Wesleyan Church

First Wesleyan Church in Huntington, West Virginia, a congregation belonging to the Wesleyan Church

The Wesleyan Methodist Connection was officially formed in 1843 at an organizing conference in Utica, New York, by a group of ministers and laymen splitting from the Methodist Episcopal Church. The split was primarily over their objections to slavery, though they had secondary issues as well, such as ecclesiastical polity. Orange Scott presided as the meeting formed a federation of churches at first calling themselves the Wesleyan Methodist Connection, a name chosen to emphasize the primacy of the local church, and the intended nature of the denomination as a connection of churches.[5] Other leaders at the organizing conference were La Roy Sunderland, who had been tried and defrocked for his antislavery writings, Lucious C. Matlack, and Luther Lee, a minister who later operated an Underground Railroad station in Syracuse, New York.

The denomination sponsored traveling preachers on the frontier and into Canada, where they appealed to workingmen and farmers. Typical was Rev. James Caughey, an American sent to Ontario by the Wesleyan Methodist Church from the 1840s through 1864. He brought in converts by the score, most notably in the revivals in Canada West 1851–53. His technique combined restrained emotionalism with a clear call for personal commitment, coupled with follow-up action to organize support from converts. It was a time when the Holiness Movement caught fire, with the revitalized interest of men and women in Christian perfection. Caughey successfully bridged the gap between the style of earlier camp meetings and the needs of more sophisticated Methodist congregations in the emerging cities.[6]

In addition to advocating for abolitionism, the early Wesleyan Methodists championed the rights of women. In 1848, the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York, hosted the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women's rights convention. It is commemorated by the Women's Rights National Historical Park in the village today. Luther Lee, General President in 1856, preached at the ordination service of Antoinette Brown (Blackwell), the very first woman ordained to the Christian ministry in the United States. The Alliance of Reformed Baptists of Canada ordained the very first woman to the ministry in Canada in the late 1800s. At General Conference in 1867, a resolution was adopted favoring the right of women to vote (as well as the right of freedmen—blacks). This was 44 years before the US constitution was amended to ensure women voting privileges.[7]

In 1966 the Wesleyan Methodist Church merged with the Alliance of Reformed Baptists of Canada and in 1968 with the Pilgrim Holiness Church. It spread through revivals emphasizing a deepening experience with God called holiness or sanctification. Heart purity was a central theme. During this period of time, many small churches developed through revivals and the emphasis of entire sanctification (taught by John Wesley, but not emphasized by some mainline Methodists). As many as 25 or 30 small denominations were formed and eventually merged with other groups to enlarge the church. The church was strong in missionary and revival emphasis. The merger took place in 1968 at Anderson University, Anderson, Indiana.[8] Some conferences and local churches of the Wesleyan Methodist Church objected to the merger, thus resulting in a schism of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection with the Wesleyan Church,[1] as well as the creation of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches and Bible Methodist Connection of Tennessee around 1968.[2] The Pilgrim Holiness Church of New York (formed in 1963) and Pilgrim Holiness Church of the Midwest (formed in 1970) were also established around this time, with the former in response to the tendency of centralization of the larger Pilgrim Holiness Church and the latter in response to the merger.[9][3]

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The Wesleyan Church has the following core values:[10]

• Biblical authority
• Christlikeness
• Disciple-making
• Local church-centered
• Servant leadership
• Unity in diversity

In addition, the Wesleyan Church holds to the following articles of religion:

• Faith in the Holy Trinity — There is one true God, united in three persons: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• The Father — the Father created all things, and that all humans are created in the image of God. God, in love, seeks out and receives penitent sinners.

• The Son of God — Jesus Christ is the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, fully God and fully man. He died on the cross and was buried as a sacrifice both for original sin and all human transgression and to reconcile us to God. He was raised bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven, and intercedes at the Father's right hand, until he returns to judge all humanity.

• The Holy Spirit — The Holy Spirit administers grace to all and is the agent in conviction for sin, in regeneration, in sanctification, and in glorification.

• The sufficiency and full authority of the Holy Scriptures for salvation — The Old and New Testaments are the inspired and infallible Word of God, inerrant in their original manuscripts, superior to any human authority and sufficient for all things necessary to salvation. The Bible has been transmitted to the present without corruption of any essential doctrine.

• God's Purpose for Humanity — The divine law is summarized in the commands to love God with all one's heart and to love one's neighbor as oneself. All persons, therefore, ought to seek to obey God and to preserve and promote for others the exercise of every natural right.

• Marriage and the Family — People are made in the image of God. Marriage is designed by God as a metaphor for His relationship with His covenant people. Therefore, human sexuality ought only to be expressed in heterosexual monogamy. Marriage has the highest priority among social organizations, and was divinely designed for reproduction. Extramarital and same-sex relationships are immoral and sinful.

• Personal Choice — Humans were created with the ability to choose between right and wrong. But, since the fall, humans cannot choose right on their own, because of original sin. Humans are inclined toward sin and cannot, on their own, call on God or exercise faith. But God, through Christ, provides to each person prevenient grace, allowing each to choose salvation.

• Sin: Original, Willful, and Involuntary — All of creation suffers the consequences of Adam and Eve's disobedience and groans for redemption. Each person is born with a bent toward sinning, which manifests itself in outward acts of unrighteousness. Failures in judgment and involuntary flaws are not to be equated with willful sin but still require the atonement of Christ for forgiveness. Willful sin is when a free moral agent volitionally chooses to transgress a known law of God. Such sin will result in a loss of fellowship with God, self-absorption, an inability to live righteously, and, ultimately, eternal separation from God. The atonement of Christ is the only remedy for sin, whether original, willful or involuntary.

• The Atonement — Christ's crucifixion allows redemption for the whole world. It is the only foundation of salvation from sin. The atonement covers those who mentally cannot choose salvation, but individuals who are mentally accountable must accept the gift of salvation of their own free will.

• Repentance and Faith
  • Affirms that salvation is by grace alone but must be accepted by the believer. Denies the Reformed view of unconditional election.
  • Affirms that repentance precedes saving faith.
  • Affirms that faith is the only condition for salvation. Directly negates any need for good works to attain salvation. Does not negate good works as evidence of salvation.
  • Affirms that saving faith publicly acknowledges Christ as Lord.
  • Affirms that the saved will identify with the church.

• Justification, Regeneration, and Adoption — Asserts that when one repents and has saving faith in Christ, in that same moment that person is:
  • Justified: Granted full pardon for all sin, guilt, and penalty of sins.
  • Regenerated: Reborn spiritual life in Christ with a distinct capacity for love and obedience to God.
  • Adopted: Given full rights, privileges, and responsibilities of a child of God.

• Good Works — Reaffirms that humankind is justified by faith and affirms that good works are evidence of salvation.

• Sin After Regeneration — Affirms it is possible for a believer to sin after regeneration in salvation and that there is grace and forgiveness for repentant believers.

• Sanctification
  • Initial: The work of the Holy Spirit in the moment of conversion in a new believer to be separated from sin to God.
  • Progressive: The continual work of the Holy Spirit to grow the believer in love and more perfect obedience.
  • Entire" The perfecting of the believer in love and empowerment for service. It follows in lifelong growth in grace and knowledge.

• The Gifts of the Spirit — Asserts that the Holy Spirit gives gifts to people, for the benefit of the Church, but that the Holy Spirit himself is the most desirable gift.

• The Church — The Christian Church is the entire body of believers (both living and those died and in heaven). Jesus Christ is the founder and only head of the Church, which is not identified with any particular institution or denomination. The Church is called to preach the Word of God, administer the sacraments, and live in obedience to Christ. A local church is a body of believers formally organized for the purposes of evangelism, discipleship, and worship. The Wesleyan Church is a denomination within the greater, invisible Church, and that invisible church encompasses Christians who hold to a variety of differing beliefs, not just Wesleyan beliefs.

• The Sacraments
  • Baptism — Baptism is a sacrament commanded by our Lord and administered to believers. It works as a symbol and as part of the new covenant of grace.
  • The Lord's Supper — The Lord's Supper is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death, our hope in his return, and a sign of Christian love for one another.

• The Second Coming of Christ — Asserts that Christ will return, fulfilling numerous biblical prophecies and that this certain event should inspire proper living and evangelization.

• Resurrection of the Dead — Asserts that all will be raised from the dead at Christ's return, damnation for the lost and life for the saved, and that the resurrection body will be a spiritual body but still personally recognizable.

• Judgment of All Persons — Asserts a final judgment for all humans before God, regardless of the individual's beliefs, and asserts God's omniscience and eternal justice.

• Destiny — Asserts that Scripture teaches there is life after death, and the fate of each person is determined by God's grace and their individual response, evidenced through moral character rather than arbitrary decree of God. Heaven and Christ's presence is the place for those who choose God's salvation given through Christ, but hell and separation from Christ is the resulting place for those who neglect the great salvation.

Local churches are organized into a network of districts with equal representation of clergy and laity at their annual conferences. Each has an elected administrator known as the district superintendent and has a district board of administration with both lay and clergy serving. National and multi-national networks are called general conferences with strong national leadership and meet every four years. The North American General Conference has one General Superintendent, Dr. Wayne Schmidt.

Currently, general conferences exist in the Philippines, the Caribbeans, and North America, though The Wesleyan Church has recently begun a process of "internationalization" in which areas and regions of the world have the opportunity to form their own general conferences. Though it is too early to predict which general conferences will be formed in the coming years, the eventual shift is inevitable. The overarching goal of the internationalization process is to create a global network of partnership and not a "top-down" leadership structure within the worldwide church.

• Official website
• Official website of the Wesleyan Church in New Zealand
• Official website of the Grace Fellowship Churches in New Zealand
• Wesleyan Publishing House
• Methodist History Bookmarks Archived 2006-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
• Wesleyan Methodist Church – Association of Religion Data Archives