METHODISM
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METHODISM
ing in the open air in the colliery district of Kingswood
near Bristol. His success was enormous, and the
Wesleys almost immediately followed his example.
At the very inception of the Methodist movement an
important doctrinal difference arose between White-
field and John Wesley regarding predestination. The
former held Calvinistic views, believing in limited
election and salvation, while the latter emphasized the
doctrine of universal redemption. This difference in
opinion placed a permanent characteristic doctrinal
difference between Arminian Methodism and the Cal-
vinistic Lady Huntingdon Connexion. Whitefield
gave his support to the latter movement which owed
its name to the protection and liberal financial as-
sistance of the Countess of Huntingdon (1707-91).
Although Wesley always intended to remain within
the Church of England, circmnstances gradually led
him to give his evangelistic movement a separate
organization. The exclusion of his followers from
the sacraments by the Anglican clergy in 1740 over-
came his hesitation to administer them in his own
meeting-rooms. The increase in the number of So-
cieties led the following year to the institution of the
lay preachers, who became an important factor in the
success of the Methodist propaganda. The year
1742 saw the creation of the " class" system, and two
years later the first annual conference was held.
Desirous of ensuring the perpetuation of his work, he
legally constituted it his successor in 1784. By a
deed of declaration filed in the High Court of Chan-
cery, he vested the right of appointing ministers
and preachers in the conference composed of one
hundred itinerant preachers. This "Legal Hun-
dred" enjoyed, in respect to the conference, the
power of filling vacancies and of expelling unworthy
members. On the refusal of the Bishop of London
to ordain two ministers and a superintendent for
America, Wesley, convinced that bishop and presbyter
enjoyed equal rights in the matter, performed the
ordination himself (1784).
Important problems calling for solution arose im- mediately after Wesley's death. In the first place the want of his personal direction had to be supplied. This was effected in 1791 by the division of the coun- try into districts and the institution of the district committees with full disciplinary and administrative power under the jurisdiction of the conference. As the administration of the sacraments by Methodist cler- gymen had not yet become the universal rule, the churches that did not enjoy this privilege insisted upon its concession. The question was permanently settled by the " Plan of Pacification " in 1795. It granted the right of administering the sacraments to all churches in which the majority of the trustees, stewards, and leaders pronounced in favour of such practice. The insistent demand of Alexander Kilham (1762-98) and his followers for more extensive rights for the laity received a temporary and partly favourable an- swer at the important conference of Leeds in 1797. Lay representation in the conference was, however, emphatically refused and Kilham seceded . Since 1878 they have been admitted as delegates.
The spread of liberal opinions was also at the bot- tom of several controversies, which were intensified by the dissatisfaction of some members with the pre- ponderating influence of Dr. Jabez Bunting (1779- 18.58) in the denomination. The introduction of an organ in Brunswick Chapel at Leeds (1828) and the foundation of a theological school for the formation of young preachers (1834) were merely occasions which brought to a head the growing discontent with Burning and the central authority. The controver- sies which resulted in these two cases were of but minor importance, when compared with the agitation of the years 1849-56. This period of strife witnessed the circulation of the so-called "Fly-Sheets", directed against Bunting's personal rule, the expulsion of the
persons responsible for their publication, and the loss
of at least 100,000 members to the Wesleyan Method-
ist Connexion. Some of these affiliated with minor
branches, but the majority was lost to Methodism.
These controversies were followed by a period of more
peaceful evolution extending to our own day. The
increase in the number of theological semina ries among
British Methodists has emphasized the distinction
between clergy and laity and points to more complete
intenial organization. A fact which reveals a similar
tendency is the institution of deaconesses. They were
introduced in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1890.
(2) Methodism in the United States. — The history
of Methodism in the LTnited States does not date
back to the visit of John and Charles Wesley to Geor-
fia, but begins only in 1766. In that year Philip imbury, a local preacher, at the request of Mrs. Barbara Heck, delivered his first sermon in his own house at New York. They had both come to America in 1760 from Ireland, whither their Palatine ancestors had fled from the devastating wars of Louis XIV. Only four persons were present at the first sermon, but the number soon increased, especially after the arrival of Captain Thomas Webb, another local preacher. The latter displayed a stirring zeal, and in 1768 the first Methodist chapel in America was dedi- cated. Almost simultaneous with this introduction of Methodism into New York was its planting in Maryland. Webb introduced it in Philadelphia, and it spread to New Jersey and Virginia. In 1769 Wesley, in response to repeated appeals for helpers, sent over two preachers, Joseph Pilmoor and Richard Board- man; others followed, among them Francis Asbury (1771) and Thomas Rankin (1772). The first con- ference convened at Philadelphia in 1773, recognized the authority of John Wesley, and prohibited the ad- ministration of the sacraments by Methodist preach- ers. The total membership reported was 1160. An increase was recorded in the two succeeding con- ferences, also held at Philadelphia, in 1774 and 1775 respectively. But the Revolution impeded the pro- gress of Methodism. Owing to the nationality of most of its preachers and to the publication of Wesley's pamphlet against the independence of the colonies, it was looked upon as an English product and treated accordingly. When peace was restored, the need of a separate church organization made itself felt. Wesley now heeded Asbury 's appeal for an independent ecclesiastical government and the administration of the sacraments by Methodist ministers. In 1784 he ordained the preachers Whatcoat and Vasey as elders, and Dr. Thomas Coke as superintendent for America. Coke arrived in New York on 3 November, 1784, and that same year what has become known as the Christ- mas conference was convened at Baltimore. From it dates the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Wesley's plans and instructions were laid before this assembly, and his articles of faith and his liturgy adopted. As Asbury refused to be ordained without previous election he was unanimously chosen superintendent, a title for which, against Wesley's will, that of bishop was substituted in 1788. The rapid increase of the denomination about this time is indicated by the membership of 66,000 reported to the conference of 1792. The growth of the Church continued with the increase in population; but (jues- tions of expediency, race, and government caused secessions. The slavery agitation especially resulted in momentous consequences for the denomination. It began at a very early date, but reached a crisis only towards the middle of the nineteenth century. At the general conference held in New York in 1844, Bishop J. O. Andrew was suspended from the exer- cise of his office owing to his ownership of .slaves. This decision met with the uncompromising opposi- tion of the Southern delegates, but was just as stanchly upheld by its supporters. Tlie withdrawal of the
