The Founding Flaw of American Methodism
Whenever a movement or a group of people is looking back to make an assessment of where they are and where they’ve come from, part of doing that correctly is doing so honestly. It’s not about dishonoring the past or those who were faithful in the past with what they had. But we should be able to rightly see where they may not have been, how they should have been, and course-correct from there.
Recently, I have been taking something of a deep dive into early Methodist history. Specifically looking at not just John Wesley himself, but the early pioneers of American Methodism. As someone who did not grow up in the movement, I take seriously the responsibility to understand the place I now call my ecclesiastical home. There is so much of American Methodism to look at with thankfulness to God, for how those faithful trailblazers spread with the pioneers to bring the Gospel to the frontiers of America, leading Methodism to represent the biggest American denomination by the early 19th century.
Yet, with that heritage and legacy, when we look at Methodism today, we see a different story. With about 50 different Methodist/Wesleyan denominations in existence, with a broad range of theological takes and reasons for why they split, including more recent divisions, what has happened here?
In a paper about sacraments in early American Methodism, Paul Sanders writes this:
“Early Methodism in America had failed to achieve sufficient coherence to enable it to preserve the marrow of its legacy while at the same time adapting it to the demands of a new time and a new land. Although maintaining a halting loyalty to its Wesleyan heritage, the church was clearly more concerned with evangelism than with sacramentalism. Wesley’s synthesis was dissolved. As revivalism was not the same as Wesley’s evangelical ministry, so the confused sacramental
teaching and erratic sacramental practice of the Americans was not the same as Wesley’s own. The loss of the fertilizing vitality which results from keeping each close to the other was serious enough; but the loss was finally more serious. The church had been rendered peculiarly vulnerable to the infiltration of alien ideologies, and would find itself unable to maintain either evangelicalism or sacramentalism under the impact of the rise of rational idealism.”
I know there’s a lot going on in that paragraph, and I highly encourage you to look up and read Sanders’ paper, as he does a deep dive into Wesley’s sacramental theology and the importance it played in his life and ministry. And it is this major component that was missing for American Methodism, that didn’t allow for the “marrow” of Wesley’s legacy to endure in totality.
Looking at the reasons that led to this, I get it. You’re in America; you don’t have enough clergy to rightly administer the sacraments (both communion and baptism were an issue), and so very quickly the pragmatic realities set in. Even if you think things like weekly communion are important, you simply can’t do them, and they fall out of practice. And in this, I don’t fault my predecessors for how history went down. Could they have done something differently? Maybe. But I can’t make that call. All I can do is see where there were potential issues and try to course-correct from there.
So that leads us to the question. What was the fatal flaw? In my mind, from the research I have done, the fatal flaw was that early American Methodism didn’t solidify its identity because it failed to maintain the sacramental reality of Wesley’s life and ministry along with his evangelical zeal.
Because there was a lack of this cohesive identity grounded in the table, Sanders suggests—and I would agree and posit—that the multiplicity in American Methodist denominations exists because the sacramental grounding of the movement was not solidified. The focus became the practical necessity of expanding with rapidly growing America. And in this growth, cultural influences were able to weave themselves in at various times and in various places, leading to the muddled landscape we have today.
Now, in the 21st century, the Methodist movement has a new opportunity. With the major realignment of Methodism in the Global Methodist Church, the possibility is open for us across the board to look at where we came from, reassess who we actually are, and then put our noses to the plow of the Gospel work we have to do.
So what is this new path forward?
Recenter the table.
Now, it is a bit more complicated than that, but not by much.
As Methodists, we need to recapture the Spirit-fueled heart of our movement, which was the encounter with the Risen, Ascended, and Reigning Christ that takes place at Holy Communion. It means our pastors and our laypeople need to not just practice and participate, but also understand the how and why. To not just come and remember, but to come and receive the fullness of the work of Christ that He offers to His Church.
Yes, we need excellent preachers, and those who have a passion for evangelism to go out and proclaim the Word. That will always be essential, as it was for Wesley. But backing that up must be a thoroughly grounded understanding and practice of the means of grace. Not just as a catchphrase we use when talking about Wesleyan theology, but as the heartbeat of what we are about.
Looking back at our Methodist forebears, we have so much to be thankful for. They loved and served Christ faithfully. It is not to denigrate their lives and work for the Kingdom, but rather to see the fruit of what they themselves truly desired to see: an American nation captivated by the Gospel, and the power of Christ flowing to every believer as they receive Him week by week.
In the limited scope in which I’ve read the life and works of B. T. Roberts, I am thankful to be a Free Methodist. We have a place and a role in the Kingdom of God to accomplish His will on earth. And through recapturing the heart of Wesley’s life and ministry in the Table, we can bring to fullness what Roberts and others desired to see: a people who lived lives of holiness and set captives free.
What better place to do that than the meal that Christ instituted where it started for us all?