After John Wesley's death in 1791, schisms from Wesleyan Methodism occurred regularly. These events were not unexpected and the authorities often accepted them with little obvious regret, even if they did not actually encourage them. The first major split occurred in 1797 when the Methodist New Connexion was formed, and in the following twenty years further significant schisms led to the establishment of the Primitive Methodists and the Bible Christians. Other offshoots arose that lasted for shorter periods. One of these was the Tent Methodists, a group that has been largely ignored by historians probably because it did not become a major national or regional body. Its significance has not, however, been sufficiently recognized. One tent, then two, capable of accommodating congregations of over 500, were used extensively by preachers in the Bristol Wesleyan circuit and further afield from 1814, in addition to their preaching plan commitments. They received varying degrees of support and hostility from the circuit hierarchy, and in late 1819 attempts were made to bring the work under the authority of the circuit superintendent. The local preachers involved refused to relinquish control of the tents, and a bitter dispute began which led to the effective expulsion of three leading local preachers. They, and others, formed the Tent Methodist sect that, for several years, made considerable progress in several parts of England and one small area of South Wales. Decline set in at the beginning of 1826, and by 1832 the tents had been disposed of, and all the chapels acquired by the sect had been sold. Soon afterwards the leaders had either rejoined the Wesleyans, had become ministers in the Congregational or Baptist denominations, or emigrated to North America.

Throughout this book, Scott J. Jones insists that for United Methodists the ultimate goal of doctrine is holiness. Importantly, he clarifies the nature and the specific claims of "official" United Methodist doctrine in a way that moves beyond the current tendency to assume the only alternatives are a rigid dogmatism or an unfettered theological pluralism. In classic Wesleyan form, Jones' driving concern is with recovering the vital role of forming believers in the "mind of Christ, " so that they might live more faithfully in their many settings in our world.

Ideal for use with choirs and worship teams, it supports congregational melodies. Spiral bound so it lies flat in music folders or on music stands. Many unison melodies are expanded into 2-, 3-, and 4-part harmony. Also included are entire musical arrangements - including descants and optional endings - and stanzas for the Pew Edition selections that contain only the refrain. Choirs can turn songs from The Faith We Sing into anthems. Singer's Edition coordinates with both the Accompaniment and Simplified Editions and can be used with the MIDI and CD Editions.

This is the first full biography of Biblical scholar and theological seminary professor James Strong (1822-1894). It describes his upbringing, early and higher education, the schools and colleges where he taught, his academic colleagues, his contributions to the development of nineteenth-century American Methodism, and his numerous publications--particularly his Biblical Concordance (1894) which continues as a standard and essential reference work. It includes edited versions of selected sermons and letters never before published, as well as comments from his students, the details of his experience in the development of the early nineteenth-century American railroad system, and detailed obituaries and reactions to his death.

In John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, the pilgrims cannot reach the Celestial City without passing through Vanity Fair, where everything is bought and sold. In recent years there has been much analysis of commerce and consumption in Britain during the long eighteenth century, and of the dramatic expansion of popular publishing. Similarly, much has been written on the extraordinary effects of the evangelical revivals of the eighteenth century in Britain, Europe, and North America. But how did popular religious culture and the world of print interact? It is now known that religious works formed the greater part of the publishing market for most of the century. What religious books were read, and how? Who chose them? How did they get into people's hands? Vanity Fair and the Celestial City is the first book to answer these questions in detail. It explores the works written, edited, abridged, and promoted by evangelical dissenters, Methodists both Arminian and Calvinist, and Church of England evangelicals in the period 1720 to 1800. Isabel Rivers also looks back to earlier sources and forward to the continued republication of many of these works well into the nineteenth century. The first part is concerned with the publishing and distribution of religious books by commercial booksellers and not-for-profit religious societies, and the means by which readers obtained them and how they responded to what they read. The second part shows that some of the most important publications were new versions of earlier nonconformist, episcopalian, Roman Catholic, and North American works. The third part explores the main literary kinds, including annotated bibles, devotional guides, exemplary lives, and hymns. Building on many years' research into the religious literature of the period, Rivers discusses over two hundred writers and provides detailed case studies of popular and influential works.

Employing fresh, innovative readings, Edgardo Colon-Emeric examines and underscores the centrality of the concept of perfection for the theologies of Thomas Aquinas and John Wesley--and finds them, surprisingly, largely complementary. Utilizing the image of a ""kneeling ecumenism,"" he offers a practical account of how ecumenical conversations can move forward. At a time when many Methodists struggle to understand Catholicism and many Catholics know little of Wesley and Methodism, this stimulating work provides the church as a whole a communal grammar of holiness, in demonstrating how the theologies of perfection of Aquinas and Wesley have significant messages for both groups.