Methodism

The Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity.

Methodism in the United States

The first American Methodist bishops were Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury, whose boyhood home, Bishop Asbury Cottage, in Sandwell, 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 which 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.http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.strawbridge03aug03,1,2091646.story?page=1&coll=bal-local-headlines

Related Topics:
Bishops - Thomas Coke - Francis Asbury - Bishop Asbury Cottage - Sandwell - England - Methodist Episcopal Church - Baltimore - Christmas Conference - 1784 - Church of England - Deacon - Elder - Circuit riders - Robert Strawbridge - Carroll County, Maryland - 1760

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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 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 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.

Related Topics:
Underground Railroad - 1845 - Methodist Episcopal Church, South - 1939 - Methodist Protestant Church - Southern Methodist Church - 1940

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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 the United Methodist Church in America has been shrinking, associated groups in developing countries are growing rapidly.

Related Topics:
United Methodist Church - 1968 - Evangelical United Brethren - 1990s

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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.

Related Topics:
Bishop - Presbyterian - Lay - Episcopalian - Congregational - Baptist - Congregationalist Church

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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.

Related Topics:
African Methodist Episcopal Church - Free Methodists - Wesleyan Church - The Salvation Army - William Booth - Church of the Nazarene - Pentecostal Holiness - Assemblies of God

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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.

Related Topics:
Holiness - Phoebe Palmer - Camp meeting - Vineland, New Jersey - 1867 - Asbury College

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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.

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The United Methodist Church allows for a wide range of theological and political beliefs. For example, Republican President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are practicing United Methodists as are Democrats

Related Topics:
Republican - President - George W. Bush - Vice President - Dick Cheney - Democrats

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Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

Related Topics:
Hillary Clinton - John Edwards

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