"What does it mean to be a United Methodist?" The answer to this question, says Kenneth H. Carter, Jr., is to live a particular way of life and follow a particular form of discipleship. The distinctive aspects of that way of discipleship are contained in what has recently come to be known as "the practices." Christian practices are things done together, over time, in response to God's grace. They constitute an extended argument against some harmful alternative in the culture; they address and define a fundamental human need; they come to focus in worship; and they add up to a way of life. Carter contends that there are 6 essential practices in the United Methodist tradition: (1) searching the scriptures, (2) generosity with the poor, (3) testimony, (4) singing, (5) Holy Communion, and (6) Christian conferencing.

Written primarily for those who lead in United Methodist congregations, this book will give the reader not only an understanding of what the central United Methodist practices are, but also how they can be taught. Being formed in and by these practices does not happen overnight; it happens across a lifetime of observing the practices in others and trying them out oneself. Neglecting the Christian practices--failing to attend to them--can mean a life devoid of much of the purpose and power that life in the Spirit can hold.

Helps users understand and use United Methodist belief and tradition to function as a Christian in a multicultural society. Sessions covers the post-modern world philosophy and its failure to provide value outside of Christian faith by studying a variety of Wesleyan essentials from original sin to holy. 13 sessions.1. The Challenge of Multiculturalism2. Biblical Authority in a Relativist World3. The Divine Trinity in a Multicultural Age4. Is Jesus the Only Way to God?5. The Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the Age6. Does Humanity Need God?7. More than a Casual Relationship: Saving Grace8. Holiness of Heart and Life: Sanctification9. What's the Point of Worship?10. Christian Behavior in a World Where "Anything Goes"11. "What New Creation?": Christian Social Responsibility12. Mission in a Multicultural Society13. Marketplace Christianity: Living Authentically

The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was an important part of the historic freedom struggles of African Americans from Reconstruction to the Civil Rights movement. This fight for equality and freedom can be seen clearly in the denomination's evolving social and ecumenical consciousness. The denomination's very name changed from "Colored" to "Christian" in 1954, but the denomination did not join the struggle late. Rather, the CME was a critical participant from the days following the Civil War. At times, the Church was at odds with their white Methodist counterparts and in solidarity with other African-American denominations on issues of racial desegregation and the role of social protest in religion.Raymond Sommerville's important book discusses the relationship between Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the CME. While King and others received most of the headlines during the Civil Rights Era, the CME proved to be involved at all levels and equally important in all they did. With its strategic location in the South and its long history of ecumenical involvement, the CME Church emerged as a leading advocate of ecumenical civil rights activism. Previous interpretations asserted that the CME was apolitical and accomodationist or that it was more progressive than it was. Sommerville presents a more nuanced account of how a church of largely former slaves emancipated itself from the constraints of white Methodist paternalism and Jim Crow racism to emerge as a progressive force of racial justice and ecumenism in the South and beyond. Sommerville examines major centers of the CME -- Nashville, Birmingham, Memphis, Atlanta -- and selected leaders inthe South in charting the gradual metamorphosis of the former CME as a largely nonpolitical body of former slaves in 1870 to a more politically active denomination at the apex of the modern Civil Rights movement in the 1960s.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The thoughts and beliefs of John Wesley and the Early Methodist traditions are frequently related to recent progressive tendencies in theology. There are numerous parallels between contemporary interests in people at the margins and Wesley's concern for poor people and his commitments to the sick and imprisoned. In this volume, contributors from diverse backgrounds in the United States and around the globe reflect on radical and liberation traditions in Methodism in their own context. In conversation with contemporary Methodism and the Wesleyan heritage, each chapter focuses on the question of how radical and liberation traditions provide new visions for the present and future of the church.

Contributors: Jose Miguez Bonino, Rebecca S. Chopp, Stephen G. Hatcher, Jione Havea, Theodore Jennings, Jr., Cedric Mayson, Mercy Amba Oduyoye, Andrew Sung Park, Jong Chun Park, Harold J. Recinos, Joerg Rieger, John J. Vincent, and Josiah U. Young, III.

1923. An encyclopedic account of the work of a denomination throughout the world, presented region by region. Diffendorfer was assisted by Paul Hutchinson, Foreign Section and William F. McDermott, American Section.

1916. The story of the life and accomplishments of the Methodist minister David Morton. Contents: Heredity and Environment; Feeling After God and Finding Him; Called to Preach and Answering the Call; The Itinerant Preacher; Taking a Turn with the Schools; In the General Conference; Presiding Elder, East and West; Church Extension Secretary; and Closing His Career.

John and Charles Wesley led the Methodist revival that swept eighteenth-century England and America and changed the face of Christianity forever. Their spirituality synthesized a unique blend of elements from the church fathers, Catholic mystics, and Protestant Reformers. This selection includes John's incisive writings on the spiritual life as well as the famous hymns of Charles, giving vibrant expression to the faith of the Wesleys.

"About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." -- John Wesley

A new Wesley biography published at the tricentennial of his birth.

The aim of this book is simple: it is an attempt to get to know the real John Wesley. The author explains why getting to know the real Wesley seems so difficult and describes the principles of such a quest. The first part contains material written by Wesley himself. The second part contains material written by Wesley's contemporaries, who describe, defend, and/or attack him on a number of points. The third part describes Wesley's fate at the hands of biographers and other writers since his day, starting with the eulogists and tracing the main currents of Wesley studies into the twenty-first century.

This book describes Wesley as he saw himself and as he was seen by both admirers and detractors. It gives a history of the biographies written about Wesley and provides a distillation of the primary documents written by and about Wesley. It includes an index and a bibliography.

A Perfect Love is the full text of Wesley's "A Plain Account of Christian Perfection" edited and updated for the contemporary reader. It also includes in-text definitions and notes that explain names and terms that may be unfamiliar to the reader, as well as hymns by Charles Wesley that describe the work of grace in human lives that leads to perfection in love. The term Christian perfection, as Wesley used and understood it, may be translated as "Christian maturity"; it is the outcome of a life lived with and for God in Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

A plain account of John Wesley's life and work. Wesley, an ordained priest and English religious leader, was prompted by an experience at a prayer meeting in London to accept the principle of justification by faith and abandoned the ecclesiastical and High Church views. He preached rejection of the doctrine of election and is the author of educational treatises, hymns, ecclesiastical history, biblical commentaries and a variety of other books and essays. Handsomely illustrated with over 100 portraits, views and facsimiles.

Or rifle, axe and saddle bags, and other lectures. The author was a lecturer and this was his first attempt at publishing his work. When it is remembered that this is the author's first appearance before the public in print, and that he now appears with a volume announced as a collection of spoken lectures, the reader will only have cause to wonder at the degree of refinement of style and elegance of manner, which the pages of the book display. Twelve pages of the original we reproduced have ink spots which we were unable to repair.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Hell Without Fire has been nominated in the Creative Nonfiction Historical Division category of the 39th Annual Georgia Author of the Year Awards. Abingdon Press would like to congratulate Henry Whelchel on this honor.

Conversion is one of the most significant motifs in American church history. From the First and Second Great Awakenings to early twentieth century Pentecostal revivals and contemporary Evangelical movements, conversion in all its extravagant forms is important to the story of religion in America.

L. Henry Whelchel takes up this motif of conversion as it relates particularly to enslaved Africans and Black Americans. He explains the role of conversion in the complex interaction between blacks and whites in America. Beginning with the differences between European and African forms of slavery and the importance of the motif of conversion to white legitimization of the Atlantic slave trade, Whelchel describes the process of slave conversion as one in which slaves were separated from African religion and culture. He counters the myth that Africans had no history and that African religion was entirely effaced in its American context. He demonstrates the contradictory relationship between Afro-American and Euro-American religion: on the one hand whites prohibited demonstrations of African religion and on the other hand they embraced and adopted these demonstrations of religion in transformed modes with their revivalist Christianity. According to Whelchel, "as African religion and culture were exposed to western Christianity," there was forged "a new Afro-American religion."

Whelchel's exposure of the contradiction between the propaganda used to defend slavery and the actual, historical circumstances of slaves in America is most compelling in his treatment of the role of education as an adjunct to conversion. He highlights the emergence of laws prohibiting the teaching of slaves and he explores the emergence of the plantation missions--sponsored by mainline southern denominations--to implement an oral method of religious training. He continues with the role of conversion in post-emancipation relations between black and white religion in America, in both the North and South. Finally, Whelchel chronicles the rise of the CME and the distinctions between the AME and CME, concluding with the seating of the first black CME bishops.

Volume 24 concludes John Wesley's Journal and Diaries and includes a complete index to the seven volumes of the series which cover Wesley's Journal and Diaries.

"Sound learning about and with John Wesley begins with this definitive edition of his Works. The exact texts and range of issues make this an indispensable tool for interested readers, scholars, and pastors." --Thomas A. Langford

Written completely in Spanish, this book on United Methodist polity, while it follows the structure and content of The Book of Discipline for teaching purposes, also seeks to interpret borader themes of church practice in their cultural and ecclesial contexts. The author addresses issues that are critical for the future of United Methodism, especially its movement toward becoming a more global, ecumenical church. Excellent for both student and church leaders.

John Jea (b. 1773) and George White (b. 1764-c.1830) were two of the earliest African American autobiographers, each writing nearly a half-century before Frederick Douglass. Jea and White represent an earlier generation of African Americans who were born into slavery but granted their freedom shortly after American independence. Both chose to fight against slavery from the pulpit, as itinerant Methodist ministers in the North; Methodism’s staunch anti-slavery stance, acceptance of African American congregants, and use of itinerant preachers enhanced black religious practices and services in the late 18th century and throughout the 19th century. Graham Hodges’ substantial introduction to the book places these two narratives into historical context, and highlights several key themes, including slavery in the North, the struggle for black freedom after the Revolution, and the rise of African American Christianity.

Living Grace is the most comprehensive expression of systematic theology for United Methodism to appear in the 1990's. Its authors, Bishop Walter Klaiber and Dr. Manfred Marquardt, are leading theologians of continental European United Methodism. Their work meets the long-felt need to provide partners in ecumenical dialog a clearer exposition of Methodism's theology, as founded upon biblical witness, apostolic heritage, the Protestant Reformation, and the Wesleyan Revival.

The authors concede that Methodists are often regarded more as specialists in evangelization, ecclesial organization, or social engagement, than as representatives of a cogently articulated theology. Further, United Methodists today are frequently at the forefront of facilitating interchurch cooperation in worship and social outreach. It is the authors' hope that a clearer exposition of our common understanding could offer a foundation upon which the "vital Wesleyan accent" could better direct the Christian witness we are offering in the world. Their response to the challenge has produced a thoughtful attempt to find a solid theological basis for our identity as a church that will not only accent our distinctiveness but will also assist other faith communities to articulate their profiles of faith.

In this first English edition, the work has been adapted for the American historical and social milieu. As such, it becomes a pathbreaking effort to articulate for our American constituency the global dimensions of a United Methodist theology, in which the American church is increasingly called to participate. Four emphases of the book are: Responsible Proclamation, Basics of a UMC theology; Universal Salvation; Personal Faith; and, Fullness of Christian Life and the Reality of Love.

This resource is a summary study of the eight life-enriching practices that are part of the series--prayer, Bible study, evangelism, community, worship and the sacraments, outreach, justice and others. Questions for discussion are included with each chapter.

The essays in this volume all share a common assumption: in order to know where you're going, you have to understand where you've been. If the spiritual and theological descendents of John Wesley are to meet the challenges of spreading scriptural holiness in an increasingly complex world, then they will need to grasp the core beliefs and values that have always guided their tradition. In this important volume, a distinguished group of interpreters of Wesleyan tradition, all of whom are John Wesley Scholars of A Fund for Theological Education, identify the central convictions and practices of the Methodist movement. Their purpose in making this identification is two-fold. First, they insist that these convictions and practices lie at the heart of what the Wesleyan/Methodist family is, and has been. Second, and more important, they claim that in these distinctive beliefs lies the future of the "people called Methodist." If renewal and growth in witness and mission is to occur, the authors argue, it will come through a reclamation and reinterpretation of such cental beliefs as salvation by grace through faith, the authority of Scripture, disciple-making within community, the vocation of Christian holiness, and the church's mission to the world.