Alexander Kilham (20 July 176220 December 1798) was an English

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

minister.

Early life

He was born to parents Simon and Elizabeth Kilham at

Epworth, Lincolnshire Epworth is a market town and civil parish on the Isle of Axholme, in the North Lincolnshire unitary authority of Lincolnshire, England.OS Explorer Map 280: Isle of Axholme, Scunthorpe and Gainsborough: (1:25,000) : The town lies on the A161 ro ...

, possibly at a former farm, now known as Prospect House, otherwise 79 High Street.

Ministry

He was admitted by

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

in 1785 into the regular itinerant Methodist ministry. He became minister of a circuit in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

; and also the leader and spokesman of the democratic party in the

Connexion Connexion is a variant spelling of connection and may refer to: Technology and Internet * Connexion by Boeing, an in-flight online connectivity service * Connexions, also known as OpenStax CNX, a repository of open educational resources started a ...

which claimed for the laity the free election of class-leaders and stewards, and equal representation with ministers at

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

. They also contended that the ministry should possess no official authority or pastoral prerogative, but should merely carry into effect the decisions of majorities in the different meetings. Kilham further advocated the complete separation of the Methodists from the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

. In the controversy that ensued he wrote many pamphlets, often anonymous, and frequently provocative. For this he was arraigned before the Conference of 1796 and expelled, and he and William Thom then founded a movement initially called ‘The New Itinerancy’, then the

Methodist New Connexion The Methodist New Connexion, also known as Kilhamite Methodism, was a Protestant nonconformist church. It was formed in 1797 by secession from the Wesleyan Methodists, and merged in 1907 with the Bible Christian Church and the United Methodis ...

(1798, merged since 1907 in the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

), and now part of the

Methodist Church of Great Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestantism, Protestant List of Christian denominations, Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodism, Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council. M ...

following the

Methodist Union Methodist Union was the joining together of several of the larger British Methodist denominations. These were the Wesleyan Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, and the United Methodists. The process involved many years of negotiation and discu ...

of 1932. Methodist church governance now largely reflects Kilham's ideas. Kilham and Thom jointly wrote the ''Out-lines of a constitution; proposed for the examination, amendment and acceptance, of the members of the Methodist New Itinerancy'', which was published in 1797.Republished by Gale ECCO, Print Editions (29 May 2010), He died in 1798, and the success of the church he founded is a tribute to his personality and to the principles for which he strove. Kilham's second wife,

Hannah Kilham Hannah Kilham (1774–1832) née Spurr was an English Methodist and Quaker, known as a missionary and linguist active in West Africa. She was also a teacher and philanthropic activist in England and Ireland. Early life She was born at Sheffield ...

née Spurr (1774–1832), whom he married only a few months before his death, became a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, and worked as a missionary in

the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

; she transcribed to writing several

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n languages.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilham, Alexander 1762 births 1798 deaths English Methodists Christianity in Sheffield People from Epworth, Lincolnshire