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Bible Encyclopedias
Wesleyans
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or is a general name for all adherents or followers of John Wesley, the founder of Arminian Methodism; but by usage it is commonly limited to the regular Methodists of the British Conference, in distinction from those of the other kindred bodies in America, Great Britain, Ireland, and elsewhere, which in this Cyclopaedia are treated under separate heads.
I. History. — As much of this is the common property of all Methodist bodies throughout the world, we give it here somewhat in extenso.
Methodism in its origin was the child of Providence. Its founder, John Wesley, was also a child of Providence; and nearly the whole of his career on earth was marked by indications of the special and peculiar, sometimes marvelous, interposition of God in his behalf. In the origin, growth, and wide diffusion of Methodism, we can trace the evidence of the divine hand opening its way and directing its course. In all its past history, now covering a period of one hundred and forty years, when its movements were in accordance with the indications of Providence, it prospered; on the other hand, many of the changes in its operations, which were of human origin, and the outcome of expediency only, have been the cause of obstruction and often of painful disappointment and loss.
1. Inception of the Wesleyan Body. — The embodiment of Methodism is John Wesley; and during the fifty-one years of his life, which elapsed between its actual formation and the death of its founder, Mr. Wesley was its source and life. Born at Epworth in 1703, he entered the Charterhouse School, London, in 1714; in 1719 he was continuing his studies, under his brother Samuel, at the Westminster School; and in 1720 he entered Christ Church College, Oxford. In 1725 he was ordained deacon by Dr. John Potter, bishop of Oxford, who, in the advice he gave the young deacon, said, "If he wishes to be extensively useful, he must not spend his time in contending for or against things of a disputable nature, but in testifying against notorious vice, and in promoting real, essential holiness." Here were the germs of that life-work which produced Methodism. In 1729 John Wesley began to take pupils at Oxford, and some of the more serious of these united with their teacher in visiting the prisoners in the Castle and the sick poor in the city; and they commenced a systematic course of living, which soon led to their being called Methodists. That was the first origin of the Society so designated. Ten years elapsed. Both John and Charles Wesley had been out to America as missionaries in the mean time.
Returning to England in 1738, they were both introduced to Peter Bohler and other Moravian brethren, from whom they learned the way of salvation by faith; and themselves entering into the liberty of the children of God, in the month of June, 1738, were made so happy in their new experience that they began in great earnestness to preach that doctrine everywhere. In a remarkable manner the Spirit of God gave most convincing evidence of the completeness of the change, which had been wrought by faith in both the brothers. This was more distinctly and emphatically shown by the spiritual awakening which accompanied and followed the preaching of John Wesley. He had to preach in St. Mary's Church, Oxford, before the University. His text was, "By grace are ye saved through faith;" and he explained the new doctrine with a clearness, fullness, and force, which had not been known before in that famous seat of learning. That sermon was printed and widely circulated. It was followed by another on "God's free grace," in which, with equal lucidity and power, he set forth the doctrine "that the grace or love of God is free in all, and free for all." This sermon was printed in a cheap form; and those sermons, repeated in various forms and places, "gave birth to the greatest revival of religion" the world has ever known. He desired, in his own mind, to retire to Oxford to his beloved obscurity, but Divine Providence ordered otherwise; and John Wesley was detained in London and importuned to preach these new doctrines, in various churches, thrice every Sunday, and on week-days also. One source of attraction was that he had recently returned from America, which was considered a far country; and he related some of his experience in the course of his discourses. Multitudes flocked to hear him, and soon the churches were unable to hold the crowds which assembled. In a short time, partly be-cause of the large assemblies and partly owing to the new doctrines, he was excluded from one church, then from another, till at length he was shut out of all the churches. Not daring to be silent, after a short struggle between honor and conscience, he made a virtue of necessity, and preached in the open air-first in Moorfields, London, then at Kennington, and in many other parts of England Thousands upon thousands of persons — in some instances ten thousand, in others twenty thousand, and even more as computed by Mr. Wesley himself, and recorded by him in his Journals — attended his outdoor services. This step was not taken in any spirit of antagonism to the Church; quite the contrary. During one month in 1739, both John and Charles Wesley had interviews with the bishop of Gloucester, Gibson, bishop of London, and Potter, archbishop of Canterbury, to talk over their conduct; and with kindly results in each sense. Mr. Whitefield, also, had similar interviews with bishops respecting his preaching in the open air. It is plain, therefore, that the resistance these three clergymen met with did not proceed from the heads of the Established Church, but from those of the clergy who Were at ease in their comfortable livings, and who saw that their quiet enjoyment would be broken if the proceedings of these evangelists were not stopped. Hence it was that many newspapers and magazines were used by those clergymen to slander and misrepresent the work of the Wesleys and Whitefield.
During the summer and autumn of 1739, there were witnessed by thousands of persons most remarkable manifestations of divine power at many of the open-air services conducted by John Wesley. The preaching of George Whitefield and Charles Wesley, at the same period and to the same congregations, was quite as faithful and even more impassioned, at times, than was John Wesley's; but it was to the preaching of John Wesley only that those special manifestations were given. At London and at Bristol, on various occasions and at divers places, during the six months preceding the formation of the United Societies, scores of persons were smitten down under his preaching, in the open air and in small meetings in rooms; such signs had never been before witnessed since apostolic times. Mr. Wesley himself wrote: "More and more of the people were cut to the heart, and came to me all in tears, inquiring with the utmost eagerness what they must do to be saved." These penitents were counted by scores and hundreds during the autumn of 1739; and it was the witnessing of the deep agony of spirit and anguish of heart that awakened the sympathy of two gentlemen, who attended the preaching at Moorfields, to provide a place of shelter for those poor stricken ones. Northward of the preaching ground at Moorfields only a few hundred yards, but surrounded by fields — the Old Gunnery, or foundry for cannon, had stood in ruins for more than twenty years. Mr. Wesley was pressed to take the premises into his own hands; but he had to decline them, having no funds. Mr. Ball and Mr. Watkins, two kindly disposed friends, finding that the tenancy could be secured for £1.15, loaned that sum to Mr. Wesley; but, as the place was a vast heap of ruinous buildings, a large additional sum had to be spent to fit it up as a place for religious worship. The roofless building, with tottering walls, was first used by Mr. Wesley on Sunday evening, Nov. 11, 1739. The cost of fitting up the Foundry for worship was about £800, which sum was paid in three years by small subscriptions from many friends who had shared in the blessings, which came with the preached word.
The exact date of the origin of Methodism is not known; but it was within the three weeks embraced within the last week in November and the first fourteen days of December in 1739. A large number of persons had been converted within six months, who had been joined to the Moravians. In Mr. Wesley's works are found several allusions made by him to that period. The two Allowing passages convey the clearest account we have: "In the latter end of the year 1739, eight or ten persons came to me in London, who appeared to be deeply convinced of sin and earnestly groaning for redemption. They desired I would spend some time with them in prayer and advise them how to flee from the wrath to come. That we might have more time for this great work, I appointed a day when they might all come together, which, from thenceforward, they did every Thursday, in the evening. To these, and as many more as desired to join with them, I gave those advices which I judged most needful for them; and we always concluded our meetings with prayer suited to their several necessities. This was the rise of the United Society; first in London, then in other places." The first meetings were class-meetings, and John Wesley was the leader. In another extract we find the following additional details: "The first evening about twelve persons came; the next week thirty or forty. When they were increased to about a hundred, I took down their names and places of abode, intending, as often as it was convenient, to call upon them at their homes. Thus, without any previous plan, began the Methodist Society in England a company of people associated together to help each other to work out their own salvation."
Such is the account of the origin of Methodism from the pen of its founder, who, in a small tract which he is sued shortly before their organization, thus describes the character of a Methodist:
"A Methodist is one who has the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him; one who loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. He rejoices evermore, prays without ceasing, and in everything gives thanks. His heart is full of love to all mankind, and is purified from envy, malice, wrath, and every unkind affection. His own desire, and the one design of his life, is not to do his own will, but the will of Him that sent him. He keeps all God's commandments, from the least to the greatest. He follows not the customs of the world; for vice does not lose its nature through its becoming fashionable. He fares not sumptuously every day. He cannot lay up treasure upon the earth; nor can he adorn himself with gold or costly apparel. He cannot join in any diversion that has the least tendency to vice. He cannot speak evil of his neighbor any more than he can tell a lie. He cannot utter unkind or evil words. No corrupt communication ever comes out of his mouth. He does good unto all men; unto neighbors, strangers, friends, aid enemies. These are the principles and practices of our sect. These are the marks of a true Methodist. By these alone do Methodists desire to be distinguished from other men."
2. Progress of the Wesleyans during Mr. Wesley's Lifetime. — For the first century of its existence the history of Methodism was a series of providences. In a condensed record, which this is required to be, these providential openings can be very little more than indicated.
From the time the Wesley brothers returned from America they were both closely connected with the Moravians, whose meeting-house was, and is still, in Fetter Lane. It is probably true that most of the accessions made to their society during the years 1738 and 1739 were the fruits of the labors of the two Wesleys and Whitefield. Even after Mr. Wesley began his own society, in December, 1739, he himself continued to meet with the Moravians; and he took with him many of those who adhered to him as the results of his ministry. As early as June, 1738, John Wesley visited the Moravian settlement at Herrnhut, Germany, where he remained three months, conversing freely with the Brethren on their doctrines and discipline. In December of the same year Mr. Wesley drew up for the society in Fetter Lane the rules of the Band Societies-companies of not less than five nor more than ten — who met together once a week for religious conversation and prayer. A series of nine questions were prepared and used on each occasion as helps and instructions; and the design of those meetings was embodied in a series often propositions and inquiries. These were the basis of the United Societies which began to meet under Mr. Wesley in December, 1739.
In April, 1739, John Wesley was excluded from the churches in Bristol, and a few months later he was also excluded from the London churches. Mr. Whitefield and Charles Wesley were also included in the prohibition. Mr. Whitefield commenced open-air preaching near Bristol, with such happy results that John Wesley soon saw a wide door of usefulness opened to him in that plan; and he readily adopted it, with such marks of divine approbation as had not been before witnessed. This led to the commencement of the system of the itinerancy, and necessitated the employment of lay helpers; hence lay preachers had to be engaged to watch over the new converts, gathered out of the world by the labors of those apostolic men. The earliest of these lay helpers were Joseph Humphreys, Thomas Maxfield, and John Cennick. The first named is thus introduced to us by Mr. Wesley himself: "Joseph Humphreys, the first lay preacher that assisted me in England in 1738. He was perfected in love, and so continued for at least twelve months. Afterwards he turned Calvinist, joined Mr. Whitefield, and published an invective against me and my brother Charles. In a while he renounced Mr. Whitefield, turned Presbyterian minister, then received Episcopal ordination, and, finally, scoffed at inward religion — a catalogue of delinquencies long enough to cause his name to be excluded from the true friends of Methodism.
Thomas Maxfield was converted under Mr. Wesley's preaching, at Bristol, in. May, 1739. He had an excellent gift for preaching, and was very useful in keeping together and instructing the young converts in London during Mr. Wesley's absence. Some Churchmen raised a cry against Maxfield's preaching at the Foundry, and they sent their complaints to Mr. Wesley in the country, who hastened to London to silence him; but, on meeting his aged mother, who had heard Maxfield she desired her son to hear him and judge for himself if he was not qualified to preach as certainly as Mr. Wesley was That wise admonition of Mrs. Wesley led to the regular appointment of Thomas Maxfield early in 1740 to preach as a lay helper at the Foundry. He continued in office at the Foundry some twenty-three years, and after Mr. Wesley's marriage joined Mrs. Wesley in her prejudices; and in 1763 he separated from Mr. Wesley, taking with him one hundred and seventy members. He gathered an independent congregation in London, to whom he ministered for many years; but was reconciled to Mr. Wesley before his death, and Mr. Wesley preached in his chapel in 1783.
John Cennick joined Mr. Wesley at Bristol, and was very useful in that city and at Kingswood; but, not agreeing with Mr. Wesley's views on general redemption, he joined Mr. Whitefield, and became a useful minister in many parts of the United Kingdom.
In 1740 Mr. Wesley preached against predestination, and Mr. Whitefield published a reply to it in 1741, in which he advocated unconditional election, irresistible grace, and final perseverance. Charles Wesley's Hymns and John Wesley's Sermons being directly opposed to Mr. Whitefield's doctrinal views, a separation took place, which continued for many years; but Providence brought good out of what appeared to many, at the time, a serious evil.
July 23, 1740, Mr. Wesley separated from the Moravians. In December, 1741, several disturbances having taken place at the services held by Mr. Wesley, one of the leading London magistrates voluntarily waited on the king, George II. In a few days, Sir John Ganson called on Mr. Wesley on behalf of the city magistrates, and reported "that the Middlesex magistrates had received orders from above to do you justice whenever you apply to us." That spontaneous kindness checked the disturbances, and the London societies had peace ever afterwards.
In 1742, the societies having greatly increased, and numbering several thousand members, they were formed into classes of twelve or more persons, with a properly qualified person to lead them. In February, at Bristol, the same year, the debts on buildings were mentioned, and offers were made to contribute a small sum weekly as the best way of paying the debts. Leaders were desired to collect what each member would give weekly, and a steward was then appointed to receive these amounts from the leaders weekly. Class-leaders and stewards were thus early chosen and appointed. The Select Society, or Band Society, consisting of justified persons only, was established in 1742. Members meeting in band had on their quarterly ticket, besides the usual distinguishing marks, a large B.B. and tickets have been provided in England regularly each quarter ever since, but they are usually given now as ordinary tickets. Indeed, some of the preachers do not know what the letter B on the ticket represents.
Watch-night services began as early as April, 1742. The converted colliers at Kingswood first began them as a substitute for their midnight meetings held at the ale-house. They began at eight or nine o'clock, and continued until midnight. Mr. Wesley at once approved, and fixed them, first monthly, at the full of the moon, then quarterly, and recommended them to all his societies. They are now held only on the last night of the year.
Quarterly society tickets were first given in 1742. For over twenty years these were issued in three or four localities, each having a different design. Inconvenience having arisen from these varieties, the ticket of one district not being known or recognized in another, the Conference in. 1765 ordered a uniform ticket to be issued from London, the first of which is dated February, 1766. For fifty years these tickets were only about an inch square-a very simple record-containing the date, a text of Scripture and a large capital Roman letter enclosed in a simple border, with the member's name written by the preacher who gave it on the margin. In 1816, at the suggestion of the Rev. Jabez Bunting, the ticket was a little enlarged to give space within the border for the member's name. In 1822, when Mr. Bunting was Connectional editor, he again altered the ticket, making it twice as large as before, and adding the name and origin of the society at the head. The design was thought by the Conference too fanciful, and three tickets only of that kind having been issued, it next was printed with a ray border around it in 1823, and in that form it has appeared ever since. The tickets were used to admit the members to love feasts, society meetings, and the Lord's supper. The addition of a few lines by the preacher at the back of the ticket made it a passport for a member to any society of Methodists either in England or the colonies. Recently a proper form for the removal of members has been provided.
In 1742 Mr. Wesley and John Nelson itinerated through parts of Yorkshire and Cornwall, establishing Methodism in many places. During that year the organization of Methodism was nearly completed.
On May 1, 1743, the rules of the society were first published in a small tract of eight pages, with the title: The Nature, Design, and General Rules of the United Societies in London, Bristol, Newcastle-on-Tyne, etc. They recite briefly the origin of the societies, and then describe the objects and characteristics of Methodism. Twenty editions of that tract were issued during Mr. Wesley's lifetime. In 1743 sick-visitors were appointed, the leaders of classes furnishing the names of persons to be visited, and the stewards supplying pecuniary aid when needed.
In June, 1744, the first Conference was held. Mr. Wesley invited six clergymen and five lay preachers to meet him in London, at the Foundry, and five days were occupied with its deliberations. The first included preliminary plans and a discussion on justification; the second, a discussion on sanctification; the third, on the Church; the fourth, on discipline; and the fifth was de-voted to the appointment of officers and defining their duties. A full record of their deliberations was preserved, and it shows how completely the whole scheme of Methodist discipline was outlined in their earliest deliberations. It came almost perfect from the first deliberative assembly.
The year 1745 was memorable for the inquiry made in the Conference, Is Episcopal, Presbyterian, or Independent Church government most reasonable? The unrest of Mr. Wesley's mind was deepened by correspondence with the Rev. Westley Hall, who had urged him to renounce the Church of England. At that time, Mr. Wesley believed in apostolical succession and the offering of an outward sacrifice by the priest. These dogmas were soon afterwards given up by him. On his journey to Bristol, in January, 1746, Mr. Wesley read lord King's Inquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity, and Worship of the Primitive Church. As the result of the discussion held in the Conference of 1745, Mr. Wesley considered his lay helpers as deacons and presbyters, and himself as a scriptural bishop. Lord King's book confirmed those opinions. He took time to consider the whole question; and at the Conference of 1747, in a series of nine questions and answers, he states plainly his acceptance and adoption of a Presbyterian form of Church government. He renounced all his High-Church notions, and his legislation in Conference after that date was based upon the convictions wrought in his mind by lord King's work. Even apostolical succession had to go. Of that, some years afterwards, he wrote, "I never could see it proved, and I am persuaded I never shall." His preference for the Church of England remained, but his practice was in accordance with the Dissenters in Church polity. Although Mr. Wesley did not for forty years after that period resort to the imposition of hands in ordination, yet the preachers he employed were solemnly set apart to the pastoral office; and the fact of his laying-on of hands shortly before his death was more a matter of form than the conferring of any special grace or qualification. He founded societies or churches all over the land, and he solemnly set apart godly men as their pastors. If there was some inconsistency in Mr. Wesley's adhesion to the Church of England, and his establishing a separate Church in the land, it was more the result of necessity than design.
In 1746 England was divided into seven circuits, for the better carrying-on of the itinerancy and the systematic government of the societies. Circuit stewards were that year first appointed and quarterly meetings first held. At that meeting all the finances of the circuit were reported, receipts and expenses, and those reports were carried up to the yearly Conference. In 1747 a tract society was commenced in Methodism. Mr. Wesley had himself written and published a dozen tracts, the wide distribution of which was made a blessing to many people.
The wisdom and forethought of Mr. Wesley were clearly shown in June, 1748, when he opened a large school on the top of Kingswood Hill, Bristol, for the education of the children of his preachers. That school still exists; but nearly a quarter of a century since it was changed in its character to a Reformatory School, and a much larger and more convenient establishment was erected near Bath as the School for Methodist Preachers' Children, which is known as New Kingswood. In 1813 a second school for the same purpose was purchased and opened at Woodhouse Grove, near Leeds, Yorkshire. For some years, the latter has been the juvenile school and New Kingswood, the finishing school, and it has taken high rank among the first-class classical and mathematical schools in England There is a scheme under consideration for the union of these schools, or for some enlargement which will admit of the larger number of preachers sons, owing to the greatly increased number of Methodist preachers. These schools have each a history full of interest, at least to Methodists; but no friendly hand has yet undertaken to be the chronicler' of their instructive records. From those schools have gone forth youths who have risen to the highest positions in law, theology, and medicine; while in commercial life Methodist preachers sons take rank with the best in the land. In the present years (1880-81), the son of an Irish Methodist preacher is the lord mayor of London, he having been also sheriff of London and Middlesex. Among the senators in the House of Commons are sons of Methodist preachers, who are distinguished as accomplished speakers and able legislators. No less than ten sons of Methodist preachers have been presidents of the Methodist Conference. While much of this distinction is doubtless due to natural genius and persevering effort, yet these owe their inception, growth, and success largely to the excellent training obtained in the schools for preachers' children. A public collection is made through all the societies once in the year for these schools it was appointed by Mr. Wesley when the first school was opened, and it has been continued ever since. The collection was instituted when the salary of a preacher was not more than £12 a year.
In January, 1750, a union took place between Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley. Doctrinal differences separated them ten years previously; but they began this year by preaching in each other's chapels, and so, records Mr. Wesley, "one more stumbling-block is removed."
In 1751 the first disruption in Methodism took place. John Bennett, who had been a preacher for eight years, separated from Mr. Wesley, charging him with being a pope and preaching popery. During the same year, James Wheatley, another preacher, was expelled by the united voice of both John and Charles Wesley. Both these men for a time created prejudice against the Wesleys, but the societies soon recovered their lost ground.
The Conference of 1752 agreed that the preachers should receive a stipend of £12 per annum to provide themselves with necessaries. Previously no money salary was given, the stewards supplying the preachers with what they wanted. In the year 1800 the finances had improved sufficiently to allow the preachers £4 each quarter. Ten years later that amount was doubled in some circuits, and by the end of the first hundred years (1839) most of the preachers received £1 per week or more, besides a residence rent-free. In 1880 single young preachers receive as a minimum salary £80 a year, while some of the leading ministers receive a total annual salary which ranges from £250 to £350 from their circuits. Many excellent preachers left Mr. Wesley during his lifetime because no provision could be made for their wives and children, or for men worn out in the service.
In August, 1755, Mr. Wesley held the first covenant service in London. The form of service used is that written by that eminently holy Puritan Richard Alleine. The sacrament of the Lord's supper formed the closing part of the service. It has for many years been the custom to hold the covenant service in the afternoon, or during some part, of the first Sunday in each year, in all societies belonging to English Methodism. It has usually been a solemn but very interesting and profitable service.
The Conference of 1756 ordered a collection to be made yearly in all the societies, which for a century was known as the yearly collection, to assist in paying chapel debts, to help poor circuits, to pay the preachers small salary, to encourage the opening of new preaching stations, and to pay legal costs when Methodists had to defend their rights against men who interfered with them. The debts on chapels in 1756 were £4000, and in 1812 they reached £100,000. Regulations made during the last quarter of a century provide against any such accumulations of debt. The yearly collection is made in the society classes among members only, and in 1880 it realized more than £8000. The General Fund, as first originated, has changed its name into Contingent Fund, or Home Mission and Contingent Fund. The several objects at first to be assisted by the fund have now each a separate collection for their support.
On several occasions evil-disposed persons had spoken against the moral character of some of the preachers. Mr. Wesley, hearing of these complaints, caused each preacher to be examined at the Conference of 1759, and such examination has been continued at each successive Conference. The punishments for offenders are a rebuke from the president before the whole Conference, being put back on trial, suspension for a year, or expulsion. One result of the first examination of character was a great revival of religion, which spread over most parts of England and into Ireland In 1762 Thomas Maxfield and George Bell separated from Mr. Wesley, and took with them a large number of members in the London society. This led Mr. Wesley, in 1763, to devise a plan for the union of all the societies in England, and to establish a Connectional principle, which should be a bond of union and mutual help. The duties of assistants and helpers were defined, and the twelve rules of a helper written and published. The same year the preachers received instructions to sell the books issued from the book-room, and the first preacher in each circuit has acted as Connectional bookseller ever since.
The Conference of 1763 observing that some of the preachers were almost worn out and unable to itinerate, it was recommended that a fund be established to relieve the urgent needs of such as were obliged to rest. Each traveling preacher was desired to contribute ten shillings yearly to that fund. For forty years the provision thus made was utterly inadequate for the purpose designed. In 1807 the Conference reported that the fund was not sufficient to provide the superannuated preachers and their widows with even the necessaries of life. Dr. Adam Clarke drew up a plan that year for increasing the fund. Subsequent conferences improved upon that plan, and for a time it was known as the Supernumerary Preachers and Preachers Widows Fund, then it was named the Auxiliary Fund, and in 1838 it was further improved and called the New Auxiliary Fund. The preachers contribute liberally to it, and a collection is made once a year in all the classes, so that the fund now yields a sum which enables each preacher and widow to receive from it a yearly sum that fully meets all the necessaries of life and places each above want. The Rev. John Rattenbury devoted the last years of his valuable life to perfecting the resources and administration of that fund. In 1793 the Conference resolved that a preacher unable longer to itinerate should become a supernumerary, and at the end of four years he should be superannuated. Rules were afterwards made for permitting some supernumeraries to enter into business in which case their names were removed from the list of preachers belonging to the Conference. In this way the Rev. Thomas Rankin, who presided over the first Methodist Conference held in America, having entered into business, had to suffer the removal of his name from the Conference roll, and his death was not recorded in the Minutes when he died.
At the Conference of 1765 it was resolved to issue from London one uniform society ticket of membership for all the societies. The first ticket so issued is dated February, 1766. The tickets have been printed and sent out by the book-room ever since. At the same Conference it was recommended that in speaking to and of the members of society the words "brother" and "sister" should be uniformly used as far as practicable. Those terms are still used by the older preachers and members.
The Conference of 1767 made a regulation that the same preacher shall not be sent above one year, never above two years, to the same circuit. The time has since been extended to three years. Once, by special request of the Bible Society, Dr. Adam Clarke was appointed a fourth year to the same circuit. Preachers who have ceased to itinerate, that they may occupy official positions in the Connection, are appointed by the Conference to the duties for a period of six years, which may be renewed at the discretion of the Conference. There are about eighty preachers located in office; The question was agitated in 1768, Are the Methodists Churchmen or Dissenters? To this Mr. Wesley replied, "We are neither the one nor the other, but irregulars." A century later the same question was often asked, and answered in the same Way. The position Methodism is now taking in the religious world is one which is securing for it the character of a Church, independent of all others, complete in its organization, and fast assuming a dominant place among the churches of Christendom.
In 1769 the Conference expressed its joy at hearing of the establishment of Methodism in America, and sent two of its preachers, Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor, to adjust the new society, and to convey to them a substantial proof of its sympathy.
The Conference of 1770 was a very memorable one in Methodism. To raise a defense against Antinomianism, Mr. Wesley published a series of eight propositions respecting doctrine. These aroused a fierce controversy, Lady Huntingdon, Rev. Walter Shirley, and others using their most vigorous efforts against Mr. Wesley. Convinced that Mr. Wesley was right, all his preachers defended the propositions, and the Rev. John Fletcher wrote and published his Checks to Antinomianism, a masterly work, in defense of the Arminian doctrines of the Methodists.
The Rev. George Whitefield died in America in the September of 1770, and Mr. Wesley preached his funeral sermon in both Mr. Whitefield's tabernacles in London.
The year 1777 was memorable in Methodism as that in which the foundation of City Road Chapel was laid in London. On Jan. 1, 1778, Mr. Wesley issued the first number of the Arminian Magazine, a work in defense of general redemption. It has appeared monthly without any interruption for one hundred and three years, and is nearly the oldest serial magazine in England Its price for thirty-two years was sixpence each issue; in January, 1811, the price was raised to one shilling monthly, and so continued till it had completed a century of years, when the price was again reduced to sixpence. Soon after Mr. Wesley's death the title was changed to Methodist Magazine, and in 1822 the Rev. Jabez Bunting, as editor, changed it again to Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, which it still retains. When there were but few magazines in England, its highest circulation was about twenty-six thousand monthly; in 1880 the circulation was only eleven thousand, but it has many rivals. It has been a source of much revenue to Methodism, and an able and powerful defender of its doctrines, agencies, and experience. Its pages are richly stored with valuable history, and instructive and precious biography.
The Rev. Dr. Thomas Coke, an ordained clergyman who had joined Mr. Wesley in 1777, was sent by him to preside at the Irish Conference in 1782, and for nearly thirty years continued to preside over their deliberations, his visits to that country being, on the whole, a great blessing to the people. In 1784 Dr. Coke traveled over England to examine the trust-deeds of the chapels, and to get them settled on the Conference plan.
The last day of February, 1784, was a memorable one in the history of Methodism. To perpetuate the system of Methodism as it had been formulated by the experience of forty-three years, Mr. Wesley had drawn up a deed of declaration, which was enrolled in the Court of Chancery, by which one hundred ministers are to form the Annual Conference of Methodism, and the survivors are to fill up all vacancies once a year. The deed limits the sittings of the Conference to not less than five, nor more than twenty-one, days, and by that deed Methodism may be perpetuated till the end of time. Several preachers whose names were not included in the first selected hundred took offence and left the Connection, among whom were John Hampson, senior and junior, and Joseph Pilmoor, who went to America and did useful work in the Church.
The Conference of 1784 fixed the time for a preacher to remain on trial at four years; it had been less. Soon after the Conference Mr. Wesley ordained Dr. Coke, and sent him out to America to be joint superintendent over the Methodist brethren in that country with Francis Asbury. He also wrote and sent an important letter to the American societies, dated Bristol, Sept. 10,1784, in which he embodied what to him seemed sufficient instructions for the establishment and perpetuation of a Methodist Church, and he sent them also an abridged liturgy for their use.
Sunday-schools were systematically commenced by the Methodists about the year 1784. Mr. Wesley himself had conducted a Sunday-school in Georgia, America, as early as 1736. In 1769 Hannah Ball, a young Methodist lady, conducted a Sunday-school tell years before Mr. Raikes began the work in Gloucester. Mr. Wesley early approved of the system, and one of the earliest letters written by Robert Raikes was published in the Arminian Magazine for January, 1785. That led the way to their general adoption by the Methodists. In 1812 the number of scholars in Methodist Sunday schools was about 60,000; in 1889 the number was 928,506, with 129,472 teachers in England, and a union was established for the Connection.
The action taken by Mr. Wesley in 1784 in ordaining Dr. Coke as superintendent or bishop to officiate in America, and ordaining Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vascy to act as elders or deacons, was repeated in the following year, 1785, when he ordained John Pawson, Thomas Hanby, and Joseph Taylor to administer the sacraments in Scotland In 1786 he ordained Joshua Keighley, Charles Atmore, William Warrener, and William Hammett; the two latter were for mission stations abroad. In 1787 Duncan McAllum, Alexander Suter, and Jonathan Crowther were ordained by him, and in 1788 John Barber and Joseph Cownley were ordained elders, and Alexander Mather a superintendent. In 1789 Henry Moore and Thomas Rankin were ordained to have special charge of the London, Bath, and Bristol societies, and to administer the sacraments. Mr. Moore's parchment of orders was long in the possession of the writer. Mr. Rankin, five years previously, had convened and presided over the first Conference of Methodist preachers in America. These acts of ordination were strongly opposed. by Charles Wesley, but such a proceeding on the part of John Wesley was justified by the surrounding circumstances of the time. It was one of those pacificatory measures which prevented what threatened to be a separation and loss of members, The conferences after Mr. Wesley's death did not recognize the "orders" thus given as conferring any superiority of position to the preachers thus ordained, excepting that some of them were permitted to administer the Lord's supper before other preachers could do so. Mr. Moore maintained his supposed rights to the end of his days, but the Conference did not regard them. The Conference began to ordain preachers by the imposition of hands in 1836, but Mr. Moore was not invited to take part in the ceremonial. The three ministers who first laid hands on the heads of young men received into full connection in 1836 were Jabez Bunting, president of the Conference; Richard Reece, ex-president; and Robert Newton, secretary of the Conference. Ordination in this way has been continued at every subsequent Conference, the officiating ministers being the president and secretary of Conference, the ex-presidents, some chairmen of districts, and occasionally the father, if a minister, who has a son to be ordained. The president, in giving a copy of the Bible to each, says, in substance, "Take thou authority to preach the word and administer the sacraments." This takes place not till after four years satisfactory probation, and a thorough examination.
During the life of Mr. Wesley, preaching by the Methodists was held at five and nine in the morning, five in the afternoon, and eight in the evening, so as not to prevent any from attending service at Church. The Conference of 1786 gave consent to hold Methodist services in church hours when the minister was a wicked man or preached Arian doctrines, or when the churches could not contain half the people, or when the church was three miles distant. In such cases the preacher was directed to read the Psalms. Lessons, and part of the Church Prayers. All this was changed soon after Mr. Wesley's death, and more liberty was given to the preachers.
March 29, 1788, was a memorable day in the history of Methodism; Charles Wesley, the poet, entered into rest. He had no disease; "the weary wheels of life stood still." He was born in December, 1707, consequently was aged eighty years and three months. He wrote fully six thousand five hundred hymns and poetical pieces, but left his widow in such moderate circumstances with her three children that William Wilberforce, the Christian philanthropist, sent her yearly the sum of £60 as a gratitude offering for the soul-comfort he had derived from her husband's hymns and sermons, and this was continued till her death, in December, 1822, at the age of ninety-six years. The death of Charles-Wesley was more deeply felt by the founder of Methodism than any other event in the history of the Connection.
At the Conference following the death of his brother, Mr. Wesley took a review of the fifty years that had passed since his conversion, which event he considered to be the real beginning of Methodism. The sum of a long conversation was that the Methodists, in the course of fifty years, had neither premeditatedly nor willingly varied from the Church in one article, either of doctrine or discipline. That out of necessity, not choice, they had slowly varied in some points of discipline, by preaching out-of-doors, using extemporary prayer, employing lay preachers, forming societies, and holding annual conferences. These were all commenced as Providence opened the way.
The Conference of 1790 was the last presided over by Mr. Wesley. As if premonitory of his death, two committees were appointed, one to manage the mission newly established in the West Indies, and one to superintend the erection of chapels both in England and Ireland A plan of the order of business in conducting the Conference was drawn up and published in the Minutes.
3. History of the Wesleyan Body since Mr. Wesley's Decease. — The death of John Wesley, in March, 1791, was a blow so heavy when it occurred that it produced a feeling of awe and submission among the preachers, which prevented the introduction of various reforms for several years which had been contemplated and were required. During the whole year the Arminian Magazine scarcely named Mr. Wesley; more important duties devolving on both preachers and officers of the Connection. It was resolved to elect a president from the senior preachers at each Conference, and in other respects to carry on the Connection on the plan previously observed. England was divided into districts, and chairmen appointed to superintend them. The number of districts were, England, nineteen; Scotland, two; Ireland, six. By this plan the best possible arrangement was made for giving to the societies that careful oversight which they had previously received from Mr. Wesley himself. Each district was required to meet its own expenses.
A spirit of restlessness soon appeared among some of the societies after Mr. Wesley's death. William Hammeth, whom Mr. Wesley had ordained to labor in the West Indies, went to America in 1792 in search of health. He made a division in the society at Charlestown, appealed to the English Conference, and the result was his exclusion from the ministry. In England, one at least of Mr. Wesley's ordained preachers assumed the title of reverend, wore a gown in the pulpit, and administered the Lord's supper without the consent of the Conference. During the three years following, much unrest was manifested in many parts of England by the people asking to have the Lord's supper administered by their own preachers instead of having to go to Church for the purpose.
In 1794 the trustees of some Methodist chapels, especially in Bristol, refused to allow any preacher to officiate in their chapel who had not previously been approved by them for that purpose. The dispute at Bristol ran so high as to threaten a division of the whole Connection.
In 1795 the dispute with the Bristol trustees, and the question of the preachers administering the Lord's supper to the societies, had created so much painful unrest that, to save a disruption, a plan of pacification was drawn up by nine preachers, which, when approved by the Conference, was submitted to the discontented trustees, and when accepted by them was sent to the societies, and was the means of averting for that year any division. The plan included nine points concerning public worship, and nine points concerning discipline. The concessions consisted mainly of authorizing the continuance of sacramental services by the preachers where they had been practiced without the consent of the Conference. Preachers and officers who spoke for or against the introduction of the Lord's supper were to be subject to trial and penalties. That clause was resisted so determinedly by a few preachers and by very many members, both in public addresses and by the wide distribution of pamphlets, chiefly written by Mr. Alexander Kilham, one of the preachers, that at the Conference of 1796 the first business done was the trial, and finally the expulsion from the ministry, of Mr. Kilham. Those who had the direction of the affairs of the Connection acted with determination in this matter, but many of the junior preachers and several thousand members considered that decision unjust, unwise, and impolitic.
The year between the expulsion of Mr. Kilham and the Conference of 1797 was passed by him in visiting the societies in various parts of England, to ascertain their views respecting the action of the Conference in his case. The result was the formation, in the summer of 1797, of a new Methodist Connection, which included at least three preachers from the old body and about five thousand members. That was the first division of the Methodist people after Mr. Wesley's death, and in thirty years it was followed by three others, all which might have been averted by the exercise of more Christian forbearance and the concession of points of discipline deemed "non-essentials," which have in later years been nearly all conceded by the Methodist Conference. The New Connection Methodists ought to be now united with the parent society, from which they should not have been separated. The three preachers who separated themselves from the Conference on that occasion were William Thom, Stephen Eversfield, and Alexander Cummin, all of whom assisted in forming the New Connection. The Conference of 1797 issued a pastoral address to the societies, to allay as much as possible the spirit of unrest which so widely prevailed. For over sixty years a pastoral address has been annually issued by the Conference, commencing with the year 1819.
The foreign missions of Methodism were considered and recognized by the Conference of 1798. Those missions were commenced by Dr. Coke in 1786, and were entirely under his direction and management till 1791, when the Conference appointed a committee of nine of the brethren to assist him in examining candidates for foreign service, and also the accounts and letters relating to the missions. The Conference of 1793 appointed the first general collection to be made throughout the Connection in support of the missions. The second collection was made in 1796, and it has been continued yearly ever since. These missions were under the control and management of Dr. Coke, with the aid, though little more than nominal, of a committee, until the year 1813, when he arranged with the Conference for his journey to India. The doctor closed his earthly pilgrimage while crossing the Indian Ocean, and in the following year the Foreign Missionary Society was originated at Leeds, since which time it has become one of the most useful and important missionary organizations in the world, with nearly five hundred ministers and one hundred thousand members in society at then Conference of 1880; the voluntary contributions reported at the annual meeting that year in support of the foreign missions being £165,498, while the expenditure of the year was £190,686.
A Committee of Privileges was appointed by the Conference of 1803, which then consisted of ten of the principal preachers and laymen in Methodism. Its origin dates from the threatened invasion of England by Bonaparte in 1802, when an act was passed in Parliament to raise a regular corps of militia. This included some Methodists; and a clause was introduced to exempt the Methodists from drill on the Sabbath. The Committee of Privileges was at first intended to act in defense of those rights. Its scope and numbers were enlarged in 1811, when the committee was appointed to have the direction of any lawsuit which in any way related to the Methodist Connection. Circuit collections were ordered to be made to meet the outlay which might occur in consequence of such legal proceedings. In 1853 the committee was established on a broader and more permanent basis, so as to include any legal contingency which might arise. It is now divided into two parts, one for guarding our privileges, the other for cases of exigency.
The Conference of 1804 resolved that any itinerant preacher who carried on any trade should, on proof thereof, be excluded from the "Itinerant Plan," and forfeit his connection with the ministry. This regulation excluded from the ministry the Rev. Thomas Rankin, one of the most respected and most prominent of Mr. Wesley's preachers, who, seeing that the allowance made to supernumerary preachers was wholly inadequate to their support, preferred to enter into business and become a coal-merchant rather than impoverish a fund already overtaxed. That act excluded him from the ministry, and at his death he had no record in the Minutes of Conference. An interesting memoir of him was printed in the Methodist Magazine.
A series of nine new minutes were agreed to by the Conference of 1807, the fifth of which was to the effect that camp-meetings may be allowable in America, but they are highly improper in England; and the Conference disclaimed all connection with them. Some of the earnest Methodists in Staffordshire were of opinion that if camp-meetings were good for America, they were equally good for England; accordingly, at Mow Coss, in. that county, camp-meetings were held; and for taking part in them William Clowes, Hugh Bourne, and other Methodists were deemed unworthy of membership; and on being excluded several of them united in forming the Primitive Methodist Connection in 1810, which has since become the most prosperous and most numerous offshoot from the parent society. Its members in 1880 numbered 190,800.
The first Methodist missionary was sent to Africa in the year 1811. Some Methodists had settled in the colony of Sierra Leone about the year 1792. Early in this century a colored man, named Mingo Jordian, preached to the people, gathered a society, and wrote to Dr. Coke and Dr. Adam Clarke, asking for help. The Conference of 1811 sent out George Warren as the first missionary to that colony. Some Methodists, having made their way to the colony of Australia, formed a class, and found in one of the penal convicts who had become converted the first Methodist preacher in that vast country. The Conference of 1812 sent out Samuel Leigh, who laid in Australia, broad and deep, the foundations of a great Methodist Church, which numbered in 1880 fully 69,000 members.
In 1813 Dr. Coke started with a small band of missionaries to found the Methodist Church in India; and although it has been of slow growth, its branches are rapidly stretching over the continent of India. The work assumed wider proportions, and found many new fields after the Missionary Society was fully organized in 1813-14; since Which time the agents of the society have found their way to nearly every country under heaven; and, aided by the American Episcopal Church and the Church South, Methodism is establishing itself in every land.
In October, 1815, what is now known as the Bible Christian Society was founded at Lake, near Shebbear, Devonshire, by William O'Bryan. He had been a very zealous Methodist local preacher had visited many places in that country where the Gospel was not preached, and gathered the people together for religious worship. For doing just what Mr.Wesley had done seventy years before, an injudicious Methodist preacher expelled Mr. O'Bryan from their community; and he, not feeling at liberty to discontinue his evangelistic work, gathered some of his converts into a small society in Devonshire; and in one year their members numbered more than 500. In the year 1880 their membership in England was 21,292; in addition to those in Canada, 7254; and Australia, 3605. Mr. O'Bryan died in America a few years ago at an advanced age. Their membership is largely confined to the west of England, where the society originated.
In 1818, what is known as the Children's Fund was instituted. Previously to that date, each preacher having a family was allowed £6 per annum for each child, which sum was found to be inadequate. New arrangements were made in 1818 for raising more money, and for the better management of the fund. The allowance has been £7 for each child for half a century; but some circuits, by a special effort, make up the sum to £10.
In 1819 important improvements were made in the system of finance, and the Conference resolved that in future a financial district meeting should be held in the early part of the month of September in every district, at which all the preachers and stewards who could were to be present, to make whatever financial arrangements were required for each circuit in the district, for one year prospectively. One of the most important acts done at any Methodist Conference was the passing of what have since been known as the Liverpool Minutes of 1820-a series of thirty-one resolutions, the design and purpose of which was "the increase of spiritual religion among our societies and congregations, and the extension of the work of God." The reading of those resolutions to the society at any time since has usually been followed by renewed spiritual activity and success.
The year 1820 was memorable also for the resolution then passed to secure every four years an exchange of delegates between the English and the American Methodist Churches. The first delegate from America was John Emory, who was presented to the Conference at Liverpool in July, 1820; and who, in his address sketching the progress of Methodism in his own country, said, "The two bodies would yet compass the world, and shake hands at the Pacific." That prophecy has been realized. Emory was a thin spare man of about thirty-five, but his presence and words made a deep impression on the Conference. He was the guest of Dr. Adam Clarke at Millbrook, who was then working hard at his Commentary. The first delegates from the British Conference to America were Richard Reece and John Hannah, who attended the General Conference held at Baltimore in 1824, where they met bishops McKendree, George, and Roberts, and one hundred and twenty-nine delegates.
The missions to the Shetland Islands were commenced by Dr. Adam Clarke in 1822, who found the chief means for their support for ten years, when he ceased from his labors. They now (1880) number more than twelve hundred members.
What is known as the Leeds organ dispute arose from the introduction of an organ into Brunswick Wesleyan Chapel in 1828 against the wishes of a large majority of the leaders and other officers of the society. The result was that more than one thousand members left Methodism, and formed the Society of Wesleyan Protestant Methodists. They existed as a useful, laborious Church for about eight years, when they united with a much larger secession from the old body. In the Conference of 1834, the question of commencing an institution for the education and training of young ministers was considered and decided upon. Among the advocates for the measure were Messrs. Reece, Bunting, Newton, Subcliffe, Gaulter, Scott, Lessey, and one hundred and fifty other preachers. Against the proposal were James Wood, Dr. Samuel Warren, James Bromley, Henry Moore, and about thirty old preachers; one hundred other preachers remained neutral. Dr. Warren took the lead in the opposition; wrote and published a pamphlet against the proposal, which was considered by those friendly to the project to be such a misrepresentation of the facts as to bring the doctor to trial before a special district meeting. Dr. Warren was the superintendent preacher of the Manchester first circuit. The circuit defended their minister; the special district meeting tried, and suspended him from office as a preacher. An appeal was made to the Court of Chancery, when the vice-chancellor, Shadwell, declared against Dr. Warren; in consequence of which, at the Sheffield Conference of 1835, Dr. Warren was expelled from the Conference and the Connection. Having many friends and followers who sympathized with him, they left the Connection, and formed the Wesleyan Methodist Association, which, ten years afterwards, numbered 21,176 members. In 1857 they were united with the Reform Methodists of 1849-50.
The resolution of the Conference of 1834 to found a theological institution was carried into effect by the Conference of 1835-36. A committee was formed to complete the proposed scheme. An old Congregational building, known as the Hoxton Academy, was rented, and used with advantage for several years. In 1839, Abney House, in Stoke Newington, long the residence of Sir Thomas Abney and of Dr. Isaac Watts, was taken as a branch establishment; and both were used to their fullest capacity until the year 1841-42, when the handsome college at Richmond was completed; and about the same time the commodious institution of Didsbury, near Manchester, was also ready for occupation, when both were tenanted by the removal of the students from the two London buildings. Since then another college for the same purpose has been built at Headingly, near Leeds, and occupied fully; and a fourth college is now in course of erection at Handsworth, near Birmingham, which is to be opened in 1881.
The centenary of Methodism was celebrated in all parts of the world during the year 1839. The Conference of 1837 appointed a committee of ministers and laymen to prepare a report of the best way of observing the occasion. The report was presented to and accepted by the Conference of 1838, and a great Connectional representative meeting was gathered in Oldham Street Chapel, Manchester, Nov. 7, 1838, comprising two hundred and fifty preachers and laymen, and was the most imposing assembly of Methodists which had ever been held. Its deliberations were continued for three days. To commemorate its proceedings a large picture was painted, engraved, and published by Mr. Agnew, in which were included one hundred and four portraits. It is generally known as "The Centenary Picture." Thomas Jackson presided. It surpassed all previous meetings for Christian feeling and pious beneficence. A Thanksgiving Fund was recommended as an acknowledgment for the great mercies of the past, and £80,000 was at first fixed upon as the limit expected from it. No less than £10,000 was promised at the meeting held in the City Road Chapel, London. Ireland generously promised £14,500; and by the opening of the centenary year the promises had reached £102,000; by March they were £150,000; and, by the time the celebration was to be observed throughout the Connection- namely, Friday, Oct. 25-the promises had reached £200,000. Before the find, was closed, it amounted to £216,000. The objects to be benefited by the fund were: the erection of two Theological Institutions; the purchase of a Centenary Hall and Mission-house in London; the relief of distressed chapels; the better support of worn-out preachers and their widows; the building of a Centenary Chapel in Dublin; and to make provision for promoting day-school education. The Centenary Conference, 1839, reported an increase of membership of over 16,000, and 118 candidates for the ministry. The year after the death of Mr. Wesley, i.e. in 1792, the Methodist family numbered 550 itinerant preachers and 140,000 members in Great Britain and America: in 1839 these figures were raised to 5200 itinerant preachers and 1,171,000 members in society. In 1889 the total number of itinerant ministers throughout the Methodist world was 41,056; the total of ministers and members, 6,331,112. This record may be very appropriately closed with she memorable words of the dying Wesley: "What hath God wrought!"
In 1841 the Centenary grant of £2500 for educational purposes was made available for the founding of a training institution for elementary teachers and the establishment of primary schools throughout the Connection. The necessary funds for developing the work came in slowly. The Normal Training Institution and practicing schools in Westminster were opened in 1848. In 1857 there were 434 day-schools connected with Methodism, in which 52,630 scholars were taught. Ten years later there were 640 schools and 100,000 scholars. In 1889 there existed 847 schools and no less than 179,578 scholars. An additional training institution has also been established at Shortlands, Battersea, for females. The first principal of the Westminster institution was the Rev. John Scott, and the present principal is the Rev. Dr. Rigg. The principal at Shortlands is the Rev. G. W. Oliver, A.B.
The disruption which took place at the Manchester Conference of 1849 was the most sad and painful event that ever occurred in Methodism. A growing feeling of discontent had for some years been manifested by some of the preachers at what was considered by them a policy of dictation by some of the senior preachers, more especially by Dr. Bunting; and certain fly-sheets were printed and circulated throughout the Connection, in which the causes of complaint and dissatisfaction were embodied. The fly-sheets were anonymous. About the same time there was published a volume entitled Centenary Sketches o
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Wesleyans'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/w/wesleyans.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
