Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia
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The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia is a small Christian denomination with its origins in Wesleyan Methodism.
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[edit] Background and formation
- See also: Wesleyan Church
The "Wesleyan Methodist Connexion" (later Church) had formed in Utica, New York in 1843 with a strong commitment to the abolitionist (anti-slavery) movement. Subsequently the Wesleyans became a crucial part of the 19th century interdenominational Holiness Movement which saw itself as raised up to renew interest in Wesley’s teaching about holiness. They are not sinless perfectionists but believe, with John Wesley, that Christians can know the fullness of God’s sanctifying grace in a definite experience subsequent to their conversion [citation needed].
The beginnings of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Australia may be traced to 1945, when the Rev. Dr. Kingsley Ridgway offered himself as a Melbourne based "field representative" for a possible Australian branch of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America, after meeting an American serviceman who was a member of that denomination. (See Glen O'Brien, Kingsley Ridgway: Pioneer with a Passion. Melbourne: Wesleyan Methodist Church, 1996).
Kingsley Ridgway's legacy continued to be felt in the church, with his son, the Rev. Dr. James Ridgway, providing denominational and institutional leadership over many years, and grandson the Rev. Kent Ridgway serving as Southern District Superintendent.
Contrary to a popular assumption, it is not a "continuing Methodist Church," formed as result of the merger in 1977 of Congregationalist, Methodist and Presbyterian congregations to form the Uniting Church in Australia. It was never a part of the merger negotiations with those bodies that formed the Uniting Church,, though some members and ministers, unhappy with the Basis of Union, switched allegiance to the Wesleyans.
[edit] Similarities to other deniminations
The Wesleyan Methodist Church is similar in many respects to the Church of the Nazarene another Wesleyan-Holiness denomination that emerged in Australia after the Second World War as the result of interaction between Australian evangelicals and American servicemen. Nazarenes advertise themselves as “a Church in the Methodist tradition” and both Wesleyan and Nazarene churches are member churches of the World Methodist Council (The Wesleyan Methodist Church being a charter member of that organization) [citation needed].
[edit] Recent times
The Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia saw increased growth in the 1980s, particularly in Queensland [citation needed], much of this as a result of the aggressive church planting strategies of the Rev. Don Hardgrave [citation needed], who also wrote the only denominational history of the church (Don Hardgrave, For Such a Time: A History of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia. Brisbane: Joyful News, 1988) As well as aiming at new convert growth, Wesleyan Methodists have welcomed into their membership those seeking an alternative to more liberal Protestant denominations, as well as Pentecostals looking for a church more grounded in historic Christianity. The 45th National Conference held in January 2004 reported 77 local churches, 96 ordained ministers, 2017 members and an average main Sunday service attendance of 3702 persons.
The current National Superintendent, the Rev. Stan Baker has led the church through a period of stabilization and maturity [citation needed], including a re-evaluation of its membership covenant and a period of influence in the wider Pacific region. From the late 1990s, the Australian church has fostered and encouraged the emergence of Wesleyan Methodist churches in New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, and Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.
[edit] Theology
Though theologically conservative the church could not be seen as "fundamentalist" or "sectarian." [citation needed] Arminian in theology and typically non-charismatic, it appreciates both its revivalist and holiness heritage as well as its roots in John Wesley's Anglicanism. Along with Nazarenes and the Salvation Army, it has a strong commitment to the ordination of women, a position that in part arises out of its interpretive approach to the Bible and in part out of its revivalist heritage.
Historically, the church may be seen both as a new religious movement, emerging out of the post-war context of greater engagement between Australians and Americans and at the same time as a continuation of the long-standing Holiness and Revivalist strain within Australian evangelicalism. (Glen O'Brien, "North American Wesleyan-Holiness Churches in Australia," unpublished PhD thesis, La Trobe University, 2006).
The associated Kingsley College, Melbourne provides Bachelor of Theology, and Master of Arts degrees as well as other academic awards. It is a Member Institute of the Sydney College of Divinity, of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools, and of the South Pacific Association of Bible Colleges.
