The Wesleyan Methodist Church was 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 in the United States organized on May 13, 1841. It was composed of ministers and laypeople who withdrew from 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 ...

because of disagreements regarding

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and

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 ...

, according to the Discipline of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection. The first secessions in 1841 took place in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

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 Methodist Episcopal Church for reasons given in their publication of the ''True Wesleyan'' (which was later renamed as the ''Wesleyan Methodist''). The founders of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection endorsed

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 cited tolerance of the Methodist Episcopal Church of "so horrible a crime" as slavery as a key reason for their secession. The first General Conference was held in Utica, NY, in October 1844. This was presided over by Orange Scott. It emphasized the creation of a Book of Discipline that would "preserve and promote experimental and practical godliness." To this end, 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) have been emphasized by the denomination. The Utica Convention authorized the publication of ''A Collection of Hymns for the use of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection'' (1843). A revision was made two years later under the direction of Rev. Cyrus Prindle. The Wesleyan Methodist Connection desired an educated presbyterate and championed the establishment of a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

in each Annual Conference. Advocating

First-day Sabbatarian Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments. The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...

principles, the Wesleyan Methodist Church resolved to give honor to the

Lord's Day In Christianity, the Lord's Day refers to Sunday, the traditional day of communal worship. It is the first day of the week in the Hebrew calendar and traditional Christian calendars. It is observed by most Christians as the weekly memorial of the ...

through encouraging the attendance of

Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

, services of worship, and abstaining from servile labour. It taught the equality of races and held that there was no reason why a black minister could not be appointed to a predominantly white congregation. The denomination supported the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

; it took a stand against membership in

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as being "inconsistent with our duties to God and Christianity". The Wesleyan Methodist Church fell into the category of Holiness Methodist Pacifists, as it opposed war as documented in its

Book of Discipline A Book of Discipline (or in its shortened form Discipline) is a book detailing the beliefs, standards, doctrines, canon law, and polity of a particular Christian denomination. They are often re-written by the governing body of the church concern ...

, which stated that the Gospel is in "every way opposed to the practice of War in all its forms; and those customs which tend to foster and perpetuate war spirit, reinconsistent with the benevolent designs of the Christian religion." It sent forth

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

to various parts of the world to establish churches. The Wesleyan Methodist Church merged with the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1968, and became known as The Wesleyan Church. This was largely driven by the trend toward denominational mergers during the 1960s and the belief their similarities were greater than their differences. As such, they believed they could be more effective becoming one group. Several conferences in both merging denominations refused to be a part of the merged church over differences about modesty and worldliness (some of the conferences did not permit their members to have television sets, and required the women to have uncut hair in keeping with their interpretation of ). One of the largest conferences which refused to join the merger was the Allegheny Conference with over 100 churches. It became the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection of Churches, and most of the churches are still known as Wesleyan Methodist, e.g. Salem Wesleyan Methodist Church. Other Wesleyan Methodists who dissented with the merger organized into the

Bible Methodist Connection of Churches The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

and the Bible Methodist Connection of Tennessee. At the time of the merger, the Wesleyan Methodist Church had several colleges, including Houghton College, Marion College, Miltonvale College, the Brainerd Indian Training School, and the Wesleyan Seminary Foundation that was affiliated with Asbury Theological Seminary.

References

{{Methodist Episcopal Church Methodist denominations Methodist denominations in North America Holiness denominations History of Methodism in the United States Former Methodist denominations Religious organizations established in 1841 1841 establishments in the United States Holiness pacifism Christian denominations founded in the United States

See also

References