Wesleyan Church
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- For the former Wesleyan Methodist Church of Great Britain, see Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Wesleyan Church is a religious denomination associated with the holiness movement that has roots in Methodism and the teachings of John Wesley.
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[edit] History
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The Wesleyan Church in America (formerly Wesleyan Methodist) was officially formed in 1843 at an organizing conference in Utica, New York, as a group of ministers and laymen splitting from the Methodist Episcopal Church, primarily over the issue of slavery, though they had secondary issues as well. Rev. Orange Scott presided as the meeting formed a federation of churches at first calling themselves the Wesleyan Methodist Connection.(The name was chosen to distinguish themselves from the British Wesleyan Methodists). Other leaders at the founding of the church were LaRoy Sunderland, who had been tried and defrocked for his antislavery writings, Lucious C. Matlack, and Luther Lee, a minister who later operated an Underground Railroad station in Syracuse, New York.
In addition to anti-slavery, the early Wesleyan Methodists championed the rights of women. The Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, New York hosted the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848, also known as the Seneca Falls Convention. It is commemorated by the Women's Rights National Historical Park in the village today.
Luther Lee, General President in 1856, ordained the very first woman to the Christian ministry in the United States at Oberlin College, Ohio. A Canadian group which merged into the Wesleyan church and mentioned in the next paragraph, ordained the very first woman to the ministry in Canada in the late 1800s. At the General Conference in 1867, a resolution was adopted favoring the right of women to vote (as well as the right of freedmen — blacks). This was 44 years before the U.S. constitution was amended to allow women voting privileges.
In 1966 the denomination merged with the Alliance of Reformed Baptists of Canada and 1968 with the Pilgrim Holiness Church. It spread through revivals emphasizing a deepening experience with God called holiness or sanctification. Heart purity was a central theme. During this period of time, many small churches developed through revivals and the emphasis of sanctification (taught by John Wesley, but not emphasized by many Methodists). As many as 25 or 30 small denominations were formed and eventually merged with other groups to enlarge the church. The church was strong in missionary and revival emphasis. The Wesleyan merger took place in 1968 at Anderson University, Anderson, Indiana.
[edit] The Church Today
Some of the largest local congregations are Central Wesleyan Church (www.centralwesleyan.org) in Holland, Michigan and Skyline Wesleyan (www.skylinechurch.org) in suburban San Diego, California. Rev. Orval Butcher founded Skyline in 1954 and was followed by well known leaders in the church in recent years including author John Maxwell and author James Garlow. George Beverly Shea was raised in a Wesleyan parsonage. The denomination has 1,731 member churches in the United States and Canada and nearly 5,000 worldwide; the Wesleyan Church is active in almost 100 nations. They claim over 411,000 worshippers, including more than 194,000 in North America. "Wesleyan Life" is the official publication of the Wesleyan Church, and the The Wesleyan Church World Headquarters is in Fishers, Indiana, about 10 miles northeast of Indianapolis. The church has an international radio broadcast weekly known as The Wesleyan Hour with Dr. Norman Wilson as the speaker for over 30 years. The Wesleyan Church is a member of the Christian Holiness Partnership of 23 denominations, member of the National Association of Evangelicals, and the World Methodist Council. They do not hold membership in the National Council of Churches nor the World Council of Churches.
The church is an evangelical holiness church which believes in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and is Wesleyan-Arminian in doctrine. Local churches are organized into a network of districts with equal representation of clergy and laity at their annual conferences. Each has an elected administrator known as the District Superintendent and has a district board of administration with both lay and clergy serving. National networks are called General Conferences with very strong national leadership and meet every four years. The North American General Conference has three General Superintendents and each of them have about 1/3rd of the church under their administrative control. In 2006, the three General Superintendents are Dr. Earle Wilson (who also serves as one of eight presidents of the Methodist World Council), Dr. Thomas Armiger and Dr. Jerry Pence. General conferences exist in the Philippines, the Caribbean, and North America. Emerging strong groups which could request such status in the future are in Latin America, Japan, Australia, and regions of Africa. Wesleyans rank among the top three or four denominations in per capita giving to charity. The church maintains a website at http://www.wesleyan.org.
[edit] Districts in North America
North Central Region
East Michigan District - http://www.eastmi.org/
Greater Ohio District - http://www.gowesleyan.org/
Illinois District - http://www.idwc.com/
Indiana Central District - http://www.indianacentral.org/
Indiana North District - http://www.indiananorth.org/ | http://www.indyouth.com/
Indiana South District - http://www.indianasouth.org/
North Michigan District - http://www.nmichwes.org/
West Michigan District - http://www.westmichigandistrict.com/
Wisconsin District - http://www.wisconsindistrict.org/
Northeastern Region
Atlantic District - http://www.atlanticdistrict.com/
Central Canada District -
Central New York District - http://www.cnywesleyan.org/ | http://www.cnywesleyanyouth.org/
Chesapeake District -
Eastern New York/New England District - http://www.wesleyan-enyne.org/
Penn-Jersey District - http://penn-jerseydistrict.org/
Western NY District - http://www.wnydistrict.com/
Western PA District -
Southern Region
Florida District - http://www.floridawesleyan.com/
Kentucky District - http://www.kywesleyan.org/
North Carolina East District - http://www.nceastwesleyan.org/
North Carolina West District - http://www.ncwestwesleyan.org/
Shenandoah District - http://www.shenandoahdistrict.ws/
South Carolina District - http://www.scwesleyan.org/
South Coastal District - http://www.southcoastal.org/
Tennessee District -
Western Region
Colorado-Nebraska District -
Dakota District -
Iowa-Minnesota District - http://www.iamndistrict.org/
Kansas District - http://www.kdwc.org/
Northwest District - http://www.nwwesleyan.org/
Pacific Southwest District - http://www.wesleyanpsw.org/
Texas-Louisiana District - http://www.txladistrict.org/
TriState District - http://www.tsdwc.org/
[edit] Schools in the United States and Canada
- Bethany Bible College (New Brunswick)
- Houghton College (New York)
- Indiana Wesleyan University (Indiana)
- Oklahoma Wesleyan University (Oklahoma)
- Southern Wesleyan University (South Carolina)
