  • Ohio Wesleyan (Ohio)
  • Baldwin Wallace (Ohio)
  • Otterbein (Ohio)
  • Defiance (Ohio)
  • Kenyon College (Ohio)
  • Ohio Northern (Ohio)
  • Southern Methodist University (Texas)
  • Hendrix College (Arkansas)
  • Adrian College (Michigan)
  • Albion College (Michigan)
  • Spring Arbor University (Michigan)
  • Union College (Kentucky)
  • Vanderbilt University (Tennessee)
  • Wilberforce University
  • Boston University (formerly)
  • Duke University (North Carolina)

Bibliography

Britain and world

  • Dowson, Jean and Hutchinson, John John Wesley: His Life, Times and Legacy [CD-ROM], (2003) Methodist Publishing House, TB214
  • Dreyer, Frederick. The Genesis of Methodism (1999) online edition
  • Harmon, Nolan B., ed. The Encyclopedia of World Methodism, (1974) ISBN 0-687-11784-4.
  • Heitzenrater, Richard P. Wesley and the People Called Methodists, (1994)
  • Hempton, David. Methodism: Empire of the Spirit, (2005) ISBN 0-300-10614-9, major new interpretive history
  • Hempton, David. Methodism and Politics in British Society, 1750-1850, (1984), ISBN 0-80471-269-7
  • Kent, John, Wesley and the Wesleyans, (2002) ISBN 0-521-45532-4

USA and Canada

  • Cameron, Richard M., ed. Methodism and Society in Historical Perspective, 4 vol., (1961)
  • Hollett, Calvin. Shouting, Embracing, and Dancing with Ecstasy: The Growth of Methodism in Newfoundland, 1774-1874 (2010)
  • Lyerly, Cynthia Lynn. Methodism and the Southern Mind, 1770-1810, (1998)
  • Meyer, Donald. The Protestant Search for Political Realism, 1919-1941, (1988) in ACLS e-books
  • Rawlyk, G.A. The Canada Fire: Radical Evangelicalism in British North America, 1775-1812 (1994)
  • Schmidt, Jean Miller Grace Sufficient: A History of Women in American Methodism, 1760-1939, (1999)
  • Semple, Neil The Lord's Dominion: The History of Canadian Methodism (1996)
  • Sweet, William Warren Methodism in American History, (1954) 472 pp.
  • Tipton, Steven M. Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life (2008) excerpt and text search
  • Wigger, John H. Taking Heaven by Storm: Methodism and the Rise of Popular Christianity in America (1998) excerpt and text search 269pp; focus on 1770-1910
  • Wigger, John H.. and Nathan O. Hatch. Methodism and the Shaping of American Culture (2001) excerpt and text search

African Americans

  • Campbell, James T. Songs of Zion: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and South Africa, (1995) ACLS e-book; online at Questia
  • George, Carol V.R. Segregated Sabbaths: Richard Allen and the Rise of Independent Black Churches, 1760-1840, (1973)
  • Montgomery, William G. Under Their Own Vine and Fig Tree: The African-American Church in the South, 1865-1900, (1993) * Walker, Clarence E. A Rock in a Weary Land: The African Methodist Episcopal Church During the Civil War and Reconstruction, (1982)
  • Wills, David W. and Newman, Richard, eds. Black Apostles at Home and Abroad: Afro-American and the Christian Mission from the Revolution to Reconstruction, (1982)

Primary sources

  • Richey, Russell E., Rowe, Kenneth E. and Schmidt, Jean Miller (eds.) The Methodist Experience in America: a sourcebook, (2000) ISBN 0-687-24673-3 – 756 p. of original documents
  • Sweet, W. W., ed. Religion on the American Frontier. Vol. IV, 1783-1840: The Methodists, A Collection of Source Materials (1964) online review 800 pp. of documents regarding the American frontier

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://methodist.org.sg/
  2. ↑ The life and times of the Rev. John Wesley, founder of the Methodists, Volume 2. Regent College Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. “Just at this juncture, Erasmus a bishop of the Greek church, visited London.” 
  3. ↑ Wesleyan-Methodist magazine: being a continuation of the Arminian or Methodist magazine first publ. by John Wesley. Wesleyan Methodist Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. “Mr. Wesley thus became a Bishop, and consecrated Dr. Coke, who united himself with ... who gave it under his own hand that Erasmus was Bishop of Arcadia, ...” 
  4. ↑ English Spirituality in the Age of Wesley. Regent College Publishing. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. “By 1763, Wesley was desperate to obtain ordination for some of his lay preachers and when bishop after bishop refused, he took the dubious expedient -against the council of all his close friends and associates-of asking one Erasmus, who claimed to be bishop of Arcadia in Crete, to do the job. Erasmus knew no English, but agreed.” 
  5. ↑ The Churchman, Volume 40. University of Michigan. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. “Erasmus was the Bishop of Arcadia, in Crete. In 1763, he visited London. Wesley found his credentials unexceptionable, and Dr. Jones, one of the preachers whom he had ordained, obtained testimonials concerning him from Symrna.” 
  6. ↑ The historic episcopate: a study of Anglican claims and Methodist orders. Eaton & Mains. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. “Dr. Peters was present at the interview, and went with and introduced Dr. Seabury to Mr. Wesley, who was so far satisfied that he would have been willingly consecrated by him if Mr. Wesley would have signed his letter of orders as bishop, which Mr. Wesley could not do without incurring the penalty of the Præmunire Act.” 
  7. ↑ Separated Brethren: A Review of Protestant, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox & Other Religions in the United States. Our Sunday Visitor. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. “Today the World Methodist Council represents twenty-nine million members of some sixty churches that trace their heritage to Wesley and his brother Charles.” 
  8. ↑ SWhy two Episcopal Methodist churches in the United States?: A brief history answering this question for the benefit of Epworth leaguers and other young Methodists. Publishing House of the M.E. Church, South. Retrieved on 2007-12-31. “And since he himself ordained and sent forth every Methodist preacher in his day, who preached and baptized and ordained (except such as, like himself, had been ordained by a bishop), and since every Methodist preacher who has ever been ordained as a Methodist was ordained in this direct "succession" from Wesley, then have we all the direct merits coming from apostolic succession, if any such there be.” 
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