Origins
The Methodist revival began in England with a group of men, includingTheology
Many Methodist bodies, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church and theTheologically 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.
Salvation
Wesleyan Methodists identify with theSacraments
Methodists hold thatSources of teaching
American Methodist theologian Albert Outler, in assessing John Wesley's own practices of theological reflection, proposes a methodology termed the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral". Wesley's Quadrilateral is referred to in Methodism as "our theological guidelines" and is taught to itsPrayer, worship, and liturgy
Early Methodism was known for its "almost monastic rigors, its living by rule, [and] its canonical hours of prayer". It inherited from its Daily Office (Anglican), Anglican patrimony the rubrics of reciting the Daily Office, which Methodist Christians were expected to Christian prayer, pray. The first prayer book of Methodism, ''The Sunday Service of the Methodists, The Sunday Service of the Methodists with other occasional Services'' thus included the canonical hours of both Daily Office (Anglican), Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer; these two fixed prayer times were observed everyday in early Christianity, individually on weekdays and corporately on the Lord's Day. Later Methodist liturgical books, such as the ''Methodist Worship Book'' (1999) provide for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer to be prayed daily; theMembership
Traditionally, Methodist connexionalism, connexions descending from the tradition of the Methodist Episcopal Church have a probationary period of six months before an individual is admitted into church membership as a full member of a congregation. Given the wide attendance at Methodist revival meetings, many people started to attend Methodist services of worship regularly, though they had not yet committed to membership. When they made that commitment, becoming a probationer was the first step and during this period, probationers "receive additional instruction and provide evidence of the seriousness of their faith and willingness to abide by church discipline before being accepted into full membership." In addition to this, to be a probationary member of a Methodist congregation, a person traditionally requires an "earnest desire to be saved from [one's] sins". In the historic Methodist system, probationers were eligible to become members of Cell group#Methodism, class meetings, where they could be further discipled in their faith. Catechisms such as ''The Probationer's Handbook'', authored by minister Stephen O. Garrison, have been used by probationers to learn the Methodist faith. After six months, probationers were examined before the Leaders and Stewards' Meeting (which consisted of Class meeting#Methodism, Class Leaders and Steward (Methodism), 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, baptized. 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 willingess to observe and keep the rules of our Church." 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 Born again#Methodism, new birth,Lifestyle
Early Methodists wore plain dress, with Methodist clergy condemning "high headdresses, ruffles, laces, gold, and 'costly apparel' in general". John Wesley recommended that Methodists annually read his thoughts ''On Dress''; in that sermon, Wesley expressed his desire for Methodists: "Let me see, before I die, a Methodist congregation, full as plain dressed as a Quaker congregation". The 1858 Discipline of the Wesleyan Methodist Church (United States), Wesleyan Methodist Connection thus stated that "we would ... enjoin on all who fear God plain dress". Peter Cartwright (revivalist), Peter Cartwright, a Methodist Christian revival, revivalist, stated that in addition to wearing plain dress, the early Methodists distinguished themselves from other members of society by Fasting#Methodism, fasting once a week, teetotalism, abstaining from alcohol (teetotalism), and devoutly Sabbatarianism#Sunday Sabbatarians, observing the Sabbath. Methodist Circuit rider (religious), circuit riders were known for practicing the Spiritual practice#Christianity, spiritual discipline of Mortification of the flesh#Methodism, mortifying the flesh as they "arose well before dawn for solitary prayer; they remained on their knees Fasting#Methodism, without food or drink or physical comforts sometimes for hours on end". The early Methodists did not participate in, and condemned, "worldly habits" including "playing cards, racing horses, gambling, attending the theater, dancing (both in frolics and balls), and cockfighting". In Methodism, fasting is considered one of theContemporary Methodist denominations
Methodism is a worldwide movement and Methodist churches are present on all populated continents.Cracknell and White (2005),Europe
Methodism is prevalent in the English-speaking world but it is also organized in mainland Europe, largely due to missionary activity of British and American Methodists. British missionaries were primarily responsible for establishing Methodism across Ireland and Italy. Today theGreat Britain
The original body founded as a result of Wesley's work came to be known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain), Wesleyan Methodist Church. Schisms within the original church, and independent revival meeting, revivals, led to the formation of a number of separate denominations calling themselves "Methodist". The largest of these were the Primitive Methodism in the United Kingdom, Primitive Methodists, deriving from a revival at Mow Cop in Staffordshire, the Bible Christian Church, Bible Christians, and the Methodist New Connexion. The original church adopted the name "Wesleyan Methodist" to distinguish it from these bodies. In 1907, a union of smaller groups with the Methodist New Connexion and Bible Christian Church brought about the United Methodist Church (Great Britain), United Methodist Church; then the three major streams of British Methodism Methodist Union, united in 1932 to form the present Methodist Church of Great Britain. The fourth-largest denomination in the country, the Methodist Church of Great Britain has about 202,000 members in 4,650 congregations. Early Methodism was particularly prominent in Devon and Cornwall, which were key centers of activity by the Bible Christian Church, 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. In Wales, three elements separately welcomed Methodism: Welsh-speaking, English-speaking, and Calvinistic Methodism, Calvinistic. British Methodists, in particular the Primitive Methodists, took a leading role in the Temperance movement in the United Kingdom, 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 in Methodism, bishops; however, it has always been characterised by a strong central organisation, the Connexionalism, Connexion, 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 chair (who may be male or female). Methodist districts often correspond approximately, in geographical terms, to counties—as do Church of England dioceses. The districts are divided into Methodist Circuit, circuits governed by the Circuit Meeting and led and administrated principally by a superintendent minister. Religious 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 themselves—of 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 local preachers, 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. The Methodist Council also helps to run a number of schools, including two Public school (United Kingdom), public schools in East Anglia: Culford School and the Leys School. It helps to promote 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.Ireland
John Wesley visited Ireland on at least twenty-four occasions and established classes and societies. The Methodist Church in Ireland ( ir, Eaglais Mheitidisteach in Éirinn) today operates across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on an all-Ireland basis. , there are around 50,000 Methodists across Ireland. The biggest concentration–13,171–is in Belfast, with 2,614 in Dublin. , it is the fourth-largest denomination in Northern Ireland, with Methodists accounting for 3% of the population. 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 Síochána, 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 Liberal Christianity, Modernism in those denominations.Italy
The Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy, Italian Methodist Church ( it, Chiesa Metodista Italiana) is a small Protestant community in Italy, with around 7,000 members. Since 1975, it is in a formal covenant of Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches, partnership with the Waldensian Church, with a total of 45,000 members. Waldensians are a Protestant movement which started in Lyon, France, in the late 1170s. Italian Methodism has its origins in the Italian Free Church, British Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain), 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.Nordic and Baltic countries
The "Nordic and Baltic Area" of the United Methodist Church covers the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland) and the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). Methodism was introduced to the Nordic countries in the late 19th century. Today the United Methodist Church in Norway ( no, Metodistkirken) is the largest annual meeting in the region with 10,684 members in total (). The United Methodist Church in Sweden ( sv, Metodistkyrkan) joined the Uniting Church in Sweden in 2011.France
The French Methodist movement was founded in the 1820s by Charles Cook in the village of Congénies in Languedoc near Nîmes and Montpellier. The most important chapel of department was built in 1869, where there had been a Quaker community since the 18th century. Sixteen Methodist congregations voted to join the Reformed Church of France in 1938. In the 1980s, missionary work of a Methodist church in Agen led to new initiatives in Fleurance and Mont de Marsan. Methodism exists today in France under various names. The best-known is the Union of Evangelical Methodist Churches (french: l'Union de l'Eglise Evangélique Méthodiste) 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.Germany
In Germany, Switzerland and Austria, ''Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche'' is the name of theHungary
The first Methodist mission in Hungary was established in 1898 in Bácska, in a then mostly German-speaking town of Verbász (since 1918 part of the Serbian province of Vojvodina). In 1905 a Methodist mission was established also in Budapest. In 1974, a group later known as the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship seceded from the Hungarian Methodist Church over the question of interference by the communist state. , the United Methodist Church in Hungary, known locally as the Hungarian Methodist Church ( hu, :hu:Magyarországi Metodista Egyház, Magyarországi Metodista Egyház), has 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, Roma. The seceding Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship () 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, 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. However, the list of recognized churches was lengthened to 32 at the end of February 2012. This gave recognition to 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. 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.Russia
The Methodist Church established several strongholds in Russia—Saint Petersburg in the west and the Vladivostok region in the east, with big Methodist centres right in the middle, in Moscow and Yekaterinburg, Ekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk). Methodists began their work in the west among Swedish immigrants in 1881 and started their work in the east in 1910. On 26 June 2009, Methodists celebrated the 120th year since Methodism arrived in Czarist Russia by erecting a new Methodist centre in Saint Petersburg. A Methodist presence was continued in Russia for 14 years after the Russian Revolution (1917), Russian Revolution of 1917 through the efforts of Deaconess Anna Eklund. In 1939, political antagonism stymied the work of the Church and Deaconess Anna Eklund was coerced to return to her native Finland. 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 torch—Samara, 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.Caribbean
Methodism came to the Caribbean in 1760 when the planter, lawyer and Speaker of the Antiguan House of Assembly, Nathaniel Gilbert (c. 1719–1774), returned to his sugar estate home in Antigua.Blackman, Francis 'Woodie' ''John Wesley 300: Pioneers, Preachers and Practitioners'' (Barbados: Dalkeith Methodist Church, 2003, 89 pp, ) A Methodist revival spread in the British West Indies due to the work of British missionaries. Missionaries established societies which would later become the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA). The MCCA has about 62,000 members in over 700 congregations, ministered by 168 pastors. There are smaller Methodist denominations that have seceded from the parent church.Antigua
The story is often told that in 1755, Nathaniel Gilbert, while convalescing, read a treatise of John Wesley, ''An Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion'' sent to him by his brother Francis. As a result of having read this book Gilbert, two years later, journeyed to England with three of his slaves and there in a drawing room meeting arranged in Wandsworth on 15 January 1759, met the preacher John Wesley. He returned to the Caribbean that same year and on his subsequent return began to preach to his slaves in Antigua. 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 had to return 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 prayer meetings as best as they could. On 2 April 1778, John Baxter, a local preacher and skilled shipwright from Chatham, Kent, 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.St. Bart's
In 1785, William Turton (1761–1817) a Barbadian son of a planter, met John Baxter in Antigua, and later, as layman, assisted in the Methodist work in the Swedish colony of St. Bartholomew from 1796. In 1786, the missionary endeavour in the Caribbean was officially recognized by the Methodist Conference in England, and that same year Thomas Coke (bishop), 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.Jamaica
In 1818 Edward Fraser (1798 – Aft. 1850), a privileged Barbadian slave, moved to Bermuda and subsequently met the new minister James Dunbar. The Nova Scotia Methodist Minister noted young Fraser's sincerity and commitment to his congregation and encouraged him by appointing him as assistant. By 1827 Fraser assisted in building a new chapel. He was later freed and admitted to the Methodist Ministry to serve in Antigua and Jamaica.Barbados
Following William Shrewsbury, William J. Shrewsbury's preaching in the 1820s, Sarah Ann Gill (1779–1866), a free-born black woman, used civil disobedience in an attempt to thwart magistrate rulings that prevented parishioners holding prayer meetings. In hopes of building a new chapel, she paid an extraordinary £1,700-0s–0d and ended up having militia appointed by the Governor to protect her home from demolition.Blackman, Francis, ''National heroine of Barbados: Sarah Ann Gill'' (Barbados: Methodist Church, 1998, 27 pp) 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 George Godson, 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 pensioners. He was later followed by renowned Barbadian Augustus Rawle Parkinson (1864–1932), who also was the first principal of the Wesley Hall School, Bridgetown, Barbados, 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 – Woodie Blackman, Francis Woodbine Blackman (1922–2010). It was his research and published works that enlightened much of this information on Caribbean Methodism.Africa
Most Methodist denominations in Africa follow the British Methodist tradition and see the Methodist Church of Great Britain as their mother church. Originally modelled on the British structure, since independence most of these churches have adopted an Episcopal polity, episcopal model.Nigeria
The Nigerian Methodist Church is one of the largest Methodist denominations in the world and one of the largest Christian churches in Nigeria, with around two million members in 2000 congregations. It has seen exponential growth since the turn of the millennium. Christianity was established in Nigeria with the arrival in 1842 of a Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain), Wesleyan Methodist missionary. He had come in response to the request for missionaries by the Saro people, ex-slaves who returned to Nigeria from Sierra Leone. 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 Methodism, 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, episcopal system 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.Ghana
Methodist Church Ghana is one of the largest Methodist denominations, with around 800,000 members in 2,905 congregations, ministered by 700 pastors. It has fraternal links with the British Methodist and United Methodist churches worldwide. Methodism in Ghana came into existence as a result of the missionary activities of the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain), Wesleyan Methodist Church, inaugurated with the arrival of Joseph Rhodes Dunwell to the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast in 1835. 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, Asante hinterland of the Gold Coast. He also established Methodist Societies in Badagry and AbeoKuta in Nigeria with the assistance of William De-Graft. 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 district 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''.Southern Africa
The Methodist Church of Southern Africa, Methodist Church operates across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland, with a limited presence in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is a member church of the World Methodist Council. 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. 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. 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. 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 Africa—7.3% of the South African population recorded their religious affiliation as 'Methodist' in the last national census.Asia
China
Methodism was brought to China in the autumn of 1847 by the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first missionaries sent out were Judson Dwight Collins and Moses Clark White, who sailed from Boston 15 April 1847, and reached Foochow 6 September. They were followed by Henry Hickok and Robert Samuel Maclay, who arrived 15 April 1848. In 1857, it baptised the first convert in connection with its labours. In August 1856, a brick built church, called the "Church of the True God" (真神堂), the first substantial church building erected at Foochow by Protestant Missions, was dedicated to the worship of God. In the winter of the same year another brick built church, located on the hill in the suburbs on the south bank of the Min River (Fujian), Min, was finished and dedicated, called the "Church of Heavenly Peace (Fuzhou), Church of Heavenly Peace" (天安堂). In 1862, the number of members was 87. The Foochow Conference was organized by Isaac W. Wiley on 6 December 1867, by which time the number of members and probationers had reached 2,011. Hok Chau 周學 (also known as Lai-Tong Chau, 周勵堂) was the first Chinese ordained minister of the South China District of the Methodist Church (incumbent 1877–1916). Benjamin Hobson (1816–1873), a medical missionary sent by the London Missionary Society in 1839, set up a highly successful Wai Ai Clinic (惠愛醫館) Liang Fa (Leung Fat in Cantonese, 梁發, 1789–1855, ordained by the London Missionary Society), Hok Chau and others worked there. Liang (age 63) baptized Chau (quite young) 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. In 1867, the mission sent out the first missionaries to Central China, who began work at Kiukiang. In 1869, missionaries were also sent to the capital city Peking, where they laid the foundations of the work of the North China Mission. In November 1880, the Methodism in Sichuan, 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. 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.Hong Kong
India
Methodism came to India twice, in 1817 and in 1856, according to P. Dayanandan who has done extensive research on the subject. Thomas Coke and six other missionaries set sail for India on New Year's Day in 1814. Coke, then 66, died en route. Rev. James Lynch was the one who finally arrived in Madras in 1817 at a place called Black Town (Broadway), later known as George Town. Lynch conducted the first Methodist missionary service on 2 March 1817, in a stable. 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.Mount Wesley Church, Accessed December 6, 2022 https://mountwesleychurch.org/pastorate/ This church was rebuilt in 1844 since the earlier structure was collapsing. 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 the Emmanuel Methodist Church, Vepery, was born in 1874. The evangelist James Mills Thoburn established the Thoburn Memorial Church in Calcutta in 1873 and the Calcutta Boys' School in 1877. 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 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 at Methodist Centre, 21 YMCA Road, Mumbai, India.Malaysia and Singapore
Missionaries from Britain, North America, and Australia founded Methodist churches in many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. These are now independent and many of them are stronger than the former "mother" churches. In addition to the churches, these missionaries often also founded schools to serve the local community. A good example of such schools are the Methodist Boys' School (Kuala Lumpur), Methodist Boys' School in Kuala Lumpur, Methodist Boys' School (Penang), Methodist Girls' School and Methodist Boys' School in George Town, Penang, George Town, and Anglo-Chinese School, Methodist Girls' School, Singapore, Methodist Girls' School, Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Secondary), Paya Lebar Methodist Girls School and Fairfield Methodist Secondary School, Fairfield Methodist Schools in Singapore.Philippines
Methodism in the Philippines began shortly after the United States acquired the Philippines in 1898 as a result the Spanish–American War. On 21 June 1898, after the Battle of Manila Bay but before the Treaty of Paris (1898), Treaty of Paris, executives of the American Mission Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church expressed their desire to join other Protestant denominations in starting mission work in the islands and to enter into a Comity Agreement that would facilitate the establishment of such missions. The first Protestant worship service was conducted on 28 August 1898 by an American military chaplain named George C. Stull. Stull was an ordained Methodist minister from the Montana Annual Conference of The Methodist Episcopal Church (later part of the United Methodist Church after 1968). Methodist and Wesleyan traditions in the Philippines are shared by three of the largest mainline Protestant churches in the country: Philippines Central Conference (United Methodist Church), 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, 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, Inc., the Pentecostal Free Methodist Church, Inc., the Fundamental Christian Methodist Church, The Reformed Methodist Church, Inc., The Methodist Church of the Living Bread, Inc., and the Wesley Evangelical Methodist Church & Mission, Inc. There are three Episcopal area (United Methodist Church), 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 Atty. Joe Frank E. Zuñiga. The group finally declared full autonomy and legal incorporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (Philippines), 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 (province), Bulacan, Aurora (province), Aurora, Nueva Ecija, as well as parts of Pampanga (province), Pampanga and Cavite (province), Cavite. Tangonan was consecrated as the denomination's first Presiding Bishop on 17 March 2012.South Korea
The Korean Methodist Church (KMC) is one of the largest churches in South Korea with around 1.5 million members and 8,306 ministers. Methodism in Korea grew out of British and American mission work which began in the late 19th century. The first missionary sent out was Robert Samuel Maclay of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who sailed from Japan in 1884 and was given the authority of medical and schooling permission from emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire, Gojong. The Korean church became fully autonomous in 1930, retaining affiliation with Methodist churches in America and later the United Methodist Church. The church experienced rapid growth in membership throughout most of the 20th century—in spite of the Korean War—before stabilizing in the 1990s. The KMC is a member of the World Methodist Council and hosted the first Asia Methodist Convention in 2001. There are many Korean-language Methodist churches in North America catering to Korean-speaking immigrants, not all of which are named as Methodist.Taiwan
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. On 21 June 1953, Taipei Methodist Church was erected, then local churches and chapels with a baptized membership numbering over 2,500. Various types of educational, medical and social services are provided (including Tunghai University). In 1972, the Methodist Church in the Republic of China became autonomous, and the first bishop was installed in 1986.Americas
Brazil
The Methodist Church in Brazil was founded by American missionaries in 1867 after an initial unsuccessful founding in 1835. It has grown steadily since, becoming autonomous in 1930. In the 1970s it ordained its first woman minister. In 1975 it also founded the first Methodist university in Latin America, the Methodist University of Piracicaba. , the Brazilian Methodist Church is divided into eight annual conferences with 162,000 members.Canada
The father of Methodism in Canada was rev Coughlan who arrived in Newfoundland in 1763,. Where he opened a school and travelled widely. . The second was William Black (Methodist), 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 (state), New York began to arrive in Canada West at Niagara, and the north shore of Lake Erie in 1786, and at the Kingston, Ontario, 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, Upper 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. 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, Upper Canada, 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 1925, the Methodist Church, Canada and most Presbyterian Church in Canada, 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 after their American counterparts joined the United Methodist Church.Mexico
The Methodist Church came to History of Mexico, Mexico in 1872, with the arrival of two Methodist commissioners from the United States to observe the possibilities of evangelistic work in México. In December 1872, Bishop Gilbert Haven arrived to Mexico City, and he was ordered by M. D. William Butler to go to México. Bishop John C. Keener arrived from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South in January 1873. 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.United States
Wesley came to believe that the New Testament evidence did not leave the power of ordination to the priesthood in the hands of bishops but that other priests could ordain. In 1784, he ordained preachers for Scotland, England, and America, with power to administer the sacraments (this was a major reason for Methodism's final split from the Church of England after Wesley's death). At that time, Wesley sent Thomas Coke (bishop), Thomas Coke to America. Francis Asbury founded the Methodist Episcopal Church at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784; Coke (already ordained in the Church of England) ordained Asbury deacon, elder, and bishop each on three successive days. Circuit riders, many of whom were laymen, travelled by horseback to preach the gospel and establish churches in many places. One of the most famous circuit riders was Robert Strawbridge who lived in the vicinity of Carroll County, Maryland, soon after arriving in the Colonies around 1760. 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. 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 Nast Trinity United Methodist Church, German Methodist Church was erected in Cincinnati, Ohio. 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 Church (United States), Wesleyan Methodist Connexion (later renamed the Wesleyan Methodist Church) and the Free Methodist Churches were formed by staunch abolitionists, and the Free Methodists were especially active in the Underground Railroad, which helped to free the slaves. In 1962, the Evangelical Wesleyan Church separated from the Free Methodist Church. 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, 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, 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 theOceania
Methodism is particularly widespread in some Pacific Island nations, such as Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.Australia
In the 19th century there were annual conferences in each Australasian colony (including New Zealand). Various branches of Methodism in Australia merged during the 20 years from 1881. The Methodist Church of Australasia was formed on 1 January 1902 when five Methodist denominations in Australia – the Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain), Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodists, the Bible Christian Church, the United Methodist Free Churches, United Methodist Free and the Methodist New Connexion Churches came together. In polity it largely followed the Wesleyan Methodist Church. 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 in Australia, 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. 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, Tongan immigrants.Fiji
As a result of the early efforts of missionaries, most of the natives of the Fiji Islands were converted to Methodism in the 1840s and 1850s. According to the 2007 census, 34.6% of the population (including almost two-thirds of Fijians, ethnic Fijians), are adherents of Methodism, making Fiji one of the most Methodist nations. The Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma, the largest religious denomination, is an important social force along with the traditional Ratu, chiefly system. In the past, the church once called for a theocracy and fueled Anti-Hinduism, anti-Hindu sentiment.New Zealand
In June 1823 Wesleydale, the first Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain), Wesleyan Methodist mission in New Zealand, was established at Kaeo. The Methodist Church of New Zealand, which is directly descended from the 19th-century missionaries, was the fourth-most common Christian denomination recorded in the 2018 New Zealand census. 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.Samoan Islands
The Methodist Church is the third largest denomination throughout the Samoan Islands, in both Samoa and American Samoa. In 1868, Piula Theological College was established in Lufilufi on the north coast of Upolu island in Samoa and serves as the main headquarters of the Methodist church in the country. The college includes the historic Piula Monastery as well as Piula Cave Pool, a natural spring situated beneath the church by the sea.Tonga
Methodism had a particular resonance with the inhabitants of Tonga. In the 1830s Wesleyan missionaries converted paramount chief George Tupou I, Taufa'ahau Tupou who in turn converted fellow islanders. Today, Methodism is represented on the islands by the Free Church of Tonga and the Free Wesleyan Church, which is the largest church in Tonga. 48% of Tongans adhered to Methodist churches. The royal family of the country are prominent members of the Free Wesleyan Church, and the late king was a lay preacher. Tongan Methodist minister Sione 'Amanaki Havea developed coconut theology, which tailors theology to a Pacific Islands context.Ecumenical relations
Many Methodists have been involved in the Ecumenism, ecumenical movement, which has sought to unite the fractured denominations of Christianity. Because Methodism grew out of the Church of England, a denomination from which neither of the Wesley brothers seceded, some Methodist scholars and historians, such as Rupert E. Davies, have regarded their 'movement' more as a preaching order within wider Christian life than as a church, comparing them with the Franciscans, who formed a religious order within the medieval European church and not a separate denomination. Certainly, Methodists have been deeply involved in early examples of United and uniting churches, church union, especially the United Church of Canada and the Church of South India. Also, 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 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, 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 (Christianity), 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 Confession of faith, we confess: By sola gratia, grace alone, in Faith in Christianity, faith in Christ's Atonement in Christianity, saving work and not because of any Merit (Catholicism), merit on our part, we are accepted by God in Christianity, God and receive theThis is not to say there is perfect agreement between the three denominational traditions; while Catholics and Methodists believe that Salvation (Christianity), salvation involves Synergism (theology), cooperation between God and man, Lutherans believe that God Imputed righteousness, brings about the salvation of individuals Monergism, without any cooperation on their part. Commenting on the ongoing dialogues with Catholic Church Magisterium, leaders, 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 Protestant Reformation, Reformation constitute a History of Christianity, shared history with Catholics, and are gaining new appreciation for neglected aspects of the Catholic tradition. There are, however, important unresolved doctrinal differences Schism (religion), separating Roman Catholicism and Methodism, which include "the nature and validity of the Holy Orders, ministry of those who preside at the Eucharist [Holy Communion], the Eucharistic theologies summarised, precise meaning of the Eucharist as the sacramental 'memorial' of Christ's saving death and resurrection, the particular way in which Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, Christ is present in Holy Communion, and the link between eucharistic communion and Full communion, ecclesial 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 (Protestantism), 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.Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ..., who Sanctification, renews our hearts while Prevenient grace, equipping and Infused righteousness, calling us to good works... as Christian views on sin, sinners our Regeneration (theology), new life is Total depravity, solely due to the forgiveness, forgiving and renewing mercy that God Imparted righteousness, imparts as a gift and that we receive in faith, and never Pelagianism, can merit in any way," affirming "fundamental doctrinal agreement" concerning Justification (theology), justification between the Catholic Church, the LWF, and the World Methodist Council.
See also
* List of Methodists ** List of Methodist theologians * List of Methodist churches * List of Methodist denominations * Saints in MethodismNotes
References
Further reading
* Abraham, William J. and James E. Kirby (eds.) (2009) ''The Oxford Handbook of Methodist Studies''. 780pp; historiographyWorld
* Borgen, Ole E. (1985) ''John Wesley on the Sacraments: a Theological Study''. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Francis Asbury Press, cop. 1972. 307 p. * Copplestone, J. Tremayne. (1973) ''History of Methodist Missions, vol. 4: Twentieth-Century Perspectives''. 1288 ppGreat Britain
* Brooks, Alan. (2010) ''West End Methodism: The Story of Hinde Street'', London: Northway Publications, 400pp. * Davies, Rupert & Rupp, Gordon. (1965) ''A History of the Methodist Church in Great Britain'': Vol 1, Epworth Press * Davies, Rupert & George, A. Raymond & Rupp, Gordon. (1978) ''A History of the Methodist Church in Great Britain'': Vol 2, Epworth Press * Davies, Rupert & George, A. Raymond & Rupp, Gordon. (1983) ''A History of the Methodist Church in Great Britain'': Vol 3, Epworth Press * Davies, Rupert & George, A. Raymond & Rupp, Gordon. (1988) ''A History of the Methodist Church in Great Britain'': Vol 4, Epworth Press * Dowson, Jean and Hutchinson, John. (2003) ''John Wesley: His Life, Times and Legacy'' [CD-ROM], Methodist Publishing House, TB214 * Edwards, Maldwyn. (1944) ''Methodism and England: A study of Methodism in its social and political aspects during the period 1850–1932'' * Halevy, Elie, and Bernard Semmel. (1971) ''The Birth of Methodism in England'' * Hempton, David. (1984) ''Methodism and Politics in British Society, 1750–1850'', Stanford University Press, * Jones, David Ceri et al. (2012) ''The Elect Methodists: Calvinistic Methodism in England and Wales, 1735–1811'' * Kent, John. (2002) ''Wesley and the Wesleyans'', Cambridge University Press, * Madden, Lionel. (2003) ''Methodism in Wales: A Short History of the Wesley Tradition'', Gomer Press. * Milburn, Geoffrey & Batty, Margaret (eds.) (1995) ''Workaday Preachers: The Story of Methodist Local Preaching'', Methodist Publishing House * Stigant, P. (1971) "Wesleyan Methodism and working-class radicalism in the north, 1792–1821." ''Northern History'', Vol 6 (1) pp: 98–116. * Thompson, Edward Palmer. (1963) ''The making of the English working class'' – a famous classic stressing the role of Methodism. * Turner, John Munsey. (2003) ''John Wesley: The Evangelical Revival and the Rise of Methodism in England'' * Turner, John M. (1997) ''Modern Methodism in England, 1932–1996'' * Warner, Wellman J. (1930) ''The Wesleyan Movement in the Industrial Revolution'', London: Longmans, Green. * Vickers, John A, ed. (2000) ''A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland'', Epworth Press.African Americans
* Campbell, James T. (1995United States
* Cameron, Richard M. (ed.) (1961) ''Methodism and Society in Historical Perspective'', 4 vol., New York: Abingdon Press * Lyerly, Cynthia Lynn (1998) ''Methodism and the Southern Mind, 1770–1810'', Religion in America Series, Oxford University Press, * Meyer, Donald (1988) ''The Protestant Search for Political Realism, 1919–1941'', Wesleyan University Press, * Schmidt, Jean Miller (1999) ''Grace Sufficient: A History of Women in American Methodism, 1760–1939'', Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press * Sweet, William Warren (1954) ''Methodism in American History'', Revision of 1953, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 472 p. * Wigger, John H. (1998) ''Taking Heaven by Storm: Methodism and the Rise of Popular Christianity in America'', Oxford University Press, – pp. ix & 269 focus on 1770–1910Canada
* Rawlyk, G.A. (1994) ''The Canada Fire: Radical Evangelicalism in British North America, 1775–1812'', Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, * Semple, Neil (1996) ''The Lord's Dominion: The History of Canadian Methodism'', Buffalo: McGill-Queen's University Press,Primary sources
* Richey, Russell E., Rowe, Kenneth E. and Schmidt, Jean Miller (eds.) (2000) ''The Methodist Experience in America: a sourcebook'', Nashville: Abingdon Press, . 756 p. of original documents * Sweet, William Warren (ed.) (1946) ''Religion on the American Frontier: Vol. 4, The Methodists,1783–1840: A Collection of Source Materials'', New York: H. Holt & Co., – 800 p. of documents regarding the American frontier * The Archive of the Methodist Missionary Society is held at the School of Oriental and African Studies, LondonExternal links