Your Cart

Your cart is empty.

The Methodist Episcopal Church: How American Methodism Organized Itself

Rev. C•D•F• Warrington, M.Div.
By Rev. C•D•F• Warrington, M.Div.

Ordained Minister, M.Div.

July 13, 2026

3 min read

methodist
19th century American founding conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in a colonial building

When American independence made the organizational connection to the Church of England untenable, John Wesley faced a practical crisis: the Methodist societies in America had no ordained ministers to administer the sacraments. Wesley's solution was unprecedented. He ordained Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury as superintendents — effectively bishops — and sent them to America to organize an independent Methodist church. The result was the Christmas Conference of 1784, held in Baltimore, Maryland.

About sixty Methodist preachers gathered at Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore to formally constitute the Methodist Episcopal Church. They adopted a confession of faith derived from the Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles but significantly revised — reducing them from thirty-nine to twenty-five articles and removing provisions specific to the English crown and Parliament. They also adopted an abridged version of the Book of Common Prayer, Wesley's Notes Upon the New Testament, and a selection of Wesley's sermons as doctrinal standards.

The name 'Methodist Episcopal' reflected the dual heritage of the new church. 'Methodist' pointed to the revival movement Wesley had founded, with its emphasis on holiness, class meetings, and itinerant preaching. 'Episcopal' pointed to the church's retention of the episcopal form of government — bishops overseeing circuits and annual conferences — even though Wesley himself was deeply uncomfortable with the title 'bishop' and continued to call Coke and Asbury 'superintendents.'

The Methodist Episcopal Church grew with remarkable speed. Francis Asbury's itinerant ministry across the American frontier became legendary — he is estimated to have traveled over 270,000 miles on horseback during his ministry. The circuit rider system, which sent preachers into frontier communities, was perfectly suited to the expanding American republic. By the early nineteenth century, Methodism had become the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.

The Christmas Conference also took a stand on slavery that was unusually bold for its time. The new church required its members to free their enslaved people, and preachers who held enslaved people were required to manumit them within a year. This rule was quickly softened under pressure from Southern members, but it established a pattern of Methodist social witness that would continue — fitfully and controversially — throughout the next century and beyond.

The Methodist Episcopal Church eventually reunited with two other Methodist bodies in 1939 to form the Methodist Church, which later merged with the Evangelical United Brethren in 1968 to form the United Methodist Church. But the organizational decisions made at the Christmas Conference of 1784 — the episcopal structure, the itinerant ministry, the General Conference, the circuit system — remain visible in United Methodism today, testimony to the enduring legacy of what those sixty preachers in Baltimore began.

Tags:methodistchurch historyformation

Frequently Asked Questions

When was the Methodist Episcopal Church founded and why?

The Methodist Episcopal Church was formally organized at the Christmas Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland, in December 1784, shortly after American independence made an ecclesiastical break from the Church of England practically necessary. Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke were consecrated as the first bishops of the new church, with Coke commissioned by John Wesley. The conference adopted a modified version of the Thirty-Nine Articles and Wesley's Sunday Service as its doctrinal and liturgical standards, making it the first distinctly American Methodist denomination.

What doctrinal standards did early American Methodism adopt?

Early American Methodism adopted John Wesley's twenty-five Articles of Religion (abridged from the Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles), Wesley's Standard Sermons, and his Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament as its core doctrinal standards. These documents establish Methodist doctrine on salvation, Scripture, the sacraments, and Christian ethics, reflecting Wesley's Arminian soteriology and emphasis on entire sanctification. The Methodist Articles of Religion, unlike the Thirty-Nine Articles, explicitly affirmed the American colonies' independence and the lawfulness of the new nation's government.

What is the difference between Methodist and Calvinist understandings of salvation?

Methodist theology follows John Wesley's Arminian soteriology, which holds that Christ died for all people without exception, that saving grace can be resisted, and that believers can fall from grace. This contrasts sharply with Calvinist soteriology, which teaches unconditional election, a definite atonement for the elect, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. Wesley himself engaged in extended theological controversy with George Whitefield over these issues, and the debate between Methodism's Arminianism and Reformed Calvinism continues among Protestants today.

What is entire sanctification in Methodist theology?

Entire sanctification (also called Christian perfection) is a distinctive Methodist doctrine taught by John Wesley, holding that believers may experience a second definite work of grace after conversion in which the remaining inclination toward sin (inbred sin) is cleansed, enabling them to love God and neighbor with undivided devotion. Wesley did not teach sinless perfection in the sense of absolute freedom from mistakes or infirmities, but rather freedom from willful transgression and habitual sin. This doctrine significantly influenced the later Holiness movement and Pentecostalism.

How did American Methodism grow in the nineteenth century?

American Methodism experienced explosive growth in the nineteenth century, becoming the largest Protestant denomination in the United States by 1820 through its highly effective circuit-rider system, camp meeting revivalism, and adaptable organizational structures. Methodist circuit riders — itinerant preachers who traveled frontier circuits on horseback — brought the gospel to remote settlements across the expanding American frontier. The Methodist Episcopal Church's emphasis on experiential conversion, disciplined small-group accountability (class meetings), and lay leadership proved ideally suited to the dynamic conditions of a growing democratic republic.

← Back to all articles