Christianity John Wesley's Many Distinctive Essay

70). The emphasis that Wesley placed on Christians having a conscience set a standard and a tone for what Methodists would do many decades later in the United States. Some may argue that prominent Methodists taking positions on social issues (like terrible workers' conditions in factories; the slaughter of Native Americans; etc.) was out of the purview of a Christian organization, nonetheless "human morality" was on the line for Methodists many times, including 1894 in Chicago when the Pullman workers went on strike.

Taking a page out of Wesley's book, Rev. William H. Carwardine of the Methodist church showed the conscience of a true Christian and "…came to the defence of the rights of the workers"

(Norwood, 1974, p. 344). Carwardine's sermon "made the front pages of the Chicago papers" and was reported nationwide, Norwood explains (p. 344). But because Carwardine had the moral courage to challenge the conscience of the nation on workers' rights -- even in the face of "vicious" attitudes in the press (including the Methodist press) -- the country began to face up to "the unanticipated, but unavoidable, problems of the Industrial Revolution" (Norwood, p. 344). And eventually the Methodists adopted their "Social Creed" in a general conference "which incorporated all the principles" that the Pullman workers were fighting for in 1894. Hence, the Methodists made a contribution to the Christian movement in the U.S. By standing up for what they believe the true Christian principles should be, including justice and fairness.

When it came to justice for Native Americans, the Methodist Episcopal newspaper, Western Christian Advocate (1876) denounced any "war of extermination" prior to the disastrous events at Wounded Knee, and indeed the Methodist publication advocated dealing " honestly and fairly with the Indian" (Norwood, p. 346).

On the topic of Methodist polity, there are two important contributions Methodists have made to the Christian community: "connectionalism" and "itinerancy." As for connectionalism, John Wesley was a pathfinder in reaching out and connecting with people, even administering the Sacrament to "the unecclesiastical setting of Kingswood" (the desperately poor neighborhood) (Heitzenrater, p. 140). The spread of Methodism into Ireland also reflected the churches' group structuring (known as connectionalism); today the United Methodist Church defines connectionalism: "…all leaders and congregations are connected in a network of loyalties and commitments that support, yet supersede, local concerns." The network of societies and leaders in the Methodist connection "had become more organized and more disciplined during the 1740s and 1750s," Heitzenrater writes (p. 197) and it required "the creation of a connectional fund in 1749" to support the ongoing movement link the Wesleyan-related groups with others who shared the faith Wesley was preaching.

Itinerancy was another way for Methodists to take their message out to the people, according to author Jean Miller Schmidt (Schmidt, 1996, p. 100). The idea was to create "islands of holiness" and Methodists in the early 19th Century trained women and sent them out as itinerant preachers. Jarena Lee, a black woman (free) was likely the first female preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal Church "preached in homes" and later preached in New York State, Ohio, Maryland and elsewhere, logging "more than two thousand miles" while preaching "more than one hundred seventy-five sermons" (Schmidt, p. 101). The itinerant sharing of the Methodist message was certainly courageous, but the fact that she walked much of the way also sheds light on the commitment to making distinctive contributions to Christianity.

Works Cited

Heitzenrater, Richard P. Wesley and the People Called Methodists. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995.

Maddox, Raney L. Responsible Grace. Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1994.

Norwood, Frederick. The Story of American Methodism. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1974.

Schmidt, Jean Miller. Grace Sufficient: A History of Women in American Methodism 1760-1939. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999.

Richard P. Heitzenrater, Wesley and the People Called Methodists (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), 21.

Randy Maddox,…