MY SEARCH FOR THE CHURCH ON THE ROCK
CHAPTER 6
THE METHODIST CHURCH
In
1729 Charles Wesley brought together a group of students at Oxford
University
in England. They included his brother John and another soon to be
famous man
George Whitefield. All were concerned with the lack of true devotion to
Christ
in their church, the Church of England, and they wanted to improve
their own
spiritual lives. They met every week, fasted regularly and abstained
from "amusement and luxury". England in the 18th century had no real
hospitals and the prisons were mostly filled with debtors and religious
dissenters so they made regular visits to the sick, the poor and those
in jail.
Their fellow students made fun of them and called the group "The Holy
Club".
The Holy Club at Oxford
While
the name was meant as a joke, it stuck and the members soon became proud of it.
They then established "Holy Clubs" in churches all over England. At first the Anglican Church endorsed
their meetings and the common people found a new life in Christ and used it to
serve their fellow man. Little did these young men know the profound change
their club would bring, not only in the Church of England but also the entire
Christian world!
Charles Wesley
1707-1788
John
Wesley was the public speaker in the family but Charles had equal influence on
the religious world as his brother. He was a poet and wrote more than a
thousand hymns. My love for singing praises to God was given me by my mother
and grandfather and oh how we loved to sit together as a family and sing, "Soldiers
Of Christ, Arise" and "Christ The
Lord Is Risen Today" and "Jesus,
Lover Of My Soul". These are just a
few of the inspiring hymns that Charles wrote. Only one other songwriter even
comes close to Charles Wesley in the number written and that is Fanny J.
Crosby, also a Methodist. The love of inspirational gospel singing was an
important part of Methodist worship until just a generation or two ago.
John Wesley
1703-1791
John
Wesley's mother profoundly influenced his religious life. Her belief in
Pietism, a movement beginning in Lutheranism and then spreading to most
protestant churches, was his inspiration for the Methodist movement. Pietism
taught that the church needed a revival of practical and devout Christianity.
They emphasized individual piety and a vigorous Christian life. When Governor
James Oglethorpe wanted someone to come to the colony of Georgia to convert the
Indians and deepen the religious life of the colonists, John volunteered. With
his brother Charles he arrived in America in 1735. However the trip was a total
failure. John had an unhappy love affair in Georgia, was misunderstood by the
colonists and charges were brought against him for his unorthodox teachings. He
returned to England in 1738 depressed and beaten. Starting at this time we see
doubts in his faith and a searching for his own beliefs that would continue
until his death. (1)
His
search led him to the Moravians (2)
and he even traveled to the Moravian headquarters in
Germany. By 1739 he became disillusioned with this movement and started
the "Methodist Society" in England. The organized Church now closed
their pulpits
to him but a new door opened. It was George Whitefield, from the Holy
Club
days, who had discovered the effectiveness of open air preaching.
Wesley
disagreed with Whitefield's strong Calvinist beliefs and hesitated
trying this
bold step, believing that such a method of saving souls was "almost a
sin". He
relented and preached his first open air sermon near Bristol in April
of 1739.
It was such a success that he never again refused to preach anywhere
there was
an audience even using his father's tombstone as a pulpit. For 50 years
he
preached in churches if they let him and in fields, homes, halls and
chapels if
they didn't. We now know where the American Methodist circuit riders
came from!
Contrary to common belief, John Wesley never intended
to start a new denomination. He was a priest in the Anglican Church his entire
life and died as such. He considered those who called themselves "Methodists"
to be members of the Church of England and only a society within that church
but the Revolutionary War changed the movement in America. First, when the war
was over no one wanted to be a member of a church that had the King of England
as its head. Second, they changed their name from the Church of England to the
Episcopal Church. Third, because the Americans refused to acknowledge the King
the English church refused to endorse their organization and the Bishops and
Priests loyal to the King returned to England. Fourth, under Anglican doctrine
there was now no one in America who could "administer the sacraments", baptism
and communion. Fifth, many of these Episcopalians were also Methodists brought
to this revival movement by the tireless work of Francis Asbury.
Francis Asbury
1745-1816
John Wesley tried to solve these problems by ordaining
Thomas Coke to be the "superintendent" with the authority to ordain others in
America to serve the spiritual needs of the believers there. Somewhere on the
Atlantic Ocean Coke promoted himself to the office of "Bishop". This was a
title that Wesley did not like and to this day is not used by British
Methodists. Wesley believed that the title "bishop" reminded people of the
power, arrogance and wealth of the clergy. However the title was perfect for
Thomas Coke. Arriving in America he formed the Methodist Episcopal Church as a
separate denomination with himself as the first bishop. This was done at the
Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784. Here he ordained Francis Asbury first a
deacon, then an elder and finally a bishop on three concessive days. Finally,
lay preachers were authorized to "go and preach the Gospel" as the now famous
circuit riders.
One Methodist writer said there are over 40 different
Methodist churches but I personally can only find 29! While you may only know
of the United Methodist Church
this organization did not start until 1968. From 1784 until 1939 is was called
the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The name was shortened to the Methodist Church when three different Methodist denominations united
in 1939. In 1968 it joined with the Evangelical United Brethren and the name United Methodist Church was adopted. But the word "Episcopal" describes perfectly the organization of the Methodist
Church. It means "1. Of, or pertaining to a bishop. 2. Based on or
recognizing a governing order of bishops." As we will see later this type of church organization cannot be found
in the New Testament but was borrowed by the Church of England, the American
Episcopal Church and finally the Methodists from the Catholic Church. Early
Methodist writers even claimed that their bishops had apostolic succession
directly back to the Apostles just as the Roman Catholic Church claims. However
since Thomas Coke appointed himself the first bishop of the Methodist Church
this claim of succession is ridiculous.
1747-1814
Under Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury's system the
bishops had absolute and total control of the Methodist Church. Methodists were
not (and are not) members of any local congregation but just the church at
large. The buildings they built in which to worship did not belong to the
congregation but the Methodist organization controlled by the bishop. If a
congregation wanted to leave the Methodist Church they lost their place of
worship because it belonged to the church/bishop. Even the contribution
belonged to the Methodist Church and was under the control of the bishop. They
could not choose their own preacher but the bishop assigned one. When the
bishop decided to rotate the preachers the congregation had no say in the
matter. If they were given a preacher who hurt the influence of the
congregation in the community or even if he divided the congregation they were
powerless to do anything about it unless the bishop acted. The preacher had no
choice but had to leave when the bishop said and go where the bishop assigned
him. In our time the new issue is women preachers. If a Methodist congregation
believes the words of the Apostle Paul "I do not permit a woman to teach or
have authority over a man" (3) they only
have two choices. 1) Accept the bishop's appointment of a female preacher or 2)
Leave the Methodist Church and lose their building. This dictatorial
organizational arrangement continues to this day and is the most distinctive
feature of the Methodist Church in America.
This part of my search for the Church on the Rock is
the result of some of my Methodist friend's anger over various actions of their
bishops, asking me what they could do. First I learned as much as I could about
the history and doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal Church. After studying the
Methodist Church I had to return to my friends and explain that there was nothing
they could do. It comes down to this: You can't be a Roman Catholic and
question the authority of the Pope on any subject; You can't be a Presbyterian
and not believe in all five points of Calvinism; You can't be a Baptist and
believe that immersion is for the remission of sins and you can't be a
Methodist without accepting the totalitarian bishop! However, you can leave
this denomination that was founded by men (Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury) and
just be a New Testament Christian. How do I know this is not the Lord's Church?
I compared it to the pattern that you find in the Bible and it doesn't look
anything like it. Just as everything in the Old Testament tabernacle had to be
made "according to the pattern" (4) which God
gave so also must the Church. What, then, is the organizational pattern
(blueprint) which God gave His church?
We only need to read the Bible to see that His
organization in His church can be summed up with the word "simple".
When
sinners obeyed the Gospel the Lord added them to the church.
"And
the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (5)
They
then joined themselves together in groups to worship God and edify each other.
"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are
in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the
more as you see the Day approaching."
(6)
These
congregations in every city, town and village had elders to oversee and lead
them.
"Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in
each church." (7)
"The reason I left you in Crete was that you might
straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town." (8)
These
shepherds of the flock of God had authority only in their own congregation.
"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of
which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of
God, which he bought with his own blood." (9)
"To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow
elder ... be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as
overseers" (10)
The
elder's job was to lead and feed not to be ruling dictators.
"Not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being
examples to the flock." (11)
Simple, isn't it? So where is the office of bishop?
Where does it say that you must have a bishop to baptize sinners into Christ?
When did the early church fail to observe the Lords Supper on the first day of
the week because they didn't have a bishop? Where is the office that rules over
many congregations? Where is a national or international organization that
dictates to a local congregation of God's people? In short, where in the New
Testament do you find an "Episcopal" church organization? I can't find it! If
it is not in the Bible then it is not in the pattern we are to use to make our congregation like the first
century original! In short, we must compare every denomination to the New
Testament (the pattern) to see if it is the church that Jesus built. Clearly
the Methodist Church does not fit the pattern so I must continue my search for
the "Church on the Rock".
FOOTNOTES
1. John Wesley never overcame his self-doubt. At the age of 63 he wrote his brother, "I do not love God. I never did. Therefore I never believed, in the Christian sense of the word." (Quoted by Tomkins in John Wesley: A Biography p. 168)
2. Moravians are a protestant movement started by Jon Hess in the late 14th century to oppose the Catholic doctrines of purgatory and indulgences. This was more than a hundred years before Martin Luther.
3. 1 Timothy 2:12
4. Hebrews 8:5
5. Acts 2:47
6. Hebrews 10:25
7. Acts 14:23
8. Titus 1:5
9. Acts 20:28
10. 1 Peter 5:2
11. 1 Peter 5:3
Larry A. McKee
"The Parson"