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Alternative Title: Methodist church

Methodism, 18th-century movement founded by John Wesley that sought to reform the Church of England from within. The movement, however, became separate from its parent body and developed into an autonomous church. The World Methodist Council (WMC), an association of churches in the Methodist tradition, comprises more than 40.5 million Methodists in 138 countries.



John Wesley was born in 1703, educated in London and Oxford, and ordained a deacon in the Church of England in 1725. In 1726 he was elected a fellow of Lincoln College at Oxford, and in the following year he left Oxford temporarily to act as curate to his father, the rector of Epworth. Wesley was ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1728 and returned to Oxford in 1729. Back in Oxford, he joined his brother Charles and a group of earnest students who were dedicated to frequent attendance at Holy Communion, serious study of the Bible, and regular visitations to the filthy Oxford prisons. The members of this group, which Wesley came to lead, were known as Methodists because of their “methodical” devotion and study.

In 1735, at the invitation of the founder of the colony of Georgia, James Edward Oglethorpe, both John and Charles Wesley set out for the colony to be pastors to the colonists and missionaries (it was hoped) to the Native Americans. Unsuccessful in their pastoral work and having done no missionary work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith. They looked for help to Peter Böhler and other members of the Church of the Brethren, who were staying in England before joining Moravian settlements in the American colonies. John Wesley noted in his Journal that at a Moravian service on May 24, 1738, he “felt” his “heart strangely warmed”; he continued, “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” Charles Wesley had reported a similar experience a few days previously.

Some months later, George Whitefield, also an Anglican clergyman who had undergone a “conversion experience,” invited his friend John Wesley to come to the city of Bristol to preach to the colliers of Kingswood Chase, who lived and worked in the most debased conditions. Wesley accepted the invitation and found himself, much against his will, preaching in the open air. This enterprise was the beginning of the Methodist Revival. Whitefield and Wesley at first worked together but later separated over Whitefield’s belief in double predestination (the belief that God has determined from eternity whom he will save and whom he will damn). Wesley regarded this as an erroneous doctrine and insisted that the love of God was universal.

Under the leadership of Whitefield and then of Wesley, the movement grew rapidly among those who felt neglected by the Church of England. Wesley differed from contemporary Anglicans not in doctrine but in emphasis: he claimed to have reinstated the biblical doctrines that human beings may be assured of their salvation and that the power of the Holy Spirit enables them to attain perfect love for God and their fellows in this life. Wesley’s helpers included only a few ordained clergymen and his brother Charles, who wrote more than 6,000 hymns to express the message of the revival. In spite of Wesley’s wish that the Methodist Society would never leave the Church of England, relations with Anglicans were often strained.

In 1784, when there was a shortage of ordained ministers in America after the Revolution, the Bishop of London refused to ordain a Methodist for the United States. Feeling himself forced to act and believing that biblical principles allowed a presbyter to ordain, Wesley ordained Thomas Coke as superintendent and two others as presbyters. In the same year, by a Deed of Declaration, he appointed a Conference of 100 men to govern the Society of Methodists after his death.

Wesley’s ordinations set an important precedent for the Methodist church, but the definite break with the Church of England came in 1795, four years after his death. After the schism, English Methodism, with vigorous outposts in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, rapidly developed as a church, even though it was reluctant to perpetuate the split from the Church of England. Its system centred in the Annual Conference (at first of ministers only, later thrown open to laypeople), which controlled all its affairs. The country was divided into districts and the districts into circuits, or groups of congregations. Ministers were appointed to the circuits, and each circuit was led by a superintendent, though much power remained in the hands of the local trustees.

The Wesleyan Methodist Church grew rapidly, numbering 450,000 members by the end of the 19th century. Its growth was largest in the expanding industrial areas, where the Methodist faith helped workers—both men and women—to endure economic hardship while they alleviated their poverty. Because their faith encouraged them to live simply, their economic status tended to rise. Consequently, Wesleyan Methodism became a middle-class church that was not immune to the excessive stress on the individual in material and spiritual matters that marked the Victorian age.

At the same time, the autocratic habits of some ministers in authority, notably Jabez Bunting, an outstanding but sometimes ruthless leader, alienated many of the more ardent and democratic spirits, resulting in schisms. The Methodist New Connexion broke off in 1797, the Primitive Methodists in 1811, the Bible Christians in 1815, and the United Methodist Free Churches in 1857. A movement to reunite the Methodist groups began about the turn of the century and succeeded in two stages. In 1907 the Methodist New Connexion, the Bible Christians, and the United Methodist Free Churches joined to form the United Methodist Church; and in 1932 the Wesleyan Methodist Church, the Primitive Methodist Church, and the United Methodist Church came together to form the Methodist Church.

The Methodist Church has shared in the numerical decline that has plagued English churches since about 1910. This decline, together with broader social and cultural changes, inspired a desire to express Wesley’s original ideals in a contemporary form. The church planned new evangelical missions, developed the Kingswood School (Wesley’s foundation) and other boarding schools, and trained Christian teachers at Westminster and Southlands colleges, activities that continued through the rest of the 20th century. Its strong interest in social issues has expanded to include a wide range of national and international problems, especially those connected with race, poverty, and peace.

The Methodist Church immediately became involved in the ecumenical movement and later was a founding member of the British Council of Churches (1942) and the World Council of Churches (1948). Throughout the 20th century it participated in interdenominational dialogues and sought to create unions across denominational boundaries. Relations with the Church of England improved so much by the 1960s that a plan for the reunion of the two churches (in two stages) was approved in principle by both in 1965. The final form of the plan was approved by the Methodist Church with a very large majority in 1969, but the Church of England did not muster a large enough majority to bring the plan into effect. The same happened in 1972, and in 1982 the Anglican church failed to ratify a proposal for a “Covenant for Visible Unity” that was favoured by the United Reformed Church and the Moravian Church as well as by the Methodists. The church also engaged in official discussion with Roman Catholics on national and world levels and found a surprising degree of agreement while it promoted tolerance and understanding on previously contentious issues.

The first woman was ordained to “The Ministry of Word and Sacraments” in 1974. This was the climax of many years of discussion and controversy. It indicated a growing appreciation of the place of women in the life of the church. The theological objections had been carefully considered and rejected before the final step was taken.


Methodism was introduced into America by Irish immigrants who had been converted by John Wesley. Wesley also sent preachers, the most successful of whom was Francis Asbury, a blacksmith, who arrived in 1771. He adapted Wesley’s principles to the needs of the settled communities and of the frontier, but, unlike Wesley, Asbury supported the American Revolution and the new republic. Despite this difference, Wesley sent the presbyters he ordained along with Thomas Coke as superintendent to help Asbury in 1784. In the same year, The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized, and Asbury and Coke allowed themselves to be called bishops.

During the next 50 years the church made remarkable advances led by the circuit riders who preached to the people on the frontier in simple terms. At the same time, the church faced schism over issues of race and slavery. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (1821) and the African Methodist Episcopal Church (1816) were formed because of the racial prejudice experienced by African Americans in the Methodist Episcopal Church. The slavery issue split the Methodist Church into two bodies: the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (organized in 1845). A third church formed as a result of the slavery question, the all-African American Colored (now “Christian”) Methodist Episcopal Church (1870), split from the southern Methodist church. After the Civil War the two main churches grew rapidly and gradually became assimilated to the general pattern of American Protestantism. When it was clear that the old issues no longer divided them, they began to move together. But it was not until 1939 that they formed the Methodist Church, which the smaller Methodist Protestant Church (established 1830) also joined.

The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, lost its African American members before and during the Civil War. In 1939 the Central Jurisdiction was formed for all African American members of the church. It was one of six jurisdictions—administrative units responsible for electing bishops—of the church and the only racial jurisdiction. Unlike the other jurisdictions, which were determined by geography, the Central Jurisdiction was shaped by race, which resulted in a segregated organizational structure and kept white and black Methodists apart. The Central Jurisdiction was also plagued by a lack of resources and the challenge of administering an excessively large geographic area. The Central Jurisdiction was abolished in 1968, and African American Methodists were integrated into the larger church.

The originally German-speaking Evangelical United Brethren Church, itself a union of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ and the Evangelical Church, was united with The Methodist Church in 1968 to form the United Methodist Church. Women were given limited clergy rights in 1924 and were accepted for full ordination in 1956. In 1980 the United Methodist Church elected its first woman bishop, and it has elected more since.


Methodism was introduced into Canada by preachers from the United States and later reinforced by British Methodists. In 1874 The Methodist Church of Canada became autonomous; it went on to negotiate a union with other Canadian nonepiscopal churches to form the United Church of Canada in 1925. An independent Methodist presence in Canada essentially ended with ratification of the union; Canadian Methodists joined the new church, which drew from the traditions of its constituent members to establish the basic beliefs and practices of the new church.


Methodism is marked by an acceptance of the doctrines of historical Christianity; by an emphasis on doctrines that indicate the power of the Holy Spirit to confirm the faith of believers and to transform their personal lives; by an insistence that the heart of religion lies in a personal relationship with God; by simplicity of worship; by the partnership of ordained ministers and laity in the worship and administration of the church; by a concern for the underprivileged and the improvement of social conditions; and (at least in its British form) by the formation of small groups for mutual encouragement and edification.

All Methodist churches accept the Scriptures as the supreme guide to faith and practice. Most welcome the findings of modern biblical scholarship, though the fundamentalist groups among them do not. The churches follow the historical creeds and believe that they are part of the tradition of the Protestant Reformation. They emphasize the teaching of Christian perfection, interpreted as “perfect love,” which is associated with John Wesley, who held that every Christian should aspire to such perfection with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Methodist churches affirm infant baptism. They also regularly receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, in which they believe Christ to be truly present, though they have no precise definition of the manner of his presence. They believe that they are integral parts of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church and that their ministers are true ministers of Word and sacrament in the church of God.

Worship and organization

Patterns of service

Methodist worship everywhere is partly liturgical and partly spontaneous. The general pattern was established by John Wesley, who regularly used the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (which he adapted for use in the United States) and conducted services that included extemporaneous prayer. This tradition continued in British Methodism into the 20th century, when it underwent change. The practice of Anglican morning prayer was eliminated first, and during the Liturgical Movement, when Roman Catholic and Protestant churches revised their liturgies, Anglican Holy Communion was dropped. The Liturgical Movement also influenced the Methodist Service Book (1975) and The Methodist Worship Book (1999) in Britain and, in the United States, the Book of Worship (1965), the Ordinal (1980), and the United Methodist Hymnal, subtitled The Book of United Methodist Worship (1988). The reforms provided new opportunity for congregational participation. The Sunday service, or Holy Communion, restores the traditional fourfold pattern—the offering of bread and wine, the thanksgiving, the breaking of the bread, and the sharing of the elements. Nonliturgical services, which constitute the majority, claim to be spontaneous but are not. In British but not in American Methodism, many services are conducted by lay preachers.

Hymns are important in all branches of Methodism. The most important hymns of British Methodism are those of Charles Wesley, which are mingled with many contemporary hymns as well as those from other traditions. In Hymns and Psalms (1983), certain changes were made to eliminate overtones that Methodists considered sexist. American books contain fewer hymns by Wesley.


In the churches of the British tradition, the Annual Conference is the supreme authority for doctrine, order, and practice. All ministers have equal status, but the president and secretary of the Conference, the chairmen of districts, the secretaries of divisions, and superintendents exercise special duties. District affairs are regulated by Synods, circuits by Circuit Meetings, local societies by Church Councils.

The American tradition is episcopal; the bishops are elected by the Jurisdictional Conferences, which, like the General Conference, meet every four years. Each episcopal area has an Annual Conference and District Conferences, each with its superintendent. The episcopal areas are combined into five jurisdictions that cover the country. Formerly, ministers were ordained first a deacon, then an elder. Since 1996, when the transitional diaconate was abolished, ministers have been ordained as either a deacon or an elder. Both are permanent clergy orders that are distinct in character but equal in authority.

There are Methodist churches in most European countries. Those in Italy and Portugal are of English origin, those in Germany of mixed English and American origin. Methodist churches in the rest of Europe are derived from American Methodism, though they exhibit many similarities in spirituality to the English type.


The ceaseless travels of Thomas Coke were the beginning of the British Methodist missionary tradition. The first area where missions took root was the West Indies; then came Sierra Leone and southern Africa. The Gold Coast, French West Africa, and Nigeria received missionaries not much later, though the climate in many parts of Africa took a toll on missionary lives.

In India there were very few converts until about 1880, when many thousand low-caste Indians in the south joined the Methodist and other churches. In China, missionary work had a checkered career. Although there were mass movements there, the last missionary left China in 1949, when the communists came to power on the mainland. In Australia the Methodist Church began in 1815 and, like the Methodist Church in South Africa, became independent before the end of the 19th century. After World War II the missionary churches became autonomous; only a few small churches remain under the control of the Overseas Division of the British church. Most of the autonomous churches combined with other churches in their countries; for example, the Church of South India, which has been in existence since 1947, includes Anglicans, Methodists, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians.

American Methodists have been equally enthusiastic missionaries, and their greater resources have carried them over still larger areas of the globe. North India, Mexico, most of Latin America, Cuba, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and many parts of Africa possess Methodist churches of the American tradition. The movement toward autonomy took place more slowly in these areas than in the British sphere of influence. The General Conference of the United Methodist Church makes plans for fraternal relations among the newly independent churches.

Rupert E. Davies



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doctrines and beliefs





