1. Origins of Methodism in America
2. The crisis of the Revolution
3.The need for leadership
- Wesley consecrates Coke and authorizes him to consecrate Asbury
- The Christmas Conference
- “Bishops” rather than merely “General Superintendents”
- Wesley attempts to equip the new church
- The Sunday Service (based on Anglican Morning Prayer, itself one of the last remnants of the canonical hours observed in medieval monasteries) SHOW COPY
- Wesley apparently thought the Methodist preaching service would gravitate toward a full “church” service; he couldn’t have foreseen the impact of the Second Great Awakening and the beginnings of revivalism
- The Articles of Religion!
- An abridgement of the 39 Articles
- Thought necessary because the American church was no longer to be part of the C of E
- The “missing” articles referred to the authority of the C of E within England
- Defines God, the Sacraments, etc.
- Brings over from C of E language about certain historical controversies (e.g., Pelagianism), and also what distinguished Protestant from Catholic in those days
- The Restrictive Rules were adopted to prevent a well-connected minority from changing the core of Methodism
- Meanwhile, there are certain Articles that were not part of those originally placed under the Restrictive Rules. Just how authoritative they are remains an open question.
- Origins and antecedents of the EUB Church
- The United Brethren
- The Evangelical Church
- The EUB Confession of Faith served the same purpose as the Articles of Religion SHOW COPY
- In 1968, it was accepted as equally authoritative with the Articles of Religion as a condition of merger to create The United Methodist Church, and placed under the Restrictive Rules
