What can we learn from the Methodists of two centuries ago? I am staunchly Presbyterian and am not arguing that we should change our standards, but we can surely learn from history. Omitting a number of critiques we might explore, two positive lessons stand out.

Learning from the Methodists

What can we learn from the Methodists? The United Methodist Church seems likely to divide this year over matters of sexuality – at least as the surface issues. Writers like David French and Carl Trueman delve into the deeper causes and lessons to learn from the present circumstances. It’s also worth asking how the nearly seven-million person church grew to be the second largest Protestant denomination in America. The answer, in large measure historically, was their ability to train men for ministry.

Currently, I am teaching a class at church on church history in our state. In Indiana, Methodists have been the dominant force, and have provided astounding leadership over the years. The Methodists of various stripes, and later descendants including the Wesleyans, Nazarenes, and various holiness-themed churches, are responsible for at least six universities in the state, leading health care providers, and mercy ministries in many communities. And many remarkable individuals with the Methodist tradition have risen to be remarkable public servants, community leaders, and social pillars.

There are several reasons why Methodism was especially popular in the Hoosier State. In 1816, Indiana was the first state to attain statehood after the War of 1812, an event that paused Westward migration. As the new nation moved West with fresh confidence, it asserted its fiercely independent streak that made the personal appeal of Methodist Arminianism appealing to frontier residents. Momentum for revivalism grew through the Second Great Awakening, and the Methodists grabbed hold of that momentum as the pioneers surged into Indiana. It also seems that the independent mindset of the early residents had not shaken their sense that the children in the church community still counted. Most migrants were Scots-Irish descendants who came from the Upland-South with Presbyterian roots.  Methodist polity–which practiced infant baptist–was more emotionally attractive than Baptist ecclesiology.

But, as stated, beyond these factors, one stands out in the Methodists’ expansion: they knew how to train men to their standards. One Pharisaical, proud, pejorative, pioneer Presbyterian proverb sheds light on how leading denominations prioritized formal education in general in that day: “A Methodist is just a Baptist who can read.”

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