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48-724: This body maintained its own polity for nearly 100 years until the formation in 1939 of the Methodist Church , uniting the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with the older Methodist Episcopal Church and much of the Methodist Protestant Church , which had separated from Methodist Episcopal Church in 1828. The Methodist Church in turn merged in 1968 with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form

96-453: A derivative of episcopalianism known as connexional polity. It emphasizes essential interdependence through fellowship, consultation, government and oversight. Some Methodist churches have bishops , but those individuals are not nearly as powerful as in episcopal churches. Connexionalism is sometimes identified as an organization, while other times as relationship or theological principle. The United Methodist Church defines connection as

144-574: A few collegiate courses. The dramatic exception was Vanderbilt University , at Nashville , with a million-dollar campus and an endowment of $ 900,000, thanks to the Vanderbilt family . Much smaller and poorer were Randolph-Macon College in Virginia , with its two affiliated fitting-schools and Randolph-Macon Woman's College ; Emory College , in Atlanta (as the infusion of Candler family money

192-673: A highly visible community leadership position. These ministers turned the pulpit into a profession, thus emulating the Presbyterians and Episcopalians. They created increasingly complex denominational bureaucracies to meet a series of pressing needs: defending slavery, evangelizing soldiers during the Civil War, promoting temperance reform, contributing to foreign missions (see American Southern Methodist Episcopal Mission ), and supporting local colleges. The new urban middle-class ministry increasingly left their country cousins far behind. As

240-650: A leader of an individual congregation; it may also be used as an honorific, particularly within the Holiness movement . Although a church's polity determines its ministers and discipline, it need not affect relations with other Christian organizations. The unity of a church is an essential doctrine of ecclesiology , but because the divisions between churches presuppose the absence of mutual authority, internal polity does not directly answer how these divisions are treated. For example, among churches of episcopal polity, different theories are expressed: A plurality of elders

288-654: A relationship with the United Methodist Church . All four enroll students who are primarily from mainline Protestant denominations, but religion is not a test for admittance. The denomination's publishing house, opened in 1854 in Nashville, Tennessee , eventually became the headquarters of the United Methodist Publishing House. See Abingdon Press and Cokesbury . Ecclesiastical polity Ecclesiastical polity

336-402: A single local church and is called the session or consistory ; its members are called elders . The minister of the church (sometimes referred to as a teaching elder ) is a member of and presides over the session; lay representatives ( ruling elders or, informally, just elders) are elected by the congregation. The session sends representatives to the next level higher council, called

384-459: A slave owner. Southern delegates to the conference disputed the authority of a General Conference to discipline bishops. The cultural differences that had divided the nation during the mid-19th century were also dividing the Methodist Episcopal Church. The 1844 dispute led Methodists in the South to break off and form a separate denomination, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC,S). Delegates from

432-662: A theology school west of the Mississippi River was not addressed until the founding of Southern Methodist University in Texas in 1911. The denomination also supported several women's colleges , although they were more like finishing schools or academies until the twentieth century. At that time, they were developed to meet the standards of new accrediting agencies, such as the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools . The oldest Methodist woman's college

480-825: A wide variety of historical rights and honours which may cut across simple lines of authority. Episcopal polity is the predominant pattern in Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , and Anglican churches. It is common in some Methodist and Lutheran churches, as well as amongst some of the African-American Pentecostal traditions such as the Church of God in Christ and the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship . Many Methodist and Wesleyan churches use

528-1116: Is Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia ; other Methodist colleges that were formerly women's institutions are Lagrange College and Andrew College in Georgia, Columbia College in South Carolina , and Greensboro College in North Carolina . In March 1900, the East Columbia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church-South purchased an existing school called Milton Academy, built by the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Milton, Oregon . Renamed "Columbia College", it opened September 24, 1900 under Methodist leadership. Due to declining enrollment and lack of funds,

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576-547: Is considered desirable in some (esp. reformed) traditions, preferring two or more officers in the local church. The contrasts with singular models often found in Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches, or the "pastor/president" system of some Protestant churches. This is commonly encouraged among Presbyterians , some Pentecostal churches, Churches of Christ , the Disciples of Christ , Baptists and

624-541: Is paralleled by a system of deputies, who are lay and clerical representatives elected by parishes and, at the national level, by the dioceses. Legislation in the general convention requires the separate consent of the bishops and of the deputies. Congregational polity is historically reformed , like presbyterianism, but retains the autonomy (lit. self-rule) of the local church. Congregational churches dispense titles such as "Popes, Patriarchs, Cardinals, Arch-Bishops, Lord-Bishops, Arch-Deacons, Officials, Commissaries, and

672-546: Is the government of a church. There are local ( congregational ) forms of organization as well as denominational . A church's polity may describe its ministerial offices or an authority structure between churches. Polity relates closely to ecclesiology , the theological study of the church. Questions of church government were documented early on in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles and "theological debate about

720-555: The Church Order of Dordrecht (1618/1619) will, in general, consider their levels of government "broader" rather than "higher" courts. Additionally, the reformed classis is a temporary, delegated body, so the minister is firstly a member of his congregation as opposed to the standing presbytery. The Episcopal Church in the United States of America arguably contains a kind of lay presbyterian polity. Governance by bishops

768-399: The presbytery or classis . In some Presbyterian churches there are higher level councils ( synods or general assemblies ). Each council has authority over its constituents, and the representatives at each level are expected to use their own judgment. For example, each session approves and installs its own elders, and each presbytery approves the ministers serving within its territory and

816-895: The Cambridge Platform , Savoy Declaration , Saybrook Platform and Second London Confession . As a "self-governed voluntary institution", it could be considered a type of religious anarchism . Other religious organizations, for example Seventh-day Adventist , Jehovah's Witnesses , the Salvation Army , and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), are unique. Some have hierarchies similar to an episcopal polity, but may be more complex, with additional levels. Leaders are not always called bishops , in some cases they have secular-like titles such as president or overseer . The term bishop may be used to describe functionaries in minor leadership roles, such as

864-585: The Catholic Church , and consequently different Protestant bodies organized into different types of polities. During this period Richard Hooker wrote Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity , the first volumes of which were published in 1594, to defend the polity of the Church of England against Puritan objections. It is from the title of this work that the term ecclesiastical polity may have originated. With respect to ecclesiology , Hooker preferred

912-522: The Plymouth Brethren . Advocates claim biblical precedent, citing that New Testament churches appear to all have had multiple elders. Conversely, one minister may serve in two roles. A pastor with two churches may be said to have a "dual charge". In the Church of England, two or more otherwise independent benefices may be 'held in plurality' by a single priest. Confederate States Army revival The Confederate States Army revival

960-647: The United Methodist Church , one of the largest and most widely spread Christian denominations in America. In 1940, some more theologically conservative MEC,S congregations, which dissented from the 1939 merger, formed the Southern Methodist Church , which still exists as a small, conservative denomination headquartered in South Carolina . Some dissenting congregations from the Methodist Protestant Church also objected to

1008-516: The abolitionist movement. The southern church accommodated it as part of a legal system. But, even in the South, Methodist clergy were not supposed to own slaves. In 1840, the Rev. James Osgood Andrew , a bishop living in Oxford, Georgia , bought a woman. Fearing that she would end up with an inhumane owner if sold, Andrew kept her but let her work independently. The 1840 MEC General Conference considered

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1056-828: The 1940 merger and continue as a separate denomination, headquartered in Mississippi . John Wesley , the founder of Methodism, was appalled by slavery in the British colonies. When the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was founded in the United States at the "Christmas Conference" synod meeting of ministers at the Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore in December 1784, the denomination officially opposed slavery very early. Numerous Methodist missionaries toured

1104-510: The Bible acknowledged slavery but that Christianity had a paternalistic role to improve conditions. The invention of the cotton gin had enabled profitable cultivation of cotton in new areas of the South, increasing the demand for slaves. Manumissions nearly ceased and, after slave rebellions, the states made them extremely difficult to accomplish. Northern Methodist congregations increasingly opposed slavery, and some members began to be active in

1152-511: The Catholic Church, bishops have authority over the diocese , which is both sacramental and political; as well as performing ordinations , confirmations , and consecrations , the bishop supervises the clergy of the diocese and represents the diocese both secularly and in the hierarchy of church governance. Bishops may be subject to higher ranking bishops (variously called archbishops , metropolitans or patriarchs , depending upon

1200-1209: The MEC,S in 1860, by 1866 only 49,000 remained. in 1870, most of the remaining African-American members of the MEC,S split off on friendly terms with white colleagues to form the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, ( Christian Methodist Episcopal Church since 1954), taking with them $ 1.5 million in buildings and properties. The new denomination avoided the Republican politics of the AME and AME Zion congregations. It had more than 3,000 churches, more than 1,200 traveling preachers, 2,500 church-based preachers, about 140,000 members, and held 22 annual conferences, presided over by four bishops. The MEC,S energetically tended its base: in 1880 it had 798,862 members (mostly white), and 1,066,377 in 1886. It expanded its missionary activity in Mexico. Although usually avoiding politics, MEC,S in 1886 denounced divorce and called for Prohibition , stating: The public has awakened to

1248-679: The South in the " Great Awakening " and tried to convince slaveholders to manumit the people whom they enslaved. In the first two decades after the American Revolutionary War , a number did free people from slavery. The number of free blacks increased markedly at this time, especially in the Upper South . During the early nineteenth century, Methodists and Baptists in the South began to modify their approach in order to gain support from common planters, and yeomen. They began to argue for better treatment of slaves, saying that

1296-578: The beginnings of a revival. The revival was encouraged by Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee and, by mid-1863, it had spread to all the Confederate armies. Mark Summers argues, however, that Jackson and Lee were exceptional as far as enthusiasm among the officers went, and rather than a "top down" revival (the traditional Lost Cause of the Confederacy view), it was much more "bottom up", as thousands of religious tracts were distributed among

1344-713: The cause of intemperance is the only remedy. This is the greatest moral question now before our people.... Resolved, That the time has now come when the church, through its press and pulpit, its individual and organized agencies, should speak out in strong language and stronger action in favor of the total removal of this great evil. After 1844 the Methodists in the South increased their emphasis on an educated clergy. Ambitious young preachers from humble, rural backgrounds attended college, and were often appointed to serve congregations in towns. There they could build larger churches that paid decent salaries; they gained social prestige in

1392-440: The church generally ranges from two (elder & deacon) to four (pastor, teacher, ruling elder & deacon) in congregational churches. Churches with congregational polity include Congregationalists , Baptists , Quakers and much of Non-denominational Christianity . Congregational polity is sometimes called Baptist polity because of the relative prevalence of Baptists. Historic statements of congregational polity include

1440-512: The connections between those ministers and particular congregations. Hence higher level councils act as courts of appeal for church trials and disputes, and it is not uncommon to see rulings and decisions overturned. Presbyterian polity and the Presbyterian tradition are not identical. Continental reformed churches (e.g. Dutch ) can also be described as presbyterian, with a few key differences. Continental churches that historically follow

1488-499: The dying. The sight was awful. Thousands of men killed and wounded. They lay thick all around, shot in every possible manner, and the wounded dying every day. Among the wounded were many Federal soldiers. To these I ministered, prayed with them, and wrote letters by flag of truce to their friends in the North. After the Civil War, when African American slaves gained freedom, many left the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They joined either

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1536-524: The first time by Reconstruction-era legislatures across the South. It was generally a segregated system, and racial segregation was established by law for public facilities under Jim Crow rules conditions in the late 19th century, after white Democrats regained control of state legislatures in the late 1870s. The colleges were in scarcely better condition, though philanthropy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries dramatically changed their development. Most were primarily high-school level academies offering

1584-449: The historian of the transformation explains, "Denomination building—that is, the bureaucratization of religion in the late antebellum South—was an inherently innovative and forward-looking task. It was, in a word, modern." The returns for 1892 showed: Methodist education had suffered during the Civil War, as most academies were closed. Some recovered in the late 19th century, but demand decreased as public education had been established for

1632-861: The independent black denominations of the African Methodist Episcopal Church founded in Philadelphia or the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church founded in New York, but some also joined the (Northern) Methodist Episcopal Church, which planted new congregations in the South. The two independent black denominations both sent missionaries to the South after the war to aid freedmen , and attracted hundreds of thousands of new members, from both Baptists and Methodists, and new converts to Christianity. Out of 200,000 African-American members in

1680-538: The like". The congregation has its being without any ministers and is enabled to elect and install its own officers. Ordination may involve officers of other churches, especially when the church participates in a local vicinage , association , or convention. Broader assemblies formed by delegates from congregationally governed churches (e.g. the Southern Baptist Convention ) do not have power to rule their constituents. The number of offices in

1728-403: The matter, but did not expel Andrew. Four years later, Andrew married a woman who owned a slave inherited from her mother, making the bishop the owner of two people. As bishop, he was considered to have obligations both in the North and South and was criticized for owning slaves. The 1844 General Conference voted to suspend Bishop Andrew from exercising his episcopal office until he was no longer

1776-683: The nature, location, and exercise of authority, in the church" has been ongoing ever since. The first act recorded after the Ascension of Jesus Christ was the election of Saint Matthias as one of the Twelve Apostles , to replace Judas Iscariot . During the Protestant Reformation , reformers asserted that the New Testament prescribed an ecclesiastical government different from the episcopal polity maintained by

1824-452: The necessity of both legal and moral suasion to control the great evils stimulated and fostered by the liquor traffic. We recognize in the license system a sin against society. Its essential immorality cannot be affected by the question whether the license be high or low. The effectual prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and use of intoxicating liquors would be emancipation from the greatest curse that now afflicts our race. The total removal of

1872-490: The principle that "all leaders and congregations are connected in a network of loyalties and commitments that support, yet supersede, local concerns." A minority of Methodist denominations use another non-connexional form of government, such as the Congregational Methodist Church . Many Reformed churches are governed by a hierarchy of councils (or courts ). The lowest level council governs

1920-692: The school was closed in 1925. First year enrollment was 131 pupils, under Dean W.C. Howard. The original wood building was replaced in 1910 by a four-story stone building. It has been adapted for use as the city hall of the combined cities of Milton-Freewater, Oregon . In the 1930s, the MEC and the Methodist Protestant Church , other Methodist denominations still operating in the South, agreed to ordain women either as local elders and deacons (the MEC) or full clergy (the Methodist Protestant Church). The MEC,S did not ordain women as pastors at

1968-452: The soldiers. Summers suggests that due to the Union blockade , the soldiers had little else to read. According to the Confederate chaplain J. William Jones, by the end of the war, 150,000 soldiers had been converted . Kurt O. Berends argues that the revivals were a major cultural event. Ben House suggests that the revivals provided "the spiritual resources that would be necessary to enable

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2016-632: The southern conferences met at a Convention at the Fourth Street Church in Louisville, Kentucky, May 1–19, 1845, and organized the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The statistics for 1859 showed the MEC,S had as enrolled members some 511,601 whites and 197,000 blacks (nearly all of whom were slaves), and 4,200 Indians. In 1858 MEC,S operated 106 schools and colleges. The American Civil War resulted in widespread destruction of property, including church buildings and institutions, but it

2064-484: The term polity to government as the former term "containeth both [the] government and also whatsoever besides belongeth to the ordering of the Church in public." There are four general types of polity: episcopal , connexional , presbyterian , and congregational . Churches having episcopal polity are governed by bishops . The title bishop comes from the Greek word epískopos , which translates as overseer . In

2112-430: The time of the 1939 merger that formed the Methodist Church . The MEC,S was responsible for founding four of the South's top divinity schools : Vanderbilt University Divinity School , Duke Divinity School , Candler School of Theology at Emory University , and Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University . Vanderbilt severed its ties with the denomination in 1914. Duke, Candler, and Perkins maintain

2160-558: The tradition; see article Bishop ) They also meet in councils or synods . These synods, subject to precedency by higher ranking bishops, may govern the dioceses which are represented in the council, though the synod may also be purely advisory. In episcopal polity, presbyter (elder) refers to a priest . Churches governed by episcopacy do not simply adhere to a chain of command . Instead, some authority may be held by synods and colleges of bishops, and other authority by lay and clerical councils. Patterns of authority are subject to

2208-642: Was a series of Christian revivals which took place among the Confederate States Army in 1863. It is generally regarded as part of the Third Great Awakening . Benjamin R. Lacy suggests that the revival began in the camps and hospitals around Richmond, Virginia . The revival began in the Army of Northern Virginia in early 1863. In March 1863, for example, a new chaplain arrived at the 41st Virginia Infantry regiment and found

2256-970: Was far in the future); Emory & Henry , in Southwest Virginia ; Wofford , with its two fitting-schools, in South Carolina ; Trinity , in North Carolina —soon to be endowed by the Duke family and change its name; Central , in Missouri; Southern , in Alabama ; Southwestern , in Texas ; Wesleyan , in Kentucky ; Millsaps , in Mississippi ; Centenary , in Louisiana ; Hendrix , in Arkansas ; and Pacific , in California . The growing need for

2304-542: Was marked by a series of strong revivals that began in General Robert E. Lee's army and spread throughout the region. Chaplains tended the wounded after the battles. John Berry McFerrin (1807–1887) recalled: At Chickamauga, the slaughter was tremendous on both sides, but the Confederates held the field. I remained on the battlefield eleven days, nursing the sick, ministering to the wounded, and praying for

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