Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/202

Rh 192 METHODISM by Wesley, held the first Conference in Philadelphia, when there were 10 itinerant preachers and 1160 members. After the breaking out of the War of Independence the English Methodist preachers were unpopular, and all but Francis Asbury went back to England. At the end of the war, however, in 1784, Wesley sent out Dr Coke, and American Methodism was organized as an independent church, with Dr Coke and Francis Asbury as its presbyter- bishops. The history of American Methodism since that period is too vast and complicated for any attempt to be made to summarize it here. Methodism is more properly national in its character as an American church than any church in the States. In Massachusetts and some other of the New England States it is less powerful than Con gregationalism, which still retains there much of its ancient predominance ; in the city of New York it is less powerful than Presbyterianism, and, indeed, occupies a position less generally influential than might have been expected. But in Philadelphia it is very powerful ; so also in Baltimore and in Cincinnati ; if not strong in New York city, it is very strong in the State ; and generally throughout the western and mid-western States it is the prevalent form of faith and worship. In the south, also, it is more powerful than any other church. American Methodism is Episcopal. But its Episcopacy is neither prelatical nor diocesan. The bishops are superintending presbyters, and they visit the whole territory of Methodism in rotation, hold ing (presiding over) the annual Conferences. These Conferences are purely ministerial. But the General Conference, which meets once in four years, and which is the Conference of legislation and final appeal, is mixed and representative. The first General Conference was held in 1792, the first delegated or representative Conference in 1812, the first mixed or ministerial-and-lay General Conference in 1872. There were till lately no district assemblies in the Episcopal Methodism of America, and now there are but few. The bishops maintain the unity of the Connexion in the interval between the General Conferences, by their visitation and by their conjoint council. A sub-episcopal class of ministers also, called presiding elders, supplement the action and superintendency of the bishops. These preside over districts, holding all the circuit quarterly meet ings, and holding the district meetings, if any such meetings have been organized. American Episcopal Methodism is distributed into five distinct sections or churches, which, however, differ from each other in no points of any importance as respects organization or discipline, still less doctrine. The American Methodist Episcopal Church South became a separate organization in 1847 by reason of the slavery controversy. The coloured churches, of which there are three, sprang up distinctly from local causes. The following are the latest available statistics: Itinerant Ministers. Local Preachers. Lay Members. Methodist Episcopal Church 12 142 12,323 1,717 567 ,, ,, South 4 004 5 868 837 831 African ,, ,, 1 832 9 760 391 044 Methodist Episcopal 7Ion Church 1 650 3 750 300 000 Coloured Methodist Episcopal Church 638 683 112,000 20,266 32,384 3,358,442 In the Methodist Episcopal Church alone there are one hundred annual Conferences, visited by twelve bishops. This church has more than twenty universities, of which some are distinguished schools of learning. Boston University is one of the most recent and one of the chief. The principal foreign missions are in India. China, and Japan. The Methodist Church South also has some influential universities, particularly that at Nashville, and has missions, in particular in Japan and China. Besides these Methodist Episcopal churches, with their total of 3,358,000 church members, there are two other churches which do not assume the name at all, but are yet essentially Methodist in doctrine and discipline, not varying in any important particulars from the Episcopal Methodism of America. Of these one is called the United Brethren, with 157,000 members, the other the Evan gelical Association, with 113,000 members. 1 Non- Episcopal American Methodism. The bodies included under this head are chiefly secessions from the original stock of American Methodism, founded on principles of democratic church government, analogous to those of the English Methodist secessions. The only 1 The best authority as to American Methodism is Dr Abel Stevens s History, In 6 vols. The statistics are given in the Methodist Year Book, New York, 1882. considerable body, however, is the Methodist Protestant Church, with 125,000 members. The minor bodies, four in number, count altogether less than 60,000 members, the principal being the American Wesleyan Church, with 25,000 members. III. OTHER METHODIST BODIES IN BRITAIN. The bodies still to be noticed, while differing as to points of church government, agree as to doctrine and in general as to the means of grace and as to inner spiritual fellowship with the parent &quot; Connexion.&quot; They all maintain class-meetings and love-feasts, have leaders meetings and quarterly meetings, and largely employ local preachers. The Methodist New Connexion was founded in 1797-98 by Alexander Kilham, who died in 1798. Its general principles are indicated above. Its statistics for 1881 were as follows: 183 ministers and 27,770 members (including those on mission stations, besides 3882 on trial), and 74,744 Sunday scholars. 2 United Methodist Free Churches. This organization in its original form must be identified with the Wesleyan Methodist Association of 1836. That body first absorbed into itself, in great part, the &quot;Protestant Methodists&quot; of 1828. It was afterwards greatly in creased, and its organization in some points modified, when a large number of the seceders from the parent Connexion in 1 850-52 joined its ranks. The main body of its Conference does not consist, like that of the New Connexion, of an equal number of circuit ministers and elected circuit lay delegates, but of circuit delegates, whether ministerial or lay, elected without any respect to office, ministerial or other. Its circuits also are independent of the control of the Conference. The Conuexional bond, accordingly, in this denomina tion is weak, and the itinerancy is not universal or uniform in its rules or its operation. The amalgamation between the Wesleyan Methodist Association and the &quot; Wesleyan Methodist Reformers &quot; of 1850 took place in 1857. At that time the combined churches numbered 41,000. At present (1881-82) they number 72,839, in cluding 7772 members on the mission stations, besides 7824 on trial. The number of ministers is 392, with 40 retired or &quot; supernumerary&quot; ministers. The number of Sunday scholars is 190,957. 3 Primitive Methodism. In this earnest and hard- working denomi nation the ministers, of whom some are women, are very literally &quot; the servants of all.&quot; The Conference is composed, in addition to twelve permanent members, of four members appointed by the pre ceding Conference, and of delegates from district meetings. The principle of proportion is that there should be two laymen to one minister or &quot;travelling preacher,&quot; and the &quot;travelling preachers&quot; have no pastoral prerogative whatever. The Conference is supreme, and the Connexional bond is strong. This body was founded by Hugh Bourne and William Clowes, local preachers who were separated from the Wesleyan Connexion, the former in 1808, the latter in 1810, because of their violation of Conference regulations as to camp meetings and other questions of order. The Conference had, in 1807, pronounced its judgment against camp meetings, which had been introduced into the country from America, whereas Bourne and Clowes were determined to hold such meetings. Founded thus by zealous and &quot; irregular &quot; lay preachers, &quot; Primi tive&quot; Methodism, as the resulting new body called itself, bears still in its organization, its spirit, and its customs strong traces of its origin. It has been a very successful body, aiming simply at doing evangelistic work, and is now numerous and powerful, numbering among its ministers, not only many useful preachers, but some of marked originality and power and also of superior cultivation. There has for many years past, if not from the beginning, been a very friendly feeling between the old Wesleyan Connexion and the Primitive Methodists. Its latest statistics (1881-2) show 1149 travelling preachers, 185,312 members, and 383,350 Sunday scholars. Bible Christians. The Primitive Methodists sprang up in the midland counties, the Bible Christians in Cornwall. These closely resemble the &quot;Primitives&quot; in their character and spirit. Their founder was a Cornish local preacher called O Bryan. Hence the Connexion is often known as the Bryanites, and Cornish emigrants have propagated this denomination widely in the colonies. The Conference is composed of ten superintendents of districts, the president and secretary of the preceding Conference, lay delegates, one from each district meeting, and as many of the travelling preachers as are allowed by their respective district meetings to attend. In general it may be said that the ministerial and lay members of the Conference are about equal in number. The returns for 1881-82 showed in England (chiefly the west and south of Eng- 2 See Jubilee Volume of t/ie New Connexion ; also the General Rules and the Minutes of Conference, 1881, published nt the New Connexion Book-Room, i 3 See Foundation Deed of the United Methodist Free Churches ; also Minutes of Conference, 1881, 119 Salisbury Square. 4 See John Pette, History of the Primitive Methodist Connexion ; also Minutes of Conference, 1881, 6 Sutton Street, London, E.