How did the United Methodists get their name?

Answer 1

The Methodist Church started out in middle part of the 18th century in England.

They were a small group of religious scholars that studied scripture and theology in a very methodical way. They were accussed of being as such and the term "Methodist" stuck. This happened at Oxford University. The interesting thing to remember is that the founder of this movement, was the Rev John Wesley, who was a high church Anglican priest of the Church of England. His brother Charles was also as was his father. It was never his intention to break away from the Church of England and urged his followers to remain loyal to the established church. Despite this, the Church of England was hostile towards the Wesley's because of their preaching in the open and not inside the church. People from all over England, but especially Cornwall and Wales, became strongholds for the Methodist societies that were emerging. John Wesley sailed to the American colonies and landed in Georgia to preach to the native Indians and others. He also travelled to Philadelphia and New York.

George Whitefield was another major figure during this time. They were close friends and he was consecrated a Bishop in the colonies. In time, they developed animosities and had some serious disagreements. The Revolutionary War and its aftermath, led to the Methodists leaving the Anglican Church-it was more a political than religious decision. Rev Wesley published the Methodist Book of Worship, which was almost identical to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer which he so loved. He also encouraged that Holy Communion be celebrated every week. Most of the Anglican Articles of Religion were incorporated by the Methodists. Both Wesley's would remain staunch supporters of the Church of England despite their support in helping the new church. Unlike the Episcopal Church that was formed after the Revolutionary War and was too rigid and conservative in evangelizing-the Methodists were not as strict and used circuit riders who had little formal education to find converts and establish new churches in all the colonies. This helps to explain why the Methodists are found in all regions of the country and have more parishes than any other denomination-although they had to close many churches in the last 20 years and experienced a huge decline in membership.

But that was not the case after the war. The Methodists would until the middle half of the last century, be evangelical and its services and churches were informal with little emphasis on sacraments or its historical roots. All that changed in the last 65 years when the United Methodist Church began to act more like the other liberal mainline churches and less evangelical. The churches began to take on the style of Episcopal and Lutheran churches and the worship services became much more traditional and formal with pastors wearing vestments and celebrating Holy Communion more frequently. The UMC have entered into full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 2008 and will with the Episcopal Church in 2012. The British Methodist Church and the Church of England have recently announced that both traditions will merge either this year or next.

Answer 2

The Methodist church got it's name from the way they practiced their faith. Communion and baptism and the way they prayed and studied was methodical. People on the outside of the church that would see it would say "Look at how methodical they are," as a put down. John Wesley liked it and the name stuck.

Answer 3

We start with John Wesley and his brother Charles. Wesley believed that the Church in general had failed in its duty to call sinners to repentance, that its clergymen were worldly-minded, and that souls were perishing because of their sins. He therefore regarded himself, possibly a little arrogantly and precotiously, commissioned by God to warn others to repent. The prejudices of his High-church training, his strict ideas on public worship, his strong views on the priesthood, and even his most deep-set beliefs, as a high-church Anglican, were not allowed to stand in the way in which he believed the Holy Spirit was leading him. Wesley became part of the so-called 'Holy Club' of Oxford, a group of no more than twenty to twenty-five like-minded friends which included his brother Charles. This groop became known as 'The Methodists' because of the methodical approach to Christian spirituality of its members. The group became larger and grew until it formed its own, more evangelical Christian Church with the ideas of Wesley at its head. The name 'Methodist' has stuck to this day.

Answer 4

When John and Charles Wesley were at Oxford University they created a club for the purpose of visiting Hospitals, Jails, and feeding the poor. The club was extremely well organized. Its detractors called it Methodist and its members Methodists. The Wesleys adopted that name for the club. The name stuck and was used when the church was created. The Methodist Church is extremely organized.

Answer 5

When John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was in college he and his friends formed a religious club. This club was so scheduled that other students made fun of them by calling them "methodists". The word United comes from when the Methodist church merged with the United Brethren Church.

Answer 6

John Wesley was very methodical in his approach to Bible study, prayer and worship. From this he was called a methodist.

Answer 7

No I don't so anwser it

Answer 8

by john Wesley who lived his life by methods