Strangely Warmed

Yesterday I discussed the 18th century schism that separated the Methodist movement in America from its Anglican roots, primarily citing the work of John Wigger in American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists . The recently announced proposal for full communion between the United Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church addresses the 18th century schism between the two groups. We affirm the ministry of bishops in The United Methodist Church and The Episcopal Church to be adaptations of the historic episcopate to the needs and concerns of the post-Revolutionary missional context. We recognize the ministries of our bishops as fully valid and authentic. We lament any ways, whether intentionally or unintentionally, explicitly or implicitly, that Episcopalians may have considered the ministerial orders of the United Methodist Church or its predecessor bodies to be lacking God’s grace. It is our hope and prayer that in this full communion proposal we may heal these divisions, ...

On May 17, the United Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church announced a proposed framework for full communion between the two denominations. Perhaps the proposal will produce better results than the first efforts at reconciliation which took place in when both churches were very young. Within the first decade of Methodism’s existence as an independent church, two half-baked attempts at reunion with the Episcopal Church failed. In the years prior to the Revolutionary War, Methodist societies in the American colonies still depended on Church of England clergy to perform the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. Methodism was a movement, not a church. From the beginning, the relationship between the Methodists and the established church was often tense. In American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists , historian John Wigger characterizes the relationship like this: From [Anglican] ministers’ points of view, Methodists were unlearned charlatans seeking to break down the...