Below is a research paper that I wrote for my American Religious History class (Spring 2016).
The Methodist faith came about almost entirely by accident. John and Charles Wesley went to Oxford to study to become ministers. While there they joined prayer meetings where they were supposed to hold themselves accountable. These meetings were so methodical that they began to call themselves Methodists. This paper will dive into deeper detail concerning the Methodist beliefs and their history. There will also be a first-hand account of a Methodist service as well.
When John Wesley was born, the primary religion that was being practiced was Anglican, or the Church of England. Most people lived in rural areas, and were farmers, merchants, or artisans. The middle class was growing as well. Wesley was born into the Puritan faith. His grandparents had been Puritan clergy members. Wesley’s father had converted to the Church of England while studying at Oxford. When John was old enough to go to school, he was given the best education that money could buy. While at Oxford, he studied theology, history, and science. Later in to his time at Oxford, he began to show much more concern for religion. This would become the theme of the rest of his life.
John’s brother Charles was responsible for getting him involved in the prayer meeting. In these meetings, they focused on disciplines of prayer, Bible Study, fasting, receiving Holy Communion, and engaging in social work. John eventually became the unofficial leader of this group, which would become known as the Methodists. John and Charles would eventually become members of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. This society was the missionary group for the Church of England. It was in this society that Methodism would reach the New World.
John and Charles Wesley, as part of their missionary group, came to the New World to evangelize. While on the boat in which they were traveling, they met a group of Arabs. Later on in their journey, a storm hit the ship. The Arabs remained calm throughout this entire process and that impressed John Wesley. After seeing this, Wesley underwent a conversion.
Wesley had three main goals for his mission to Georgia. The first one was to minister to the English speaking colonists who were already there. He also wanted to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. Finally John Wesley wanted to gain the assurance that God loved him. In the end, the Georgia mission only lasted two years. It was far from successful. Many of the people that he tried to minister to were either indifferent or resistant to his ministry. Wesley also had a disastrous romance with one of his parishioners named Sophey Hopkey. As a result of this he was indicted and forced to flee the colony.
Some of the positives that Wesley had in America were that he became well acquainted with the Moravians. The Moravians were German pietists. Their faith was personal, disciplined and intimate, especially in the way they fellowshipped. Wesley thought that the way they did things was very comforting, and he grew very envious of their confident trust and experience in God’s presence.
When Wesley returned to England, he became heavily involved in religious activity. He constantly read, studied, and prayed. He began to celebrate Holy Communion, and his messages shifted to that of unmerited messages of God. He had no set place where he preached. Instead he traveled around from parish to parish. Eventually he became what is known as an open air preacher. Wesley shifted to this after being encouraged by his good friend George Whitefield. Unlike Whitefield, Wesley sought to preach messages of ways for people to grow in grace and become more holy. He also wanted to give these new converts a structure in which to live and worship. Wesley’s message was very appealing and as a result many souls were converted.
Methodism was never intended to be a new church. It was instead intended to be a renewal movement that was within the Church of England. Societies were eventually formed in different towns in England. These societies were both large and small. The societies were later divided into classes. Each class had twelve members with a leader for each. Their meetings were known as class meetings. Every member was expected to attend. As a result of this, Methodism grew.
John Wesley also had to deal with the situation of preachers and education. Most preachers at this time were laymen. They ministered to the particular congregation or society in their spare time. There also arose the question of whether or not to allow women to become preachers. Wesley was well aware of the contributions that many women had in Methodist society. Wesley eventually gave his blessing to them to become ministers.
Eventually, John Wesley realized that these societies that he had created needed a place to meet. The first chapel was built in Bristol. This chapel was also known as the New Room. This chapel was used for worship and preaching. It also had living quarters for Wesley, which he used when he visited the church there. The first chapel in London was known as The Foundry. It got its name because it had been an old foundry, before Wesley had purchased it. Like the chapel in Bristol, the chapel in London had quarters for Wesley.
John Wesley and his followers were not exempt from controversy. There was opposition to his open air preaching. There was also opposition to his bland talk of sin. People thought that he was almost dangerously emotional. Other people thought that Wesley was undermining family values. These people thought that Wesley and his followers spent too much time in church, and doing church work, such as visiting the sick. Most of these people that opposed what Wesley was teaching were supporters of the Church of England. Wesley was persecuted on numerous occasions. In 1741, Wesley was stoned while speaking to a crowd in England. He was able to shrug it off and went back to preaching. For the rest of his life however, he would bear the scar on his forehead.
John Wesley had many themes that made up his Methodist religion. He had been accused multiple times of not being a very effective theologian. Those critics accused him of relying too heavily on personal experiences. One can find his main themes of theology in his journals and diaries. Most of his themes of his theology can be found in his sermons. Wesley also said that songs were crucial to his theology. Most of his theology can be traced back to Church of England ideals.
The first theme of Wesley’s theology was scripture. The Bible, to Wesley was the authority on both Christian belief, as well as life. He said that the Bible should be studied daily, and obeyed. He said that it should be read by all those who believe. Wesley believed that the Bible was authoritative. He said that it was indeed inspired by God, and should be treated as such.
John Wesley was also a stickler for tradition. He believed that all the customs of the Anglican church should be practiced by the Methodists. While in school at Oxford, he had gained a much greater appreciation for the customs, and other church history.
Reason also became a theme of Wesley’s theology. He found himself caught in the middle between religion as well as reason. Wesley solved this problem with the idea that a maturing faith is always grounded in reason. He said that reason is a gift from God, but one has to be careful with it. It really does not serve a purpose in religion. Wesley tried to stay neutral between the two extremes for the rest of his theological career.
Experience was the final theme of Wesley’s theology. He was always concerned about the role of experience in Christian theology. He did not want his followers to become comfortable in what they were doing. Wesley was often critical of those who allowed their religion to be made up of outside forces. He believed that a person could become favorable in the eyes of God by attending worship services, partaking of the sacraments, as well as giving to those who were less fortunate. He wanted his followers to realize that God wants a personal relationship with them.
All of these ideas were true in the New World. There had been multiple churches that had been established throughout the New World. The most success was on the frontier. The reason for the success on the frontier was because most cities had already established churches. The Methodist faith in America officially came into being at the 1789 Christmas Conference. The church in America became known as the Methodist Episcopal Church. Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke would become the first two Methodist bishops. Asbury would later become a successful missionary. Together the two men formulated a book of twenty-five articles that detailed the doctrine and the beliefs of the Methodist church.
Francis Asbury was the most successful of these missionaries. In his career as a missionary he rode over 250,000 miles on horseback, preaching the ideas of John and Charles Wesley. Asbury was very talented. He was perhaps the most talented in the way he spread Methodism. On the frontier, he set up camp meetings, or revivals that would bring people in to hear him. The towns on the frontier would then be divided up into districts, with a preacher or a circuit rider assigned to each one. The preacher would be in the same church all the time, the circuit rider, would travel to various churches throughout the particular district. Quite possibly the most important reason Asbury was so successful in his mission work, was because the Methodist message was appealing to many people. People felt like what John and Charles Wesley had developed was similar to what they were going through. The camp meetings, set up by Asbury, were very well attended, and the result was an increase in new members. The Methodist church in America was growing. It would not happen without controversy though.
In America, the slavery question was rapidly becoming one of the biggest issues the country was facing. The Methodist church in America was faced with the problem of slavery as well. It led to increased tension within the church. John Wesley had taken an anti-slavery stance on the issue. The issue had led to the splintering of many churches. Some believed that slavery was sinful, much like Wesley. Others, especially slave-owners, believed that there was nothing wrong with slavery. In response to this, Methodist slave-owners were given one year to free their slaves. This decision was made at the General Conference of 1844.
Another issue was over Methodist ministers owning slaves. In Baltimore there was some controversy centering around this issue. A clergyman had inherited a slave through marriage. At the 1844 conference, the members ordered the minister to give up the slave. As a result of this decision, the southern delegates walked out. This led to a split in the Methodist church in America. The church in the south became known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The two sides would reunite in 1939. The issue of slavery proved costly to the Methodist faith.
The church in America continued to grow though. By the year 1850, there were 1.4 million members. This 1.4 million was the total for both branches of the Methodist church. This was quite a growth from 1825, when the church only totaled around 341,000 members. The Methodist message was still very much appealing to many people.
The Methodist church believes in a born again experience. The only drawback to this idea is that they believe that it is possible for one to lose it. They have two sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. They say that Baptism is not necessary, but it signifies a new birth. Baptism is usually done by sprinkling or pouring. They also believe in Arminianism, or the belief that anyone can be saved. American Methodists also believe in the idea of Perfectionism, or the quest to be perfect. This idea says that once one becomes a Christian, one should strive to be perfect. The Methodist faith also says that the Bible is the inspired word of God. It should be followed closely. These beliefs made the Methodist faith very appealing to many people in the New World.
Quite possibly the biggest ritual of the Methodist church is Lent. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. Followers of Methodism have to give up a certain thing in their daily life. It could range from giving up social media, to fasting during a certain time of the day. The goal of giving these things up is to encourage the followers to grow closer to God. Each week of Lent, is dedicated to a specific Bible character. Methodists also have a Lenten offering. They are encouraged to bring their donation either on Palm Sunday, or on Easter Sunday. The money given at the offering goes to a charity of the church’s choice. Lent is designed to test the true faith of the followers of Methodism.
On Sunday April 17th, I had the opportunity to visit the First United Methodist church in Cookeville. I went to the service with my neighbors, Mark and Cindy Epley. The service began at 11 o’ clock. When I got to the church I was first greeted by Dr. Bob and Gloria Bell. They asked me who I was looking for and I told them the names of my neighbors. While I was waiting for them to finish up their Sunday school class that they were teaching, I saw some more of my neighbors. They were shocked to see me, but were glad that I was there. Eventually I met up with the Epleys and we went into the sanctuary.
It was quite the coincidence that the Epleys normally sit in the balcony of the church, because I had a bird’s eye view of all that was going on. They both explained to me how things worked, and what to expect. The service began with a chiming of the hour, and then a brief period of welcome and announcements. The announcements included things such as upcoming events, and updates to the sick list. This service was a special one because it was Confirmation Sunday. There were seven songs that were sung. Six were sung by the congregation and choir, one was sung by the choir only. There was a piano and an organ, played by the same person. There was also a trumpet player. There were two hymn books. According to the Epleys, one book was for traditional songs, and the other was for more contemporary songs. Many of the songs in the traditional song book were familiar to me. The biggest part of the worship was the responsive readings that were done. There were a total of ten passages. In the bulletin that I received when I got there, the normal text was read by the worship leader, and the bold text was read by the congregation. The contribution was collected about midway through the service. It was carried out by laymen, who passed around the collection plates to the congregation. There was only one scripture read the entire time. This was different coming from the church of Christ where there is frequent scripture reading. There were also multiple prayers. These prayers were from the heart, and not read. They all had a special emphasis on the Confirmation.
The Confirmation was very interesting to see. There were a total of eleven candidates, and again, I knew one of them. The youth minister got up and talked briefly about the process these eleven children had to go through. They begin their study in September, and end in April. After that, each child was brought forth, along with their families, hands were placed on them, and they were confirmed by pouring. One interesting thing to note is that if these children had been sprinkled when they were an infant; it is optional for them to have to be confirmed. At the end of the ceremony, the congregation takes part in the membership vows, which is done through responsive reading. The entire Confirmation process was very interesting to see. The church service ended much like it began. There was a Hymn of Departure, some final remarks, and then the minister left the sanctuary while walking behind two young children carrying candles. Compared to the church of Christ services, the Methodist services are very High Church.
One thing to note from the bulletin is that the Methodist seem very interested in doing things outside of worship. The bulletin included all upcoming events sorted by date and time. These events included things such as men’s Bible studies, as well as “Chair Yoga.” The First United Methodist church of Cookeville is very involved in fellowship outside of worship services.
The Epleys took me out to eat at Crawdaddy’s after we left church. We got to talk about the Methodist church more in depth, and compare it to the church of Christ services. The Epleys actually grew up in the Baptist faith, and converted to Methodist when they moved to Cookeville. They said that their Baptism in the Baptist faith was accepted by the Methodist church. They said that three of their four children went through the Confirmation process. Their youngest child was sprinkled as an infant so she was exempt from Confirmation. In comparing the Methodist to the church of Christ, we found that the only major differences are that the church of Christ, unlike the Methodists, does not use instruments in worship, nor a choir. The church of Christ does not have responsive readings, and they do not practice Confirmation. The Epleys said that the Methodist church partake of communion once a month on the first Sunday. Other than these differences, and the fact that the Methodist church building was more ornate, the Methodist and the church of Christ are quite similar. Both faiths have prayers in their worship services, both faiths take up contribution every Sunday, both have sermons, and both faiths have Sunday School classes. Overall it was a fun experience and I got to spend some quality time with two good friends.
One should be able to see based on reading this paper, that the Methodists have a very rich history. Their history spans many years. It started in England, and eventually made its way over to the New World. Since 2008, there have been 843 new churches planted by the United Methodist church alone. The Methodist church is made up of loving Christians who want to make a difference in their communities and live for God.
Above is a picture of John Wesley.
Above is a picture of the sanctuary of the First United Methodist Church in Cookeville. The sanctuary is much more ornate then what I am used to in the church of Christ.
Stay tuned for more blog posts about tales from Tennessee and beyond.
