The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (AWMC) is a

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 ...

denomination within the

conservative holiness movement The conservative holiness movement is a loosely defined group of theologically conservative Christian denominations with the majority being Methodists whose teachings are rooted in the theology of John Wesley, and a minority being Quakers (Fri ...

. It is primarily based in the United States, with missions in

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Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, and

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. The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection is currently led by Rev. David Blowers (President) and Rev. Joseph Smith (Vice President).

History

The first official Methodist organization in the United States occurred in

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, in 1784, with the formation of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

at the Christmas Conference with

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was a British-American Methodist minister who became one of the first two bishop (Methodist), bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the col ...

and Thomas Coke as the leaders. The Ordination of Bishop Asbury

Though John Wesley originally wanted the Methodists to stay within the Church of England, the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

decisively separated the Methodists in the American colonies from the life and sacraments of the Anglican Church. In 1784, after unsuccessful attempts to have the Church of England send a bishop to start a new Church in the colonies, Wesley decisively appointed fellow priest Thomas Coke as superintendent (bishop) to organize a separate Methodist Society. Together with Coke, Wesley sent The Sunday Service of the Methodists, the first Methodist liturgical text, as well as the Articles of Religion, which were received and adopted by the Baltimore Christmas Conference of 1784, officially establishing the Methodist Episcopal Church. The conference was held at the Lovely Lane Methodist Church, considered the Mother Church of American Methodism. The new Church grew rapidly in the young country as it employed circuit riders, many of whom were

laymen In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. ...

, to travel the mostly rural nation by horseback to preach the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and to establish churches until there was scarcely any village in the United States without a Methodist presence. With 4,000 circuit riders by 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church rapidly became the largest Protestant denomination in the country. Grace Wesleyan Methodist Church

The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection specifically traces its origin to the Wesleyan Methodist Church which was a

denomination in the United States organized on May 13, 1841. The congregations that withdrew from the

did so because they strongly advocated

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. ...

and disagreed with the

church polity Ecclesiastical polity is the government of a church. There are local (congregational) forms of organization as well as denominational. A church's polity may describe its ministerial offices or an authority structure between churches. Polit ...

held by the M.E. Church. The first secessions in 1841 took place in Michigan although the new church group was formalized in Utica, New York. In November 1842, Orange Scott, La Roy Sunderland and Jotham Horton seceded from the M. E. Church for reasons given in their publication of the ''True Wesleyan'' (which was later renamed the ''Wesleyan Methodist''), with opposition to slavery being a key issue. The first General Conference was held in Utica, NY in October, 1844. Later the name was changed to The Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America. The Wesleyan Methodist Church emphasized the preservation and promotion of experimental and practical godliness, stressing the Methodist doctrines of the

New Birth To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is d ...

and

entire sanctification Within many Christian denomination, denominations of Christianity, Christian perfection is the theological concept of the process or the event of achieving spiritual maturity or perfection. The ultimate goal of this process is Divinization (Chris ...

(holiness). It taught the equality of races and sent missionaries to various parts of the globe. The Allegheny Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church entered into a schism with the rest of the Wesleyan Methodist Church because it favored a connexional polity and opposed the merger of the Wesleyan Methodist Church with the Pilgrim Holiness Church; it thus became the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection while the majority of the Wesleyan Methodist Church merged with the majority of the Pilgrim Holiness Church to become the Wesleyan Church. While it officially operates under the name "Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (Original Allegheny Conference)" due to an agreement during the merger between the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1968, most of the churches continue to be called Wesleyan Methodist.

Campgrounds

Camp Meeting at Wesleyan Methodist Campground

In 1900 the Allegheny Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church purchased land in Stoneboro, Pennsylvania to be used for a camp meeting ground; it is known as Methodist Campground. Located next to this campground is the Stoneboro Wesleyan Methodist School which was built in 1965. The denomination continues to hold its annual conference at its campgrounds in the month of June, and its historic annual

camp meeting The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier ...

in the month of August. The denomination has other smaller campgrounds that also hold camp meetings throughout its geographic territory, such as those in Belsano, Pennsylvania and

Princeton, West Virginia Princeton is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield micropolitan area. History Early history Princeton was ...

Educational institutions

It operates Allegheny Wesleyan College, a four-year

Bible college A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute or theological seminary, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Movement Christianity, Christian institution of higher education which prepares students for C ...

dedicated to preparing Christian ministers, missionaries, and teachers. It is located in Salem, Ohio. Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection also runs Northwest Indian Bible School (NIBS) in Alberton, Montana. In addition, the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection has sixteen

Christian school A Christian school is a Parochial school, religious school run on Christianity, Christian principles or by a Christian organization. These schools often include religious education and worship in their curriculum. They may also have a distinct Ch ...

s in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Montana, and New Mexico.

Missions

The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection runs 33 missions, with 20 more missions being added since 1968. These are located in

, as well as among Native Americans of the United States and

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Publications

The Allegheny Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church publishes a monthly periodical known as ''The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist''. It also runs a radio program known as ''Wesleyan Gospel Echoes''.

Gallery

File:Chancel of White Memorial Wesleyan Methodist Church.jpg, The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

of White Memorial WMC in Struthers, Ohio File:White_Memorial_WMC.jpg, White Memorial Wesleyan Methodist Church in Struthers, Ohio File:Chancel of Grace Wesleyan Methodist Church.jpg, The chancel of Grace WMC in Akron, Ohio File:Second WMC.jpg, Second Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canton, Ohio

References

External links

Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection - Conference President's PerspectiveAllegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection

Allegheny Publications

Salem WMCWhite Memorial WMCIndiana WMCAllegheny Wesleyan College
{{Methodism footer Methodist denominations Methodist denominations in North America Holiness denominations Holiness movement History of Methodism in the United States Religious organizations established in 1843 Methodist organizations established in the 18th century Protestant denominations established in the 18th century 1843 establishments in the United States Christian denominations founded in the United States