American Methodism at 200: The Case for Hope

Questions are being asked about the United Methodist Church as it celebrates the two-hundredth year of organized Methodism in the United States:

• How dominant is radical theology in its power structure?

• What future do UMC evangelicals have?

• What are the denomination’s Wes-leyan roots?

• How much of a role has Methodism played in American life over two centuries?

To find out, CHRISTIANITY TODAY asked three independent thinkers to give their answers. They do not always agree.

Two, Edmund Robb and Dennis Kinlawt are long-time active leaders of the evangelical wing of United Methodism. One, Charles Keysor, founder of the UMC’s burgeoning Good News movement and magazine, has left the denomination.

This year the United Methodist Church celebrates its bicentennial. There is a lot to celebrate in Methodism’s past, and more recently, much need for renewal and reform.

Wildfire In Early America

It was on December 24, 1784, at Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore, that the denomination was formally organized. There were 60 preachers in the connection with a total membership of 14,988. At this Christmas conference, Francis Asbury was ordained a deacon, elder, and bishop on consecutive days. (John Wesley was very unhappy that the American Methodists had given their general superintendent the title of bishop.)

Few of these first Methodists had a formal higher education. Most of the preachers were single: they could not afford to marry on their meager income of $60 a year, and they were seldom home. Many of them died as young men because of the great hardships they suffered.

Six years after the denomination was organized there were 57,631 members. From 1773 to 1790 the American population increased 75 percent. During this same period, Methodism increased 5,500 percent. By 1850 this insignificant sect had become the largest Protestant denomination in America, and one-third of all church members were Methodist.

Within 50 years of Wesley’s death, there were missionary congregations in Europe, Africa, Australia, and the islands of the sea. Wesley had said that the world was his parish, and his followers made it a reality.

The early Methodist ministers were known for their fearless preaching. They were leaders in the abolition movement and the prohibition crusade. John Wesley had said, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergy or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell, and set up the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.”

United Methodism has never been a creedal church, but those early preachers were certainly orthodox. Indeed, in his essay “The Character of a Methodist,” Wesley wrote, “We believe indeed that ‘all’ Scripture is given by inspiration of God.… We believe Christ to be the eternal, supreme God.… But as to all opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think.”

Wesleyan Christians emphasized personal experience. Traditional religion taught that Christ had performed a mighty work for us. Wesley stressed what Christ can do in us. For them, religion was like a cup of tea: no good unless hot. Indeed, Wesley taught that it is the birthright of every believer not only to be saved, but to know inwardly that he is saved. The first Methodists also insisted on holiness of life for believers, and offered salvation from sin to the lost.

Downfall

But after such vigorous beginnings, something happened.

Robert E. Chiles, in his book Theological Transition in American Methodism, 1790–1935, has documented the shift from historic orthodoxy to theological liberalism that took place between 1880 and 1900. The professors were going to Germany for their theological training and returning home convinced of higher criticism, and questioning the supernatural.

The evolution took place much more slowly in the local churches because most Methodist preachers before World War II did not go to seminary. Today the influence of radical theological training is pervasive in the denomination. The results have been disastrous.

There has been a decline in the last 15 years in the number of overseas missionary workers from more than 1,500 to fewer than 500. Liberation theology, with its radical leftist orientation, now dominates the official Board of Global Ministries.

In the same period, there has been a loss in membership of 1.5 million in the denomination. Sunday school attendance has declined even more drastically. Some of the denominational leaders have admitted that the church is suffering from the middle-age blahs. Institutional loyalty is often given a higher priority than faithfulness. One young man had difficulty gaining a recommendation for ordination from his conference’s board of ministry. (The denomination is divided into 73 conferences, which are roughly like presbyteries or synods.) The problem was that he believed the biblical account of Creation, not the Darwinian evolutionary view. Also, some evangelicals have not received promotions because of their orthodox faith. Many evangelicals now consider the United Methodist Church apostate and hopeless.

I believe they are wrong.

Signs Of Change

There has always been a strong residue of evangelical vitality within the denomination. Too often it was expressed mainly in camp meetings, but many congregations throughout the country still have annual revival crusades. Preaching in local churches across the nation, I have never found a United Methodist church that did not respond positively to the biblical message.

Theological liberals control most of our schools, and the boards and agencies of the denomination, but they have never had the hearts of the great majority of the lay members.

Things are changing in United Methodism. The evangelical renewal that has had such a great impact across America has influenced this denomination. Those led to Christ by evangelical parachurch organizations are finding their way back to the church of their heritage. Many of them have entered seminary to prepare for the ministry. The laity have been watching the electronic church and wondering why they do not have biblical preaching and enthusiastic singing in their local churches. More and more churches are asking for evangelical ministers.

Along with the reemergence of traditional theology stands the charismatic movement. I find charismatics in almost every congregation where I preach. They are sincere Christians with a zeal for evangelism and a love for God’s Word. Some congregations are experiencing renewal through their witness and faith.

Furthermore, in the 1970s “lay witness missions” swept across the church. A typical mission is led by 20 to 30 couples who are guests of a congregation for a weekend. They share their faith and seek to lead people to Christ. Thousands have for the first time experienced the assurance of their salvation. In my home conference of northwest Texas, scores of young people have been converted and have answered the call to preach as a result of the missions. Most have gone to evangelical seminaries.

Asbury Theological Seminary, an independent evangelical seminary with a Wesleyan emphasis, is now training more people for the United Methodist ministry than any official theological school in the denomination. Their graduates are being sought by many conferences of the church.

Students of a new kind are coming to most of our denominational seminaries. They are more likely to have a traditional faith than the students of the 1960s and 1970s, and most of them want to go into the pastoral ministry. Very few theological radicals are going this route these days.

Good News, the “Forum for Scriptural Christianity within the United Methodist Church,” is the denomination’s largest caucus group, and is much stronger then any other evangelical renewal organization of the mainline denominations. The vitality of this movement continues to grow. Undoubtedly, at the recent general conference in Baltimore, the Good News lobby had the greatest impact of any organization of the church.

Good News magazine has more paid subscriptions than any official magazine of the church, with more than 20,000 receiving it bimonthly. At their annual meeting, the United Methodist Association of Communicators judged the Good News exposé “Missions Derailed” (May 1983) the outstanding general article in a United Methodist-related publication for 1983. The article sent shock waves through the Board of Global Ministries, exposing the excessive overhead of that vast bureaucracy. It was revealed that out of a budget of $59,326,497, only $ 10,047,497 was going to overseas missionary support. In 1981, headquarters expense alone was $18,116,82.

Each year the Good News movement has regional conferences throughout the church and a well-attended national convocation. It also provides supplemental evangelical educational materials to local churches.

Tim Stafford is a free-lance writer living in Santa Rosa, California. He is a distinguished contributor to several magazines. His latest book is Do You Sometimes Feel Like a Nobody? (Zondervan, 1980).

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