716 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



of 6,710 ministers, 1 1,123 churches, and l. 

 members. 



Meth'odist. A branch of the Christian 

 Church which originated in Kngland during the 

 Eighteenth Century. In ITlMJ John Wrsley. 

 with his brother Charles and a IV \v other aS8O- 



at Oxford, organi/ed a meeting for their 

 mutual moral improvement. They were soon 

 joined by others, among them .Mr.' 1 lervey and 

 George Whitefield, till at the end of six years 

 they numbered fourteen or fifteen. The term 

 "Methodists" was applied to them on account 

 of their methodical mode of life and work. 

 After his return from Georgia in 17.'>S. \\ Vsley 

 began to preach with great fervor. In the early 

 part of 17oi>. Whitefield set the first example of 

 open-air preaching at Kingswood. near Bristol, 

 addressing an immense crowd of colliers. John 

 \\V>lry. as well as his brother Charles, followed 

 this example. Being denied admission to the 

 churches by the clergy, they preached in private 

 houses, 1 tarns, market places, and the open fields. 

 The converts made by their preaching were 

 either despised or utterly neglected by the Church, 

 and hence Wesley, at their own request, formed 

 them into societies for mutual edification and 

 improvement, called "the United Societies." 

 For their government a few simple rules were 

 proposed by the Wesleys, which, with slight 

 exceptions, are still recognized as the "General 

 Rules" by all branches of the Methodist Church. 

 Methodism strove at first only to restore a 

 purified and intensified spiritual life. The sub- 

 stance of its doctrines is to be found in the writ- 

 ings of John W 7 esley, John Fletcher, Richard 



n, and others, and in the generally uniform 

 teachings of the Methodist pulpit. The articles 

 which Wesley prepared for the Methodist Church 

 in America were taken substantially from the 

 thirty-nine articles of the Church of England. 

 Methodism holds that the salvation or non- 

 salvation of each human being depends solely 

 on his own free action in respect to the enlighten- 

 ing, renewing, and sanctifying in workings of 

 the Holy Spirit; hence it is Arminian in dis- 

 tinction from Calvinistic. It emphasizes the 

 doctrine of assurance, i. e., that the Holy Spirit 



witness of pardon and acceptance to the 

 justified sinner. It also makes prominent the 

 doctrine of Christian perfection, or perfect love. 

 Methodist polity, like the Methodist confession, 

 is to be understood only by regarding Methodism 

 as a revival and missionary movement. Wesley 

 thought as little of establishing a separate church 

 polity as of publishing a separate theology. 

 But the neglect and frequent ridicule of the con- 

 vert > by the clergy of the establishment caused 

 many to relapse; and this led him to consent 

 reluctantly to the appointment of lay preachers. 

 The first assembly that took the name of "con- 

 ference" was held in the Foundery, London, 

 June 25, 1744, and thereafter annually. Se- 

 cession was discouraged, and they distinctly 

 denied that they were dissenters. Previous to 

 the conference of 1744, the greater portion of 

 England had been divided into "circuits," and 

 provision had been made to supply these with 

 preachers for such time as the need of the work 

 seemed to indicate. Wesley's views of ecclesias- 

 tical authority and polity underwent radical 



changes, and led him, at the recognition of the 

 independence of the American colonies, to pro- 

 vide a separate church organi/ation for the 

 Methodists of America, and at his death to per- 

 petuate his work by constituting the " I'nited 

 Societies" a distinct ecclesiastical body in regu- 

 lar legal form. Methodism holds to no inspired 

 or divinely imposed church polity. In (ireut 

 Britain it recognizes but one order of clergy, 

 while in America it has provided two. 



The Methodist Episcopal Church is the original 

 and largest body of Methodists in the United 

 States. Wesley' and Whitefield, during their 

 visits to America, had organized no Methodist 

 societies. In 17t>(>, a class was formed by Philip 

 Embury, greatly assisted by Captain Thomas 

 Webb, an officer of the British Army stationed 

 in New York, one of Wesley's local preachers. 

 Webb preached and formed classes during 17(iS, 

 on Long Island, and in New Jersey, Delaware, 

 and Philadelphia. In the same year the first 

 chapel was dedicated in John Street, New York; 

 and in 1770, the first Methodist Church in Phila- 

 delphia was erected. In 1769, Boardman and 

 Pilmore, the first missionaries sent to America 

 by Wesley, arrived in New York. In 1771, 

 Francis Asbury arrived, and the next year he 

 was appointed by Mr. Wesley superintendent 

 of the American societies. He was soon super- 

 seded by Thomas Rankin. The first American 

 conference was held in 1773, and consisted of 

 ten preachers, all of European birth. The 8CH 

 cieties then aggregated 1,160 members. At the 

 beginning of the revolutionary struggle nearly 

 all the preachers of English descent, except As- 

 bury, returned home. During the war the Eng- 

 lish church in America was nearly extinguished, 

 and the dependence of the Methodists on the 

 English clergy for the sacraments almost entirely 

 failed them. Wesley in 1780, applied to the 

 Bishop of London to ordain at least one presl >yter 

 to administer the sacraments among the America n 

 Methodists, but was refused. Therefore in 1784, 

 Wesley, assisted by the Rev. Thomas Creighton 

 and Richard Whatcoat, presbyters, ordained 

 the Rev. Thomas Coke, LL. D., as superintendent 

 of the American Methodist Churches, with the 

 instruction that Asbury should be assistant 

 superintendent. On Coke's arrival a general 

 conference of sixty ministers met in Baltimore, 

 December 24, 1784, adopted the episcopal form 

 of government, made the episcopal office elect i ve. 

 and held the superintendents amenable to the 

 body of ministers and preachers. The "Sunday 

 Service" and twenty-five "Articles of Religion " 

 were adopted. In 1800, Richard Whatcoat was 

 elected bishop, and in 1808, William McKendree. 

 In 1808, the plan of a delegated general con- 

 ference was adopted. This body, composed of 

 ninety members, held its first session m ISH'. 

 The doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal Church 

 are expressed in the twenty-five "Articles of 

 Religion," which, with the exception of the 

 twenty-third, which recognizes the civil author- 

 ity of the United States, were prepared by Mr 

 Wesley from the thirty-nine articles of the 

 Church of England. 



There are five judicatory bodies, termed re- 

 spectively the "general conference," the "judi- 

 cial conference," the "annual conference," the 



