John Calvin Broomfield (1872–1950) was one of only two Bishops ever elected by the

Methodist Protestant Church The Methodist Protestant Church (MPC) is a regional Methodist Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1828 by former members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, remaining Wesleyan in doctrine and worship, but adopting ...

(M.P. Church). This U.S. branch of

Methodism 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 br ...

did not elect Bishops but had Conference Presidents instead. However, in 1939 in preparation for reunion with the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In ...

and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the M.P. delegates to the Uniting Conference in Kansas City were authorized to elect two Bishops as their contribution to the

episcopacy A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the new denomination, The Methodist Church. John Calvin Broomfield and James Henry Straughn were those elected.

Early years

John was born 4 July 1872 in Eyemouth, Scotland. He began his working career as a

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

. He

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the U.S., eventually settling in

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 9,005 at the 2020 census. Located 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, the city lies along the Beaver River, six miles (9 km) north of its c ...

Ordained and Episcopal Ministry

He was Admitted On Trial to the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Conference of the M.P. Church in 1895 and ordained in 1896. He served as

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of churches in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

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. He was also involved in the Religious Work campaign during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Rev. Broomfield was elected President of the Pittsburgh Conference in 1924 and continued in this office until his election to the episcopacy. After his election, he was assigned the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

episcopal area An episcopal area in the United Methodist Church (UMC) is a basic unit of this denomination. It is a region presided over by a resident bishop that is similar to a diocese in other Christian denominations. Each annual conference in the UMC is wi ...

. Upon his election as Bishop, he was introduced by Bishop John Moore: :"''John Calvin Broomfield'' - a Methodist: born in ''Scotland'' and a naturalized American; a ''Methodist Protestant'' and a Bishop!" He was a delegate to the Sixth Ecumenical Conference and was a member of the Oxford and Edinburg Conferences in 1937. He also made a church journey in the Orient. Bishop Broomfield

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 1944.

References

* Leete, Frederick DeLand, Methodist Bishops. Nashville, The Methodist Publishing House, 1948. * Johnston, Lyle, ''Moments From Our Past'' in Historian's Digest (a quarterly newsletter of ''The Historical Society of The United Methodist Church''), Volume XLIV, Number 4, Late Fall 200

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broomfield, John Calvin 1872 births 1950 deaths American Methodist bishops Bishops of The Methodist Church (USA) Bishops of the Methodist Protestant Church Scottish emigrants to the United States American people of World War I

Early years

Ordained and Episcopal Ministry

See also

References