Methodism-An Introduction

The following source list was originally available only on paper in one of the West Yorkshire Archive Service offices. It may have been compiled many years ago and could be out of date. It was designed to act as a signpost to records of interest on a particular historical subject, but may relate only to one West Yorkshire district, or be an incomplete list of sources available.

In the period 1729-35 a group of young men at Oxford University met together for spiritual fellowship. The group included John Wesley, who was an ordained clergyman of the Church of England; his brother, Charles; George Whitefield; and Benjamin Ingham. The latter three were also later ordained as clergymen of the Church of England. They were nicknamed by others at the University as “the Holy Club” and as “Methodists”.

In 1735 John and Charles Wesley and Benjamin Ingham went to carry out missionary work in Georgia in America. On the voyage and when in Georgia the three were much influenced by some Moravian missionaries travelling from Germany to America. The Wesley brothers came back to England in 1738 and John kept in touch with the Moravians after his return, at a religious society established in Fetter Lane in London earlier that year. This society included a number of Moravians among its members. Charles Wesley “found rest”, as he described it, on 21st May 1738, and John Wesley experienced his moment of conversion (“I felt my heart strangely warmed”) on 24th May 1738 at the meeting house of an Anglican religious society in Aldersgate Street in London. The Wesley brothers became the leaders of the Fetter Lane society. Later in that same year John Wesley and Benjamin Ingham visited the main Moravian centre at Herrnhut in Germany. On his return John preached in Anglican churches, spoke at religious meetings and visited prisons. Religious societies were set up under the influence of Wesley and his associates. Then in 1739 George Whitefield, another of the members of the original “Holy Club”, began preaching in the open air at Bristol. John Wesley, who had previously been unwilling to preach outdoors, soon followed his example, also at Bristol, on 2nd April 1739.

Both Wesley and Whitefield wished to revive the Church of England, and neither intended to form a separate denomination. Their followers were encouraged to attend the Church of England services on Sundays and the “preaching houses” which began to be built by the Methodists were seen as being supplementary to the parish churches. At first some Anglican clergymen were sympathetic to the Methodist movement.

In 1739-40 there were disagreements between John Wesley and the Moravians and in 1740 he withdrew with some of his followers from the Fetter Lane society. On 23rd July 1740 he founded the Methodist Society at the “Foundery” at Moorfields in London. Between 1739 and 1741 doctrinal disputes also arose between the followers of Whitefield, who held to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination, and the followers of the Wesleys, who held Arminian views, that is, that anyone could find salvation by the grace of God and through faith in Christ. George Whitefield and John Wesley always maintained friendly relations themselves however. In 1741 Whitefield split from the Methodists led by Wesley and his followers formed a separate Calvinistic Methodist movement.

Until 1742 John Wesley worked mainly in London and Bristol, but from 1742 until he died in 1791 he spent his time constantly travelling on preaching tours around Britain and Ireland. He was helped by a number of other travelling preachers. In 1744 these preachers were organised into circuits and the first Wesleyan Methodist Conference was held in London. From about this time the Methodists faced abuse and persecution. The trouble was probably at its worst in 1744-46 when there was much unrest in the country because of the Jacobite uprising in Scotland and fears of similar rebellion in England.

Meanwhile Benjamin Ingham, one of the original “Holy Club”, returned to his home town of Ossett in 1738. He began a preaching campaign in that part of Yorkshire and at first was allowed to preach in a number of local Anglican churches. He established many small religious societies in the area between Halifax and Leeds. In 1742 he invited the Moravians to come and settle in Yorkshire, and in July of that year a group of Moravians under the leadership of Spangenberg established a centre at Lower Wyke near Bradford. In this same year Ingham handed over control of his societies to the Moravians. In 1753 however Ingham left this area, and in the following year he set up a new organisation which grew to include some 80 societies, mostly in the north of Yorkshire and Lancashire. In 1755 Ingham suggested that his Connexion amalgamate with the Wesleyan Methodists. Charles Wesley was in favour of this move but John Wesley was not. The Inghamites then elected Ingham as their “General Overseer” and broke with the Church of England by ordaining two of Ingham’s associates as ministers. Ingham thus became the first of the “Holy Club” members to break completely from the Church of England.

In 1763 Ingham’s Connexion broke up because of theological disagreements. Only 13 societies remained with Ingham; the rest mostly joined the Wesleyan Methodists, while a few became Baptist, and some joined the Sandemanian sect. In 1772 when Ingham died no new “General Overseer” of his few societies was appointed. A few Inghamite societies did survive however into the 1900s, and three were still active in the 1990s.

In 1763 Whitefield’s Calvinistic Methodists also definitely broke with the Church of England when the leader of the Whitefieldite society at Devonport had himself ordained minister by a group of Baptist and Congregational clergy and then made his society into an Independent church. Although Whitefield had not apparently approved this action beforehand he acquiesced in it.

In 1770 George Whitefield died and John Wesley preached the sermon at his funeral. The Calvinistic Methodists then came under the leadership of the Countess of Huntingdon, who had been active among them since 1748. She had used her own wealth and other donations to build a number of chapels and she appointed her own chaplains to serve in them. However for many years these chapels and chaplains remained nominally Anglican. Then in 1774 the Whitefieldites and the Countess fell out over organisational matters to do with a chapel at Haverfordwest in Wales. The two Calvinistic Methodist strands then went their own ways. The Whitefieldite societies increasingly began to make themselves into Independent chapels. In Wales, where the Calvinistic Methodists were particularly strong, they eventually became known as the Presbyterian Church in Wales. In 1779 the Countess of Huntingdon and her chapels finally broke away from the Church of England and formed a separate Connexion which has survived with a very few churches to the present day.

Meanwhile the Wesleyans were gradually becoming more and more unpopular with the mainstream Anglican clergy, many of whom began refusing to allow the Wesleys and others of the Methodists who were ordained clergymen to preach in their churches. The Methodist lay preachers had never been allowed this privilege. A few incumbents even began to withhold the sacraments from Methodists. In 1784 John Wesley ordained Dr Coke to work among Methodists in America, and from then onwards Wesley also ordained about twenty of the Wesleyan travelling preachers as ministers. Charles Wesley was very much opposed to this move. However in spite of this action, John Wesley saw himself as a member of the Church of England until he died and never wanted to form a separate church. But by 1790 Wesleyan Methodists were holding meetings in their chapels on Sundays as well as weekdays, although many still continued to attend both chapel and the parish church.

In 1788 Charles Wesley died. John Wesley preached his last sermon on 23rd February 1791 and died some days later on 2 March 1791.

By 1800 some Methodists were having their children baptized at their chapels rather than at the parish church. Also from 1787 most Methodist chapels were licensed as Dissenting meeting houses, so as to be able to invoke the Toleration Act and be secure from persecution.

Soon after John Wesley’s death, differences began to arise among the Wesleyans. None of these were to do with doctrine but arose basically from disputes as to how the movement should be organised. Usually the issue was one of how much freedom from central control local chapels could have. As a result of these ongoing disputes a number of different denominations of Methodists developed. The main ones, with the dates when they parted company with the Wesleyan Methodists, were as follows:-

Methodist New Connexion – the Rev Alexander Kilham and his followers seceded from the Wesleyan Methodists in 1797. Kilham and his chief associate, the Rev William Thom, had connections with Yorkshire and drew up their plan for church government while staying in Huddersfield. The Methodist New Connexion was particularly strong in the industrial areas of the North of England and the Midlands.

Independent Methodists (some of whom were known locally as the Gospel Pilgrims, others as Christian Brethren) - they began in 1796 but did not hold their first Conference until 1805.

Primitive Methodists – the founders of Primitive Methodism, Hugh Bourne and William Clowes, began a campaign in 1807 to reach the rural poor by holding large open-air camp meetings; the first was held at Mow Cop on the boundary of Cheshire and Staffordshire. The Wesleyan Methodists disapproved of this move and forbade any more camp meetings to be held, but Bourne continued to hold them. In 1808 he was expelled from his local Burslem Wesleyan Methodist Circuit. He and Clowes continued with their preaching work and by 1810 it was clear a new Methodist movement had come into existence. Bourne and his followers took the name of Primitive Methodists in 1812 and held their first Conference in 1820. They undertook their first vigorous evangelistic campaign in Yorkshire in 1819-24.

Bible Christians – this group was founded in 1815 by William O’Bryan, a local preacher in Cornwall. It held its first Conference in 1819. It was strongest in the South-West of England.

Protestant Methodists – this group seceded in 1827.

Wesleyan Methodist Association (also known as the Warrenites) – this group seceded in1835-36.

Wesleyan Reformers – the Wesleyan Methodist Conference of 1849 saw a deep rift which led to numbers of members all over the country seceding from the Wesleyans. Mostly these Wesleyan Reformers left their own churches and set up new ones, in a few cases they managed to keep control of their local churches and the Wesleyans had to leave.

The Wesleyan Methodists were always the largest of the Methodist denominations. The various groups gradually came together as follows:-

The Protestant Methodists joined the Wesleyan Methodist Association in 1837.

Most Wesleyan Reformers' churches joined with the Wesleyan Methodist Association to form the United Methodist Free Churches in 1857, but a few decided not to join this union and formed the Wesleyan Reform Union in 1860 – this remains independent of the Methodist Church.

The Methodist New Connexion and the United Methodist Free Churches together with the smaller group called the Bible Christians amalgamated in 1907 to form the United Methodists.

The Methodist Church was formed in 1932 from the amalgamation of the Wesleyan Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, and the United Methodists.

The Independent Methodists and the Wesleyan Reform Union remain separate from the Methodist Church, as do the groups descended from the Calvinistic Methodists.

A useful Dictionary of Methodism is available at http://dmbi.wesleyhistoricalsociety.org.uk/