Schisms and Sects
Written by: Ted Vial
Methodist practices originated within Anglicanism as supplements to the Church of England's traditions.Only after John Wesley's death did the movement establish itself as a separate denomination. As Methodism developed it underwent a number of splits and mergers.The splits were almost always occasioned by one of three issues: 1) governance (should there be bishops?to what extent do laypeople take leadership roles?); 2) race (could northern and southern churches remain in the same denomination in the United States?should African Americans have separate churches?); and 3) holiness (what did Wesley mean by "Christian Perfection"?was it achieved all at once or gradually?Was it accompanied by other signs of the Spirit such as shaking and speaking in tongues?).
Governance.John Wesley intended to revitalize the faith of members of the Church of England, and was careful to avoid schism while he was alive.He did not ordain ministers in England, he relied on lay itinerants and preachers.Any priests in England during his life able to administer the sacraments had to be ordained by a bishop of the Church of England.When the need arose to ordain Methodist ministers in America apart from the Church of England he empowered Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury to do so, but he gave them the title of "superintendent" rather than "bishop," in part as an expression of his discomfort at appearing to establish a church apart from the Church of England.But the Americans soon began calling their leaders bishops, and organized their new denomination on an Episcopal (from the Greek episcopos, "bishop") model.Following Wesley's death, English Methodists, in contrast, organized on a Presbyterian (from the Greek presbuteros, "elder") model in which elected elders represent congregations at regional and then national decision-making bodies.
In England, Primitive Methodists formed in 1811, and Bible Christians in 1819, because they favored more lay leadership, and felt that the Methodist Episcopal Church no longer stressed evangelism.
From the beginning the Episcopal governance structure rubbed some Americans the wrong way.James O'Kelly was an Irish immigrant ordained at the 1784-85 Christmas Conference. He disliked the growing power of bishops, especially their authority to appoint preachers to churches without the preachers' consent.At the 1792 General Conference he moved to allow preachers to appeal their appointments if they did not like them.When this motion was rejected he formed the Republican Methodist Church (later called the Christian Church).
In 1852 in Georgia the Congregational Methodist movement rejected Episcopal governance and formed a new church.In the 1920s, the Methodist Protestant Church was created.When it merged in 1939 with the major branch of Methodism that eventually became the United Methodist Church, many of its members were upset by the Episcopal organization of the United Methodist Church, and its efforts at integration.These congregations formed new denominations.One retained the name Methodist Protestant Church, another was called the Bible Protestant Church (later, the Fellowship of Fundamental Bible Churches).In 1940 the Southern Methodist and in 1946 Evangelical Methodist churches formed for similar reasons.