Wesleyan Methodist Association

The Wesleyan Association, or the Wesleyan Methodist Association, was a 19th-century

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

denomination in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was formed in 1836 and merged with other groups to form the

United Methodist Free Churches United Methodist Free Churches, sometimes called Free Methodists, was an English nonconformist community in the last half of the 19th century. It was formed in 1857 by the amalgamation of the Wesleyan Association (which had in 1836 largely absorbed ...

in 1857. The Associated Wesleyans absorbed the Protestant Methodists, a small earlier secession of 1827. The prominent figure was Robert Eckett (1797–1862), who was expelled from the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1836. He had been a leading figure in the

Leeds Organ Dispute The Protestant Methodists were a small Methodist church based in Leeds. They left the Methodist conference in 1827 in protest at the installation of an organ in Brunswick Chapel in Leeds. This grew into a wider dispute around the style of governme ...

. In 1840 he planned the Foundation Deed, which emphasized the democratic nature of the Wesleyan Association. He also played a large role in the amalgamation of the Wesleyan Association and the

Methodist Reform Church The Methodist Reform Church was a Christian denomination that was formed in 1849 in England by a breakaway from the Wesleyan Methodists. The leaders of the Wesleyan Reformers had been expelled from the Wesleyan Methodist Church at its Manchest ...

in 1857 to form the

. The Associated Wesleyans sent several

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Methodism in the United Kingdom Methodist denominations Religious organizations established in 1836 Christian denominations established in the 19th century Former Methodist denominations 1836 establishments in the United Kingdom {{Methodist-stub