Methodism

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

In the United States there are several major Methodists bodies:

• The United Methodist Church
• Methodist Episcopal Church, South since 1939 part of the United Methodist Church)
• The Free Methodist Church
• The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)
• The Christian Methodist Church
• The African Methodist Episcopal Church, Zion

All Methodist groups have the "connectional" form of government. They have bishops, annual conferences and general conferences. The annual conference, presided by a bishop, is divided in districts presided by superintendents.

The bishop together with the superintendents appoint the local ministers.

John Wesley, the founder 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 to the Letter to the Romans. He preached the gospel in England over 40 years after his conversion, and tens of thousands joined his lay groups. They remained in the Church of England until after Wesley's death.

In the United States, with John 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

Methodists are Protestants and believe the Bible to be a form of revelation along with reason, church tradition, and personal experience. This fourfold act of revelation is referred to as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. They are Arminian in doctrine, but unlike Arminian Baptists, Methodists baptize infants. Methodists are also characterized by their belief in Christian Perfection, the doctrine that teaches that a person, in his earthly life, can reach a state where he is able not to sin. Like Pentecostals, Methodists also emphasize the importance of revival in the church.

Colleges and Universities with 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)
• Albion College (Michigan)
• Boston University (formerly)

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)
• 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 p.
• 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