The Methodists - Kirby, James

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Résumé :
Although this work takes proper notice of its origins in John Wesley's 18th-century movement in England, it assumes that in America the people called Methodists developed in distinctive fashion. The volume examines this American version, its organization, leadership, and form of training and incorporating new members. The authors treat Methodism as defined by conferences bound together by a commitment to episcopal leadership and animated by various forms of lay piety. Offering a fresh perspective based on sound, modern scholarship, this study will be of interest to scholars, students, and anyone interested in church history.

American Methodists early organized into conferences that defined Methodist space and time and served as the locus of power. At the same time, they created a strong episcopal form of church government, subject to the body of preachers in conference, but free to lead and direct the organization as a whole. This mission was clear, well understood, and suited to the ethos of a growing America-to spread scriptural holiness in the land and to create a desire to flee from the wrath to come. By the middle of the 19th century, Methodists in America had grown from an insignificant sect to America's largest Protestant group. Essential to that growth were structures and processes of lay involvement, particularly class meetings and Sunday schools....

Biographie:
I am a 67-year-old retiree who had a lot of time on his hands. Some six years ago I challenged myself to study the most difficult subject that came to mind. Little did I know then that it would lead to this little book. I live in the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains near a town called Golden, British Columbia, in a small village called Donald Station. I have always been curious about the natural world, and have spent a lot of time observing nature, and its denizens. It is my hope that this book will give the general public some idea that the universe and how it functions is not beyond their understanding and that with an understanding of the basics, it can open up a new topic of discussion among friends and colleagues, one that was once thought to be too complex, and best left to the professionals. I hope that you will enjoy reading this book, as much as I liked writing it, and remember knowledge is the keystone to self advancement.

Sommaire:

Series Foreword
Introduction
Bishops
America Episcopacy
Constitutional Methodism
Two Patterns of Episcopacy
Conference
The Methodist Conference
General Conference: A Continental Order
Conference Politicized
Fratricide
Formalization
Pluralism
Members
Making Moral Christians and Loyal Methodists
Class Meeting and Sunday School, 1816-1866
Sunday School for All, 1866-1915
From Class Meeting to Probationer's Class, 1866-1915
The Sunday School Renaissance, 1915-1935
Making Methodist Disciples, 1939-1968
A Biographical Dictionary of Methodist Leaders
Abbreviations used in This Volume
Biographical Entries
A Chronology of American Methodism
Bibliographical Essay
Index