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The Civil War in Southern Appalachian Methodism addresses a much-neglected topic in both Appalachian and Civil War history—the role of organized religion in the sectional strife and the war itself. Meticulously researched, well written, and full of fresh facts, this new book brings an original perspective to the study of the conflict and the region. In many important respects, the actual Civil War that began in 1861 unveiled an internal civil war within the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South—comprising churches in southwestern Virginia, eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and a small portion of northern Georgia—that had been waged surreptitiously for the previous five decades. This work examines the split within the Methodist Church that occurred with mounting tensions over the slavery question and the rise of the Confederacy. Specifically, it looks at how the church was changing from its early roots as a reform movement grounded in a strong local pastoral ministry to a church with a more intellectual, professionalized clergy that often identified with Southern secessionists. The author has mined an exhaustive trove of primary sources, especially the extensive, yet often-overlooked minutes from frequent local and regional Methodist gatherings. He has also explored East Tennessee newspapers and other published works on the topic. The author’s deep research into obscure church records and other resources results not only in a surprising interpretation of the division within the Methodist Church but also new insights into the roles of African Americans, women, and especially lay people and local clergy in the decades prior to the war and through its aftermath. In addition, Dunn presents important information about what the inner Civil War was like in East Tennessee, an area deeply divided between Union and Confederate sympathizers. Students and scholars of religious history, southern history, and Appalachian studies will be enlightened by this volume and its bold new way of looking at the history of the Methodist Church and this part of the nation.

In the formative years of the Methodist Church in the United States, women played significant roles as proselytizers, organizers, lay ministers, and majority members. Although women's participation helped the church to become the nation's largest denomination by the mid-nineteenth century, their official roles diminished during that time. InBeyond the Pulpit,Lisa Shaver examines Methodist periodicals as a rhetorical space to which women turned to find, and make, self-meaning.In 1818,Methodist Magazinefirst published \"memoirs\" that eulogized women as powerful witnesses for their faith on their deathbeds. As Shaver observes, it was only in death that a woman could achieve the status of minister. Another Methodist publication, theChristian Advocate,was America's largest circulated weekly by the mid-1830s. It featured the \"Ladies' Department,\" a column that reinforced the canon of women as dutiful wives, mothers, and household managers. Here, the church also affirmed women in the important rhetorical and evangelical role of domestic preacher. Outside the \"Ladies Department,\" women increasingly appeared in \"little narratives\" in which they were portrayed as models of piety and charity, benefactors, organizers, Sunday school administrators and teachers, missionaries, and ministers' assistants. These texts cast women into nondomestic roles that were institutionally sanctioned and widely disseminated.By 1841, theLadies' Repository and Gatherings of the Westwas engaging women in discussions of religion, politics, education, science, and a variety of intellectual debates. As Shaver posits, by providing a forum for women writers and readers, the church gave them an official rhetorical space and the license to define their own roles and spheres of influence. As such, the periodicals of the Methodist church became an important public venue in which women's voices were heard and their identities explored.

The impact of St. Mark’s Community Center and United Methodist Church on the city of New Orleans is immense. Their stories are dramatic reflections of the times. But these stories are more than mere reflections because St. Mark’s changed the picture, leading the way into different understandings of what urban diversity could and should mean. This book looks at the contributions of St. Mark’s, in particular the important role played by women (especially deaconesses) as the church confronted social issues through the rise of the social gospel movement and into the modern civil rights era. Ellen Blue uses St. Mark’s as a microcosm to tell a larger, overlooked story about women in the Methodist Church and the sources of reform. One of the few volumes on women’s history within the church, this book challenges the dominant narrative of the social gospel movement and its past. St. Mark’s and the Social Gospel begins by examining the period between 1895 and World War I, chronicling the center’s development from its early beginnings as a settlement house that served immigrants and documenting the early social gospel activities of Methodist women in New Orleans. Part II explores the efforts of subsequent generations of women to further gender and racial equality between the 1920s and 1960. Major topics addressed in this section include an examination of the deaconesses’ training in Christian Socialist economic theory and the church’s response to the Brown decision. The third part focuses on the church’s direct involvement in the school desegregation crisis of 1960 , including an account of the pastor who broke the white boycott of a desegregated elementary school by taking his daughter back to class there. Part IV offers a brief look at the history of St. Mark’s since 1965. Shedding new light on an often neglected subject, St. Mark’s and the Social Gospel will be welcomed by scholars of religious history, local history, social history, and women’s studies.

The Methodists and Revolutionary Americais the first in-depth narrative of the origins of American Methodism, one of the most significant popular movements in American history. Placing Methodism's rise in the ideological context of the American Revolution and the complex social setting of the greater Middle Atlantic where it was first introduced, Dee Andrews argues that this new religion provided an alternative to the exclusionary politics of Revolutionary America. With its call to missionary preaching, its enthusiastic revivals, and its prolific religious societies, Methodism competed with republicanism for a place at the center of American culture. Based on rare archival sources and a wealth of Wesleyan literature, this book examines all aspects of the early movement. From Methodism's Wesleyan beginnings to the prominence of women in local societies, the construction of African Methodism, the diverse social profile of Methodist men, and contests over the movement's future, Andrews charts Methodism's metamorphosis from a British missionary organization to a fully Americanized church. Weaving together narrative and analysis, Andrews explains Methodism's extraordinary popular appeal in rich and compelling new detail.

This study explores the feasibility of introducing Gregorian chant into contemporary Chinese Methodist worship in Malaysia. Using ethnographic methods including participant observation, interviews, and focus groups, this article documents a pilot study conducted at Sing Ang Tong Methodist Church in Sibu, Sarawak, where seven singers learned and performed the communion chant Gustate et videte. Three different transcription editions were created to bridge the gap between medieval square notation and modern Western notation, which is more familiar to the participants. The chant was translated into Chinese alongside the original Latin text. The majority preferred the quaver-crotchet notation edition and supported performing the chant in both Latin and Chinese to balance authenticity with accessibility. Participants found the modal melodic structure and free rhythm challenging initially but developed appreciation for the chant’s meditative qualities. The performance during Holy Communion services in October 2022 received mixed congregational responses, with many describing it as creating a “calm and prayerful atmosphere” while some expressed discomfort with the unfamiliar musical style. The study demonstrates that Gregorian chant can be successfully integrated into Chinese Methodist worship contexts, particularly during solemn liturgical occasions, when approached with appropriate liturgical sensitivity and cultural adaptation.

Freedom's Prophet is a long-overdue biography of Richard Allen, founder of the first major African-American church and the leading black activist of the early American republic. A tireless minister, abolitionist, and reformer, Allen inaugurated some of the most important institutions in African-American history and influenced nearly every black leader of the nineteenth century, from Douglass to Du Bois. Allen (1760-1831) was born a slave in colonial Philadelphia, secured his freedom during the American Revolution, and became one of the nations leading black activists before the Civil War. Among his many achievements, Allen helped form the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, co-authored the first copyrighted pamphlet by an African American writer, published the first African American eulogy of George Washington, and convened the first national convention of black reformers. In a time when most black men and women were categorized as slave property, Allen was championed as a black hero. As Richard S. Newman writes, Allen must be considered one of America's black Founding Fathers. In this thoroughly engaging and beautifully written book, Newman describes Allen's continually evolving life and thought, setting both in the context of his times. From Allen's early antislavery struggles and belief in interracial harmony to his later reflections on black democracy and black emigration, Newman traces Allen's impact on American reform and reformers, on racial attitudes during the years of the early republic, and on the black struggle for justice in the age of Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Washington. Whether serving as Americas first black bishop, challenging slaveholding statesmen in a nation devoted to liberty, or visiting the President's House (the first black activist to do so), this important book makes it clear that Allen belongs in the pantheon of Americas great founding figures. Freedom's Prophet reintroduces Allen to today's readers and restores him to his rightful place in our nation's history. Summary reprinted by permission of New York University Press

The United Methodist Church has been in conflict over lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender inclusion issues since 1972. That year, in response to the gay liberation and gay rights movements, wording was added to the UMC Book of Discipline (the compilation of denominational policies and doctrines) characterizing homosexuality as \"incompatible with Christian teaching.\" Since then, United Methodist ministers have been forbidden to perform same-sex commitment ceremonies (and United Methodist churches forbidden to host them), a rule has been passed that non-heterosexual United Methodist ministers must be celibate, and the UMC has forbidden the funding of any program or organization \"supporting\" homosexuality. These policies have been met with significant resistance by those fighting for GLBT inclusion. In this groundbreaking book, Udis-Kessler examines this struggle, analyzing both sides of this divisive debate among one of the most prominent religious organizations in the United States. 1. Introduction 2. History and Participants 3. Research Methodology 4. General Conference 2000: Selected Field Notes 5. Analytic Perspectives: Culture Wars 6. Analytic Perspectives: Homophobia and Heterosexism 7. Analytic Perspectives: Social Closure 8. Analytic Perspectives: Contradictory Institutional Logics 9. Implications and Possibilities Amanda Udis-Kessler received her PhD in Sociology from Boston College and is the Director of Institutional Research and Planning at The Colorado College.

This article explores the life and legacy of Andile Madodomzi Mbete, a revered minister of religion in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA), through the lens of prophetic witness at the margins of society. Framed by the biblical motif of the ‘prophet on the periphery’ – in contrast to the court prophet of the Old Testament – and the MCSA’s enduring call for the formation of an alternative community, the study positions Mbete as a contemporary embodiment of prophetic resistance. Firstly, the article examines the theological and historical role of prophets on the periphery in the Hebrew Bible, highlighting their critique of political and religious power. Secondly, it engages the MCSA’s vision of an ecclesial alternative grounded in justice, inclusivity and transformation. Finally, it situates Mbete’s ministry within the socio-political and ecclesiastical contexts of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa, drawing attention to his contributions to faith, justice and communal liberation. The article argues that Mbete’s legacy offers a compelling model for prophetic leadership today – one that speaks from the margins yet calls for a radical reimagining of both church and society. On a methodological level, the article draws from a combination of theological reflection, contextual analysis and qualitative inquiry, most important focusing on the sermons, autobiographical materials and Mbete’s own theological reflections. Contribution: The article contributes to HTS Theological Studies by offering a critical and contextual exploration of a marginal yet prophetic voice in South African theology. It deepens the journal’s commitment to public theology, postcolonial analysis and African contextual theologies and stimulates discourse around alternative ecclesial visions rooted in justice, memory and liberation.

Proclamation of the gospel is a perennial practice of congregational leadership demanding responsiveness to issues, trends, and events impacting congregations, their local and regional communities, and the challenges of the world. How do congregational leaders equip themselves for the important and ever-changing task of preaching? Lifelong learning, the fastest-growing and least-resourced aspect of theological education in North America, provides this opportunity. Through a 2024 survey, this quantitative study provides insight into the lifelong learning needs of Methodist preachers, including differences based on gender and race/ethnicity. Time for additional learning is the major perceived obstacle for preachers desiring to improve their craft. Thus, lifelong learning programs must make the case for how the required time and energy will benefit the preacher participating in such programs. Specifically, the activities of reviewing recordings of sermons (both one’s own and those of other preachers), receiving constructive feedback on sermons, and realizing the collaborative potential of preaching must be structured in ways that prove the value of these investments for preachers. This data on the lifelong learning needs of Methodist preachers has implications on multiple levels: conceptual, institutional, congregational, and personal.

The growing appeal of abolitionism and its increasing success in converting Americans to the antislavery cause, a generation before the Civil War, is clearly revealed in this book on the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. The moral character of the antislavery movement is stressed. Originally published in 1965. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.