James O'Kelly (1735 – October 16, 1826) was an American clergyman during the

Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the late 18th to early 19th century in the United States. It spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching and sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals were a k ...

and an important figure in the early history of

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

in America. He was also known for his outspoken views on

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. ...

, penning the strong antislavery work,
Essay on Negro Slavery
'.

Life

Appointed as a Methodist circuit rider in 1777, he organized preaching circuits on the frontier in central and southeastern North Carolina during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He continued his affiliation 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 nationally. In 1939, th ...

from its formal organization in 1784 at the Christmas Conference, when he was ordained an elder. Well regarded as a preacher, he successfully supervised pastors in several regions of Virginia and North Carolina. O'Kelly, who favored the congregationalist system of

church polity Ecclesiastical polity is the government of a church. There are local (congregational) forms of organization as well as denominational. A church's polity may describe its ministerial offices or an authority structure between churches. Polit ...

, came to oppose the church's system of centralized episcopal authority, which he believed infringed on the freedom of preachers. At the 1792 General Conference of the Methodist Church, he introduced a resolution to allow clergy to appeal to the Conference if they believed their assignments from the bishop to be unsatisfactory. After several days of debate, the resolution was defeated. In protest, O'Kelly withdrew from the denomination and with his supporters founded the Republican Methodist Church, later known simply as the Christian Church, or "Connection". The O'Kelly-led schism is recognized as the first schism of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Some of its members also became involved in the related Stone-Campbell movement. O'Kelly later published his position in a tract entitled ''The Author's Apology for Protesting against the Methodist Episcopal Government'' (1798). In this piece O'Kelly claims that the Methodist Bishops

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was a British-American Methodist minister who became one of the first two bishop (Methodist), bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the col ...

and Thomas Coke were not elected to the episcopacy by the Conference. O'Kelly is answered in 1800 by

Nicholas Snethen Nicholas Snethen (November 15, 1769 – May 30, 1845) was an American farmer, itinerant preacher, minister, and church leader. He served as chaplain of the US House of Representatives and was a founder of the Methodist Protestant Church in the ...

. Snethen accuses O'Kelly of propagating "notorious falsehoods." O'Kelly, not one to let the argument rest, responds with his ''A Vindication of an Apology.'' The Christian Connection or Christian Church, as it was later more commonly known, merged with the

Congregational churches Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

in 1931 to form the

Congregational Christian Churches The Congregational Christian Churches was a Protestant Christian denomination that operated in the U.S. from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church in a merger to become the United C ...

. In 1957, a majority of churches from this association merged with the

Evangelical and Reformed Church The Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R) was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) with the Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA). ...

, developed by German Americans from their historic immigrant traditions, to form the present

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

. O'Kelly died in 1826 in

Chatham County, North Carolina Chatham County ( )
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Car ...

, aged 90 or 91.

O'Kelly's Chapel O'Kelly's Chapel is a historic chapel located near Farrington, North Carolina, Farrington, Chatham County, North Carolina. Named after Reverend James O'Kelly, it was built about 1900. It is a modest one-room rural chapel with Gothic Revival archi ...

, built about 1900 and named after him, was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1985.

External links

* , at ''The Restoration Movement Pages'',

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okelly, James 1735 births 1826 deaths Methodist ministers American Methodist clergy American abolitionists Religious leaders from Virginia Methodist abolitionists Christian Connection Founders of new religious movements

Life

See also

External links