Methodist or Methodist Movement is a Christian denomination of Protestant historical groups inspired by the life and teachings of John Wesley, an Anglican minister in England. Brothers George Whitefield and John Wesley, Charles Wesley were also important early leaders in the movement. It originated as a revival in the Church of England of the 18th century and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. This movement spread throughout the United Kingdom, the United States, and so on because of the active work of missionaries, today claims some 80 million followers worldwide.
Wesley's theology focuses on the sanctification and effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing Methodist teachings include new births, assurance of salvation, instilling the truth, the possibility of perfection in love, the work of piety, and the primacy of Scripture. Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all mankind and that salvation is available to all; in theology, this view is known as Arminianism. This teaching rejects the Calvinist position that God has established the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and some others are regarded as Calvinistic Methodists and hold on to Calvinistic positions. Methodism emphasizes charity and support for the sick, the poor, and the suffering through compassionate works. These ideals are practiced by the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, public kitchens, and schools to follow Christ's command to spread the gospel and serve all people.
This movement has various forms of worship, from the high church to the low church in the use of liturgis. The denominations that descend from the British Methodist tradition are generally less ritualistic, while American Methodism is more, the Methodist Unity Church in particular. Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition, and Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing many hymnods from the Methodist Church.
The Early Methodists were taken from all walks of life, including the aristocracy, but Methodist preachers brought the message to workers and criminals who tended to be abandoned outside organized religion at the time. In England, the Methodist Church had a major influence in the early decades of the developing working class (1760-1820). In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves who later formed a "black church" in the Methodist tradition.
Video Methodism
Origins
The Methodist Awakening began with a group of men, including John Wesley (1703-1791) and his brother Charles (1707-1788), as a movement within the Church of England in the 18th century. The Wesley brothers founded the "Holy Club" at Oxford University, where John was a colleague and later became a lecturer at Lincoln College. The club meets every week and they systematically begin to live a holy life. They are accustomed to receiving Communion every week, fasting regularly, distancing themselves from most forms of entertainment and luxury and frequenting the sick and poor, and prisoners. The fellowship is branded as "Methodist" by their fellow students because of the way they use "rules" and "methods" to go about their religious affairs. John, who is the club's leader, accepts the taunts and turns them into honors.
In 1735, at the invitation of the founder of Georgia Colony, General James Oglethorpe, both John and Charles Wesley left for America to become ministers for colonizers and missionaries to Native Americans. Unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England because they did not have pure Christian faith. They sought help from Peter Boehler and other members of the Moravian Church. At the Moravian service at Aldersgate on May 24, 1738, John experienced what came to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt the "oddly warm heart". He noted in his journal: "I feel I believe in Christ, only Christ, for salvation, and assurance is given to me that He has taken away my sins, even me, and saved me from the law of sin and death." Charles had reported a similar experience a few days earlier. Considered an important moment, Daniel L. Burnett writes: "The importance of [John] Wesley's Aldersgate Experience is monumental... Without it the names of Wesley and Methodism may be nothing more than an obscure footnote on the pages of church history."
Wesley brothers immediately began to proclaim salvation through faith to individuals and groups, in homes, in religious communities, and in some churches that did not close the door for evangelical preachers. John Wesley was under the influence of Dutch theologian, Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609). Arminius has denied the Calvinis doctrine that God has set the people the choice for eternal happiness while others are perishing forever. Instead, George Whitefield (1714-1770), Howell Harris (1714-1773), and Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791) are famous for Calvinistic Methodists.
George Whitefield, returning from his own mission in Georgia, joined the Wesley brothers in what quickly became a national crusade. Whitefield, once a Wesleys student at Oxford, became known for his unorthodox and generational ministry, where he was dedicated to open-air sermons - reaching thousands of people. A key step in the development of John Wesley's ministry is, like Whitefield, to preach in fields, burials and churches for those who do not regularly attend parish services. Consequently, many of the Methodist followers were cut off from the Church of England; Wesley remained a cleric of the Established Church and insisted that Methodists attend their local parish church as well as Methodist meetings.
Faced with evolving pastoral and evangelical responsibilities, Wesley and Whitefield pointed to preachers and lay leaders. Methodist preachers focus primarily on the evangelization of those who have been "ignored" by the established Church of England. Wesley and his assistant organized new converts into Methodist society. These societies are divided into groups called classes - intimate encounters in which individuals are encouraged to confess their sins to one another and to build each other. They also took part in love feasts that made it possible to share testimony, a key feature of early Methodism. The growing numbers and the increasingly impressive animosity of the revival changed the deep sense of their corporate identity. The three teachings the Methodist sees as the foundation of the Christian faith are:
- Everyone, naturally, "died in sin", and, consequently, "children of wrath".
- They are "justified by faith alone"
- Faith produces inner and outward sanctity.
Wesley's organizational skills soon established him as the main leader of the movement. Whitefield is a Calvinist, while Wesley is an outspoken opponent of the doctrine of predestination. Wesley argues (against the Calvinist doctrine) that Christians can enjoy the second blessing - all sanctification (of Christian perfection) in this life: to love God and their neighbor, meekness and humility and not to do all evil. These differences put pressure on the alliance between Whitefield and Wesley, with Wesley becoming very hostile towards Whitefield in a very close relationship. Whitefield consistently pleaded with Wesley not to allow theological differences to sever their friendship and, in time, their friendship be restored, although this was seen by many Whitefield followers as a doctrinal compromise.
Many established church clergy fear that the new doctrine announced by Methodists, such as the necessity of a new birth for salvation - the first work of grace, the justification by faith and the constant and continuous action of the Holy Spirit upon the believer's soul, will produce adverse effects on the weak mind. Theophilus Evans, an early critic of the movement, even wrote that it was "the natural tendency of their Behavior, in Voice and Gesture and Horrid Expressions, to make People angry." In one of his writings, William Hogarth also attacked Methodists as "enthusiasts" full of "Beliefs, Superstitions, and Fanatism." Other attacks on the Methodists are physically violent - Wesley was almost killed by mobs in Wednesbury in 1743. The Methodists responded vigorously to their critics and thrived despite attacks on them.
Initially, Methodists were only seeking reforms in the English Church (Anglicanism), but the movement gradually departed from the Church. George Whitefield's preference for prayer without preparation rather than fixed forms of prayer at BCP , in addition to his insistence on the importance of new births, made him at odds with the Anglican priests.
As the Methodist community multiplied, and elements of the ecclesiastical system, one by one, were adopted, the offense between John Wesley and the Church of England gradually widened. In 1784, Wesley responded to the shortage of priests in American colonies because of the American Revolutionary War by ordaining preachers to America with the power to administer the sacraments. This is the main reason for the final breakup of Methodism from the Church of England after Wesley's death. This split creates separate denominational groups of churches, ultimately all over the world.
With regard to the position of Methodism in the Christian world, "John Wesley once noted that what God has accomplished in Methodism's development is not a mere human effort but God's work, so it will be defended by God throughout history." , Wesley specifically taught that the spread of the whole doctrine of sanctification is the reason that God raised the Methodist in the world.
The influence of Whitefield and Lady Huntingdon on the Church of England was a factor in the establishment of the Free Church of England in 1844. At the time of Wesley's death there were over 500 Methodist ministers in the British and US colonies. The total membership of the Methodist community in Britain was recorded at 56,000 in 1791, rising to 360,000 in 1836 and 1,463,000 by the national census of 1851.
Early Methodism undergoes a radical and spiritual phase that enables women's authority in church leadership. The role of female preacher comes from the notion that homes should be a place of community care and should encourage personal growth. Methodist women form vulnerable caring communities, extending the role of mothers beyond physical care. Women are encouraged to testify about their faith. But the centrality of the role of women declined sharply after 1790 when the Methodist church became more structured and more dominated by men.
The Wesleyan Education Committee, which dates back from 1838 to 1902, has documented the involvement of the Methodist Church in the education of children. At first most of the effort was made in creating the Sunday School but in 1836 the British Methodist Conference gave its blessing to the creation of "schools in the day".
Methodism spread throughout the British Empire and, mostly through Whitefield's sermons during what historians call the First Revival, in colonial America. After the death of Whitefield in 1770, however, American Methodism entered the more lasting Wesleyan and Arminian phase of development.
Maps Methodism
Theology
The Methodist Church does not adhere to a definitive statement or "confession" of belief, unlike the Westminster Confession used by the Reformed churches or Augsburg Confessions used by Lutheran churches. Many Methodist bodies, such as the African Episcopal Methodist Church and the United Methodist Church, based their doctrinal standards on Wesley Religions Articles, a summary of the Thirty-Nine English Church Chapters that set aside its Calvinistic features. Some Methodist denominations also publish catechisms, which summarize briefly the Christian doctrine. Methodists generally receive the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed as a declaration of the distributed Christian faith. Methodism also affirms traditional Christian belief in the Trinity of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and an orthodox understanding of Jesus' concrete humanity and deity.
Methodism is evangelical in doctrine and characterized by Wesleyan-Arminian theology. John Wesley was studied by Methodists for his interpretation of church practice and doctrine. In essence, John Wesley's theology emphasizes the life of Christian holiness: to love God with all his heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love others as oneself. One popular expression of the Methodist doctrine is in Charles Wesley's songs. Because the enthusiastic congregation was part of the early evangelical movement, Wesleyan theology grew and spread through this channel.
Safety
Methodist Wesleyan identifies with the concept of freedom of the Arminian will, which is contrary to the theological determinism of absolute predestination. Methodism teaches that salvation begins when humans choose to respond to God, which draws individuals close to Him (Wesleyan's doctrine of prehistoric grace), thus teaching synergism. Methodically interpreting Scripture as teaching that the work of saving Jesus Christ is for all (limited atonement) but effective only for those who respond and believe, in accordance with the principles of the Reformation of sola gratia (own grace) and sola fide (faith only). John Wesley taught four key points that are fundamental to Methodism:
- A person is free not only to deny salvation but also to accept it with the act of free will.
- All those who obey the gospel according to the measure of knowledge they are given will be saved.
- The Holy Spirit convinces a Christian about their salvation directly, through the "inner experience" (salvation).
- The Christian in this life is able to achieve Christian perfection and is commanded by God to pursue it.
After the first work of grace, Methodist soteriology emphasizes the importance of pursuing holiness in salvation, a concept summarized in quotation by Methodist evangelist Phoebe Palmer stating that "justification will end with me if I refuse to be holy." Thus, for Methodists, "true faith... can not live without results." Methodism, including the movement of holiness, thus teaches that "justification [made] depends on obedience and progress in sanctification", emphasizes "profound dependence on Christ not only comes to faith but remains in faith." John Wesley taught that keeping the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, as well as engaging in the work of piety and the works of mercy, is "essential to our sanctification."
Sacrament
Methodists argue that the sacrament is a sacred act of the divine institution. Methodism has inherited the liturgy from Anglicanism, although American Methodist theology tends to have a stronger "sacramental emphasis" than the Evangelical Evangelicals hold.
Similar to most Protestants, Methodists recognize the two sacraments as instituted by Christ: Baptism and Holy Communion (also called "Lord's Supper", rarely "Eucharist"). Most Methodist churches practice infant baptism, in anticipation of later responses (confirmation), and believers' baptism. The Catechism for the use of the so-called Methodists states that, "[in the Eucharist] Jesus Christ is present with those who worship and give themselves to them as their Lord and Savior." The explanation of how Christ's presence is manifested in the Eucharistic element is "Holy Mystery".
Methodist churches generally recognize the sacrament as a means of grace. John Wesley argues that God also bestows grace through other established means such as public and private prayer, Bible reading, study and preaching, public worship, and fasting. This is the Work of Piety. Wesley assumes that grace is "outward signs, words, or actions... To be the ordinary channel in which [God] can convey to man, prevent [ie, prepare], justify or sanctify mercy". Specifically, the Methodist way, like classroom meetings, provides a prime example for these prudent cautious ways.
Teaching resources
Traditionally, Methodists declare the Bible (Old and New Testaments) to be the only inspired Scriptures and the ultimate source of authority for Christians. The Methodist understanding of the historical Scriptures is based on the superstructure of Wesleyan covenant theology. The Methodists, derived from John Wesley's own theological reflection practices, also make use of tradition, which is primarily derived from the teachings of the Church Fathers, as a source of authority. Although imperfect as Scripture, tradition can serve as the lens through which the Scriptures are interpreted. Theological discourse for Methodists almost always uses the Bible, reading in the wider theological tradition of Christianity.
It is the historical position of the church that every disciplined theological work demands careful use of the mind. By reason, it is said, one reads and is able to interpret the Bible coherently and consistently. By reason of someone asking questions about faith and trying to understand God's actions and will. Methodism insists that personal salvation always implies Christian mission and service to the world. The holiness of the Bible is more than personal piety; God's love is always associated with the love of neighbors and a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world.
Worship and liturgy
The methodology is blessed by Wesley's brothers with worship marked by double practice: the ritual liturgical Book of the General Prayer on the one hand and the informal informal service on the other.
This dual practice is typically Methodist because the worship in the Church of England is based, by law, solely on the Book of Common Prayer and worshiping in non-conformist churches almost exclusively that "word service" sermon, with Holy Communion observed rarely. John Wesley's influence means that, in Methodism, the two practices are combined, a situation that remains a feature of movement. The Lovefeast, traditionally practiced every quarter, is another practice that characterizes the early Methodism as John Wesley taught that it is apostolic order.
In America, the United Methodist Church and Free Methodist Church, as well as the Primitive Methodist Church and the Wesley Methodist Church, have various forms of worship, from high churches to low churches in liturgical use. When Methodists in America were separated from the Church of England because of the American Revolution, John Wesley himself gave a revised version of the Book of Common Prayer called The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occassive Services (1784). Today, the major liturgical books of United Methodist Church are The United Methodist Hymnal and The United Methodist Book of Worship . The congregation uses liturgy and ritual as an optional resource, but its use is not mandatory. These books contain the liturgy of the church generally derived from Wesley's Sunday Services and from the twentieth-century liturgical renewal movement.
The British Methodist Church is less commanded or liturgy in worship, but uses the Methodist Worship Book (similar to the Common Worship Church), which contains worship (liturgy) and rubrics for ritual celebrations others, such as marriage. The Bookwriting is also ultimately derived from Wesley Sunday Service .
Characteristic of American Methodism is obedience to the Kerajaanantide season, covering the last 13 weeks before Advent, thus dividing the long season after Pentecost into two distinct segments. During the British Empire, the Methodist liturgy has traditionally emphasized charity work and reduced the suffering of the poor.
A second characteristic liturgical feature of Methodism is the use of the Service Agreement. Although practices vary among national churches, most Methodist churches each year follow John Wesley's call to renew their covenant with God. It is common, at least in British Methodism, for each session to hold an Annual Service Agreement on the first convenient Sunday of the year, and the Wesley Treaty Prayer is still used, with slight modifications, in the order of service:
Christ has many ministries to do. Some are easy, others are difficult. Some bring honor, others bring reproach. Some fit for natural tendencies and worldly interests, others contradict both... But the power to do all these things is given to us in Christ, which strengthens us.
... I'm no longer mine but yours. Put me in what you want, rank me with who you are; make me do, make me suffer; let me be hired for you or set aside for you, elevated to you or demeaned to you; let me be full, let me empty, let me have everything, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly provide everything for your pleasure and your exile.
When John Wesley advocated evangelism outside the home, revival services were traditional Methodism worship practices that were often held in churches, as well as at camp meetings and in revivals in tents.
Lifestyle
The Early Methodists wore plain clothes, with the Methodist minister condemning "high heads, ruffles, ropes, gold, and 'expensive clothes' in general". John Wesley recommends that the Methodist read his thoughts on On Dress every year; In the sermon, John Wesley expressed his desire for Methodist: "Let me see, before I die, Methodist congregation, full of plain clothes like the Quaker congregation". The 1858 Discipline of Wesleyan Methodist Connection thus states that "we shall be... ejoin to all those who fear the plain clothes of God". Peter Cartwright, a Methodist revivalist, states that in addition to wearing plain clothes, the early Methodists distinguished themselves from other members of the community by fasting once a week, not drinking alcohol, and observantly observing the Sabbath. The early Methodists did not participate in, and condemned, "the habits of words" including "playing cards, horse racing, gambling, attending the theater, dancing (both in play and ball), and cockfighting".
Over time, many of these practices have been gradually relaxed in mainstream Methodism, although such practices of teetotalism and fasting are still greatly encouraged, in addition to current gambling prohibitions; denominations of conservative consecrated movements, such as Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Bible Methodist Connection of Churches, continue to reflect the spirit of historical Methodist practice wearing plain clothes, encouraging members in "abstain from the use of luxurious hairstyles, jewelry- -to include rings, and expensive clothing for any reason ". The General Rule of the Methodist Church in America, which is one of the doctrinal standards of many Methodist Churches, promotes first-day Sabbatarianism because they require "attending all the ordinances of God" including "the worship of God in general" and forbidding "the day of the Lord, ordinary work in it or by buying or selling ".
Contemporary Methodism
Today, millions belong to the Methodist church, present in all the inhabited continents. Although Methodism declined in England and North America, it grew elsewhere; quickly, for example, South Korea.
There is no single Methodist Church with universal juridical authority; Methodists are included in several independent denominations or "connexions". The majority of Methodists are members of the denomination who are part of the international World Methodist Council, an association of 80 Methodist, Wesleyan and associated united and united churches, representing over 80 million people. In 1956, the World Methodist Council established a permanent headquarters in the United States in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.
I see the whole world as my parish; so far I mean, that, in any part of me, I judge it to meet, true, and my limited task, to proclaim to all who hear, good tidings of salvation.
Europe
Methodism is prevalent in the English-speaking world but it is also held in mainland Europe, largely due to missionary activities of the British and American Methodists. British missionaries are primarily responsible for establishing Methodism throughout Ireland and Italy. Today United Methodist Church (UMC) - a large denomination based in the United States - has presence in Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Collectively Europe or Eurasia region of UMC is more than 100,000 Methodists. Other smaller Methodist groups exist in Europe.
United Kingdom
The original body that was founded as a result of Wesley's work came to be known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church. The schism in the original Church, and an independent revival, led to the formation of a number of separate denominations calling themselves "Methodist". The greatest is the Primitive Methodist church, which comes from a revival at Mow Cop in Staffordshire, Bible Christian and Methodist New Connexion. The original church is known as the Wesley Methodist Church to distinguish it from these bodies. In 1907, a small group of associates with Methodist New Connexion and Bible Christian Church brought the United Methodist Church (UK), then three mainstream British Methodistism united in 1932 to form the present British Methodist Church. The fourth largest denomination in the country, the Methodist Church of Great Britain has about 202,000 members in 4,650 congregations.
Early methodism was particularly prominent in Devon and Cornwall, which was a major center of activity by the Christian faction of the Methodist Bible. Bible Christians produce many preachers, and send many missionaries to Australia. Methodism also grew rapidly in the old mill towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where preachers emphasize that the working class is equal to the upper class in the eyes of God. In Wales, three elements separately welcomed Methodism: Welsh-speaking, English-speaking, and Calvinistic.
The British Methodist, especially the Primitive Methodist, took a leading role in the 19th and early 19th century simplicity movements. Methodically look at alcoholic beverages, and alcoholism, as the root of many social ills and try to persuade people to distance themselves from all this. Temperance appeals strongly to the Methodist's teachings about sanctification and perfection. To this day, alcohol remains prohibited in place Methodist, but this restriction is no longer valid for domestic events in private homes (ie ministers may drink at home in manse). The choice to consume alcohol is now a personal decision for each member.
British methodism has no bishop; however, is always characterized by a strong central organization, Connexion, which organizes the annual Conference (note that the Church maintains a "relationship" of the 18th century for many purposes). Connexion is divided into Districts with responsibilities of the Chairman (who may be male or female). Methodist districts often correspond roughly, geographically, to districts - as did the British Church Diocese. The districts are divided into circuits organized by the Circuit Meeting and are led and administered primarily by a superintendent minister. Ministers are appointed to the Circuit rather than individual churches, although some churches in big cities, known as "Central Hall", are designated as circuits within themselves - from Westminster Central Hall, across from Westminster Abbey in central London, is best known. Most circuits have fewer ministers than churches, and most services are led by local preachers, or by supernumerary ministers (ministers who have retired, called supernumeraries because they are not counted for official purposes in the number of ministers for the circuits in which they are registered). Supervisors and other ministers are assisted in the leadership and administration of the Circuit by Steward Circuit, a layman who may have special skills collectively with ministers forming what is usually known as the Circle Leadership Team.
The Methodist Council also helps manage a number of schools, including two prominent public schools in East Anglia: Culford School and Leys School. It helps to promote a holistic education with a strong Christian ethos.
Other Methodist denominations in England include: The Salvation Army, founded by Methodist Minister William Booth in 1865; Free Methodist Church, the church of holiness; The church of the Nazarene; The Wesleyan Union of Reforms, the early secession of the Wesleyan Methodist Church; and Independent Connexion Methodist.
ireland
John Wesley visited Ireland on at least twenty-four occasions and founded the class and society. The Methodist Church in Ireland (Ireland:
Eric Gallagher was President of the Church in the 1970s, becoming a well-known figure in Irish politics. He is one of the Protestant church groups who met with IRA Temporary officers in Feakle, County Clare to try to be a broker of peace. The meeting was unsuccessful due to Garda raids at the hotel.
Italy
The Italian Methodist Church (Italian:
Italian Methodism started with the Italian Free Church, the British Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, and the American Methodist Episcopal Mission. These movements flowered in the second half of the 19th century in a new climate of political and religious liberty that was established with the end of the Papal States and the unification of Italy in 1870.
Bertrand M. Tipple, minister of the American Methodist Church in Rome, founded a college there in 1914.
In April 2016 the World Methodist Council opened the Ecumenical Office in Rome. The Methodist leaders and the Roman Catholic Church leader, Pope Francis, together dedicate a new office. This helps facilitate Methodist relationships with the wider Church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.
Nordic and Baltic States
The "United Methodist Nordic and Baltic" region includes the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland) and the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). Methodism was introduced to the Nordic countries at the end of the 19th century. Today the United Methodist Church in Norway (Norway: Metodistkirken ) is the largest church in the region with a total of 10,684 members (by 2013).
French
The French Methodist movement was founded in 1820 by Charles Cook in the village of Congà © nies in the Languedoc near NÃÆ'®mes and Montpellier. The most important chapel of the department was built in 1869, where there has been a Quaker community since the 18th century.
Methodism exists today in France with various names. The most famous is the Union of Evangelical Methodist Churches (French: l'Union de l'Eglise Evangà ©  © lique MÃÆ'  © thodiste ) or UEEM. This is an autonomous regional conference of the United Methodist Church and was the fruit of a fusion in 2005 between "French Methodist Church" and "Union of Methodist Churches". By 2014, UEEM has about 1,200 members and 30 ministers.
German
The Protestant-Methodist Church (German: Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche ) is the name of United Methodist Church in Germany and Austria. The German Church has about 52,031 members by 2015. Members are organized into three conferences: north, east and south. Methodism is most common in southern Saxony and around Stuttgart.
British Methodist missionaries introduced Methodism to Germany in 1830, originally in the WÃÆ'¼rttemberg region. In 1859, the first Methodist minister arrived at WÃÆ'¼rttemberg. Methodism also spread in Germany through missionary work of the American Episcopal Methodist Church, which began in 1849 in Bremen, soon spread to Saxony. Initial opposition to Methodism partially rooted in theological differences - the northern and eastern regions of Germany were dominated by Lutherans and Reformed, and Methodists were dismissed as fanatics. Methodism is also hampered by the unfamiliar structure of the church (Connectionalism or Konnexionalismus), which is more centralized than the hierarchical government in the Lutheran and Reformed churches. After World War I, the Weimar Constitution of 1919 allowed the Methodists to worship freely and many new chapels were erected. In 1936, the German Methodist chose their first bishop.
Hungarian
The first Methodist mission in Hungary was founded in 1898 at BÃÆ'¡skska, in a mostly German-speaking city Verbà ¢ ¡sz (since 1918 part of the Serbian Vojvodina province). In 1905 a Methodist mission was established also in Budapest. In 1974, a group later known as the Hungarian Evangelical Guild broke away from the Hungarian Methodist Church over the question of communist state intervention.
Today, the United Methodist Church in Hungary, known locally as the Hungarian Methodist Church (Hungarian: MagyarorszÃÆ'¡gi Methodist EgyhÃÆ'¡z ), has 453 member recognition in 30 hearings. It runs two student houses, two homes for the elderly, Forray Methodist College, Wesley Scout and the Methodist and Archive Library. The Church has a special service among the Romans.
The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship ( MagyarorszÃÆ'¡gi EvangÃÆ' Â © liumi TestvÃÆ' Â © rkÃÆ'¶zÃÆ'¶ssÃÆ' Â © g ) also remain Methodist in the organization and theology. It has eight full assemblies and several mission groups, and runs various charitable organizations: hostels and public kitchens for the homeless, a non-denominational theological college, a dozen schools of various kinds, and four parental homes.
There are currently a dozen Methodist/Wesleyan churches and mission organizations in Hungary, but all the Methodist churches lost their official church status under the new law passed in 2011, when the number of officially recognized churches in the country fell to 14. However, the list recognized by the Churches was extended to 32 by the end of February 2012. It gave recognition to the Hungarian Methodist Church and Salvation Army, which was banned in Hungary in 1949 but returned back in 1990, but not to the Hungarian Evangelical Guild. This law has been severely criticized by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe as discriminatory.
The Hungarian Methodist Church, Salvation Army, and the Church of Nazareth and other Wesleyan groups formed the Wesley Theological Alliance for theological and publishing purposes in 1998. The Alliance currently has 10 Wesleyan churches and organizations. The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship is not hers and has its own publishing arm.
Russian
The Methodist Church erected fortresses in Russia - Saint Petersburg to the west and Vladivostok territory to the east, with large central Methodist centers in the center, in Moscow and Ekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk). Methodists began their work in the west among Swedish immigrants in 1881 and began their work in the east in 1910. On June 26, 2009, Methodists celebrated the 120th year since Methodism arrived in Czarist Russia by establishing a new Methodist center in Saint Petersburg. The Methodist Presence continued in Russia for 14 years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 through the deed of Anna Eklund. In 1939, political antagonism obstructed the work of the Church and the deacon Anna Eklund was forced to return to his native Finland. After 1989, the Soviet Union enabled an increase in religious freedom and this continued after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. During the 1990s, Methodism experienced a wave of strong revival in the country. Three sites in particular carry a torch - Samara, Moscow, and Ekaterinburg. Today, United Methodist Church in Eurasia has 116 hearings, each with an indigenous priest. There are currently 48 students enrolled in the residency and extension programs at the United Methodist Seminary in Moscow.
Caribbean
Methodism came to the Caribbean in 1760 when the planter, lawyer and Chairman of the Tehran Consultative Assembly, Nathaniel Gilbert (c 1719-1774), returned to the sugar garden house in Antigua. Methodist revivals spread in the British West Indies because of the work of British missionaries. Missionaries founded a society that would later become the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and America (MCCA). MCCA has about 62,000 members in more than 700 congregations, served by 168 priests. There is a smaller Methodist denomination that has separated itself from the mother church.
Antigua
The story is often told that in 1755, Nathaniel Gilbert, while he was recovering, read a treatise from John Wesley, the Application of Men of Reason and Religion sent to him by his brother Francis. As a result of reading this book Gilbert, two years later, went to England with three of his slaves and there in a guestroom meeting arranged at Wandsworth on January 15, 1759, met with pastor John Wesley. He returned to the Caribbean the same year and on subsequent visits began preaching to his slaves in Antigua.
When Nathaniel Gilbert died in 1774 his work in Antigua was continued by his brother Francis Gilbert to about 200 Methodists. However, within a year, Francis fell ill and had to return to England and the work was done by Sophia Campbell ("a Negro") and Mary Alley ("a Mulatto"), two dutiful females who guard the herd along with classes and meetings prayer as best as possible.
On April 2, 1778, John Baxter, a local clergyman and skilled shipbuilder from Chatham in Kent, England, landed in the English port of Antigua (now called Nelson's Dockyard) where he was offered a post at the shipyard naval vessels. Baxter is a Methodist and has heard about Gilberts' work and their need for a new preacher. He began to preach and meet with Methodist leaders, and within a year the Methodist community has grown to 600 people. In 1783, the first Methodist chapel was built in Antigua, with John Baxter a local preacher, whose wooden structure housed about 2,000 people.
St. Bart's
It was at this time that in 1785 William Turton (1761-1817) a son of a planter from Barbadian, met John Baxter in Antigua, and later as a layman assisting in Methodist work in Swedish colony St Bartholomew from 1796.
In 1786, a missionary effort in the Caribbean was officially recognized by the Conference in England, and in the same year Pdt. Dr. Thomas Coke, who had been appointed Church Inspector two years earlier in America by Wesley, was traveling to Nova Scotia, but providence forced his ship to Antigua.
Jamaica
In 1818 Edward Fraser (1798 - Aft, 1850), a magnificent slave of Barbados, moved to Bermuda and later met with new minister James Dunbar. Methodist Minister Nova Scotia noted the seriousness and commitment of young Fraser to his congregation and encouraged him by appointing him as an assistant. In 1827, Fraser helped to build a new chapel. He was later released and accepted at the Methodist Ministry to serve in Antigua and Jamaica.
Barbados
After William J. Shrewsbury preached in the 1820s, Sarah Ann Gill (1779-1866), a free-born black woman, used civil disobedience in an attempt to thwart a judge's decision that prevented parishioners from holding prayer meetings. In the hope of building a new chapel, he paid an incredible £ 1,700-0s-0d and eventually had a militia appointed by the Governor to protect his home from demolition.
In 1884 an attempt was made on autonomy with the formation of two Western Indian Conferences, but in 1903 the attempt failed. New in the 1960s other attempts were made on autonomy. This second attempt resulted in the emergence of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and America in May 1967.
Francis Godson (1864-1953), a Methodist minister, who had served briefly in several Caribbean islands, eventually immersed himself in helping those in trouble in the First World War in Barbados. He was then appointed to the Legislative Council of Barbados, and fought for pension rights. He was later followed by Barbadian Augustus Rawle Parkinson (1864-1932), who was also the first principal of Wesley Hall School, Bridgetown in Barbados (celebrating its 125th birthday in September 2009).
In more recent times in Barbados, Victor Alphonso Cooke (born 1930) and Lawrence Vernon Harcourt Lewis (born 1932) were a powerful influence on the Methodist Church on the island. The contemporary and late member of the Methodist Church Dalkeith, is a former secretary of the University of the West Indies, a consultant to Canada Training Aid Program and a writer - Francis Woodbine Blackman (1922-2010). It was his published research and work, which illuminated a lot of information about Caribbean Methodism.
Africa
Most Methodist denominations in Africa follow the British Methodist tradition and see the Methodist Church of Great Britain as their mother church. Originally modeled on British structures, since independence most of these churches have adopted episcopal models.
Nigeria
The Methodist Church of Nigeria is one of the largest Methodist denominations in the world and one of the largest Christian churches in Nigeria, with some two million members in 2000 congregations. It has seen exponential growth since the turn of the millennium.
Christianity was founded in Nigeria with the arrival in 1842 of the Wesleyan Methodist missionaries. He came in response to a missionary request by a former slave who returned to Nigeria from Sierra Leone. From mission stations established in Badagry and Abeokuta, the Methodist church spread to various parts of the country west of the Niger River and part of the north. In 1893, missionaries from the Primitive Methodist Church arrived from Fernando Po, an island off the southern coast of Nigeria. From there the Methodist Church spread to other parts of the country, east of the River Niger and also to the north. The church to the west of the Niger River and the north is known as the District of Western Nigeria and eastern Niger and other parts of the north as the District of Eastern Nigeria. Both exist independently of each other until 1962 when they formed the Nigeria Methodist Church Conference. The conference consists of seven districts. The Church continues to spread to new territories and has established a department for evangelism and appoints an evangelical director. The episcopal system adopted in 1976 was not fully accepted by all parts of the church until the two parties united and decided to end the dispute. A new constitution was ratified in 1990. The system is still episcopal but the points that cause dissatisfaction are changed to be acceptable by both parties. Today, the Methodist Church of Nigeria has a archbishop, eight archbishops and 44 bishops.
Ghana
Methodist Church Ghana is one of the largest Methodist denominations, with approximately 800,000 members in 2,905 trials, served by 700 pastors. It has a brotherly relationship with the British Methodist church and United Methodist around the world.
Methodism in Ghana emerged as a result of the missionary activities of Wesley Methodist Church, inaugurated with the arrival of Joseph Rhodes Dunwell to the Gold Coast in 1835. Like the mother church, the Methodist Church in Ghana was founded by the Protestant Background people. Roman Catholic and Anglican Catholic missionaries have come to the Gold Coast since the 15th century. A school was established on Cape Coast by the Anglican during the time of Philip Quaque, a priest of Ghana. Those who leave this school have copies of the Bible and studies supplied by the Christian Science Deployment Institute. A member of the resulting Bible study group, William De-Graft, requested the Bible through Captain Potter from the Congolese ship . Not only the Bible was sent, but also a Methodist missionary. In the first eight years of Church life, 11 of 21 missionaries working on the Gold Coast died. Thomas Birch Freeman, who arrived on the Gold Coast in 1838 was a pioneer in missionary expansion. Between 1838 and 1857 he brought Methodism from coastal areas to Kumasi in the interior of Asante on the Gold Coast. He also founded Methodist Societies in Badagry and AbeoKuta in Nigeria with the help of William De-Graft.
In 1854, the church was organized into a circuit that formed a district with T. B. Freeman as chairman. Freeman was replaced in 1856 by William West. The district was divided and expanded to cover areas in the Gold Coast and Nigeria at the synod of 1878, a move that was confirmed at the British Conference. The district is the Gold Coast District, with T.R. Picot as chairman and Yoruba and Popo District, with John Milum as chairman. Methodist evangelization on the northern Gold Coast began in 1910. After a long period of conflict with the colonial government, missionary work was established in 1955. Paul Adu was the first indigenous missionary to the northern Gold Coast.
In July 1961, the Methodist Church in Ghana became autonomous, and called the Methodist Church of Ghana, based on the deed of establishment, part of the Constitution and the Order of the Church Formation .
South Africa
The Methodist Church operates in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland, with limited presence in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. This is a member church of the World Methodist Council.
Methodism in South Africa began as a result of the work of lay Christians by an Irish soldier from the British Regiment, John Irwin, who was stationed at the Cape and began a prayer meeting as early as 1795. The first lay lay method on Cape, George Middlemiss, was a soldier from regiment to -72 British Army stationed on the Cape in 1805. This foundation paved the way for missionary work by Methodist missionaries from England, many of whom sent missionaries with British settlers from 1820 to the West and the Eastern Cape. Among the most famous of the early missionaries were Barnabas Shaw and William Shaw. The largest group is the Wesleyan Methodist Church, but there are other people who joined together to form the Methodist Church of South Africa, which came to be known as the Methodist Church in South Africa.
The Methodist Church in South Africa is the largest mainline denomination in South Africa - 7.3 percent of South Africans record their religious affiliations as 'Methodists' in the last national census.
Asia
China
Methodism was brought to China in the autumn of 1847 by the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first missionaries sent out were Judson Dwight Collins and Moses Clark White, who sailed from Boston on April 15, 1847, and reached Foochow on 6 September. They were followed by Henry Hickok and Robert Samuel Maclay, who arrived April 15, 1848. In 1857 he baptized the first convert in respect of his labor. In August 1856, a church built of brick, called the "True God Church" (???), the first church building founded in Foochow by the Protestant Mission, dedicated to worshiping God. In the winter of the same year, another brick church built, located on a hill on the outskirts of the city on the southern edge of Min, was completed and sanctified, the so-called "Celestial Peace Church" (???). In 1862, the number of members was 87. The Foochow Conference was organized by Isaac W. Wiley on December 6, 1867, by which time the number of members and probation had reached 2,011.
Pdt. Hok Chau ?? (Also known as Lai-Tong Chau, ???) was the first Chinese priest ordained in the Southern Chinese Methodist Church District (incumbent 1877-1916). Benjamin Hobson (1816-1873), a medical missionary sent by the London Missionary Society in 1839, founded the highly successful Wai Ai Clinic Liang Fa (Leung Fat in Cantonese, ??, 1789-1855, ordained ) by the London Missionary Society), Hok Chau and others work there. Pdt. Liang (age 63) baptized Chau (young enough) in 1852. The British-based Methodist Church sent missionary George Piercy to China. In 1851, Piercy went to Guangzhou (Canton), where he worked in a trading company. In 1853, he started a church in Guangzhou. In 1877, Chau was ordained by the Methodist Church, where he became pastor for 39 years.
In 1867, the mission sent the first missionaries to Central China, who began working at Kiukiang. In 1869, missionaries were also sent to the capital of Beijing, where they laid the foundations of the work of the North China Mission. In November 1880, the West China Mission was established in Sichuan Province. In 1896, work in Hinghua prefecture (modern Putian) and the surrounding area was also organized as a Mission Conference.
In 1947, the Methodist Church of the Republic of China celebrated its centenary. But in 1949, the Methodist Church moved to Taiwan with the Kuomintang government. On June 21, 1953, the Taipei Methodist Church was established, then local churches and chapels with baptized members numbered more than 2,500. Various types of educational, medical and social services are provided (including Tunghai University).
In 1972 the Methodist Church in the Republic of China became autonomous and the first bishop was founded in 1986.
India
Methodist came to India twice, in 1817 and in 1856, according to P. Dayanandan who has conducted extensive research on the subject. Thomas Coke and six other missionaries sailed to India on New Year's Day in 1814. Coke, then 66, died on the way. Pdt. James Lynch was the man who finally arrived in Madras in 1817 at a place called Black Town (Broadway), which came to be known as George Town. Lynch led the first Methodist missionary on March 2, 1817, in a stable.
The first Methodist Church was dedicated in 1819 at Royapettah. A chapel on Broadway (Black Town) was later built and dedicated on April 25, 1822. The church was rebuilt in 1844 because its earlier structure collapsed. At present there are about 100 Methodist members throughout Madras, and they are Europeans or Eurasians (of European and Indian descent). Among the names associated with the period of Establishment of Methodism in India were Elijah Hoole and Thomas Cryer, who came as missionaries to Madras.
In 1857, the Methodist Episcopal Church began its work in India, and with eminent evangelists such as William Taylor, the Methodist Church of Emmanuel, Vepery, was born in 1874. Evangelist James Mills Thoburn founded the Thoburn Memorial Church in Calcutta in 1873 and the Calcutta Boys' School in 1877.
In 1947 the Wesleyan Methodist Church in India joined the Presbyterians, Anglicans, and other Protestant churches to form the Church of South India while the Methodist Church of America remained affiliated as the Methodist Church of South Asia (MCSA) to the mother church in the United States. Methodist Church until 1981, when by an act which enabled the Methodist Church in India (MCI) to become an autonomous church in India. Today, the Methodist Church in India is governed by the General Conference of the Methodist Church of India led by six Bishops, with headquarters at Methodist Center, 21 YMCA Road, Mumbai, India.
Malaysia and Singapore
Missionaries from England, North America, and Australia set up the Methodist church in many Commonwealth countries. Today it is independent and many of them are stronger than previous "mother" churches. In addition to churches, these missionaries often also set up schools to serve the local community. Examples of good schools are the Methodist Boys School in Kuala Lumpur, the Boys Methodist School in George Town, and Anglo-Chinese School, Girls Methodist School, Methodist School of Wonder Methodist and the Fairfield Methodist School in Singapore.
Philippines
Methodism in the Philippines began shortly after the United States acquired the Philippines in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War. On June 21, 1898, after the Battle of Manila Bay but before the Treaty of Paris, executives of the American Mission Community of the Methodist Episcopal Church expressed their desire to join other Protestant denominations in initiating mission work on the islands and to enter into a Commitment Agreement will facilitate the establishment of such a mission. The first Protestant worship service was conducted on August 28, 1898 by an American military pastor named Rev. George C. Stull. Pdt. Stull was an Orthodox minister ordained from the Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (the next part of the United Methodist Church after 1968).
The Methodist and Wesleyan Traditions of the Philippines are shared by the three largest mainstream Protestant churches in the country: The United Methodist Church, Iglesia Evangelica Methodology En Las Islas Filipinas ("Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands", abbreviated as IEMELIF) , and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. There are also evangelical Protestant churches in Traditional Methodist countries such as Wesleyan Church of Philippines, Inc. Free Philippine Methodist Church, and Nazareth Church. There are also IEMELIF Reform Movement (IRM), Philippine Wesleyan Church (Pilgrim Holiness) Philippines, Bible Methodist Church of Philippines, Inc., Methodist Church of Free Pentecost, Inc., Methodist Christian Fundamental Church, Reformed Methodist Church, Inc., Methodist Church of Living Bread , Inc., and Wesley Evangelical Methodist Church & amp; Mission, Inc.
There are three Episcopal Areas of the Methodist Unity Church in the Philippines: the Baguio Episcopal Region, the Davao Episcopal Region and the Episcopal Region of Manila.
The call for autonomy from groups within United Methodist Church in the Philippines was discussed at several conferences led largely by candidates from the bishop. This led to the formation of Iglesia Metodista in the Philippines in 2010, led by Bishop Lito C. Tangonan, Pdt. George Buenaventura, Chita Milan and Atty. Joe Frank E. ZuÃÆ' Â ± rib. The group finally declared full autonomy and legal incorporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission approved on 7 December 2011 with a paper held by current procurators. There are now 126 local churches in Metro Manila, Palawan, Bataan, Zambales, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, as well as parts of Pampanga and Cavite. Tangon was ordained as the first Chief Bishop of the denomination on March 17, 2012.
South Korea
The Korean Methodist Church (KMC) is one of the largest churches in South Korea with approximately 1.5 million members and 8,306 ministers. Methodism in Korea grew out of British and American missionary work beginning in the late 19th century. The first missionary to be sent was Robert Samuel Maclay of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who sailed from Japan in 1884 and was authorized medical and school permission from Emperor Gojong. The Korean Church became fully autonomous in 1930, retaining its affiliation with the Methodist churches in America and then the United Methodist Church. The Church experienced rapid growth in membership in most of the 20th century - regardless of the Korean War - before it stabilized in the 1990s. KMC is a member of the World Methodist Council and hosted the first Asian Methodist Convention in 2001.
There are many Korean Methodist churches in North America that serve Korean-speaking immigrants, not all of whom are called Methodists.
America
Brazil
The Methodist Church in Brazil was founded by American missionaries in 1867 after the failed initial founding of 1835. The church has grown rapidly ever since, becoming autonomous in 1930. In the 1970s he ordained his first female minister. In 2011, the Brazilian Methodist Church was divided into eight annual conferences with 162,000 members.
Canada
The Methodist father in Canada was William Black (1760-1834) who began preaching in settlements along the New Brunswick Petitcodiac River in 1781. A few years later, the Methodist Episcopal circuit rider from the state of New York in New York began arriving in Canada. West at Niagara, and the northern shore of Lake Erie in 1786, and in the Kingston region on the northeast shore of Lake Ontario in the early 1790s. At that time the area was part of British North America and became part of Upper Canada after the Constitution of 1791. Upper and Lower Canada were both part of the New York New Methodist Episcopal Conference until 1810 when they were transferred to the newly formed Genesee Conference.. Rev. Major George Neal began preaching in Niagara in October 1786, and was ordained in 1810 by Bishop Philip Asbury, at Lyons, the New York Methodist Conference. He was the first saddlebag preacher in Canada, and traveled from Lake Ontario to Detroit for 50 years preaching the gospel.
The spread of Methodism in Canadas was seriously disrupted by the War of 1812 but quickly gained ground loss after the Treaty of Ghent was signed in 1815. In 1817 the British Wesleyans arrived at the Canadas of the Maritimes but in 1820 had agreed, with Episcopal Methodists, to limit their work to the Lower Canada (now Quebec) while the latter will limit themselves to Upper Canada (now Ontario). In the summer of 1818, the first place of worship was established for the Wesley Methodists in York, then Toronto. The First Methodist Church Chapel is built on the corner of King Street and Jordan Street, the entire cost of the building is $ 250, the amount it takes three years for the congregation. In 1828 the Upper Canadian Methodists were allowed by the General Conference in the United States to form an independent Canadian Conference and, in 1833, the Canadian Conference joined Wesleyan England to form Wesley Methodist Church in Canada. In 1884, most Canadian Methodists were taken under the umbrella of the Methodist Church, Canada.
During the nineteenth century Methodism played a major role in Toronto's cultural and political affairs. The city became famous for being very puritanical with strict restrictions on the sale of alcohol and the strict enforcement of the Law of Day God. Sometimes nicknamed "Methodist Rome", the implication is that Toronto is the center of Canada's Methodology because of Ro
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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