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Wesleyan Church

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"Wesleyan" has been used in the title of a number of historic and current denominations, although the subject of this article is the only denomination to use that specific title. For a list of other denominations with Wesleyan in their title, please see Wesleyan Church (disambiguation).

The Wesleyan Church
File:TWLogobw.png
Wesleyan Church logo
ClassificationProtestant
Orientationholiness
PolityConnectionalism
AssociationsChristian Holiness Partnership, National Association of Evangelicals, World Methodist Council
RegionWorldwide
FounderOrange Scott, et al
Origin1843
Utica, New York
Separated fromMethodist Episcopal Church
Merger ofWesleyan Methodist Church
Alliance of Reformed Baptists of Canada
Pilgrim Holiness Church
SeparationsAllegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection of Churches
Bible Methodist Connection of Churches
Congregations5,000 (1,731 North America)
Membersworldwide: 411,000 (194,000 North America)
Official websitewesleyan.org

The Wesleyan Church is a holiness Christian denomination in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Namibia and Australia. The church is part of the holiness movement and has roots in the teachings of John Wesley. The church is Wesleyan and Arminian in doctrine.

The Wesleyan Church has over 411,000 adherents in over 5,000 churches worldwide and is active in almost 100 nations. As of 2005, in the United States there were 128,385 members in 1,626 congregations.[1] In the United States, membership is concentrated in the Midwest.[2] Wesleyan Life is the official publication. The Wesleyan Church world headquarters is in Fishers, Indiana.

History

Background to formation of 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. Orange Scott presided as the meeting formed a federation of churches at first calling themselves the Wesleyan Methodist Connection, a name chosen to distinguish themselves from the British Wesleyan Methodists. Other leaders at the organizing conference were LaRoy 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.

In 1966 the denomination merged with the Alliance of Reformed Baptists of Canada and 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 sanctification (taught by John Wesley, but not emphasized by many 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.

First Wesleyan Church in Huntington, West Virginia.

In addition to anti-slavery, the early Wesleyan Methodists championed the rights of women. The Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York hosted the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848, also known as the Seneca Falls 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 the 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 U.S. constitution was amended to allow women voting privileges.


Beliefs

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The Wesleyan Church believes in the following core values:[3]

In addition, they believe in the following articles of religion:

  1. Faith in the Holy Trinity
  2. The sufficiency and full authority of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation
    This article asserts the following beliefs
  3. God's Purpose for Humanity
    This article asserts that everyone should order their entire lives around what Jesus identified as the two greatest commandments (Matt. 22: 36 - 40):
    • Love the Lord your God with all your heart (Deut. 6:5)
    • Love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18)
  4. Marriage and the Family
    • Reasserts that man is made in the image of God
    • Asserts marriage as designed by God as a metaphor for God's relationship with His covenant people
    • Asserts chastity before marriage, fidelity within marriage
    • Asserts marriages only between one man and one woman
    • Asserts marriage as the intended structure for birthing and raising children
    • No indication is given in the article of any gender hierarchy in marriage
      Rather, it is asserted that both partners submit their selves to the larger whole
  5. Personal Choice
  6. The Atonement
    • Asserts the Arminian view that Christ's crucixion allows redemption for the whole world
      This doctrine negates the Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement
    • Asserts the Protestant belief in solus Christus, that salvation is only found in Christ's death and resurrection
    • Asserts that the atonement covers those who mentally cannot choose salvation
    • Individuals who are mentally accountable must accept the gift of salvation of their own free will
  7. Repentance and faith
  8. Justification, regeneration and adoption
  9. Good Works
  10. Sin After regeneration
  11. Sanctification
    • Initial
    • Progressive
    • Entire
  12. The gifts of the Spirit
  13. The church
  14. The sacraments
    • Baptism
    • The Lord's Supper
  15. The Second Coming of Christ
  16. The resurrection of the dead
    • Asserts that all will be raised from dead at Christ's return
    • Asserts damnation for the lost, and life for the saved
    • Asserts that the resurrection body will be a spiritual body, but still personally recognizable
  17. The judgment of all persons
    • Asserts a final judgment for all humans before God, regardless of the individual's beliefs
    • Asserts God's omniscience and eternal justice
  18. Destiny

Organizations & relations

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 very strong national leadership and meet every four years. The North American General Conference has three general superintendents and each of them have about a third of the church under their administrative oversight.

Currently, general conferences exist in the Philippines, the Caribbean, 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 Names by Region

According to the 2004 Wesleyan Church Discipline, the official name of the denomination is The Wesleyan Church, however different names may be used by different units of the church for practicality and localization. The following are the official names of the denomination, for the various organizational units:[4]

  • Australia: The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia
  • Bougainville: The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Bougainville
  • Brazil: Igreja Evangelica Wesleyana
  • British Isles: The Wesleyan Holiness Church
  • Caribbean: The Wesleyan Holiness Church of the Caribbean
  • Chile: Ministerio Evangelistico y Misionero “Cristo es la Unica Respuesta”
  • Colombia: La Iglesia Wesleyana de Colombia
  • Costa Rica: Iglesia Wesleyana Internacional de Costa Rica
  • Egypt: The Standard Wesleyan Church
  • Ghana: The Standard Wesleyan Church
  • Guyana: The Wesleyan Church
  • Haiti: L’Eglise Wesleyenne d’Haiti
  • Honduras: Mision Methodista Sión
  • India, Central: The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Central India
  • India, East: The Wesleyan Methodist Church of East India
  • India, Western: The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Western India
  • Indonesia: Yayasan Gereja Wesleyan Indonesia
  • Liberia: The Wesleyan Church of Liberia
  • Mexico: Iglesia Evangélica de los Peregrinos
  • Mozambique: Igreja Emmanuel Evangelica Wesleyana
  • Myanmar: The Wesleyan Methodist Church
  • New Zealand: Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand
  • Nicaragua: Asociación Mundial de Iglesias Wesleyanas de Nicaragua
  • Peru: Iglesia Wesleyana Peregrina
  • Philippines: The Wesleyan Church of the Philippines
  • Puerto Rico: Iglesia Evangélica Wesleyana
  • Sierra Leone: The Wesleyan Church of Sierra Leone
  • South Korea: Jesus Korea Wesleyan Church
  • South Africa: The Wesleyan Church of Southern Africa
  • Suriname: De Wesleyaanse Gemeente
  • United States and Canada: The Wesleyan Church
  • Venezuela: Iglesia Evangélica Wesleyana
  • Zambia: Pilgrim Wesleyan Church of Zambia
  • Zimbabwe: The Wesleyan Church


Organizations & relations

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 very strong national leadership and meet every four years. The North American General Conference has three general superintendents and each of them have about a third of the church under their administrative oversight.

Currently, general conferences exist in the Philippines, the Caribbean, 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.

Sister denominations & fraternal relations

Main article: Holiness movement

The Wesleyan Church is a part of the holiness movement, and as such, follows many of the same teachings as similar denominations that follow Wesleyan traditions. At times in its history, it has sought merger with both the Church of the Nazarene and the Free Methodist Church, both of which practice very similar doctrine.

The Wesleyan Church is a member of the following organizations:


Theological seminaries

Universities, colleges, and schools

Notable people

Academics

  • Keith Drury - prolific writer and Professor of Religion at Indiana Wesleyan University
  • Ken Schenck - New Testament scholar, currently serving as dean of Wesley Seminary

Athletes

Authors

  • Laurell K. Hamilton - fantasy author, graduate of Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan University)

Clergy

  • Rev. Adam Crooks - early Wesleyan Methodist minister, responsible for a number of early church plants in the denomination
  • John C. Maxwell - prolific writer and former senior pastor at Skyline Church, currently serving as a member of Indiana Wesleyan University's Board of Trustees
  • Rev. Orange Scott - president of the convention that formed the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, which eventually became the Wesleyan Church

Politicians

  • George McGovern - United States senator and presidential nominee, son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister

Scientists and inventors

  • Douglas Comer - writer and professor and graduate of Houghton College involved in early development of the internet
  • Thomas Bramwell Welch - developed a pasteurization process to prevent grapes from fermenting, thus creating grape juice instead of wine

Singers and musicians

  • Wilfred Conwell Bain - University level music school administrator and opera theater director, former head of music departments at both Southern Wesleyan University and Houghton College
  • Dr. Eric Nelson - American music clinician, conductor, and composer, and graduate of Houghton College
  • David Ott - American composer and former faculty member of Houghton College
  • George Beverly Shea - acclaimed singer and hymn composer who often performed with the Billy Graham crusades

References

  1. ^ "2008 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches". The National Council of Churches. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
  2. ^ [www.thearda.com/mapsReports/maps/map.asp?variable=455&state=101&variable2= "2000 Religious Congregations and Membership Study"]. Glenmary Research Center. Retrieved 2009-12-04. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  3. ^ http://www.wesleyan.org/beliefs |title=Our Core Values and Beliefs |publisher=www.wesleyan.org |accessdate=2010-01-17}}
  4. ^ http://www.westmichigandistrict.com/img/The%202004%20Discipline.pdf |title=The Discipline of the Wesleyan Church 2004 |date=2005 |publisher=The Wesleyan Publishing House |accessdate=2010-01-30}}, p. 80
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