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Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley.. "Methodism – the Christian tradition that traces its heritage to John Wesley" George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significant early leaders in the movement. They were named Methodists for "the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith". Methodism originated as a revival movement within Anglicanism with roots in the Church of England in the 18th century and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States and beyond because of vigorous missionary work, and today has about 80 million adherents worldwide. Most Methodist denominations are members of the World Methodist Council.
Wesleyan theology, which is upheld by the Methodist denominations, focuses on sanctification and the transforming effect of faith on the character of a Christians, exemplified by living a victorious life over sin. Unique to Wesleyan Methodism is its definition of sin: a "voluntary transgression of a known law of God." Distinguishing doctrines include the new birth, assurance, (2025). 9780191607431, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191607431 imparted righteousness, and obedience to God manifested in performing works of piety. John Wesley held that entire sanctification was "the grand depositum", or foundational doctrine, of the Methodist faith, and its propagation was the reason God brought Methodists into existence. Bible is considered the primary authority, but Methodists also look to Christian tradition, including the historic . Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of humanity and that salvation is achievable for all. (2025). 9780199755677, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199755677 This is the Arminian doctrine, as opposed to the Calvinist position that God has predestination the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and several other early leaders of the movement were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the Calvinist position.
The movement has a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage, in addition to and held at certain times of the year. Denominations that descend from the British Methodist tradition are generally less ritualistic, while worship in American Methodism varies depending on the Methodist denomination and congregation. (2025). 9780198029267, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198029267 Methodist worship distinctiveness includes the observance of the quarterly lovefeast, the watchnight service on New Year's Eve, as well as in which people are invited to experience the new birth and entire sanctification. Its emphasis on growing in grace after the new birth (and after being entirely sanctified) led to the creation of for encouragement in the Christian life. Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition, and Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the of Methodism.
In addition to evangelism, Methodism is known for its charity, as well as support for the sick, the poor, and the afflicted through works of mercy that "flow from the love of God and neighbor" evidenced in the entirely sanctified believer. (2025). 9780687051557, Abingdon Press. ISBN 9780687051557 (2025). 9780865547582, Mercer University Press. ISBN 9780865547582 These ideals, the Social Gospel, are put into practice by the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens, and schools to follow Christ's command to spread the gospel and serve all people. (2025). 9780191607431, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191607431 Methodists are historically known for their adherence to the doctrine of nonconformity to the world, reflected by their traditional standards of a commitment to sobriety, prohibition of gambling, regular attendance at class meetings, and weekly observance of the Friday fast.
Early Methodists were drawn from all levels of society, including the aristocracy, but the Methodist preachers took the message to social outcasts such as criminals. In Britain, the Methodist Church had a major effect in the early decades of the developing working class (1760–1820). In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves, who later formed in the Methodist tradition. (1993). 9780807117453, Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 9780807117453
In 1735, at the invitation of the founder of the Georgia Colony, General James Oglethorpe, both John and Charles Wesley set out for America to be ministers to the colonists and missionaries to the Native Americans. Unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith. They looked for help from Peter Boehler and other members of the Moravian Church. At a Moravian church service in Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, John experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt his "heart strangely warmed". John Wesley's Heart Strangely Warmed, www.christianity.com. He records in his journal: "I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." Charles had reported a similar experience a few days previously. Considering this a pivotal moment, Daniel L. Burnett writes: "The significance of John Wesley's Aldersgate Experience is monumental ... Without it the names of Wesley and Methodism would likely be nothing more than obscure footnotes in the pages of church history."
The Wesley brothers immediately began to preach salvation by faith to individuals and groups, in houses, in religious societies, and in the few churches which had not closed their doors to evangelical preachers. John Wesley came under the influence of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609). Arminius had rejected the Calvinist teaching that God had predestination an elect number of people to eternal bliss while others perished eternally. Conversely, George Whitefield (1714–1770), Howell Harris (1714–1773), (1962). 185049035X, Evangelical Press of Wales. 185049035X and Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707–1791) (1997). 9781900838085, Durham Academic Press. ISBN 9781900838085 were notable for being Calvinistic Methodists.
Returning from his mission in Georgia, George Whitefield joined the Wesley brothers in what was rapidly becoming a national crusade. Whitefield, who had been a fellow student of the Wesleys and prominent member of the Holy Club at Oxford, became well known for his unorthodox, itinerant ministry, in which he was dedicated to open-air preachingreaching crowds of thousands. A key step in the development of John Wesley's ministry was, like Whitefield, to preach in fields, collieries, and churchyards to those who did not regularly attend parish church services. Accordingly, many Methodist converts were those disconnected from the Church of England; Wesley remained a cleric of the Established Church and insisted that Methodists attend their local parish church as well as Methodist meetings because only an ordained minister could perform the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion.
Faced with growing evangelistic and Pastoral care responsibilities, Wesley and Whitefield appointed Laity preachers and leaders. Methodist preachers focused particularly on evangelising people who had been "neglected" by the established Church of England. Wesley and his assistant preachers organized the new converts into Methodist societies. These societies were divided into groups called Cell groupintimate meetings where individuals were encouraged to confess their sins to one another and to build up each other. They also took part in which allowed for the sharing of testimony, a key feature of early Methodism. Growth in numbers and increasing hostility impressed upon the revival converts a deep sense of their corporate identity. Three teachings that Methodists saw as the foundation of Christian faith were:
Wesley's organisational skills soon established him as the primary leader of the movement. Whitefield was a Calvinist, whereas Wesley was an outspoken opponent of the doctrine of predestination. Wesley argued (against Calvinist doctrine) that Christians could enjoy a sanctification (Christian perfection) in this life: loving God and their neighbours, meekness and lowliness of heart and abstaining from all appearance of evil. These differences put strains on the alliance between Whitefield and Wesley, with Wesley becoming hostile toward Whitefield in what had been previously close relations. Whitefield consistently begged Wesley not to let theological differences sever their friendship, and, in time, their friendship was restored, though this was seen by many of Whitefield's followers to be a doctrinal compromise.Dallimore. George Whitefield.
Many clergy in the established church feared that new doctrines promulgated by the Methodists, such as the necessity of a new birth for salvationthe first work of grace, 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.Glen, Robert (1989). "Methodism, Religious Dissent and Revolution in the English Satiric Prints, 1780–1815", Consortium on Revolutionary Europe, 1750–1850: Proceedings 19: 173–188. 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". Other attacks against the Methodists were physically violentWesley was nearly murdered by a mob at Wednesbury in 1743.Goodwin, Charles H. (2015). "Vile or Reviled? The Causes of the anti-Methodist Riots at Wednesbury between May, 1743 and April, 1744 in the Light of New England Revivalism". Methodist History 35(1): 14–28. The Methodists responded vigorously to their critics and thrived despite the attacks against them.On anti-Methodist literary attacks see Brett C. McInelly, "Writing the Revival: The Intersections of Methodism and Literature in the Long 18th Century". Literature Compass 12.1 (2015): 12–21; McInelly, Textual Warfare and the Making of Methodism (Oxford University Press, 2014).
Initially, the Methodists merely sought reform within the Church of England (Anglicanism), but the movement gradually departed from that Church. George Whitefield's preference for extemporaneous prayer rather than the fixed forms of prayer in the Book of Common Prayer, in addition to his insistence on the necessity of the new birth, set him at odds with Anglican clergy.
As Methodist societies multiplied, and elements of an ecclesiastical system were, one after another, adopted, the breach between John Wesley and the Church of England gradually widened. In 1784, Wesley responded to the shortage of priests in the American colonies due to the American Revolutionary War by ordaining preachers for America with the power to administer the . Wesley's actions precipitated the split between American Methodists and the Church of England (which held that only bishops could ordain people to ministry).
With regard to the position of Methodism within Christendom, "John Wesley once noted that what God had achieved in the development of Methodism was no mere human endeavor but the work of God. As such it would be preserved by God so long as history remained." Calling it "the grand depositum" of the Methodist faith, Wesley specifically taught that the propagation of the doctrine of entire sanctification was the reason that God raised up the Methodists in the world. (2025). 9781532630507, Wipf & Stock Publishers. ISBN 9781532630507 In light of this, Methodists traditionally promote the motto "Holiness unto the Lord".
The influence of Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon on the Church of England was a factor in the founding of the Free Church of England in 1844. At the time of Wesley's death, there were over 500 Methodist preachers in British colonies and the United States. Total membership of the Methodist societies in Britain was recorded as 56,000 in 1791, rising to 360,000 in 1836 and 1,463,000 by the national census of 1851.
Early Methodism experienced a radical and spiritual phase that allowed women authority in church leadership. The role of the woman preacher emerged from the sense that the home should be a place of community care and should foster personal growth. Methodist women formed a community that cared for the vulnerable, extending the role of mothering beyond physical care. Women were encouraged to Testimony their faith. However, the centrality of women's role sharply diminished after 1790 as Methodist churches became more structured and more male-dominated.Broyles, Kathryn A. (2008), "Mothering, Catechesis, and Ecclesial Leadership: The Women of Early Methodism and Their Call to Witness to the Gospel of Christ". Methodist History 46(3): 141–156.
The Wesleyan Education Committee, which existed from 1838 to 1902, has documented the Methodist Church's involvement in the education of children. At first, most effort was placed in creating Sunday Schools. Still, in 1836 the British Methodist Conference gave its blessing to the creation of "Weekday schools".Pritchard, Frank Cyril (1949) Methodist Secondary Education: A History of the Contribution of Methodism to Secondary Education in the United Kingdom. Epworth.
Methodism spread throughout the British Empire and, mostly through Whitefield's preaching during what historians call the First Great Awakening, in colonial America. However, after Whitefield's death in 1770, American Methodism entered a more lasting Wesleyan and Arminian development phase. (2025). 9780300181623 ISBN 9780300181623 Revival services and camp meetings were used "for spreading the Methodist message", with Francis Asbury stating that they were "our harvest seasons". Henry Boehm reported that at a camp meeting in Dover in 1805, 1100 persons received the New Birth and 600 believers were entirely sanctified. Around the time of John Swanel Inskip's leadership of the National Camp Meeting Association for the Promotion of Christian Holiness in the mid to latter 1800s, 80 percent of the membership of the North Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South professed being entirely sanctified.
Methodism is broadly evangelicalism in doctrine and is characterized by Wesleyan theology; John Wesley is studied by Methodists for his interpretation of church practice and doctrine. At its heart, the theology of John Wesley stressed the life of Christian holiness: to love God with all one's heart, mind, soul and strength and to Golden Rule.See . One popular expression of Methodist doctrine is in the of Charles Wesley. Since enthusiastic congregational singing was a part of the early evangelical movement, Wesleyan theology took root and spread through this channel.Preface to The Methodist Hymn Book, December 1933.John Wesley. "Preface to A collection of Hymns for use of the People called Methodists", 20 October 1779. Martin V. Clarke, who documented the history of Methodist hymnody, states:
Theologically and doctrinally, the content of the hymns has traditionally been a primary vehicle for expressing Methodism's emphasis on salvation for all, social holiness, and personal commitment, while particular hymns and the communal act of participating in hymn singing have been key elements in the spiritual lives of Methodists.
After the first work of grace (the new birth), Methodist soteriology emphasizes the importance of the pursuit of holiness in salvation, a concept best summarized in a quote by Methodist evangelist Phoebe Palmer who stated that "justification would have ended with me had I refused to be holy." Thus, for Methodists, "true faith ... cannot subsist without works." Methodist doctrine holds that the Christian life, subsequent to the New Birth (first work of grace), should be characterized by holy living, free from sin. Methodism, inclusive of the holiness movement, thus teaches that "justification is conditional on obedience and progress in sanctification", emphasizing "a deep reliance upon Christ not only in coming to faith, but in remaining in the faith." John Wesley taught that the keeping of the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, as well as engaging in the works of piety and the works of mercy, were "indispensable for our sanctification". In its categorization of sin, Methodist doctrine distinguishes between (1) "sin, properly so called" and (2) "involuntary transgression of a divine law, known or unknown"; the former category includes voluntary transgression against God, while the second category includes infirmities (such as "immaturity, ignorance, physical handicaps, forgetfulness, lack of discernment, and poor communication skills").
This is reflected in the Articles of Religion of the Free Methodist Church (emphasis added in italics), which uses the wording of John Wesley:
Methodists also believe in the second work of graceChristian perfection, also known as entire sanctification, which removes original sin, makes the believer holy and empowers them with power to wholly serve God. (2013). 9781433524875, Crossway. ISBN 9781433524875 John Wesley explained, "entire sanctification, or Christian perfection, is neither more nor less than pure love; love expelling sin, and governing both the heart and life of a child of God. The Refiner's fire purges out all that is contrary to love."Wesley, John. The Works of John Wesley, Third Edition., vol. 12 (London, England: Wesleyan Methodist Book Room, 1872), p. 432.
Methodist churches teach that apostasy can occur through a loss of faith or through sinning. (2025). 9780310234395, Harper Collins. ISBN 9780310234395 If a person backsliding but later decides to return to God, he or she must repent for sins and be entirely sanctified again (the Wesleyan-Arminian doctrine of conditional security).
In common with most Protestants, Methodists recognize two sacraments as being instituted by Christ: Baptism and Holy Communion (also called the Lord's Supper). Most Methodist churches practice infant baptism, in anticipation of a response to be made later (confirmation), as well as baptism of believing adults. The Catechism for the Use of the People Called Methodists states that, "in Jesus Christ is present with his worshipping people and gives himself to them as their Lord and Saviour." In the United Methodist Church, the explanation of how Christ's presence is made manifest in the elements (bread and wine) is described as a "Holy Mystery".
Methodist churches generally recognize sacraments to be a means of grace. John Wesley held that God also imparted grace by other established means such as public and private prayer, Scripture reading, study and preaching, public worship, and fasting; these constitute the works of piety. Wesley considered means of grace to be "outward signs, words, or actions ... to be the ordinary channels whereby God might convey to men, preventing i.e.,, justifying or sanctifying grace." Specifically Methodist means, such as the cell group, provided his chief examples for these prudential means of grace.
Traditionally, Methodists declare the Bible (Old Testament and ) to be the only divinely inspired Scripture and the primary source of authority for Christians. The historic Methodist understanding of Scripture is based on the superstructure of Wesleyan covenant theology. Methodists also make use of tradition, drawing primarily from the teachings of the Church Fathers, as a secondary source of authority. Tradition may serve as a lens through which Scripture is interpreted. Theological discourse for Methodists almost always makes use of Scripture read inside the wider theological tradition of Christianity.
John Wesley contended that a part of the theological method would involve experiential faith. In other words, truth would be vivified in personal experience of Christians (overall, not individually), if it were really truth. And every doctrine must be able to be defended rationally. He did not divorce faith from reason. By reason, one asks questions of faith and seeks to understand God's action and will. Tradition, experience and reason, however, were subject always to Scripture, Wesley argued, because only there is the Word of God Revelation "so far as it is necessary for our salvation."
Early Methodism was known for its "almost monastic rigors, its living by rule, and its canonical hours of prayer". It inherited from its Anglican patrimony the practice of reciting the Daily Office, which Methodist Christians were expected to Christian prayer. (2025). 9780334057574, SCM Press. ISBN 9780334057574 The first prayer book of Methodism, The Sunday Service of the Methodists with other occasional Services thus included the canonical hours of both Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer; these services were observed everyday in early Christianity, though on the Lord's Day, worship included the Eucharist. (2021). 9781619701687, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. ISBN 9781619701687 (2025). 9789004146037, Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 9789004146037 Later Methodist liturgical books, such as the Methodist Worship Book (1999) provide for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer to be prayed daily; the United Methodist Church encourages its communicants to pray the canonical hours as "one of the essential practices" of being a disciple of Jesus. Some Methodist religious orders publish the Daily Office to be used for that community, for example, The Book of Offices and Services of The Order of Saint Luke contains the canonical hours to be prayed traditionally at seven fixed prayer times: Lauds (6 am), Terce (9 am), Sext (12 pm), None (3 pm), Vespers (6 pm), Compline (9 pm) and Vigil (12 am). Some Methodist congregations offer daily Morning Prayer.
In America, the United Methodist Church and Free Methodist Church, as well as the Primitive Methodist Church and Wesleyan Methodist Church, have a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage. When the Methodists in America were separated from the Church of England because of the American Revolution, John Wesley provided a revised version of the Book of Common Prayer called The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occasional Services (1784). Today, the primary of the United Methodist Church are The United Methodist Hymnal and The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992). Congregations employ its liturgy and rituals as optional resources, but their use is not mandatory. These books contain the liturgies of the church that are generally derived from Wesley's Sunday Service and from the 20th-century liturgical renewal movement.
The British Methodist Church is less ordered, or less liturgical, in worship. It makes use of the Methodist Worship Book (similar to the Church of England's Common Worship), containing set services and for the celebration of other rites, such as marriage. The Worship Book is also ultimately derived from Wesley's Sunday Service.
A unique feature of American Methodism has been the observance of the liturgical year of Kingdomtide, encompassing the last 13 weeks before Advent, thus dividing the long season after Pentecost into two segments. During Kingdomtide, Methodist liturgy has traditionally emphasized charitable work and alleviating the suffering of the poor.
A second distinctive liturgical feature of Methodism is the use of Covenant Services. Although practice varies between national churches, most Methodist churches annually follow the call of John Wesley for a renewal of their covenant with God. It is common for each congregation to use the Covenant Renewal liturgy during the watchnight service in the night of New Year's Eve, (2014). 9781414390802, Tyndale House Publishers. ISBN 9781414390802 though in Britain, these are often on the first Sunday of the year. Wesley's covenant prayer is still used, with minor modification, in the order of service:
As John Wesley advocated outdoor evangelism, revival meeting are a traditional worship practice of Methodism that are often held in churches, as well as at , brush arbor revivals, and . (2025). 9780802803917, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802803917
such as The Probationer's Handbook, authored by minister Stephen O. Garrison, have been used by probationers to learn the Methodist faith. (1996). 9780313220487, Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313220487 After six months, probationers were examined before the Leaders and Stewards' Meeting (which consisted of Class Leaders and Stewards) where they were to provide "satisfactory assurance both of the correctness of his faith and of his willingness to observe and keep the rules of the church." If probationers were able to do this, they were admitted as full members of the congregation by the pastor.
Full members of a Methodist congregation "were obligated to attend worship services on a regular basis" and "were to abide by certain moral precepts, especially as they related to substance use, gambling, divorce, and immoral pastimes." This practice continues in certain Methodist connexions, such as the Lumber River Conference of the Holiness Methodist Church, in which probationers must be examined by the pastor, class leader, and board for full membership, in addition to being baptism. The same structure is found in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which teaches:
The pastor and class leader are to ensure "that all persons on probation be instructed in the Rules and Doctrines of The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church before they are admitted to Full Membership" and that "probationers are expected to conform to the rules and usages of the Church, and to show evidence of their desire for fellowship in the Church". After the six-month probation period, "A probationer may be admitted to full membership, provided he/she has served out his/her probation, has been baptized, recommended at the Leaders' Meeting, and, if none has been held according to law, recommended by the Leader, and, on examination by the Pastor before the Church as required in ¶600 has given satisfactory assurance both of the correctness of his/her faith, and of his/her willingness to observe and keep the rules of our Church." (2025). 9781496957047, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. ISBN 9781496957047 The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection admits to associate membership, by vote of the congregation, those who give affirmation to two questions: "1) Does the Lord now forgive your sins? 2) Will you acquaint yourself with the discipline of our connection and earnestly endeavor to govern your life by its rules as God shall give you understanding?" Probationers who wish to become full members are examined by the advisory board before being received as such through four vows (on the new birth, entire sanctification, outward holiness, and assent to the Articles of Religion) and a covenant. In the United Methodist Church, the process of becoming a professing member of a congregation is done through the taking membership vows (normatively in the rite of confirmation) after a period of instruction and receiving the sacrament of baptism. It is the practice of certain Methodist connexions that when people become members of a congregation, they are offered the Right Hand of Fellowship. Methodists traditionally celebrate the Covenant Renewal Service as the watchnight service annually on New Year's Eve, in which members renew their covenant with God and the Church.
In Methodism, fasting is considered one of the works of piety. The Directions Given to Band Societies (25 December 1744) by John Wesley mandate fasting and abstinence from meat on Friday fast (in remembrance of the crucifixion of Jesus). (2025). 9781418576134, Thomas Nelson. ISBN 9781418576134 Wesley himself also fasted before receiving Holy Communion "for the purpose of focusing his attention on God," and asked other Methodists to do the same.
Over time, many of these practices were relaxed in mainline Methodism, although practices such as teetotalism and fasting are still encouraged, in addition to the current prohibition of gambling. Denominations of the conservative holiness movement, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Evangelical Methodist Church Conference, continue to reflect the spirit of the historic Methodist practice of wearing plain dress, with members abstaining from the "wearing of apparel which does not modestly and properly clothe the person" and "refraining from the wearing of jewelry" and "superfluous ornaments (including the wedding ring)". The Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches, which continues to observe the ordinance of women's headcovering, stipulates "renouncing all vain pomp and glory" and "adorning oneself with modest attire." The General Rules of the Methodist Church in America, which are among the doctrinal standards of many Methodist Churches, promote first-day Sabbatarianism as they require "attending upon all the ordinances of God" including "the public worship of God" and prohibit "profaning the day of the Lord, either by doing ordinary work therein or by buying or selling." (2025). 9780191607431, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191607431
Early Methodism was particularly prominent in Devon and Cornwall, which were key centers of activity by the Bible Christian faction of Methodists. The Bible Christians produced many preachers, and sent many missionaries to Australia. Methodism also grew rapidly in the old mill towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where the preachers stressed that the working classes were equal to the upper classes in the eyes of God.S. J. D. Green, Religion in the Age of Decline: Organisation and Experience in Industrial Yorkshire, 1870–1920 (1996). In Wales, three elements separately welcomed Methodism: Welsh-speaking, English-speaking, and Calvinistic.
British Methodists, in particular the Primitive Methodists, took a leading role in the temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Methodists saw alcoholic beverages, and alcoholism, as the root of many social ills and tried to persuade people to abstain from these. Temperance appealed strongly to the Methodist doctrines of sanctification and perfection. To this day, alcohol remains banned in Methodist premises, however this restriction no longer applies to domestic occasions in private homes (i.e. the minister may have a drink at home in the manse). The choice to consume alcohol is now a personal decision for any member.
British Methodism does not have bishops; however, it has always been characterised by a strong central organisation, the Connexionalism, which holds an annual Conference (the church retains the 18th-century spelling connexion for many purposes). The Connexion is divided into Districts in the charge of the chairperson (who may be male or female). Methodist districts often correspond approximately, in geographical terms, to countiesas do Church of England . The districts are divided into circuits governed by the Circuit Meeting and led and administrated principally by a superintendent minister. Ministers are appointed to Circuits rather than to individual churches, although some large inner-city churches, known as "central halls", are designated as circuits in themselvesof these 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 , or by supernumerary ministers (ministers who have retired, called supernumerary because they are not counted for official purposes in the numbers of ministers for the circuit in which they are listed). The superintendent and other ministers are assisted in the leadership and administration of the Circuit by circuit stewards - laypeople with particular skills who, who with the ministers, collectively form what is normally known as the Circuit Leadership Team. Bromsgrove and Redditch Methodist Circuit website, Meet the Team
The Methodist Council also helps to run a number of schools, including two public schools in East Anglia: Culford School and the Leys School. The council promotes an all round education with a strong Christian ethos.
Other Methodist denominations in Britain include: the Free Methodist Church, the Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches, the Church of the Nazarene, and The Salvation Army, all of which are Methodist churches aligned with the holiness movement, as well as the Wesleyan Reform Union, an early secession from the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and the Independent Methodist Connexion.
Eric Gallagher was the President of the Church in the 1970s, becoming a well-known figure in Irish politics. He was one of the group of Protestant churchmen who met with Provisional IRA officers in Feakle, County Clare to try to broker peace. The meeting was unsuccessful due to a Garda raid on the hotel.
In 1973, the Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches (FIMC) was established as a number of theologically conservative congregations departed both the Methodist Church in Ireland and Free Methodist Church due to what they perceived as the rise of Modernism in those denominations. (2025). 9780687333875, Abingdon Press. ISBN 9780687333875 (2025). 9781856073356, Columba Press. ISBN 9781856073356
Italian Methodism has its origins in the Italian Free Church, British Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, and the American Methodist Episcopal Mission. These movements flowered in the second half of the 19th century in the new climate of political and religious freedom that was established with the end of the Papal States and unification of Italy in 1870.
Bertrand M. Tipple, minister of the American Methodist Church in Rome, founded a college there in 1914.
In April 2016, the World Methodist Council opened an Ecumenical Office in Rome. Methodist leaders and the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, jointly dedicated the new office. It helps facilitate Methodist relationships with the wider Church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.
In Finland, Methodism arrived through Ostrobothnians sailors in the 1860s, and Methodism spread especially in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia. The first Methodist congregation was founded in Vaasa in 1881 and the first Finnish-speaking congregation in Pori in 1887. At the turn of the century, the congregation in Vaasa became the largest and most active congregation in Methodism.
Methodism exists today in France under various names. The best-known is the Union of Evangelical Methodist Churches () or UEEM. It is an autonomous regional conference of the United Methodist Church and is the fruit of a fusion in 2005 between the "Methodist Church of France" and the "Union of Methodist Churches". , the UEEM has around 1,200 members and 30 ministers.
A Methodist missionary returning from Britain introduced (British) Methodism to Germany in 1830, initially in the region of Württemberg. Methodism was also spread in Germany through the missionary work of the Methodist Episcopal Church which began in 1849 in Bremen, soon spreading to Saxony and other parts of Germany. Other Methodist missionaries of the Evangelical Association went near Stuttgart (Württemberg) in 1850. Further Methodist missionaries of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ worked in Franconia and other parts of Germany from 1869 until 1905. Therefore, Methodism has four roots in Germany.
Early opposition towards Methodism was partly rooted in theological differencesnorthern and eastern regions of Germany were predominantly Lutheran and Reformed, and Methodists were dismissed as fanatics. Methodism was also hindered by its unfamiliar church structure (Connectionalism), which was more centralised than the hierarchical polity in the Lutheran and Reformed churches. After World War I, the 1919 Weimar Constitution allowed Methodists to worship freely and many new chapels were established. In 1936, German Methodists elected their first bishop.
, the United Methodist Church in Hungary, known locally as the Hungarian Methodist Church (), had 453 professing members in 30 congregations. It runs two student homes, two homes for the elderly, the Forray Methodist High School, the Wesley Scouts and the Methodist Library and Archives. The church has a special ministry among the Roma people.
The seceding Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship (Magyarországi Evangéliumi Testvérközösség) also remains Methodist in its organisation and theology. It has eight full congregations and several mission groups, and runs a range of charitable organisations: hostels and soup kitchens for the homeless, a non-denominational theological college,John Wesley Theological College site: Retrieved 26 March 2012. a dozen schools of various kinds, and four old people's homes.
Today there are a dozen Methodist/Wesleyan churches and mission organisations in Hungary, but all Methodist churches lost official church status under new legislation passed in 2011, when the number of officially recognized churches in the country fell to 14.Fellowship site: [9] . College site: . Both in Hungarian. Retrieved 18 September 2011. However, the list of recognized churches was lengthened to 32 at the end of February 2012. This gave recognition to the Hungarian Methodist Church and the Salvation Army, which was banned in Hungary in 1949 but had returned in 1990, but not to the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship. The legislation has been strongly criticised by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe as discriminatory.Opinion on Act CCVI/2011: Retrieved 26 March 2012. .
The Hungarian Methodist Church, the Salvation Army and the Church of the Nazarene and other Wesleyan groups formed the Wesley Theological Alliance for theological and publishing purposes in 1998. Today the Alliance has 10 Wesleyan member churches and organisations. The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship does not belong to it and has its own publishing arm.Wesley Kiadó site (in Hungarian): Retrieved 26 March 2012.
After 1989, the Soviet Union allowed greatly increased religious freedoms and this continued after the USSR's collapse in 1991. During the 1990s, Methodism experienced a powerful wave of revival in the nation. Three sites in particular carried the torchSamara, Moscow and Ekaterinburg. , the United Methodist Church in Eurasia comprised 116 congregations, each with a native pastor. There are currently 48 students enrolled in residential and extension degree programs at the United Methodist Seminary in Moscow.
When Gilbert died in 1774 his work in Antigua was continued by his brother Francis Gilbert to approximately 200 Methodists. However, within a year Francis took ill and returned to Britain and the work was carried on by Sophia Campbell ("a Negress") and Mary Alley ("a Mulatto"), two devoted women who kept the flock together with class and as well as they could.
On 2 April 1778, John Baxter, a local preacher and skilled shipwright from Chatham in Kent, England, landed at English Harbour in Antigua (now called Nelson's Dockyard) where he was offered a post at the naval dockyard. Baxter was a Methodist and had heard of the work of the Gilberts and their need for a new preacher. He began preaching and meeting with the Methodist leaders, and within a year the Methodist community had grown to 600 persons. By 1783, the first Methodist chapel was built in Antigua, with John Baxter as the local preacher, its wooden structure seating some 2,000 people.
In 1786, the missionary endeavour in the Caribbean was officially recognized by the Methodist Conference in England, and that same year Thomas Coke, having been made Superintendent of the church two years previously in America by Wesley, was travelling to Nova Scotia, but weather forced his ship to Antigua.
In 1884 an attempt was made at autonomy with the formation of two West Indian Conferences, however by 1903 the venture had failed. It was not until the 1960s that another attempt was made at autonomy. This second attempt resulted in the emergence of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas in May 1967.
Francis Godson (1864–1953), a Methodist minister, who having served briefly in several of the Caribbean islands, eventually immersed himself in helping those in hardship of the First World War in Barbados. He was later appointed to the Legislative Council of Barbados, and fought for the rights of . He was later followed by renowned Barbadian Augustus Rawle Parkinson (1864–1932),Clarke, S., Black History Month: Augustus Rawle Parkinson , Nation News (Barbados), 24 February 2014, accessed 17 June 2016 who also was the first principal of the Wesley Hall School, Bridgetown in Barbados (which celebrated its 125th anniversary in September 2009).
In more recent times in Barbados, Victor Alphonso Cooke (born 1930) and Lawrence Vernon Harcourt Lewis (born 1932) are strong influences on the Methodist Church on the island. Their contemporary and late member of the Dalkeith Methodist Church, was the former secretary of the University of the West Indies, consultant of the Canadian Training Aid Programme and a man of letters – Francis Woodbine Blackman (1922–2010). It was his research and published works that enlightened much of this information on Caribbean Methodism.Blackman, Francis. Methodism: 200 Years in British Virgin Islands (British Virgin Islands: Methodist Church, 1989, 151 pp., ).Blackman, Francis. Methodism, 200 years in Barbados (Barbados: Caribbean Contact, 1988).
Christianity was established in Nigeria with the arrival in 1842 of a Wesleyan Methodist missionary. He had come in response to the request for missionaries by the Saro people. From the mission stations established in Badagry and Abeokuta, the Methodist church spread to various parts of the country west of the River Niger and part of the north. In 1893 missionaries of the Primitive Methodist Church arrived from Fernando Po, an island off the southern coast of Nigeria. From there the Methodist Church spread to other parts of the country, east of the River Niger and also to parts of the north. The church west of the River Niger and part of the north was known as the Western Nigeria District and east of the Niger and another part of the north as the Eastern Nigeria District. Both existed independently of each other until 1962 when they constituted the Conference of Methodist Church Nigeria. The conference is composed of seven districts. The church has continued to spread into new areas and has established a department for evangelism and appointed a director of evangelism. An episcopal polity of church governance adopted in 1976 was not fully accepted by all sections of the church until the two sides came together and resolved to end the disagreement. A new constitution was ratified in 1990. The system is still episcopal but the points which caused discontent were amended to be acceptable to both sides. Today, the Nigerian Methodist Church has a prelate, eight archbishops and 44 bishops.
Methodism in Ghana came into existence as a result of the missionary activities of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, inaugurated with the arrival of Joseph Rhodes Dunwell to the Gold Coast in 1835.F. L. Bartels. The Roots of Ghana Methodism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965, pp. 12–18. Like the mother church, the Methodist Church in Ghana was established by people of Protestant background. Roman Catholic and Anglican missionaries came to the Gold Coast from the 15th century. A school was established in Cape Coast by the Anglicans during the time of Philip Quaque, a Ghanaian priest. Those who came out of this school had Bible copies and study supplied by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge. A member of the resulting Bible study groups, William De-Graft, requested Bibles through Captain Potter of the ship Congo. Not only were Bibles sent, but also a Methodist missionary. In the first eight years of the Church's life, 11 out of 21 missionaries who worked in the Gold Coast died. Thomas Birch Freeman, who arrived at the Gold Coast in 1838 was a pioneer of missionary expansion. Between 1838 and 1857 he carried Methodism from the coastal areas to Kumasi in the Ashanti people hinterland of the Gold Coast. He also established Methodist Societies in Badagry and AbeoKuta in Nigeria with the assistance of William De-Graft. Dictionary of African Christian Biography website, Freeman, Thomas Birch (B)
By 1854, the church was organized into circuits constituting a district with T. B. Freeman as chairman. Freeman was replaced in 1856 by William West. The district was divided and extended to include areas in the then Gold Coast and Nigeria by the synod in 1878, a move confirmed at the British Conference. The districts were Gold Coast District, with T. R. Picot as chairman and Yoruba and Popo District, with John Milum as chairman. Methodist evangelisation of northern Gold Coast began in 1910. After a long period of conflict with the colonial government, missionary work was established in 1955. Paul Adu was the first indigenous missionary to northern Gold Coast.
In July 1961, the Methodist Church in Ghana became autonomous, and was called the Methodist Church Ghana, based on a deed of foundation, part of the church's Constitution and Standing Orders.
Methodism in Southern Africa began as a result of lay Christian work by an Irish soldier of the English Regiment, John Irwin, who was stationed at the Cape and began to hold prayer meetings as early as 1795.Millard-Jackson, J. "Who called the tune? Methodist Missionary policy in South Africa during the 19th century" in Forster, D. and Bentley, W. Methodism in Southern Africa: A celebration of Wesleyan Mission. Kempton Park. AcadSA publishers (2008), p. 31. The first Methodist lay preacher at the Cape, George Middlemiss, was a soldier of the 72nd Regiment of the British Army stationed at the Cape in 1805.Forster, D. "God's mission in our context, healing and transforming responses" in Forster, D and Bentley, W. Methodism in Southern Africa: A celebration of Wesleyan Mission. Kempton Park. AcadSA publishers (2008), pp. 79–80. This foundation paved the way for missionary work by Methodist missionary societies from Great Britain, many of whom sent missionaries with the 1820 English settlers to the Western and Eastern Cape. Among the most notable of the early missionaries were Barnabas Shaw and William Shaw.Millard-Jackson, J. "Who called the tune? Methodist Missionary policy in South Africa during the 19th century" in Forster, D. and Bentley, W. Methodism in Southern Africa: A celebration of Wesleyan Mission. Kempton Park. AcadSA publishers (2008), pp. 34–37.Forster, D. "God's mission in our context, healing and transforming responses" in Forster, D. and Bentley, W. Methodism in Southern Africa: A celebration of Wesleyan Mission. Kempton Park. AcadSA publishers (2008), p. 80.Grassow, P. "William Shaw" in Forster, D. and Bentley, W. Methodism in Southern Africa: A celebration of Wesleyan Mission. Kempton Park. AcadSA publishers (2008), pp. 13–25. The largest group was the Wesleyan Methodist Church, but there were a number of others that joined to form the Methodist Church of South Africa, later known as the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.
The Methodist Church of Southern Africa is the largest mainline Protestant denomination in South Africa7.3% of the South African population recorded their religious affiliation as 'Methodist' in the last national census.For a discussion of Church membership statistics in South Africa see Forster, D. "God's mission in our context, healing and transforming responses" in Forster, D. and Bentley, W. Methodism in Southern Africa: A celebration of Wesleyan Mission. Kempton Park. AcadSA publishers (2008), pp. 97–98.
Hok Chau (labels=no; also known as Lai-Tong Chau, labels=no) was the first ordained Chinese minister of the South China District of the Methodist Church (incumbent 1877–1916). Benjamin Hobson, a medical missionary sent by the London Missionary Society in 1839, set up Wai Ai Clinic (labels=no). Liang Fa, Hok Chau and others worked there. Liang baptized Chau in 1852. The Methodist Church based in Britain sent missionary George Piercy to China. In 1851, Piercy went to Guangzhou (Canton), where he worked in a trading company. In 1853, he started a church in Guangzhou. In 1877, Chau was ordained by the Methodist Church, where he pastored for 39 years.Rebecca Chan Chung, Deborah Chung and Cecilia Ng Wong, "Piloted to Serve", 2012.
In 1867, the mission sent out the first missionaries to Central China, who began work at Jiujiang. In 1869, missionaries were also sent to the capital city Beijing, where they laid the foundations of the work of the North China Mission. In November 1880, the West China Mission was established in Sichuan Province. In 1896, the work in the Hinghua prefecture (modern-day Putian) and surrounding regions was also organized as a Mission Conference.Stephen Livingstone Baldwin, Foreign Missions of the Protestant Churches, 1900.
In 1947, the Methodist Church in the Republic of China celebrated its centenary. In 1949, however, the Methodist Church moved to Taiwan with the Kuomintang government.
The first Methodist church was dedicated in 1819 at Royapettah. A chapel at Broadway (Black Town) was later built and dedicated on 25 April 1822. This church was rebuilt in 1844 since the earlier structure was collapsing. A chapel at St. Thomas Mount was built on 1829. At this time there were about 100 Methodist members in all of Madras, and they were either Europeans or Eurasians (European and Indian descent). Among names associated with the founding period of Methodism in India are Elijah Hoole and Thomas Cryer, who came as missionaries to Madras.
In 1857, the Methodist Episcopal Church started its work in India, and with prominent evangelists like William Taylor of the Emmanuel Methodist Church, Vepery, born in 1874. Taylor and the evangelist James Mills Thoburn established the Thoburn Memorial Church in Calcutta in 1873 and the Calcutta Boys' School in 1877. Calcutta Boys' School website, About
In 1947, the Wesleyan Methodist Church in India merged with Presbyterians, Anglicans and other Protestant churches to form the Church of South India while the American Methodist Church remained affiliated as the Methodist Church in Southern Asia (MCSA) to the mother church in the USA – the United Methodist Church until 1981, when by an enabling act, the Methodist Church in India (MCI) became an autonomous church in India. Today, the Methodist Church in India is governed by the General Conference of the Methodist Church of India headed by six bishops, with headquarters in Mumbai, India.
Methodist and Wesleyan traditions in the Philippines are shared by three of the largest mainline Protestant churches in the country: The United Methodist Church in the Philippines, Iglesia Evangelica Metodista En Las Islas Filipinas ("Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands", abbreviated IEMELIF), and The United Church of Christ in the Philippines. There are also evangelical Protestant churches in the country of the Methodist tradition like the Wesleyan Church of the Philippines, the Free Methodist Church of the Philippines, Free Methodist Church in Cebu . and the Church of the Nazarene. There are also the IEMELIF Reform Movement (IRM), The Wesleyan (Pilgrim Holiness) Church of the Philippines, the Philippine Bible Methodist Church, Incorporated, the Pentecostal Free Methodist Church, Incorporated, the Fundamental Christian Methodist Church, The Reformed Methodist Church, Incorporated, The Methodist Church of the Living Bread, Incorporated, and the Wesley Evangelical Methodist Church & Mission, Incorporated.
There are three episcopal areas of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines: the Baguio Episcopal Area, Davao Episcopal Area and Manila Episcopal Area.
A call for autonomy from groups within the United Methodist Church in the Philippines was discussed at several conferences led mostly by episcopal candidates. This led to the establishment of the Ang Iglesia Metodista sa Pilipinas ("The Methodist Church in the Philippines") in 2010, led by Bishop Lito C. Tangonan, George Buenaventura, Chita Milan and Joe Frank E. Zuñiga. The group finally declared full autonomy and legal incorporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission was approved on 7 December 2011 with papers held by present procurators. It now has 126 local churches in Metro Manila, Palawan, Bataan, Zambales, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, as well as parts of Pampanga and Cavite. Tangonan was consecrated as the denomination's first Presiding Bishop on 17 March 2012.
There are many Korean-language Methodist churches in North America catering to Korean-speaking immigrants.
The second was William Black (1760–1834) who began preaching in settlements along the Petitcodiac River of New Brunswick in 1781. A few years afterwards, Methodist Episcopal circuit riders from the U.S. state of New York began to arrive in Canada West at Niagara, and the north shore of Lake Erie in 1786, and at the Kingston region on the northeast 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 Canada and Lower Canada were both parts of the New York Episcopal Methodist Conference until 1810 when they were transferred to the newly formed Genesee Conference. Reverend Major George Neal began to preach in Niagara in October 1786 and was ordained in 1810 by Bishop Philip Asbury, at the Lyons, New York Methodist Conference. He was Canada's first saddlebag preacher and travelled from Lake Ontario to Detroit for 50 years preaching the gospel. Niagara on the Lake Public Library website, A history of Grace United Church, Niagara-on-the-Lake, by Margaret Peake Benton (2012)
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 latter would confine themselves to Upper Canada (present-day Ontario). In the summer of 1818, the first place of public worship was erected for the Wesleyan Methodists in York, later Toronto. The chapel for the First Methodist Church was built on the corner of King Street and Jordan Street, the entire cost of the building was $250, an amount that took the congregation three years to raise. 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. In 1884, most Canadian Methodists were brought under the umbrella of the Methodist Church, Canada.
In the fall of 1873 and winter of 1874, General Superintendent B. T. Roberts of the Free Methodist Church visited Scarborough on the invitation of Robert Loveless, a Primitive Methodist layman. Later, in 1876 while presiding over the very young North Michigan Conference, he read conference appointments that assigned C.H. Sage his field of labour—Canada. This led to the expansion of the Free Methodist Church in Canada.
In 1925, the Methodist Church, Canada and most Presbyterian congregations (then by far the largest Protestant communion in Canada), most Congregational Union of Ontario and Quebec congregations, Union Churches in Western Canada, and the American Presbyterian Church in Montreal merged to form the United Church of Canada. In 1968, the Evangelical United Brethren Church's Canadian congregations joined the United Church of Canada.
The Free Methodist Church in Canada is the largest Methodist denomination in the country at present. A smaller denomination, the British Methodist Episcopal Church, remains active today as well.
In 1874, M. D. William Butler established the first Protestant Methodist school of México, in Puebla. The school was founded under the name "Instituto Metodista Mexicano". Today the school is called "Instituto Mexicano Madero". It is still a Methodist school, and it is one of the most elite, selective, expensive and prestigious private schools in the country, with two campuses in Puebla State, and one in Oaxaca. A few years later the principal of the school created a Methodist university.
On 18 January 1885, the first Annual Conference of the United Episcopal Church of México was established.
The First Great Awakening was a religious movement in the 1730s and 1740s, beginning in New Jersey, then spreading to New England, and eventually south into Virginia and North Carolina. 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. The effect was akin to the individualistic trends present in Europe during the Protestant Reformation.
The Second Great Awakening was a nationwide wave of revivals, from 1790 to 1840. In New England, the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism among Yankees; Methodism grew 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. Methodism grew rapidly in the Second Great Awakening, becoming the nation's largest denomination by 1820. From 58,000 members in 1790, it reached 258,000 in 1820 and 1,661,000 in 1860, growing by a factor of 28.6 in 70 years, while the total American population grew by a factor of eight.U.S. Bureau of the Census, Historical Statistics of the United States: From: the Colonial Times to the Present (1976), pp. 8, 392. Other denominations also used revivals, but the Methodists grew fastest of all because "they combined popular appeal with efficient organization under the command of missionary bishops." Methodism attracted German immigrants, and the first German Methodist Church was erected in Cincinnati, Ohio. (2025). 9781932250961, Little Miami Publishing Company. ISBN 9781932250961
Disputes over slavery placed the church in difficulty in the first half of the 19th century, with the northern church leaders fearful of a split with the South, and reluctant to take a stand. The Wesleyan Methodist Connexion (later renamed the Wesleyan Methodist Church) and the Free Methodist Church were formed by staunch abolitionists, and the Free Methodists were especially active in the Underground Railroad, which helped to free slaves. In 1962, the Evangelical Wesleyan Church separated from the Free Methodist Church. (2025). 9781493406401, Baker Books. ISBN 9781493406401 In 1968 the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Pilgrim Holiness Church merged to form the Wesleyan Church; a significant amount dissented from this decision resulting in the independence of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and the formation of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches, both of which fall within the conservative holiness movement.
In a much larger split, in 1845 at Louisville, Kentucky, 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, more conservative in theology, 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. President Woodrow Wilson (a Presbyterian), promised "a war to end all wars", using language of a future peace that had been a watchword for the postmillennial movement. 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 called for a boycott of Japan, which had invaded China and was disrupting missionary activity there.Meyer 200, 354. In Chicago, 62 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 supported the national war effort, but there were also a few (673)Methodist World Peace Commission administered Civilian Public Service units at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina and Cherokee State (Psychiatric) Hospital in Cherokee, Iowa. List of CPS Camps. . conscientious objectors.
The United Methodist Church (UMC) was formed in 1968 as a result of a merger between the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) and the Methodist Church. The former church had resulted from mergers of several groups of German Methodist heritage; however, there was no longer any need or desire to worship in the German language. The latter church was a result of union between the Methodist Protestant Church and the northern and southern factions of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The merged church had approximately nine 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. Prior to the merger that led to the formation of the United Methodist Church, the Evangelical Methodist Church entered into a schism with the Methodist Church, citing modernism in its parent body as the reason for the departure in 1946. (1983). 9780865540330, Mercer University Press. ISBN 9780865540330
American Methodist churches are generally organized on a Connexionalism, related, but not identical to that used in Britain. Pastors are assigned to congregations by bishops, distinguishing it from presbyterian government. Methodist denominations typically give lay members representation at regional and national Conferences at which the business of the church is conducted, making it different from most Episcopal polity. 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. There are also independent Methodist churches, many of which are affiliated with the Association of Independent Methodists. The Salvation Army and the Church of the Nazarene adhere to Methodist theology. (2025). 9781317097099, Routledge. ISBN 9781317097099
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 at Vineland, New Jersey, in 1867, and the founding of Asbury College (1890), and other similar institutions in the U.S. around the turn of the 20th century.
In 2020, United Methodists announced a plan to Schism over the issue of same-sex marriage, which resulted in traditionalist clergy, laity and theologians forming the Global Methodist Church, an evangelical Methodist denomination that came into being on 1 May 2022.
In 1945 Kingsley Ridgway offered himself as a Melbourne-based "field representative" for a possible Australian branch of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America, after meeting an American serviceman who was a member of that denomination. The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia was founded on his work.
The Methodist Church of Australasia 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 and some independent congregations chose not to join the union.
Wesley Mission in Pitt Street, Sydney, the largest parish in the Uniting Church, remains strongly in the Wesleyan tradition. (1986). 9781862527096, Robert Humphreys and Rowland Ward. ISBN 9781862527096 There are many local churches named after John Wesley.
From the mid-1980s a number of independent Methodist churches were founded by missionaries and other members from the Methodist Churches of Malaysia and Singapore. Some of these came together to form what is now known as the Chinese Methodist Church in Australia in 1993, and it held its first full Annual Conference in 2002. Since the 2000s many independent Methodist churches have also been established or grown by Tongans immigrants.For example
Since the early 1990s, missionaries and other Methodists from Malaysia and Singapore established Methodist churches around major urban areas in New Zealand. These congregations came together to form the Chinese Methodist Church in New Zealand (CMCNZ) in 2003.{ CMCNZ website, About
A disproportionate number of Methodists take part in inter-faith dialogue. For example, Wesley Ariarajah, a long-serving director of the World Council of Churches' sub-unit on "Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies" is a Methodist.
In October 1999, an executive committee of the World Methodist Council resolved to explore the possibility of its member churches becoming associated with the doctrinal agreement which had been reached by the Catholic Church and Lutheran World Federation (LWF). In May 2006, the International Methodist–Catholic Dialogue Commission completed its most recent report, entitled "The Grace Given You in Christ: Catholics and Methodists Reflect Further on the Church", and submitted the text to Methodist and Catholic authorities. In July of the same year, in Seoul, South Korea, the Member Churches of the World Methodist Council (WMC) voted to approve and sign a "Methodist Statement of Association" with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, the agreement which was reached and officially accepted in 1999 by the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation and which proclaimed that:
"Together we confess: By sola gratia, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who Sanctification while Prevenient grace and calling us to good works... as sinners our new life is Total depravity to the forgiveness and renewing mercy that God imparts as a gift and that we receive in faith, and never Pelagianism in any way," affirming "fundamental doctrinal agreement" concerning justification between the Catholic Church, the LWF, and the World Methodist Council.
This is not to say there is perfect agreement between the three denominational traditions; while Catholics and Methodists believe that salvation involves cooperation between God and man, Lutherans believe that God brings about the salvation of individuals Monergism on their part.
Commenting on the ongoing dialogues with Catholic Church Magisterium, Ken Howcroft, Methodist minister and the Ecumenical Officer for the Methodist Church of Great Britain, noted that "these conversations have been immensely fruitful." Methodists are increasingly recognizing that the 15 centuries prior to the Reformation constitute a shared history with Catholics, and are gaining new appreciation for neglected aspects of the Catholic tradition.Donald Bolan, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, ' Catholic-Methodist relations: Working for a "joint living out of the Gospel "' 2007. There are, however, important unresolved doctrinal differences Schism Roman Catholicism and Methodism, which include "the nature and validity of the Holy orders of those who preside at the Eucharist Holy, the precise meaning of the Eucharist as the sacramental 'memorial' of Christ's saving death and resurrection, the particular way in which Christ is present in Holy Communion, and the link between eucharistic communion and Full communion".
In the 1960s, the Methodist Church of Great Britain made ecumenical overtures to the Church of England, aimed at denominational union. 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. From the 1970s onward, the Methodist Church also started several Local Ecumenical Projects (LEPs, later renamed Local Ecumenical Partnerships) with local neighbouring denominations, which involved sharing churches, schools and in some cases ministers. In many towns and villages Methodists are involved in LEPs which are sometimes with Anglican or Baptist churches, but most commonly Methodist and United Reformed Church. In terms of belief, practice and churchmanship, many Methodists see themselves as closer to the United Reformed Church (another Nonconformist church) than to the Church of England. In the 1990s and early 21st century, the British Methodist Church was involved in the Scottish Church Initiative for Union, seeking greater unity with the established and Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the United Reformed Church in Scotland. The Methodist Church in Britain | The Scottish Church Initiative For Union (SCIFU). Methodist.org.uk. Retrieved on 11 December 2011. .
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a member of several ecumenical organisations, including the World Council of Churches, the Conference of European Churches, the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, Churches Together in England, Action of Churches Together in Scotland and Cytûn (Wales).
Methodist denominations in the United States have also strengthened ties with other Christian traditions. In April 2005, bishops in the United Methodist Church approved A Proposal for Interim Eucharistic Sharing. This document was the first step toward full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The ELCA approved this same document in August 2005. At the 2008 General Conference, the United Methodist Church approved full communion with the ELCA. The UMC is also in dialogue with the Episcopal Church for full communion. The UMC and ELC worked together on a document called "Confessing Our Faith Together". United Methodist Bishops website, Confessing our faith together; a study and discussion guide
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