The Methodist Church in Malaysia is a body within the

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 ...

tradition in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. With approximately 200,000 members in more than 1034 congregations (local and preaching points), it is the second largest

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

denomination in the country after Sidang Injil Borneo.Methodist Church in Malaysia
Statistics
. Retrieved 19 June 2006 The current

bishop 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 c ...

of the Methodist Church in Malaysia is the Rev. Dr. T. Jeyakumar. The other body of Methodists in Malaysia is the Free Methodist Church in Malaysia,Free Methodist Board of Bishops
State of the Work Report (PDF)
. Retrieved 19 June 2006 founded in 2002.Free Methodist World Missions
Malaysia
. Retrieved 19 June 2006

History

The church shares part of its heritage with the

Methodist Church in Singapore The Methodist Church in Singapore (MCS) is the church that Methodists in Singapore belong to. The Church has 46 churches island-wide with around 42,000 members, and is the largest mainline Protestant denomination in Singapore. Its current bishop a ...

as both the territories shared a similar political history. The history of the Methodist Church in Malaysia began following a decision taken at the South India Conference held in Hyderabad in 1884, when William Oldham was appointed as a missionary to Singapore in 1885. The Tamil work started with the coming of a Ceylon Tamil, Mr Underwood. In 1894 the Tamil work was started in Penang by the Pyketts, and in Kuala Lumpur by the Kensetts and was continued by Rev. S Abraham from Ceylon in 1899. Methodism came to Sarawak in the year 1900 when a group of immigrants came from Fuzhou in mainland China. Missionaries came in 1903 in the persons of J.M Hoover and G.V Summers. Methodism grew rapidly in the town of

Sibu Sibu (; Hokchew Romanized: ''Sĭ-bŭ'') is a landlocked city in the central region of Sarawak. It is the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The city is located on the island of Borneo and covers an area of . It i ...

and a solid foundation was laid. The work among the indigenous people, the Ibans, began in 1937 with pioneers like Lucius D. Mamora and Paul H. Schmuker who took the Gospel to the longhouses. The work amongst the Sengoi community in Pahang was started in 1930 with the help of missionaries from Sumatra, Indonesia. The Methodist Church in Singapore and Malaysia became a self-governing body in 1968. After the separation of Singapore from Malaysia, the Methodist Church in Malaysia became autonomous in 1976.

Beliefs and practices

The Methodist Church in Malaysia declares itself to be part of the holy catholic church and affirms the historic

ecumenical creeds Ecumenical creeds is an umbrella term used in Lutheran tradition to refer to three creeds: the Nicene Creed, the Apostles' Creed and the Athanasian Creed. These creeds are also known as the catholic or universal creeds. These creeds are accepted ...

, which are used frequently in its liturgy and services of worship.The Book of Discipline of the Methodist Church in Malaysia Additionally, the Methodist Church in Malaysia affirms the Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church as its doctrinal statement and adopts the General Rules of the Methodist Societies as a doctrinal standard.

Membership

The composition church reflects the racial composition of Malaysia. There are 400 churches and 634 preaching points with 552 pastors. The total membership of the Methodist church consists of 114,065 confirmed members, 63,396 preparatory members and 26,482 baptized, above 16 and not confirmed members. There are more than 80,624 weekly worshipers in all the churches.

Organisation

Governance

There are six conferences under General Conference of The Methodist Church in Malaysia. The annual conferences were traditionally organised along linguistic and ethnic lines but the present day constituent congregations of the various annual conferences tend to be multi-lingual and multi-ethnic: * Chinese Annual Conference (CAC) :Chinese language congregations in

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

* Tamil Annual Conference (TAC) :Tamil language congregations in

* Trinity Annual Conference (TRAC) :English language congregations in

* Sengoi Mission Conference (SMC) : Sengoi congregations in

* Sarawak Chinese Annual Conference (SCAC) :Chinese, English and Malay language congregations in

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

* Sarawak Iban Annual Conference (SIAC) :

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture The Ibans or Sea Dayaks are a branch of the Dayak people, Dayak people on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is believed that the ...

congregations in

:(including 1 congregation in Johor Bahru,

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the northwest. Johor shares maritime ...

) * Sabah Provisional Annual Conference (SPAC) :Chinese, English and Malay language congregations in

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

Education

Education has been a vital aspect of the work of the Methodist Church in Malaysia from the very beginning. Today, a total of 83 schools and colleges throughout Malaysia are affiliated with the Church. Management and development of these institutions are coordinated by the Methodist Council of Education. These include 2 institutions of higher learning, the Methodist Pilley Institute in

and the Methodist College Kuala Lumpur in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, 6 private schools, and the rest being

government aided State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

schools.

External links

Methodist Church in Malaysia
- official website
Chinese Annual Conference Methodist Church Malaysia
- official website
Methodist College Kuala Lumpur
- official website

References

{{Authority control Protestantism in Malaysia Methodism in Asia Members of the World Council of Churches Christian organizations established in 1976 Methodist denominations established in the 20th century 1976 establishments in Malaysia