Methodism

Methodism is the Protestant denomination derived from the Anglican Church and established on the teachings of John Wesley , his brother Charles Wesley and other followers. It has its emphasis on the perfection of Christian life and the Arminian principles of Salvation. The followers of George Whitefield separated and became Calvinist Methodists. However, most Methodist denominations have followed Wesley.

 

Summary

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• 1 Beginnings of Methodism
• 2 Advancement of Methodism to North America and all continents
• 3 Existing Methodist Churches
• 4 Methodist Doctrine
• 5 See also
• 6 Sources

Beginnings of Methodism

Methodism was born in England in the 18th century in a time of marked rationalist coldness and ritual formalism in the life of the Anglican Church , and of great moral decadence in the English people. In 1729 , a group of young men at Oxford University set out to seriously pursue Christian holiness. They were so distinguished by their methodical practices of religious piety and charity to prisoners and the needy that their companions, in mockery, pointed at them saying: “There go the Methodists.” The soul of this group was the young university professor, John Wesley , presbyter of the Anglican Church.

The great Methodist movement , however, did not begin until after Wesley left his residence in Oxford to go to North America as a missionary and returned to settle in London . Despite his firm religious discipline and intense longing for holiness, Wesley was not really sure of his personal salvation, had no peace of mind, nor was he able to communicate his faith to other people. The turning point in his life took place on the night of May 24 , 1738 , at a prayer and testimony meeting on Aldersgate Street in London. Wesley notes in his diary:

“In the evening I went with very little desire to a Society in Aldersgate Street, where someone was reading Martin Luther ‘s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans . At about a quarter to nine, while he was describing the change that God works in the heart Through faith in Christ , I felt a strange burning in my heart. I felt that I trusted in Christ, and in Christ alone, for my salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away all my sins, yes mine, and I had freed myself from the law of sin and death… I began to pray with all my being for those who in some particular way had used me contemptuously and had persecuted me. Then I testified openly to all those gathered there what now, for the first time, I experienced it in my heart.”

Wesley received for himself, as a profound personal experience, what Paul and Luther had received, “which is not rules and laws nor our own efforts toward perfection, but faith in the mercy of God, manifested in Christ, that enables man to enter into possession of life and peace”. His brother Carlos, who was to become the great poet-hymnologist of Methodism—the author of more than 6,000 hymns, many of which have passed into universal Christian hymnology—had had a similar experience four days earlier.

The faith that Wesley had been unable to communicate effectively before his experience at Aldersgate was now expressed with conviction and power. At this point, it is necessary to point out that Wesley always insisted on faith as an experience, but what he is saying by that expression is not faith as an emotional experience but faith as a life experience, that is, the way in which one lives. , with which we arrive again at the issue of scriptural holiness. In reality, instead of saying “EXPERIENCE”, it should be said “PRACTICE”, since it is experience in the sense of “practice”, just as when one says that a doctor has “experience”, or a mechanic has “experience” .

The purpose of the Methodist Societies was described by Wesley as “disseminating biblical holiness and reforming the nation.”

Wesley did not understand this “reform of the nation” as a reform of society through legislative changes, except with respect to the abolition of the system of human slavery, which he called “the most execrable of villainies.” To this end, he gave his full support to parliamentarian Wilberforce in his fight to achieve that abolition. In the 19th century , however, a majority of English Methodists, people of peasant and industrial worker origin for the most part, imbued by their evangelical faith with a new sense of their human dignity as children of God, and the consequent right with equal opportunities for a fully human life, they did peacefully fight for other legislative reforms leading to greater social justice.

 

Advancement of Methodism to North America and all continents

From Great Britain , Methodism passed to the English colonies in North America, beginning in 1765 , through the migration of members of the Societies, developing a vigorous evangelistic push there, adapting especially effectively to frontier life. With immense personal sacrifice the itinerant preachers advanced together with the pioneers in the migrations to the West, establishing preaching points and organizing Societies that they later formed into circuits.

The absence of Anglican clergy on the frontiers and the general abandonment of the colonies during the War of Independence meant that members of the Methodist Societies of the rebelling colonies found themselves without access to the sacraments. In the Anglican Church only bishops could ordain presbyters, and only presbyters could officiate at the Lord’s Supper . As no Anglican Bishop was willing to ordain presbyters for the Methodist Societies, Wesley, after deep study and prayer, decided to initiate ordinations himself, and consecrate his collaborator, the Anglican presbyter, Thomas Coke, as general superintendent for North America, authorizing him to ordain the brilliant and indefatigable preacher Francis Asbury , and then consecrate him also as superintendent, with the right to proceed to make other ordinations.

Having ended the war with the recognition of the independence of the colonies, and the itinerant preachers were summoned in the new nation, on December 24 , 1784 , presided over by Thomas Coke, the Methodist Societies of the United States became the first Methodist Church of the world. Asbury insisted before being consecrated superintendent that he should be elected to the office by the presbyters, also granting him the title of Bishop. In the new American nation, Methodism achieved extraordinary development, covering the entire territory. Along with its growth within the country, in 1819 the Methodist Church in the United States began a formidable program of foreign missionary action, which would take American Methodism to more than 50 countries on all continents.

Shortly after Wesley’s death in London in 1791 at the age of 88, the United Societies of Great Britain also became a Church . Although divisions ensued, the extraordinary evangelistic zeal that had made the movement grow continued to manifest itself, turning British Methodism into the largest evangelical religious group in England, after the Anglican Church. English Methodism, however, did not adopt the episcopal system, the only important difference between the two main currents of world Methodism. As a result of the great migrations of British citizens to Canada , Australia , New Zealand , South Africa , etc., which brought many Methodists to these places, and the great evangelistic and missionary work of English Methodism , especially in the countries and colonies of the British Empire , united with the American Empire, Methodism is today established in more than 130 countries, forming a religious community of nearly more than 100 million people.

 

Existing Methodist Churches

Methodist Church: (Originally known in England as the “Wesleyan Connection.”) Protestant denomination. This church has its origins in the “Club of the Saints” of John and Charles Wesley at the University of Oxford . Their devotional life and Bible study were characterized by a disciplined and methodical style, for which they were given the name “Methodists.”

Congregational Methodist Church: Evangelical Denomination . One of the smallest Methodist organizations. This church was organized in Georgia in 1852 as a branch of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The reason for the division is that they did not accept certain aspects of episcopal government and the itinerant system. Although they have retained the conference system, local churches have the authority to elect their own pastors.

Southern Methodist Church: Evangelical denomination. It is a breakaway from the Methodist Episcopal Church of the South, whose doctrine they maintain, but emphasizing theological conservatism. The Southern Methodists, a small organization, do not have bishops, but are governed by conferences. Local churches control their property.

Methodist Episcopal Church (North and South): Former Protestant denomination. With this name there were two denominations in North America: the Methodist Episcopal Church of the North and the Methodist Episcopal Church of the South, the result of the division between North and South in the 19th century . The original Methodist Episcopal Church was actually North American Methodism, identified as Episcopal by having bishops, which differentiated it from British Methodism.

The reunification of the Methodist Episcopalians (no relation to the Episcopalians or Anglicans) occurred in 1939 to give rise to the Methodist Church, which became the United Methodist Church in 1968 by uniting with other groups. A smaller group, the Methodist Protestant Church, participated in the 1939 unification.

African Methodist Episcopal Church: Protestant Denomination. It was the first black church to organize nationally in the United States. Although it had its roots in Black Methodist congregations existing since 1787 , its organization as a nationwide church occurred in 1816 . Richard Allen was its founder and first bishop. Originally confined to the north, it spread to the south after the Civil War. In the African American community, this church is only numerically surpassed by the Baptists .

African Methodist Episcopal Church: Protestant Denomination. The origins of this church could date back to 1796 as a local congregation. The first to be called Zion was built in 1800 , but its first national conference occurred in 1821 . Like the previous one, it was formed in the North and later spread to the South. Its first bishop was James Varick . The other African Methodist Episcopal Church doubles its membership, but the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church is also a major African-American denomination in the United States.

Christian Methodist Episcopal Church: Protestant denomination. One of the African American Methodist denominations. In this case, its founding occurred in the South itself in 1870 through an arrangement between the white and black sectors of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the South.

Free Methodist Church: Evangelical denomination. This movement is characterized by its theological conservatism. It was founded in 1860 and its first leader was BT Roberts. In the opinion of its organizers, Methodism had departed from Wesleyan norms. They cooperate with other Methodists in the promotion of Asbury Seminary, but they have their own teaching institutions and have spread throughout numerous countries, proclaiming, among others, the doctrine of holiness, that is, the perfection preached by Wesley. They have joined with other holiness groups, but maintain their episcopal system of government.

Pentecostal Methodist Church: Chilean Denomination. Beginning in 1902, the Methodist Church of Valparaíso , Chile , led by American pastor Willis C. Hoover began preaching an emphasis on holiness. In 1909 , both this church and two other Methodist congregations in Santiago and Montiel (commune of San Miguel) experienced a Pentecostal revival. In 1909–1910 the process began that led to the constitution of the Pentecostal Methodist Church of Chile (originally called the National Methodist Church) with Hoover as its first Superintendent (bishop).

The Annual Conference of the Methodist Church of Chile condemned that step. In 1929 , the church obtained legal status as the Pentecostal Methodist Church Corporation of Chile, although some point to the name as “Association of Representatives of the Pentecostal Methodist Churches of Chile.” The denomination is powerful and includes the entire country, with missions and branches in other nations. It combines the Pentecostal experience with elements of the Methodist polity and tradition. It is one of the great denominations of Latin America with an indigenous character. Other denominations have emerged from it, such as the Evangelical Pentecostal Church.

Primitive Methodist Church: Evangelical denomination. Group that set up shop in English Methodism in 1807 under the leadership of Hugh Bourne and William Clowes , expelled from the Wesleyan Church (English Methodists). In 1812 they adopted the name the Society of Primitive Methodists, for their proclamation of original forms of Methodism. They have churches in the United States, Guatemala , Spain and other places. It is a very small movement.

United Methodist Church: Protestant denomination. Name of several Methodist churches in the United States and the United Kingdom. It is the largest of the Methodist churches in the United States. The United Methodist Church was formed in 1939 by the union of the Methodist Church (Methodist Episcopal, Northern and Southern), church) and the Evangelical United Brethren Church (not to be confused with other churches with a similar name). What is said in the article about Methodist Churches applies largely to this denomination, which has included the majority of the historic Methodists in the United States. (Methodist, church.)

Wesleyan Methodist Church: Name that has been used at various stages to identify the Methodists of Great Britain, who at the time constituted the Wesleyan Church. Not to be confused with the Wesleyan Church in America (Wesleyan, church).

Calvinist Methodists: Historic Church of Wales. Methodists in Wales who followed the leadership of George Whitefield after he cordially separated from John Wesley. Their difference with the other Methodists was related to Calvinism, which they professed against the grain of Wesley’s Arminianism.

Its first association met in 1742 , that is, it predates Wesley’s first annual conference ( 1744 ). Among its early leaders were Howell Harris and Thomas Charles . It is the only purely Welsh denomination and predominates numerically in several districts of Wales. Other groups created by Whitefield, such as the Countess of Huntingdon’s “Connexion”, have been identified as Calvinist Methodists. The Welsh church currently identifies as the Presbyterian Church, although without renouncing its historical links with the original Methodist movement. Its system of government combines congregational and Presbyterian elements.