Founded in 1889, the Epworth League is a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

young adult association for people aged 18 to 35. It had its beginning in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, at its Central Methodist Church on May 14 and 15, 1889. There was also a Colored Epworth League. Before then, as many as five young people's organizations existed in the Methodist Episcopal church, such as the Methodist Alliance, claiming 20,000 members in 1883; the Oxford League, organized at the Methodist Centennial Conference with a large chapter at Central Methodist Church; and the Young People's Christian League. After discussions of a merger into a single body, 27 persons gathered at Central Methodist to form the Epworth League and adopted a modified version of the constitution of the Oxford League and the motto of the Young People's Christian League, "Look Up, Lift Up." The league, which soon spread worldwide, divided its social service into six departments: Spiritual Life, Social Work, Literary Work, Correspondence, Mercy and Help, and Finance. Local chapters organized Fresh Air Work (day camps for city children), literary events, lecture series, and fellowship gatherings. At its conception, the purpose of the League was the promotion of intelligent and vital piety among the young people of the Church: The League takes its name from the village of Epworth in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

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, the birthplace of

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

and

Charles Wesley Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include " And Can It Be", " Christ the Lord Is Risen ...

. Its members are known as Epworthians.

Historical growth

Within 10 years of its founding, the League claimed over 1.75 million members in 19,500 chapters internationally. The League existed in both the Northern and Southern branches of the Methodist Episcopal denomination and also in the

Methodist Church of Canada The Methodist Church was the major Methodist denomination in Canada from its founding in 1884 until it merged with two other denominations to form the United Church of Canada in 1925. The Methodist Church was itself formed from the merger of four ...

. The headquarters of the Northern League was in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and its organ was the ''Epworth Herald''. The organ of the Southern branch was the ''Epworth Era'', published monthly at

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Tenn. The membership of the Senior branch in the Methodist Episcopal Church North in 1913 was 593,465, and of the junior branch 218,509. New International Encyclopedia In the Methodist Episcopal Church, South there were 3846 chapters of the league, with 133,797 members.

Modern era

The original Epworth League existed from 1889 to 1939. After denominational mergers among Methodists in the 1930s, the Epworth League became known as the Methodist Youth Fellowship; it survived in 1994 as the United Methodist Youth Fellowship.

Publications

* Bacon and Northrup, ''Young People's Societies'' (New York, 1900) * ''The Methodist Year Book'' * Dan B. Brummett, ''Epworth League Methods'' (New York, 1906)

In popular culture

* In ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...

'', set in 1912

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, teenager Zaneeta Shinn declines a date because "it's Epworth League night". * In ''

All the King's Men ''All the King's Men'' is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his political machinations in the Depression-era Deep South. It was inspired by the real-life story of U ...

'', by Robert Penn Warren, the protagonist describes the blandness of the column he is hired to write by reference to the Epworth League. * In ''

Against the Day ''Against the Day'' is an epic historical novel by Thomas Pynchon, published in 2006. The narrative takes place between the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the time immediately following World War I and features more than a hundred characters spr ...

'' by

Thomas Pynchon Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...

, a saucy secretary tells St. Cosmo, who has entered the office after-hours, that "'this

lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...

ain't the Epworth League.'" * In Sherwood Anderson's short story/ Winesburg, Ohio piece titled "Adventure," the self-stifled heroine Alice, "who could not have understood the growing modern idea of a woman's owning herself and giving and taking for her own ends in life," joins the Winesburg Methodist Church and every "Sunday evening attended a meeting of an organization called The Epworth League." * In Dawn Powell's 1944 novel, '' My Home is Far Away'', Epworth League meetings are one of the few social gatherings deemed acceptable for the main character, an adolescent girl, and her two sisters. * In the 1934

W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...

movie ''

It's a Gift ''It's a Gift'' is a 1934 American comedy film starring W.C. Fields. It was Fields's 16th sound film, and his fifth in 1934 alone. It was directed by Norman McLeod, who had directed Fields in his cameo as Humpty Dumpty in ''Alice in Wonderlan ...

'', when Amelia Bissonette tells her husband Harold that his Uncle Bean has died, she says, "It seemed he was getting better, but he attended the Epworth League picnic, and he choked to death eating an orange." * In ''

Across the River and into the Trees ''Across the River and Into the Trees'' is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1950, after first being serialized in ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine earlier that year. The title is derived from the last ...

'', by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

, the colonel describes

General Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

as "strictly the Epworth League." * In '' The Chill'' by Ross Macdonald, drunken Bridget Perrine bids farewell to Lew Archer with "See you at the Epworth League." *"That remark of yours was pos'tively Epworth Leaguish." Philo Vance, in The Benson Murder Case, by S. S. VanDine. * In ''

The League of Frightened Men ''The League of Frightened Men'' is the second Nero Wolfe detective novel by Rex Stout. The story was serialized in six issues of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' (June 15–July 20, 1935) under the title ''The Frightened Men''. The novel was publis ...

'', by

Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and ...

, Archie Goodwin remarks "I’m just waiting to see you and Nero Wolfe and the Epworth League prove it on him."

References

External links

Epworth League:
A United Methodist Association for Young Adults
Epworth League Institute:
2011 Global Conference for the Epworth League
Epworth League Handbook (2011)The Epworth League: its place in Methodism – a manual
by Rev. J.B. Robinson, D.D., PhD
The Efficient Epworthian
by Dan B. Brummitt {{Authority control

Epworth League Founded in 1889, the Epworth League is a Methodist young adult association for people aged 18 to 35. It had its beginning in Cleveland, Ohio, at its Central Methodist Church on May 14 and 15, 1889. There was also a Colored Epworth League. Before ...

Epworth league Founded in 1889, the Epworth League is a Methodist young adult association for people aged 18 to 35. It had its beginning in Cleveland, Ohio, at its Central Methodist Church on May 14 and 15, 1889. There was also a Colored Epworth League. Before ...

Religious organizations established in 1889 Youth organizations established in 1889 United Methodist Church Youth organizations based in the United States Christianity in Cleveland Christian youth organizations