John Wesley and the History of Methodism — Unit 9: Division and Renewal in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries

Key Verse

"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 3, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain how theological liberalism entered some Methodist churches and seminaries, and how evangelical Wesleyans responded.

2. Describe the mergers of 1939 and 1968 that formed The Methodist Church and then The United Methodist Church.

3. Tell, in order, the main events of the recent division of The United Methodist Church, from 2016 to the launch of the Global Methodist Church in 2022.

4. State fairly the views of those who disagreed, and explain why the Wesleyan-Holiness churches hold that the authority of Scripture was central.

5. Describe how a pastor can care for people during a painful church division.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Wesleyan tradition, for students who belong to it. It is conservative and evangelical. When it says "we" or "our tradition," it means the Methodist and Wesleyan-Holiness churches that hold the Bible to be the Word of God and the final rule of faith and life. This unit tells a painful recent history. We tell it as history. We name the events as they happened, we state the views of those who disagree, and we say plainly where our tradition stands because of its doctrine of Scripture. We do not use the unit to attack any person. Every person is made in the image of God, and Christ died for all.

Why This Unit Matters

Many of our students have heard news about "the Methodist split" and are confused. Some belong to churches that are not part of it. Others have friends or relatives who are. A pastor should be able to explain what happened, calmly and accurately. This unit also asks a question for the whole Wesleyan family: what does it mean to hold the faith once delivered and still to love those who disagree?

The Rise of Liberal Theology

In the nineteenth century, new ways of thinking about the Bible and about God spread through the universities of Europe and America. Some scholars treated the Bible mainly as a human book and doubted its miracles and its teaching on sin and atonement. Many came to stress the moral example of Jesus and the improvement of society, and spoke less of the cross, the new birth and the judgment to come. This outlook is usually called theological liberalism, or modernism. It was not limited to Methodists. It affected many churches.

Methodism was open to it for several reasons. Large denominations with their own colleges and seminaries needed teachers, and some teachers brought the new ideas with them. Wesley had stressed the use of reason and experience, and some used this to place human judgment above Scripture. In the twentieth century, the phrase "Wesleyan Quadrilateral" came into use, and it was used by some to say that Scripture, tradition, reason and experience stand together as equals. The scholar who coined the phrase, Albert Outler, is a respected name, and some who use the term hold Scripture firmly. But our tradition holds that Wesley himself did not make Scripture one source among four. In the preface to his sermons he called himself "a man of one book," and in his own writings Scripture is the final judge, with tradition, reason and experience helping us to understand it. Course 2 treats this more fully.

We must be fair. Some who held liberal views were sincere people who loved the church, and many served the poor faithfully. But the effect was clear: in many places, the preaching of salvation by grace through faith, and the authority of Scripture, grew weaker.

The Evangelical Response

Evangelical Wesleyans did not stay silent. They responded in several ways.

The Holiness churches. As Unit 7 showed, the Wesleyan Methodists, the Free Methodists, the Nazarenes and others kept the older doctrine. They taught the authority of Scripture, new birth and entire sanctification.

Seminaries and schools. Asbury Theological Seminary was founded in Wilmore, Kentucky, in 1923, by Henry Clay Morrison, as a school to train ministers in evangelical Wesleyan doctrine. Other Holiness colleges and seminaries did the same.

Renewal groups inside the larger Methodist church. In 1966 a group formed the Good News movement within Methodism to call the church back to Scripture and the gospel. In 1994 the Confessing Movement began with a similar purpose. In 2016 the Wesleyan Covenant Association was formed to gather traditional Wesleyans who wished to uphold historic doctrine and standards.

The Mergers of 1939 and 1968

Meanwhile the Methodist family was coming together in organization. In 1939 the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant Church joined to form The Methodist Church. This reunion healed the division of 1844. But it came at a price. The new church created a separate structure for Black members, called the Central Jurisdiction, which kept them apart in the church's government. That structure lasted until 1968. This is a serious failure of the church, and our tradition does not excuse it.

In 1946 two bodies with German-language roots, the Evangelical Church and the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, joined to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church. In 1968 the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren joined to form The United Methodist Church. It became one of the largest Protestant denominations in the United States, and it had members in Africa, Europe and Asia. Its doctrinal standards included the Methodist Articles of Religion and the Evangelical United Brethren Confession of Faith.

Those who joined the union hoped for strength. But some evangelicals worried about the doctrinal looseness of the new church. In 1972 the General Conference adopted new statements on doctrine that spoke of the church's "theological pluralism." Supporters said this allowed honest differences within agreed standards. Critics said it made it harder to hold anyone to those standards. The same General Conference also placed in the church's Social Principles statements on marriage and on the standards for ordination. These statements, and the question of how far the church was bound by Scripture in applying them, became the subject of debate at almost every General Conference for decades.

The Recent Division of The United Methodist Church

We now tell the recent events in order. We give no counts of members or churches, because the figures are disputed and change from year to year.

For about half a century the United Methodist General Conference, which meets every four years, kept in force its rules on marriage and ordination: marriage as the union of a man and a woman, and ordination standards that followed from that teaching. During these years some clergy, regional bodies and bishops publicly challenged the rules, while others insisted they be enforced. Trials were held, and the argument grew sharper. Many members came to feel that the church lived in two different understandings of Scripture, and that the rules were not being kept.

In 2016 the General Conference asked the bishops to lead a search for a way forward. A commission was formed. In February 2019 a special General Conference met in St. Louis to consider plans. It chose the Traditional Plan, which strengthened the enforcement of the existing rules. The Judicial Council, the church's highest court, later set aside some parts of it. The same year the church also adopted a way for local congregations to leave the denomination for reasons of conscience connected to the church's rules on marriage and ordination, until the end of 2023.

In January 2020 a group of leaders from different viewpoints announced a proposed agreement, the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation, which would have allowed a traditional church to form and receive funding. The General Conference scheduled for 2020 was postponed because of the pandemic, and the Protocol was never adopted as a whole. During this delay, thousands of congregations used the exit path to leave. Some churches outside the United States also left, though the picture varies from place to place.

On May 1, 2022, the Global Methodist Church was launched as a new denomination. It is Wesleyan in doctrine, holds to the historic teaching on marriage, and affirms the authority of Scripture. In 2024 the United Methodist General Conference, meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, voted to remove the restrictive rules on marriage and ordination that had been added over the decades since 1972. The United Methodist Church continues as a large denomination.

How the Disagreement Is Described

Those who sought change say their goal was welcome and justice. They say that every person is loved by God, that the church had at times harmed or neglected people on its margins, and that Scripture can be read in a way that allows the church to change its teaching on marriage and its standards for ordination. They see themselves as faithful Methodists who follow Wesley's concern for the excluded. Some also say that the conflict has been shaped by politics and by disputes about property and power.

Those who held to the rules say that the root issue is the authority of Scripture and the accountability of church leaders. They hold that the Bible teaches marriage as the union of a man and a woman, and that a church cannot ordain or marry against that teaching and still be faithful. They also say that agreements made at ordination must be kept.

Our position. The Wesleyan-Holiness churches, including the Nazarene, Wesleyan and Free Methodist churches, have held the historic Christian teaching, and because they were not part of The United Methodist Church, they were not divided by this dispute. We stand with the historic view because we hold that Scripture is the final authority and that the Church has taught this consistently. We affirm the sanctity of marriage as Scripture gives it: the lifelong union of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6). We also say plainly that the church has sometimes failed people through contempt and silence, and that this is a sin. Scripture names the sins that come from the human heart without ranking one above another: "evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Mark 7:21-23). All of us stand under that word and all of us need the grace of Christ. Every person is invited by Christ to repentance, faith and new life, and the church's doors must open to all who will come. We hold to truth and to love together: Paul said we should be "speaking the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15).

The Methodist Church of Mexico and the Methodist church in Cuba govern themselves, as Unit 8 explained, so decisions of the United Methodist General Conference do not bind them. Students from those churches should seek the guidance of their own leaders on their own churches' positions.

Objections and Answers

Objection 1: Division is a sin, because Christ prayed that His people be one (John 17:21).

Our answer. We agree that division is grievous, and we do not celebrate it. But Jude 3 commands us to contend for the faith once delivered, and Paul said that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (Galatians 5:9). Unity without truth is not the unity Christ prayed for. Where separation was necessary, it should be done with sorrow, honesty and charity, not with contempt.

Objection 2: Wesley taught a "catholic spirit" and said we may differ in opinions.

Our answer. Wesley did write a sermon on the catholic spirit, and he urged love for those who differ on opinions that do not touch the heart of the faith. But he did not treat all questions as opinions. He held that Scripture's teaching on doctrine and on holy living must be kept, and he removed from the societies those who would not follow it. A catholic spirit means loving fellowship. It does not mean silence about what Scripture teaches.

Objection 3: Historians say the split was mainly a product of political polarization, not theology.

Our answer. Human divisions and old rivalries were involved, and a fair historian will say so. Church fights often have mixed motives. But the debates in the church returned again and again to the interpretation and authority of Scripture, and this is a theological matter. Both sides in the debate made theological claims, and we answer these on the merits.

Pastoral Application

A pastor serves a congregation in a country where the Methodist and Holiness churches have different histories. Two families in his church have relatives in churches that have divided, and they are upset. One family is angry at the other side. Another member has a son who feels the church has rejected him and does not want to come.

The pastor does not take sides in a way that hurts people, and he does not avoid the question. First, he prays and studies Scripture with his leaders, so that his answers rest on the Word. Second, he explains the history briefly and fairly, without insults, and he corrects false reports. Third, he speaks with the grieving son and his family with kindness, telling them plainly what the church believes and that God loves him and calls him to Christ. Fourth, he asks his people to avoid gossip and to pray for those on the other side. Fifth, he keeps the congregation focused on its mission: preaching the gospel, making disciples and serving the poor. He leaves any questions of church property and law to those with proper authority and knowledge in his own country.

Summary

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, liberal theology spread through some Methodist churches and seminaries and weakened the preaching of grace and the authority of Scripture. Evangelical Wesleyans responded through the Holiness churches, schools such as Asbury Theological Seminary (1923), and renewal groups such as Good News (1966) and the Confessing Movement (1994). The mergers of 1939 and 1968 brought most Methodists into The United Methodist Church, though the Central Jurisdiction kept Black members apart until 1968. After decades of dispute over marriage, ordination and the authority of Scripture, the General Conference of 2019 adopted the Traditional Plan and a way for congregations to leave. The Protocol of 2020 was not adopted, the Global Methodist Church was launched on May 1, 2022, and in 2024 the General Conference removed the restrictive rules. We tell this history fairly, hold to the historic teaching of Scripture, and call the church to truth and love together.

Further Reading

• John Wesley, Sermons, including the Preface and "Catholic Spirit."

• John Wesley, Thoughts upon Methodism (1786).

• The Articles of Religion (1784), a primary standard of doctrine.

• Holiness Through the Ages, the CTS textbook for Course 3, for the Holiness churches' account.

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