The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the

holiness movement The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. The movement is historically distinguished by its emp ...

. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist

Lorenzo Dow Lorenzo Dow (October 16, 1777February 2, 1834) was an eccentric itinerant American evangelist, said to have preached to more people than any other preacher of his era. He became an important figure and a popular writer. His autobiography at one t ...

(1777–1834). In the United States, the Primitive Methodist Church had eighty-three parishes and 8,487 members in 1996. In Great Britain and Australia, the Primitive Methodist Church merged with other denominations, to form the

Methodist Church of Great Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestant Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, and the World Council of Churches among other ecumenical a ...

in 1932 and the

Methodist Church of Australasia The Methodist Church of Australasia was a Methodist denomination based in Australia. On 1 January 1902, five Methodist denominations in Australia – the Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodists, the Bible Christian Church, the United ...

in 1901. The latter subsequently merged into the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977.

Beliefs

The Primitive Methodist Church recognizes the dominical sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, as well as other

rite Rite may refer to: * Ritual, an established ceremonious act * Rite of passage, a ceremonious act associated with social transition Religion * Rite (Christianity), a sacred ritual or liturgical tradition in various Christian denominations * Cath ...

s, such as Holy Matrimony.

History

United Kingdom

The leaders who originated Primitive Methodism were attempting to restore a spirit of revivalism as they felt was found in the ministry of

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching ...

, with no intent of forming a new church. The leaders were

Hugh Bourne Hugh Bourne (3 April 1772 – 11 October 1852) along with William Clowes was the joint founder of Primitive Methodism, the largest offshoot of Wesleyan Methodism and, in the mid nineteenth century, an influential Protestant Christian movement in ...

(1772–1852) and William Clowes (1780–1851), preachers in the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Bourne had joined a Methodist society at

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. ...

, but business taking him at the close of 1800 to the colliery district of

Harriseahead Harriseahead is a village in the county of Staffordshire, England, just north of the Potteries (Stoke on Trent) and about south-west of Biddulph and close to the border with Cheshire. Population details from the 2011 census can be found under K ...

and

Kidsgrove Kidsgrove is a town in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, on the Cheshire border. It is part of the Potteries Urban Area, along with Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. It has a population of 26,276 (2019 census). ...

, he was so impressed by the prevailing ignorance that he began a religious revival of the district, and Clowes joined him in 1805. The two preachers heard from Lorenzo Dow of the results of American camp meetings, and held a fourteen-hour

camp meeting The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier ...

on May 31, 1807, at

Mow Cop Mow Cop is a village split between Cheshire and Staffordshire, and therefore divided between the North West and West Midlands regions of England. It is south of Manchester and north of Stoke-on-Trent, on a steep hill of the same name rising ...

on the Staffordshire and Cheshire border, which resulted in many converts. But the Wesleyan Church refused to admit these converts to the church, and reprimanded Bourne and Clowes. Refusing to cease holding open-air meetings, they were dismissed from the church. For a while they took separate paths, but after waiting two years for readmittance to the church, they founded the Primitive Methodists in the year of 1810. Clowes's personality drew a number of strong men after him, and a society meeting held in a kitchen and then in a warehouse became the nucleus of a circuit, a chapel being built at Tunstall in July 1811, and there in February 1812 they took the name ''The Society of the Primitive Methodists''. The name is meant to indicate they were conducting themselves in the way of Wesley and the "original" Methodists, particularly in reference to open-air meetings and allowing female ministry. The last of the women roving preachers died in 1890. Primitive Methodist workers played an important role in the formative phase of the Trade Union movement in England. They were always the most working class of the main Methodist bodies in Great Britain. They also used women at an early date as ministers ("itinerants") and preachers, a notable development in

women's emancipation Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. The Primitive Methodist Church formed one of the three streams of Methodism then extant in England. In 1932 it merged with the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the United Methodists to form the

United States

The first missionaries to America arrived in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...

, in 1829. The societies founded in the United States were under the control of the British Primitive Methodist Conference until 1840, when the "American Primitive Methodist Church" was established on September 16. A combining of various organizational structures occurred in May 1975, and the current (2004) official name—''The Primitive Methodist Church in the United States of America''—was chosen. The denomination holds an annual conference. A president, elected every four years, is the chief leader of the denomination and their headquarters are located in his home. In 2000 the American body had 79 congregations with 4502 members.

Australia

Primitive Methodist congregations were also established in Australia. In 1902 the Primitive Methodist Church, Wesleyan Methodist Church, Bible Christians and the United Methodist Free Churches formed the

. In 1977 the Methodist Church of Australasia joined with the

Congregational Union of Australia The Congregational Union of Australia was a Congregational denomination in Australia that stemmed from the Congregational Church in England as settlers migrated from there to Australia. Congregational Churches existed in all states and terri ...

and Presbyterian Church of Australia to form the Uniting Church in Australia.

Missions

The Primitive Methodist Church in the United States has missions in Spain, Guatemala and other countries throughout the world. Its mission work in Africa dates back to 1897 and its mission work in Guatemala was started in 1921.

Ecumenical relations

The Primitive Methodist Church in the United States, with respect to

ecumenism Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

, is a member of the

Christian Holiness Partnership The Christian Holiness Partnership is an international organization of individuals, organizational and denominational affiliates within the holiness movement. It was founded under the leadership of Rev. John Swanel Inskip in 1867 as the National ...

, an organization of churches in the Wesleyan–

Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Rem ...

tradition, and a member of the National Association of Evangelicals.

References

External links

Denominational websiteEnglesea Brook Chapel and Museum of Primitive Methodism
by H. B. Kendall
Website with articles, photos and books on Primitive Methodism past and presentWebsite of the Primitive Methodist Church in the USA with links to Primitive Methodist churches in other countries
{{Authority control Methodist denominations established in the 19th century Primitive 1807 establishments in the United Kingdom Methodist denominations in North America