Methodism

Part of a series on
Methodism
John Wesley
Background History (in the United States) Anglicanism Arminianism First Great Awakening Moravianism Nonconformism Pietism Wesleyan theology
Doctrine Doctrinal standards Bible Old Testament New Testament Creeds Nicene Creed Apostles' Creed Articles of Religion Sermons on Several Occasions Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament Distinctive beliefs and practices Assurance of faith Conditional preservation of the saints Priesthood of all believers Sainthood Four sources of theological authority Covenant theology Substitutionary atonement Imparted righteousness Moral law New birth Free will Outward holiness Prevenient grace Real presence Sanctification (growth in grace) Sunday Sabbatarianism Christian perfection Second work of grace Baptism with the Holy Spirit Views on sin Works of piety Works of mercy
Worship The Sunday Service of the Methodists Covenant Renewal Service Revival service Altar call Mourner's bench Camp meeting Tabernacle Tent revival Brush arbor revival Lovefeast Singings Watchnight service
People John Wesley Charles Wesley Richard Allen Francis Asbury Thomas Coke John William Fletcher Orange Scott William Williams Pantycelyn Benjamin Titus Roberts Walter Ashbel Sellew Howell Harris Albert Outler James Varick Countess of Huntingdon Phoebe Palmer George Whitefield List of bishops List of theologians
Groups Churches Methodist Church of Great Britain Free Methodist Church United Methodist Church World Methodist Council Global Methodist Church Other Methodist denominations
Organization Connexionalism General Conference Methodist Circuit Pastoral charge Class meeting Penitent band
Related groups Holiness movement Conservative holiness movement Holiness Pentecostalism Evangelicalism
Other relevant topics Saints in Methodism Methodist views on alcohol Methodist local preacher Itinerant preacher Circuit rider Steward Homosexuality and Methodism Ordination of women in Methodism Bishops in Methodism
Christianity • Protestantism Christianity portal
v t e

Part of a series on
Protestantism
Outline
Concepts Anti-Protestantism Bible Criticism Culture Demographics Ecclesiology Liturgy Relations with Catholics Theologies Five Solas
History Proto-Protestantism Bohemian Reformation Reformation Magisterial Radical Counter Martin Luther Ninety-five Theses Augsburg Confession Huldrych Zwingli John Calvin Arminianism Crypto-Protestantism Nonconformists Dissenters Puritans John Wesley Pietism Great Awakenings in America Revival meetings
Branches Proto-Protestants Hussites Waldensians Lutherans Reformed Continental Presbyterians Congregational Anglicans Continuing Anabaptists Amish Hutterites Mennonites Quakers Baptists Black church Methodists Radical Pietism Shakers Stone-Campbell Plymouth Brethren Adventist Irvings Holiness Keswickians Eastern Protestant Pentecostals United and uniting churches Nondenominational
Movements Augsburg Catholics Charismatics Confessionalism Confessing Movement Convergence Church Growth Ecumenism Emerging church Evangelicalism Fundamentalism High church Liberalism Mainlines Neo-charismatics Neo-orthodoxy New Calvinism Paleo-orthodoxy Progressivism Spiritual Christianity
Christianity portal
v t e

Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christian tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley.^[1] George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significant early leaders in the movement. They were named Methodists for "the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith".^[2][3] Methodism originated as a revival movement within Anglicanism with roots in the Church of England in the 18th century and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States and beyond because of vigorous missionary work,^[4] and today has about 80 million adherents worldwide.^{[nb 1][5]} Most Methodist denominations are members of the World Methodist Council.^{[nb 2]}

Wesleyan theology, which is upheld by the Methodist denominations, focuses on sanctification and the transforming effect of faith on the character of a Christian, exemplified by living a victorious life over sin.^[6][7] Unique to Wesleyan Methodism is its definition of sin: a "voluntary transgression of a known law of God."^[8][9] Distinguishing doctrines include the new birth,^[10] assurance,^[11][12] imparted righteousness, and obedience to God manifested in performing works of piety. John Wesley held that entire sanctification was "the grand depositum", or foundational doctrine, of the Methodist faith, and its propagation was the reason God brought Methodists into existence.^[13][14][7] Scripture is considered the primary authority, but Methodists also look to Christian tradition, including the historic creeds. Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of humanity and that salvation is achievable for all.^[15] This is the Arminian doctrine,^{[nb 3]} as opposed to the Calvinist position that God has predestined the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and several other early leaders of the movement were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the Calvinist position.

The movement has a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage, in addition to tent revivals and camp meetings held at certain times of the year.^[16] Denominations that descend from the British Methodist tradition are generally less ritualistic, while worship in American Methodism varies depending on the Methodist denomination and congregation.^[17] Methodist worship distinctiveness includes the observance of the quarterly lovefeast, the watchnight service on New Year's Eve, as well as altar calls in which people are invited to experience the new birth and entire sanctification.^[18][19] Its emphasis on growing in grace after the new birth (and after being entirely sanctified) led to the creation of class meetings for encouragement in the Christian life.^[20] Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition, and Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of Methodism.^[21]

In addition to evangelism, Methodism is known for its charity, as well as support for the sick, the poor, and the afflicted through works of mercy that "flow from the love of God and neighbor" evidenced in the entirely sanctified believer.^[22][23][24] These ideals, the Social Gospel, are put into practice by the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens, and schools to follow Christ's command to spread the gospel and serve all people.^[25][26][23] Methodists are historically known for their adherence to the doctrine of nonconformity to the world, reflected by their traditional standards of a commitment to sobriety, prohibition of gambling, regular attendance at class meetings, and weekly observance of the Friday fast.^[27][28]

Early Methodists were drawn from all levels of society, including the aristocracy,^{[nb 4]} but the Methodist preachers took the message to social outcasts such as criminals. In Britain, the Methodist Church had a major effect in the early decades of the developing working class (1760–1820).^[30] In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves, who later formed black churches in the Methodist tradition.^[31]

The Methodist revival began in England with a group of men, including John Wesley (1703–1791) and his younger brother Charles Wesley (1707–1788), as a movement within the Church of England in the 18th century.^[32][33] The Wesley brothers founded the "Holy Club" at the University of Oxford, where John was a fellow and later a lecturer at Lincoln College.^[34] The club met weekly and they systematically set about living a holy life. They were accustomed to receiving Communion every week, fasting regularly, abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury, and frequently visiting the sick and the poor and prisoners. The fellowship were branded as "Methodist" by their fellow students because of the way they used "rule" and "method" in their religious affairs.^[35][36]

In 1735, at the invitation of the founder of the Georgia Colony, General James Oglethorpe, both John and Charles Wesley set out for America to be ministers to the colonists and missionaries to the Native Americans.^[37] Unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith.

They sought help from Peter Boehler and other members of the Moravian Church. At a Moravian service in Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, John Wesley experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt his "heart strangely warmed".^[38] It is the foundation of the charismatic Aldersgate Renewal that continues to this day (currently 2025). He records in his journal: "I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."^[39] Charles Wesley had reported a similar experience a few days previously. Considering this a pivotal moment, Daniel L. Burnett writes: "The significance of [John] Wesley's Aldersgate Experience is monumental ... Without it, the names of Wesley and Methodism would likely be nothing more than obscure footnotes in the pages of church history."^[40]

The property at 28 Aldersgate Street is the approximate former location of a Moravian Church. On (24 May 1738) / May 24, 1738, while attending a meeting at the church, the Anglican clergyman John Wesley underwent a profound religious experience that he described as a "warming of the heart". The following year, he left the Moravians and founded the Methodist Society of England. The yearly anniversary of his experience is celebrated by Methodists on Aldersgate Day. Wesley's Chapel, in nearby City Road, remains a major focal point of the worldwide Methodist charismatic movement. Aldersgate Renewal Ministries (ARM) is a global movement where people may experience their own Pentecost, pray for healing, pray God's will in a heavenly language unknown to the speaker (tongues), encounter and pray with the Holy Spirit using spiritual / charismatic gifts that are listed in 1 Corinthians 12 of the Holy Bible. Working with churches in the Wesleyan heritage (including the United Methodist Church), people encounter the Holy Spirit, and are encouraged to live supernatural, Holy Spirit-filled lives. ARM teaches people today of the rich Wesleyan heritage and history, recognizing that John Wesley's theology of grace is in fact a theology of the Holy Spirit.^[41]

The Wesley brothers immediately began to preach salvation by faith to individuals and groups, in houses, in religious societies, and in the few churches which had not closed their doors to evangelical preachers.^[42] John Wesley came under the influence of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609). Arminius had rejected the Calvinist teaching that God had predestined an elect number of people to eternal bliss while others perished eternally. Conversely, George Whitefield (1714–1770), Howell Harris (1714–1773),^[43] and Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707–1791)^[44] were notable for being Calvinistic Methodists.

Returning from his mission in Georgia, George Whitefield joined the Wesley brothers in what was rapidly becoming a national crusade.^[42] Whitefield, who had been a fellow student of the Wesleys and prominent member of the Holy Club at Oxford, became well known for his unorthodox, itinerant ministry, in which he was dedicated to open-air preaching – reaching crowds of thousands.^[42] A key step in the development of John Wesley's ministry was, like Whitefield, to preach in fields, collieries, and churchyards to those who did not regularly attend parish church services.^[42] Accordingly, many Methodist converts were those disconnected from the Church of England; Wesley remained a cleric of the Established Church and insisted that Methodists attend their local parish church as well as Methodist meetings because only an ordained minister could perform the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion.^[2]

Faced with growing evangelistic and pastoral responsibilities, Wesley and Whitefield appointed lay preachers and leaders.^[42] Methodist preachers focused particularly on evangelising people who had been "neglected" by the established Church of England. Wesley and his assistant preachers organized the new converts into Methodist societies.^[42] These societies were divided into groups called classes – intimate meetings where individuals were encouraged to confess their sins to one another and to build up each other. They also took part in love feasts which allowed for the sharing of testimony, a key feature of early Methodism.^[45] Growth in numbers and increasing hostility impressed upon the revival converts a deep sense of their corporate identity.^[42] Three teachings that Methodists saw as the foundation of Christian faith were:

1. People are all, by nature, "dead in sin".
2. They are justified by faith alone.
3. Faith produces inward and outward holiness.^[46]

Wesley's organisational skills soon established him as the primary leader of the movement. Whitefield was a Calvinist, whereas Wesley was an outspoken opponent of the doctrine of predestination.^[47] Wesley argued (against Calvinist doctrine) that Christians could enjoy a second blessing – entire sanctification (Christian perfection) in this life: loving God and their neighbours, meekness and lowliness of heart and abstaining from all appearance of evil.^[10][48] These differences put strains on the alliance between Whitefield and Wesley,^[47] with Wesley becoming hostile toward Whitefield in what had been previously close relations. Whitefield consistently begged Wesley not to let theological differences sever their friendship, and, in time, their friendship was restored, though this was seen by many of Whitefield's followers to be a doctrinal compromise.^[49]

Many clergy in the established church feared that new doctrines promulgated by the Methodists, such as the necessity of a new birth for salvation – the first work of grace, of justification by faith and of the constant and sustained action of the Holy Spirit upon the believer's soul, would produce ill effects upon weak minds.^[50] Theophilus Evans, an early critic of the movement, even wrote that it was "the natural Tendency of their Behaviour, in Voice and Gesture and horrid Expressions, to make People mad". In one of his prints, William Hogarth likewise attacked Methodists as "enthusiasts" full of "Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism".^[50] Other attacks against the Methodists were physically violent – Wesley was nearly murdered by a mob at Wednesbury in 1743.^[51] The Methodists responded vigorously to their critics and thrived despite the attacks against them.^[52]

Initially, the Methodists merely sought reform within the Church of England (Anglicanism), but the movement gradually departed from that Church. George Whitefield's preference for extemporaneous prayer rather than the fixed forms of prayer in the Book of Common Prayer, in addition to his insistence on the necessity of the new birth, set him at odds with Anglican clergy.^[53]

As Methodist societies multiplied, and elements of an ecclesiastical system were, one after another, adopted, the breach between John Wesley and the Church of England gradually widened. In 1784, Wesley responded to the shortage of priests in the American colonies due to the American Revolutionary War by ordaining preachers for America with the power to administer the sacraments.^[54] Wesley's actions precipitated the split between American Methodists and the Church of England (which held that only bishops could ordain people to ministry).^[55]

With regard to the position of Methodism within Christendom, "John Wesley once noted that what God had achieved in the development of Methodism was no mere human endeavor but the work of God. As such it would be preserved by God so long as history remained."^[56] Calling it "the grand depositum" of the Methodist faith, Wesley specifically taught that the propagation of the doctrine of entire sanctification was the reason that God raised up the Methodists in the world.^[13][14] In light of this, Methodists traditionally promote the motto "Holiness unto the Lord".^[3]

John William Fletcher became one of the key teachers of Methodist theology when he immigrated to England and became an Anglican minister. He was also instrumental in leading the charismatic movement. He was Wesley's choice of successor to the Methodist movement, but died before Wesley. At the time of Wesley's death, there were over 500 Methodist preachers in British colonies and the new United States.^[42] Total membership of the Methodist societies in Britain was recorded as 56,000 in 1791, rising to 360,000 in 1836 and 1,463,000 by the national census of 1851.^[57]

Early Methodism experienced a radical and spiritual phase that allowed women authority in church leadership. The role of the woman preacher emerged from the sense that the home should be a place of community care and should foster personal growth. Methodist women formed a community that cared for the vulnerable, extending the role of mothering beyond physical care. Women were encouraged to testify their faith. However, the centrality of women's role sharply diminished after 1790 as Methodist churches became more structured and more male-dominated.^[58]

The Wesleyan Education Committee, which existed from 1838 to 1902, has documented the Methodist Church's involvement in the education of children. At first, most effort was placed in creating Sunday Schools. Still, in 1836 the British Methodist Conference gave its blessing to the creation of "Weekday schools".^[59][60]

Methodism spread throughout the British Empire and, mostly through Whitefield's preaching during what historians call the First Great Awakening, in colonial America. However, after Whitefield's death in 1770, American Methodism entered a more lasting Wesleyan and Arminian development phase.^[61] Revival services and camp meetings were used "for spreading the Methodist message", with Francis Asbury stating that they were "our harvest seasons".^[62] Henry Boehm reported that at a camp meeting in Dover in 1805, 1100 persons received the New Birth and 600 believers were entirely sanctified.^[62] Around the time of John Swanel Inskip's leadership of the National Camp Meeting Association for the Promotion of Christian Holiness in the mid to latter 1800s, 80 percent of the membership of the North Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South professed being entirely sanctified.^[62]

Many Methodist bodies, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church, base their doctrinal standards on the Articles of Religion,^[64] John Wesley's abridgment of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England that excised its Calvinist features.^[65] Some Methodist denominations also publish catechisms, which concisely summarise Christian doctrine.^[63] Methodists generally accept the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed as declarations of shared Christian faith.^{[63]: 30–33 [66]} Methodism affirms the traditional Christian belief in the triune Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) as well as the orthodox understanding of the person of Jesus Christ as God incarnate who is both fully divine and fully human.^[67] Methodism also emphasizes doctrines that indicate the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen the faith of believers and to transform their personal lives.^[68]

Methodism is broadly evangelical in doctrine and is characterized by Wesleyan theology;^[69] John Wesley is studied by Methodists for his interpretation of church practice and doctrine.^[63]: 38 At its heart, the theology of John Wesley stressed the life of Christian holiness: to love God with all one's heart, mind, soul and strength and to love one's neighbour as oneself.^[70][71] One popular expression of Methodist doctrine is in the hymns of Charles Wesley.^[72] Since enthusiastic congregational singing was a part of the early evangelical movement, Wesleyan theology took root and spread through this channel.^[73][74] Martin V. Clarke, who documented the history of Methodist hymnody, states:

Theologically and doctrinally, the content of the hymns has traditionally been a primary vehicle for expressing Methodism's emphasis on salvation for all, social holiness, and personal commitment, while particular hymns and the communal act of participating in hymn singing have been key elements in the spiritual lives of Methodists.^[75]

Wesleyan Methodists identify with the Arminian conception of free will, as opposed to the theological determinism of absolute predestination.^{[76][nb 3]} Methodism teaches that salvation is initiated when one chooses to respond to God, who draws the individual near to him (the Wesleyan doctrine of prevenient grace), thus teaching synergism.^[80][81] Methodists interpret Scripture as teaching that the saving work of Jesus Christ is for all people (unlimited atonement) but effective only to those who respond and believe, in accordance with the Reformation principles of sola gratia (grace alone) and sola fide (faith alone).^[82] John Wesley taught four key points fundamental to Methodism:

1. A person is free not only to reject salvation but also to accept it by an act of free will.
2. All people who are obedient to the gospel according to the measure of knowledge given them will be saved.
3. The Holy Spirit assures a Christian that they are justified by faith in Jesus (assurance of faith).^[11][83]
4. Christians in this life are capable of Christian perfection and are commanded by God to pursue it.^[84]

After the first work of grace (the new birth),^[10] Methodist soteriology emphasizes the importance of the pursuit of holiness in salvation,^[85] a concept best summarized in a quote by Methodist evangelist Phoebe Palmer who stated that "justification would have ended with me had I refused to be holy."^[86] Thus, for Methodists, "true faith ... cannot subsist without works."^[87] Methodist doctrine holds that the Christian life, subsequent to the New Birth (first work of grace), should be characterized by holy living, free from sin.^[6] Methodism, inclusive of the holiness movement, thus teaches that "justification [is made] conditional on obedience and progress in sanctification",^[86] emphasizing "a deep reliance upon Christ not only in coming to faith, but in remaining in the faith."^[88] John Wesley taught that the keeping of the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments,^[89] as well as engaging in the works of piety and the works of mercy, were "indispensable for our sanctification".^[87] In its categorization of sin, Methodist doctrine distinguishes between (1) "sin, properly so called" and (2) "involuntary transgression of a divine law, known or unknown"; the former category includes voluntary transgression against God, while the second category includes infirmities (such as "immaturity, ignorance, physical handicaps, forgetfulness, lack of discernment, and poor communication skills").^[8][90]

Wesley explains that those born of God do not sin habitually since to do so means that sin still reigns, which is a mark of an unbeliever. Neither does the Christian sin willfully since the believer's will is now set on living for Christ. He further claims that believers do not sin by desire because the heart has been thoroughly transformed to desire only God's perfect will. Wesley then addresses "sin by infirmities". Since infirmities involve no "concurrence of (the) will", such deviations, whether in thought, word, or deed, are not "properly" sin. He therefore concludes that those born of God do not commit sin, having been saved from "all their sins" (II.2, 7).^[90]

This is reflected in the Articles of Religion of the Free Methodist Church (emphasis added in italics), which uses the wording of John Wesley:^[91]

Justified persons, while they do not outwardly commit sin, are nevertheless conscious of sin still remaining in the heart. They feel a natural tendency to evil, a proneness to depart from God, and cleave to the things of earth. Those that are sanctified wholly are saved from all inward sin-from evil thoughts and evil tempers. No wrong temper, none contrary to love remains in the soul. All their thoughts, words, and actions are governed by pure love. Entire sanctification takes place subsequently to justification, and is the work of God wrought instantaneously upon the consecrated, believing soul. After a soul is cleansed from all sin, it is then fully prepared to grow in grace" (Discipline, "Articles of Religion", ch. i, § 1, p. 23).^[91]

Methodists also believe in the second work of grace – Christian perfection, also known as entire sanctification, which removes original sin, makes the believer holy and empowers them with power to wholly serve God.^{[10][92][6][93]} John Wesley explained, "entire sanctification, or Christian perfection, is neither more nor less than pure love; love expelling sin, and governing both the heart and life of a child of God. The Refiner's fire purges out all that is contrary to love."^[94][95]

Methodist churches teach that apostasy can occur through a loss of faith or through sinning.^[96][97] If a person backslides but later decides to return to God, he or she must repent for sins and be entirely sanctified again (the Wesleyan-Arminian doctrine of conditional security).^[98][99]

Methodists hold that sacraments are sacred acts of divine institution. Methodism has inherited its liturgy from Anglicanism, although Wesleyan theology tends to have a stronger "sacramental emphasis" than that held by evangelical Anglicans.^[100]

In common with most Protestants, Methodists recognize two sacraments as being instituted by Christ: Baptism and Holy Communion (also called the Lord's Supper).^[101] Most Methodist churches practice infant baptism, in anticipation of a response to be made later (confirmation), as well as baptism of believing adults.^[102] The Catechism for the Use of the People Called Methodists states that, "[in Holy Communion] Jesus Christ is present with his worshipping people and gives himself to them as their Lord and Saviour."^[63]: 26 In the United Methodist Church, the explanation of how Christ's presence is made manifest in the elements (bread and wine) is described as a "Holy Mystery".^[103]

Methodist churches generally recognize sacraments to be a means of grace.^[104] John Wesley held that God also imparted grace by other established means such as public and private prayer, Scripture reading, study and preaching, public worship, and fasting; these constitute the works of piety.^[105] Wesley considered means of grace to be "outward signs, words, or actions ... to be the ordinary channels whereby [God] might convey to men, preventing [i.e., preparing], justifying or sanctifying grace."^[106] Specifically Methodist means, such as the class meetings, provided his chief examples for these prudential means of grace.^[107]

American Methodist theologian Albert Outler, in assessing John Wesley's own practices of theological reflection, proposes a methodology termed the "Wesleyan Quadrilateral".^[108] Wesley's Quadrilateral is referred to in Methodism as "our theological guidelines" and is taught to its ministers (clergy) in seminary as the primary approach to interpreting Scripture and gaining guidance for moral questions and dilemmas faced in daily living.^{[109]: 76–88}

Traditionally, Methodists declare the Bible (Old and New Testaments) to be the only divinely inspired Scripture and the primary source of authority for Christians.^[110] The historic Methodist understanding of Scripture is based on the superstructure of Wesleyan covenant theology.^[111] Methodists also make use of tradition, drawing primarily from the teachings of the Church Fathers, as a secondary source of authority. Tradition may serve as a lens through which Scripture is interpreted. Theological discourse for Methodists almost always makes use of Scripture read inside the wider theological tradition of Christianity.^[112][113]

John Wesley contended that a part of the theological method would involve experiential faith.^[108] In other words, truth would be vivified in personal experience of Christians (overall, not individually), if it were really truth. And every doctrine must be able to be defended rationally. He did not divorce faith from reason. By reason, one asks questions of faith and seeks to understand God's action and will. Tradition, experience and reason, however, were subject always to Scripture, Wesley argued, because only there is the Word of God revealed "so far as it is necessary for our salvation."^[109]: 77

With respect to public worship, Methodism was endowed by the Wesley brothers with worship characterised by a twofold practice: the ritual sacramental liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer on the one hand and the non-ritualistic preaching service on the other.^[114] This twofold practice became distinctive of Methodism because worship in the Church of England was based, by law, solely on the Book of Common Prayer and worship in the Nonconformist churches was almost exclusively that of "services of the word", i.e. preaching services, with Holy Communion being observed infrequently. John Wesley's influence meant that, in Methodism, the two practices were combined, a situation which remains characteristic of the tradition.^[114][115] Methodism has heavily emphasized "offerings of extempore and spontaneous prayer".^[116] To this end, Methodist revival services and camp meetings have been characterized by groaning and shouting, as people sought the fullness of salvation that Methodists taught to be embodied by the experience of entire sanctification.^[117][118] To outsiders, Wesleyans were labeled as "Shouting Methodists" due to their free expression during worship.^[119]

Historically, Methodist churches have devoutly observed the Lord's Day (Sunday) with a morning service of worship, along with an evening service of worship (with the evening service being aimed at seekers and focusing on "singing, prayer, and preaching"); the holding of a midweek prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings has been customary.^[120][121] 18th-century Methodist church services were characterized by the following pattern: "preliminaries (e.g., singing, prayers, testimonies), to a 'message,' followed by an invitation to commitment", the latter of which took the form altar call—a practice that a remains "a vital part" of worship.^[122][123] A number of Methodist congregations devote a portion of their Sunday evening service and mid-week Wednesday evening prayer meeting to having congregants share their prayer requests, in addition to hearing personal testimonies about their faith and experiences in living the Christian life.^[124] After listening to various members of the congregation voice their prayer requests, congregants may kneel for intercessory prayer.^[121] The Lovefeast, traditionally practiced quarterly, was another practice that characterized early Methodism as John Wesley taught that it was an apostolic ordinance.^[18] Worship, hymnology, devotional and liturgical practices in Methodism were also influenced by Pietistic Lutheranism and, in turn, Methodist worship became influential in the Holiness movement.^[125]

Early Methodism was known for its "almost monastic rigors, its living by rule, [and] its canonical hours of prayer".^[126] It inherited from its Anglican patrimony the practice of reciting the Daily Office, which Methodist Christians were expected to pray.^[127] The first prayer book of Methodism, The Sunday Service of the Methodists with other occasional Services thus included the canonical hours of both Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer; these services were observed everyday in early Christianity, though on the Lord's Day, worship included the Eucharist.^{[128][127][129]} Later Methodist liturgical books, such as the Methodist Worship Book (1999) provide for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer to be prayed daily; the United Methodist Church encourages its communicants to pray the canonical hours as "one of the essential practices" of being a disciple of Jesus.^[130][131] Some Methodist religious orders publish the Daily Office to be used for that community, for example, The Book of Offices and Services of The Order of Saint Luke contains the canonical hours to be prayed traditionally at seven fixed prayer times: Lauds (6 am), Terce (9 am), Sext (12 pm), None (3 pm), Vespers (6 pm), Compline (9 pm) and Vigil (12 am).^[132] Some Methodist congregations offer daily Morning Prayer.^[133]

In America, the United Methodist Church and Free Methodist Church, as well as the Primitive Methodist Church and Wesleyan Methodist Church, have a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage. When the Methodists in America were separated from the Church of England because of the American Revolution, John Wesley provided a revised version of the Book of Common Prayer called The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occasional Services (1784).^[134][135] Today, the primary liturgical books of the United Methodist Church are The United Methodist Hymnal and The United Methodist Book of Worship (1992). Congregations employ its liturgy and rituals as optional resources, but their use is not mandatory. These books contain the liturgies of the church that are generally derived from Wesley's Sunday Service and from the 20th-century liturgical renewal movement.

The British Methodist Church is less ordered, or less liturgical, in worship. It makes use of the Methodist Worship Book (similar to the Church of England's Common Worship), containing set services and rubrics for the celebration of other rites, such as marriage. The Worship Book is also ultimately derived from Wesley's Sunday Service.^[136]

A unique feature of American Methodism has been the observance of the season of Kingdomtide, encompassing the last 13 weeks before Advent, thus dividing the long season after Pentecost into two segments. During Kingdomtide, Methodist liturgy has traditionally emphasized charitable work and alleviating the suffering of the poor.^[137]

A second distinctive liturgical feature of Methodism is the use of Covenant Services. Although practice varies between national churches, most Methodist churches annually follow the call of John Wesley for a renewal of their covenant with God. It is common for each congregation to use the Covenant Renewal liturgy during the watchnight service in the night of New Year's Eve,^[138] though in Britain, these are often on the first Sunday of the year. Wesley's covenant prayer is still used, with minor modification, in the order of service:

Christ has many services to be done. Some are easy, others are difficult. Some bring honour, others bring reproach. Some are suitable to our natural inclinations and temporal interests, others are contrary to both ... Yet the power to do all these things is given to us in Christ, who strengthens us. ...I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.^[130]: 290

As John Wesley advocated outdoor evangelism, revival services are a traditional worship practice of Methodism that are often held in churches, as well as at camp meetings, brush arbor revivals, and tent revivals.^{[139][140][141]}

Traditionally, Methodist connexions descending from the tradition of the Methodist Episcopal Church have a probationary period of six months before an individual is admitted into church membership as a full member of a congregation.^[27] Given the wide attendance at Methodist revival meetings, many people started to attend Methodist services of worship regularly, though they had not yet committed to membership.^[27] When they made that commitment, becoming a probationer was the first step and during this period, probationers "receive additional instruction and provide evidence of the seriousness of their faith and willingness to abide by church discipline before being accepted into full membership."^[27] In addition to this, to be a probationary member of a Methodist congregation, a person traditionally requires an "earnest desire to be saved from [one's] sins".^[27] In the historic Methodist system, probationers were eligible to become members of class meetings, where they could be further discipled in their faith.^[27]

Catechisms such as The Probationer's Handbook, authored by minister Stephen O. Garrison, have been used by probationers to learn the Methodist faith.^[142] After six months, probationers were examined before the Leaders and Stewards' Meeting (which consisted of Class Leaders and Stewards) where they were to provide "satisfactory assurance both of the correctness of his faith and of his willingness to observe and keep the rules of the church."^[27] If probationers were able to do this, they were admitted as full members of the congregation by the pastor.^[27]

Full members of a Methodist congregation "were obligated to attend worship services on a regular basis" and "were to abide by certain moral precepts, especially as they related to substance use, gambling, divorce, and immoral pastimes."^[27] This practice continues in certain Methodist connexions, such as the Lumber River Conference of the Holiness Methodist Church, in which probationers must be examined by the pastor, class leader, and board for full membership, in addition to being baptized.^[143] The same structure is found in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which teaches:^[144]

In order that we may not admit improper persons into our church, great care be taken in receiving persons on probation, and let not one be so received or enrolled who does not give satisfactory evidence of his/her desire to flee the wrath to come and to be saved from his/her sins. Such a person satisfying us in these particulars may be received into our church on six months probation; but shall not be admitted to full membership until he/she shall have given satisfactory evidence of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The pastor and class leader are to ensure "that all persons on probation be instructed in the Rules and Doctrines of The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church before they are admitted to Full Membership" and that "probationers are expected to conform to the rules and usages of the Church, and to show evidence of their desire for fellowship in the Church".^[144] After the six-month probation period, "A probationer may be admitted to full membership, provided he/she has served out his/her probation, has been baptized, recommended at the Leaders' Meeting, and, if none has been held according to law, recommended by the Leader, and, on examination by the Pastor before the Church as required in ¶600 has given satisfactory assurance both of the correctness of his/her faith, and of his/her willingness to observe and keep the rules of our Church."^[144] The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection admits to associate membership, by vote of the congregation, those who give affirmation to two questions: "1) Does the Lord now forgive your sins? 2) Will you acquaint yourself with the discipline of our connection and earnestly endeavor to govern your life by its rules as God shall give you understanding?"^[145] Probationers who wish to become full members are examined by the advisory board before being received as such through four vows (on the new birth, entire sanctification, outward holiness, and assent to the Articles of Religion) and a covenant.^[145] In the United Methodist Church, the process of becoming a professing member of a congregation is done through the taking membership vows (normatively in the rite of confirmation) after a period of instruction and receiving the sacrament of baptism.^[146] It is the practice of certain Methodist connexions that when people become members of a congregation, they are offered the Right Hand of Fellowship.^[145][147] Methodists traditionally celebrate the Covenant Renewal Service as the watchnight service annually on New Year's Eve, in which members renew their covenant with God and the Church.^[148]

Early Methodists wore plain dress, with Methodist clergy condemning "high headdresses, ruffles, laces, gold, and 'costly apparel' in general".^[149] John Wesley recommended that Methodists annually read his thoughts On Dress;^[150] in that sermon, Wesley expressed his desire for Methodists: "Let me see, before I die, a Methodist congregation, full as plain dressed as a Quaker congregation."^[151] The 1858 Discipline of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection thus stated that "we would ... enjoin on all who fear God plain dress."^[152] Peter Cartwright, a Methodist revivalist, stated that in addition to wearing plain dress, the early Methodists distinguished themselves from other members of society by fasting once a week, abstaining from alcohol (teetotalism), and devoutly observing the Sabbath.^[153] Methodist circuit riders were known for practicing the spiritual discipline of mortifying the flesh as they "arose well before dawn for solitary prayer; they remained on their knees without food or drink or physical comforts sometimes for hours on end."^[154] The early Methodists did not participate in, and condemned, "worldly habits" including "playing cards, racing horses, gambling, attending the theater, dancing (both in frolics and balls), and cockfighting."^[149]

In Methodism, fasting is considered one of the works of piety.^[155] The Directions Given to Band Societies (25 December 1744) by John Wesley mandate fasting and abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year (in remembrance of the crucifixion of Jesus).^[28][156] Wesley himself also fasted before receiving Holy Communion "for the purpose of focusing his attention on God," and asked other Methodists to do the same.^[157]

Over time, many of these practices were relaxed in mainline Methodism, although practices such as teetotalism and fasting are still encouraged, in addition to the current prohibition of gambling.^[158][159] Denominations of the conservative holiness movement, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection and Evangelical Methodist Church Conference, continue to reflect the spirit of the historic Methodist practice of wearing plain dress, with members abstaining from the "wearing of apparel which does not modestly and properly clothe the person" and "refraining from the wearing of jewelry" and "superfluous ornaments (including the wedding ring)".^[160][161] The Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches, which continues to observe the ordinance of women's headcovering, stipulates "renouncing all vain pomp and glory" and "adorning oneself with modest attire."^[162] The General Rules of the Methodist Church in America, which are among the doctrinal standards of many Methodist Churches, promote first-day Sabbatarianism as they require "attending upon all the ordinances of God" including "the public worship of God" and prohibit "profaning the day of the Lord, either by doing ordinary work therein or by buying or selling."^[122][163]

Methodism is a worldwide movement and Methodist churches are present on all populated continents.^[164] Although Methodism is declining in Great Britain and North America, it is growing in other places – at a rapid pace in, for example, South Korea.^[165] There is no single Methodist Church with universal juridical authority; Methodists belong to multiple independent denominations or "connexions". The great majority of Methodists are members of denominations which are part of the World Methodist Council, an international association of 80 Methodist, Wesleyan, and related uniting denominations,^[166] representing about 80 million people.^[5]

I look on all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.

Methodism is prevalent in the English-speaking world but it is also organized in mainland Europe, largely due to missionary activity of British and American Methodists. British missionaries were primarily responsible for establishing Methodism across Ireland and Italy.^[167] Today the United Methodist Church (UMC) – a large denomination based in the United States – has a presence in Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Collectively the European and Eurasian regions of the UMC constitute a little over 100,000 Methodists (as of 2017^[update]).^{[168][169][170][needs update]} Other smaller Methodist denominations exist in Europe.

The original body founded as a result of Wesley's work came to be known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church. Schisms within the original church, and independent revivals, led to the formation of a number of separate denominations calling themselves "Methodist". The largest of these were the Primitive Methodists, deriving from a revival at Mow Cop in Staffordshire, the Bible Christians, and the Methodist New Connexion. The original church adopted the name "Wesleyan Methodist" to distinguish it from these bodies. In 1907, a union of smaller groups with the Methodist New Connexion and Bible Christian Church brought about the United Methodist Church; then the three major streams of British Methodism united in 1932 to form the present Methodist Church of Great Britain.^[171] The fourth-largest denomination in the country, the Methodist Church of Great Britain has about 202,000 members in 4,650 congregations.^[172]

Early Methodism was particularly prominent in Devon and Cornwall, which were key centers of activity by the Bible Christian faction of Methodists.^[173] The Bible Christians produced many preachers, and sent many missionaries to Australia.^[174] Methodism also grew rapidly in the old mill towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where the preachers stressed that the working classes were equal to the upper classes in the eyes of God.^[175] In Wales, three elements separately welcomed Methodism: Welsh-speaking, English-speaking, and Calvinistic.^[176]

British Methodists, in particular the Primitive Methodists, took a leading role in the temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Methodists saw alcoholic beverages, and alcoholism, as the root of many social ills and tried to persuade people to abstain from these.^[177][178] Temperance appealed strongly to the Methodist doctrines of sanctification and perfection. To this day, alcohol remains banned in Methodist premises, however this restriction no longer applies to domestic occasions in private homes (i.e. the minister may have a drink at home in the manse).^[179] The choice to consume alcohol is now a personal decision for any member.^[179]

British Methodism does not have bishops; however, it has always been characterised by a strong central organisation, the Connexion, which holds an annual Conference (the church retains the 18th-century spelling connexion for many purposes). The Connexion is divided into Districts in the charge of the chairperson (who may be male or female). Methodist districts often correspond approximately, in geographical terms, to counties – as do Church of England dioceses. The districts are divided into circuits governed by the Circuit Meeting and led and administrated principally by a superintendent minister. Ministers are appointed to Circuits rather than to individual churches, although some large inner-city churches, known as "central halls", are designated as circuits in themselves – of these Westminster Central Hall, opposite Westminster Abbey in central London, is the best known. Most circuits have fewer ministers than churches, and the majority of services are led by lay local preachers, or by supernumerary ministers (ministers who have retired, called supernumerary because they are not counted for official purposes in the numbers of ministers for the circuit in which they are listed). The superintendent and other ministers are assisted in the leadership and administration of the Circuit by circuit stewards - laypeople with particular skills who, who with the ministers, collectively form what is normally known as the Circuit Leadership Team.^[180]

The Methodist Council also helps to run a number of schools, including two public schools in East Anglia: Culford School and the Leys School. The council promotes an all round education with a strong Christian ethos.^[181]

Other Methodist denominations in Britain include: the Free Methodist Church, the Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches, the Church of the Nazarene, and The Salvation Army, all of which are Methodist churches aligned with the holiness movement, as well as the Wesleyan Reform Union,^[182] an early secession from the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and the Independent Methodist Connexion.^[183]

John Wesley visited Ireland on at least twenty-four occasions and established classes and societies.^[184] The Methodist Church in Ireland (Irish: Eaglais Mheitidisteach in Éirinn) today operates across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on an all-Ireland basis. As of 2018^[update], there were around 50,000 Methodists across Ireland.^[185] In 2013, the biggest concentration – 13,171 – was in Belfast, with 2,614 in Dublin.^[186] As of 2021^[update], it is the fourth-largest denomination in Northern Ireland, with Methodists accounting for 2.3% of the population, compared to 3% in 2011.^[187][188]

Eric Gallagher was the President of the Church in the 1970s, becoming a well-known figure in Irish politics.^[189] He was one of the group of Protestant churchmen who met with Provisional IRA officers in Feakle, County Clare to try to broker peace. The meeting was unsuccessful due to a Garda raid on the hotel.^{[citation needed]}

In 1973, the Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches (FIMC) was established as a number of theologically conservative congregations departed both the Methodist Church in Ireland and Free Methodist Church due to what they perceived as the rise of Modernism in those denominations.^[190][191]

The Italian Methodist Church (Italian: Chiesa Metodista Italiana) is a small Protestant community in Italy,^[192] with around 7,000 members.^[193] Since 1975, it is in a formal covenant of partnership with the Waldensian Church, with a total of 45,000 members.^[193] Waldensians are a Protestant movement which started in Lyon, France, in the late 1170s.

Italian Methodism has its origins in the Italian Free Church, British Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, and the American Methodist Episcopal Mission. These movements flowered in the second half of the 19th century in the new climate of political and religious freedom that was established with the end of the Papal States and unification of Italy in 1870.^[167]

Bertrand M. Tipple, minister of the American Methodist Church in Rome, founded a college there in 1914.^[194]

In April 2016, the World Methodist Council opened an Ecumenical Office in Rome. Methodist leaders and the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, jointly dedicated the new office.^[195] It helps facilitate Methodist relationships with the wider Church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.^[196]

The "Nordic and Baltic Area" of the United Methodist Church covers the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland) and the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Methodism was introduced to the Nordic countries in the late 19th century.^[197] Today the United Methodist Church in Norway (Norwegian: Metodistkirken) is the largest annual meeting in the region with 10,684 members in total (as of 2013^[update]).^[169] The United Methodist Church in Sweden (Swedish: Metodistkyrkan) joined the Uniting Church in Sweden in 2011.^[198]

In Finland, Methodism arrived through Ostrobothnians sailors in the 1860s, and Methodism spread especially in Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia. The first Methodist congregation was founded in Vaasa in 1881 and the first Finnish-speaking congregation in Pori in 1887.^[199] At the turn of the century, the congregation in Vaasa became the largest and most active congregation in Methodism.^[200]

The French Methodist movement was founded in the 1820s by Charles Cook in the village of Congénies in Languedoc near Nîmes and Montpellier. The most important chapel of department was built in 1869, where there had been a Quaker community since the 18th century.^[201] Sixteen Methodist congregations voted to join the Reformed Church of France in 1938.^[202] In the 1980s, missionary work of a Methodist church in Agen led to new initiatives in Fleurance and Mont de Marsan.^[203]

Methodism exists today in France under various names. The best-known is the Union of Evangelical Methodist Churches (French: l'Union de l'Eglise Evangélique Méthodiste) or UEEM. It is an autonomous regional conference of the United Methodist Church and is the fruit of a fusion in 2005 between the "Methodist Church of France" and the "Union of Methodist Churches". As of 2014^[update], the UEEM has around 1,200 members and 30 ministers.^[202]

In Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche is the name of the United Methodist Church. The German part of the church had about 52,031 members in 2015^[update].^[170] Members are organized into three annual conferences: north, east and south.^[170] All three annual conferences belong to the Germany Central Conference.^[204] Methodism is most prevalent in southern Saxony and around Stuttgart.^{[citation needed]}

A Methodist missionary returning from Britain introduced (British) Methodism to Germany in 1830, initially in the region of Württemberg. Methodism was also spread in Germany through the missionary work of the Methodist Episcopal Church which began in 1849 in Bremen, soon spreading to Saxony and other parts of Germany. Other Methodist missionaries of the Evangelical Association went near Stuttgart (Württemberg) in 1850.^[204] Further Methodist missionaries of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ worked in Franconia and other parts of Germany from 1869 until 1905.^[205] Therefore, Methodism has four roots in Germany.

Early opposition towards Methodism was partly rooted in theological differences – northern and eastern regions of Germany were predominantly Lutheran and Reformed, and Methodists were dismissed as fanatics. Methodism was also hindered by its unfamiliar church structure (Connectionalism), which was more centralised than the hierarchical polity in the Lutheran and Reformed churches. After World War I, the 1919 Weimar Constitution allowed Methodists to worship freely and many new chapels were established. In 1936, German Methodists elected their first bishop.^[206]

The first Methodist mission in Hungary was established in 1898 in Bácska, in a then mostly German-speaking town of Verbász (since 1918 part of the Serbian province of Vojvodina).^{[citation needed]} In 1905 a Methodist mission was established also in Budapest. In 1974, a group later known as the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship seceded from the Hungarian Methodist Church over the question of interference by the communist state.

As of 2017^[update], the United Methodist Church in Hungary, known locally as the Hungarian Methodist Church (Hungarian: Magyarországi Metodista Egyház), had 453 professing members in 30 congregations.^[207] It runs two student homes, two homes for the elderly, the Forray Methodist High School, the Wesley Scouts and the Methodist Library and Archives.^[208] The church has a special ministry among the Roma.^[209][210]

The seceding Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship (Magyarországi Evangéliumi Testvérközösség) also remains Methodist in its organisation and theology. It has eight full congregations and several mission groups, and runs a range of charitable organisations: hostels and soup kitchens for the homeless, a non-denominational theological college,^[211] a dozen schools of various kinds, and four old people's homes.

Today there are a dozen Methodist/Wesleyan churches and mission organisations in Hungary, but all Methodist churches lost official church status under new legislation passed in 2011, when the number of officially recognized churches in the country fell to 14.^[212] However, the list of recognized churches was lengthened to 32 at the end of February 2012.^[213] This gave recognition to the Hungarian Methodist Church and the Salvation Army, which was banned in Hungary in 1949 but had returned in 1990, but not to the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship. The legislation has been strongly criticised by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe as discriminatory.^[214]

The Hungarian Methodist Church, the Salvation Army and the Church of the Nazarene and other Wesleyan groups formed the Wesley Theological Alliance for theological and publishing purposes in 1998.^[215] Today the Alliance has 10 Wesleyan member churches and organisations. The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship does not belong to it and has its own publishing arm.^[216]

The Methodist Church established several strongholds in Russia – Saint Petersburg in the west and the Vladivostok region in the east, with large Methodist centres in Moscow and Ekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk). Methodists began their work in the west among Swedish immigrants in 1881 and started their work in the east in 1910.^[217] On 26 June 2009, Methodists celebrated the 120th year since Methodism arrived in Czarist Russia by erecting a new Methodist centre in Saint Petersburg.^[217] A Methodist presence was continued in Russia for 14 years after the Russian Revolution of 1917 through the efforts of Deaconess Anna Eklund.^[218] In 1939, political antagonism stymied the work of the Church and Deaconess Anna Eklund was coerced to return to her native Finland.^[217]

After 1989, the Soviet Union allowed greatly increased religious freedoms^[219] and this continued after the USSR's collapse in 1991. During the 1990s, Methodism experienced a powerful wave of revival in the nation.^[217] Three sites in particular carried the torch – Samara, Moscow and Ekaterinburg. As of 2011^[update], the United Methodist Church in Eurasia comprised 116 congregations, each with a native pastor. There are currently 48 students enrolled in residential and extension degree programs at the United Methodist Seminary in Moscow.^[217]

Methodism came to the Caribbean in 1760 when the planter, lawyer and Speaker of the Antiguan House of Assembly, Nathaniel Gilbert (c. 1719–1774), returned to his sugar estate home in Antigua.^[220] A Methodist revival spread in the British West Indies due to the work of British missionaries.^[221] Missionaries established societies which would later become the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA). The MCCA has about 62,000 members in over 700 congregations, ministered by 168 pastors.^[221] There are smaller Methodist denominations that have seceded from the parent church.^{[citation needed]}

The story is often told that in 1755, Nathaniel Gilbert, while convalescing, read a treatise of John Wesley, An Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion sent to him by his brother Francis. As a result of having read this book Gilbert, two years later, journeyed to England with three of his slaves and there in a drawing room meeting arranged in Wandsworth on 15 January 1759, met the preacher John Wesley. He returned to the Caribbean that same year and on his subsequent return began to preach to his slaves in Antigua.^[220]

When Gilbert died in 1774 his work in Antigua was continued by his brother Francis Gilbert to approximately 200 Methodists. However, within a year Francis took ill and returned to Britain and the work was carried on by Sophia Campbell ("a Negress") and Mary Alley ("a Mulatto"), two devoted women who kept the flock together with class and prayer meetings as well as they could.^[221]

On 2 April 1778, John Baxter, a local preacher and skilled shipwright from Chatham in Kent, England, landed at English Harbour in Antigua (now called Nelson's Dockyard) where he was offered a post at the naval dockyard. Baxter was a Methodist and had heard of the work of the Gilberts and their need for a new preacher. He began preaching and meeting with the Methodist leaders, and within a year the Methodist community had grown to 600 persons. By 1783, the first Methodist chapel was built in Antigua, with John Baxter as the local preacher, its wooden structure seating some 2,000 people.^[222]

In 1785, William Turton (1761–1817) a Barbadian son of a planter, met John Baxter in Antigua, and later, as layman, assisted in the Methodist work in the Swedish colony of St. Bartholomew from 1796.^[220]

In 1786, the missionary endeavour in the Caribbean was officially recognized by the Methodist Conference in England, and that same year Thomas Coke, having been made Superintendent of the church two years previously in America by Wesley, was travelling to Nova Scotia, but weather forced his ship to Antigua.^{[223][224][225]}

In 1818 Edward Fraser (1798 – aft. 1850), a privileged Barbadian slave, moved to Bermuda and subsequently met the new minister James Dunbar. The Nova Scotia Methodist Minister noted young Fraser's sincerity and commitment to his congregation and encouraged him by appointing him as assistant. By 1827 Fraser assisted in building a new chapel. He was later freed and admitted to the Methodist Ministry to serve in Antigua and Jamaica.^[220]

Following William J. Shrewsbury's preaching in the 1820s, Sarah Ann Gill (1779–1866), a free-born black woman, used civil disobedience in an attempt to thwart magistrate rulings that prevented parishioners holding prayer meetings. In hopes of building a new chapel, she paid an extraordinary £1,700-0s–0d and ended up having militia appointed by the Governor to protect her home from demolition.^[226]

In 1884 an attempt was made at autonomy with the formation of two West Indian Conferences, however by 1903 the venture had failed. It was not until the 1960s that another attempt was made at autonomy. This second attempt resulted in the emergence of the Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas in May 1967.^[221]

Francis Godson (1864–1953), a Methodist minister, who having served briefly in several of the Caribbean islands, eventually immersed himself in helping those in hardship of the First World War in Barbados. He was later appointed to the Legislative Council of Barbados, and fought for the rights of pensioners. He was later followed by renowned Barbadian Augustus Rawle Parkinson (1864–1932),^[227] who also was the first principal of the Wesley Hall School, Bridgetown in Barbados (which celebrated its 125th anniversary in September 2009).^[220]

In more recent times in Barbados, Victor Alphonso Cooke (born 1930) and Lawrence Vernon Harcourt Lewis (born 1932) are strong influences on the Methodist Church on the island.^[220] Their contemporary and late member of the Dalkeith Methodist Church, was the former secretary of the University of the West Indies, consultant of the Canadian Training Aid Programme and a man of letters – Francis Woodbine Blackman (1922–2010). It was his research and published works that enlightened much of this information on Caribbean Methodism.^[228][229]

Most Methodist denominations in Africa follow the British Methodist tradition and see the Methodist Church of Great Britain as their mother church. Originally modelled on the British structure, since independence most of these churches have adopted an episcopal model of church governance.

The Nigerian Methodist Church is one of the largest Methodist denominations in the world and one of the largest Christian churches in Nigeria, with around two million members in 2000 congregations.^[230] It has seen exponential growth since the turn of the millennium.^[231]

Christianity was established in Nigeria with the arrival in 1842 of a Wesleyan Methodist missionary.^[230] He had come in response to the request for missionaries by the ex