| Evangelical Methodist Church | |
| Evangelical Methodist Church International logo | |
| Classification | Protestant (Methodist) |
|---|---|
| Orientation | Evangelical, Holiness |
| Polity | Congregational-Connectional |
| Associations | Christian Holiness Partnership, National Association of Evangelicals |
| Geographical areas | Worldwide: North American Conference divided into two Districts (USA and Canada) and Mexico Missions Conference. |
| Origin | 1946 |
| Separated from | The Methodist Church |
| Merge of | The People's Methodist Church (1962), Evangel Church (1960) |
| Separations | Evangelical (Independent) Methodist Churches, Bethel Methodist Church, and others |
| Congregations | Worldwide 222 |
| Members | Approx. 15,960 |
The Evangelical Methodist Church (EMC) is a Christian denomination headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The denomination currently has churches in the United States, Mexico, Burma/Myanmar, Canada, Europe, and Africa. Congregations are located in 23 U.S. states, and they have a presence in 20 other countries through various missions organizations. The EMC has 222 total churches worldwide. The North American Conference (Canada, Mexico and the United States) has 149 churches, 112 of those in the United States. Current United States membership is approximately 8,600 people.
The EMC split from The Methodist Church in 1946. In 2005, there were 108 churches and 7,348 members in the United States,[1] The EMC describes itself as a culturally conservative, evangelical church that is "fundamental in belief, missionary in outlook, evangelistic in endeavor, cooperative in spirit, and Wesleyan in doctrine."[2] Theologically, the EMC teaches a moderate holiness belief in the inerrancy of the Holy Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit to cleanse a Christian from sin and to keep him or her from falling back into a sinful lifestyle. The EMC believes in salvation through faith by grace. The prevenient grace of God allows every person to make a choice in response to the gospel. Man apart from grace cannot freely choose Christ. The Christian will grow in Christ-likeness throughout life in progressive sanctification. There is also the experience of entire sanctification where the believer's heart is cleansed of self-centered ambition replaced by a single minded love for God and people. A holy lifestyle that reflects the character of Christ is lived out in the world.
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The Evangelical Methodist Church was established in 1946 as the result of a prayer meeting where clergy and lay-people gathered in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. J.H. Hamblen was elected chairman of the meeting in Memphis and as the first General Superintendent at the organizational conference in November of that year.
The EMC came into being during a time when many began to believe that The Methodist Church, from which most of the original members came, was becoming a more liberal and humanistic organization, specifically with its denial of the accuracy, authority and all-sufficiency of the Bible. As a result of these theological changes in the Methodist Church, the EMC was formed in order to revive what it considered the original principles of the founders of Methodism.
The EMC Book of Discipline's 1966–70 edition reads: "With a firm conviction that the gulf that separates conservative and liberal thought in the church is an ever-widening chasm which can never be healed, the Evangelical Methodist Church came into being to preserve the distinctive Biblical doctrines of primitive methodism."[3]
Both the EMC and the denomination from which it sprung (now the United Methodist Church) share roots in the 18th century English Methodist movement pioneered by John Wesley. They also trace their lineage to the missions of Francis Asbury, Thomas Coke and the tireless circuit riders of the 1800s.
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The "old fashioned" Methodism that they preached grew rapidly largely because of their Bible-based emphasis on free will and on individual personal responsibility before God. Through their local congregations and missions, they inspired other adherents to share their faith with those they considered lost.
In its second decade, the EMC merged with two denominations which shared its belief in entire sanctification and the importance of evangelism.
At the first EMC conference in 1948, delegates wholeheartedly approved a plan presented by circuit-riding preacher Dr. Ezequiel B. Vargas, superintendent of the Mexican Evangelistic Mission, that his missions group become a part of the Evangelical Methodist Church. Dr. Vargas and Dr. Hamblen maintained a strong friendship and working relationship. A Bible institute in Torreón, Mexico, Instituto Bíblico Vida y Verdad[3], is the result of this work.[4]
A mention was made at the 2006 General Conference of talks with the Evangelical Church regarding a possible merger.[4]
The Churches of Christ in Christian Union[5] is referred to as a "sister denomination" to the EMC and sends an observer to its general conferences. That denomination is itself a fusion of several denominations including the Christian Union and the holiness Churches of Christ, and later the Reformed Methodist Church's Northeast District.
A small denomination, the Bethel Methodist Church[6], sprung from a theological disagreement in the Mid-States District regarding district ministers' stand on holiness and free will on March 24, 1989.[5] The group claims four congregations.
The EMC is headquartered in the Hamblen-Bruner Headquarters Building in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Dr. Edward W. Williamson is the General Superintendent of the EMC. The General Superintendent is elected by a quadrennial international general conference.
Offices
The denomination recognizes the terms General Superintendent and Bishop as titles to the same biblical office. [6] Multicultural churches and Mission Conferences may use either title that aligns with their traditions. The EMC as of 2010 General Conference adopted a North America Conference with Mexico as a Mission Conference, USA and Canada as districts. The churches are gathered into regions in the North America Conference. Denominationally licensed orders of ministry include: Local Preachers, Elders (ordination as such is required to become a pastor), Deacons and Deaconesses. Historically, the EMC has recognized Song Evangelists and Lay Exhorters as orders appointed by the local church.
Departments include: Prayer, Stewardship, Pensions, Publications and Multicultural Ministries. Auxiliaries of the denomination include Men, Women and Youth organizations.
Local church administrative structures vary, but the Book of Discipline calls for a board of Stewards and a board of Trustees to work in conjunction with a pastor. The pastor is responsible for oversight of the local church's ministries and other ministers.
Reorganization plan
In September 2007, the General Council unamiously proposed that the districts be changed into regions and merged into a single conference. This plan, called the "One Conference Model" and part of the CSP (Comprehensive Strategic Plan), was proposed to delegates at the Special General Conference in July 2008.[7] According to the plan, The General Conference would be held every three or four years and in-between General Conference years, two annual convocations would be held on the east and west coasts. The General Council pointed to the current level of independence of the various districts and departation from the denomination's "Methodist moorings" of connectionalism. The motion to adopt the reorganization plan failed to gain the two-thirds support necessary, with 157-100 delegate votes (61.1 to 39.9%).[8] The District Conferences, 5 of 6 in the following Spring 2008 supported the presentation of the one conference model to the 2010 General Conference.[7]</ref>
In March 2010 the 30th General Conference adopted the one conference model called the North America Conference which included Mexico and Canada. The model called for two districts, USA and Canada. The USA district has four Conference Superintendents and Canada has one Conference Superintendent. By December 2010 the North America Conference grew 30% in the number of churches. The streamlined conference structure reduced the number of identical boards from 27 to 7, reducing financial overhead and uniting the denomination with a single focus, strategy, and mission. There were no changes made in local church structure or doctrinal standards.
The EMC, though containing Holiness and non-Holiness Fundamentalists in the beginning, experienced a schism early in its history in regard to the Wesleyan doctrine of sanctification. Though many local, independent congregations with a similar heritage retain the name "Evangelical Methodist Church," there are at least two major "other EMCs:"
Evangelical (Independent) Methodist Churches
A faction led by W.W. Breckbill, a founder from the earliest days of the EMC[8], later became known as the Evangelical (Independent) Methodist Church, or the Fellowship of Evangelical Methodist Churches [9]. They operate Breckbill Bible College [10] in Max Meadows, Virginia. This smaller EMC group is more into cultural separatism than the original denomination and does not teach the doctrine of Entire, Instantaneous Sanctification. They are distinctly more congregationalist in polity.
Evangelical Methodist Church of America
Several independent local churches which go by the name "Evangelical Methodist Church" are affiliated with the national Evangelical Methodist Church of America conference, established in 1953 by dissenting members of the EMC – some of which consider themselves "heirs to the rich theological heritage as embraced by Charles Spurgeon and George Whitefield" rather than Wesley [11]. These churches, too, have a more distinct attitude of cultural separatism than the larger EMC, and place a greater emphasis on congregationalism. They have more in common with the Conservative Holiness Movement than does the larger EMC.
According to an observer, the two schisms mirror a trend among many denominations:
"The history of the Evangelical Methodist Church illustrates the tensions inherent in a Fundamentalist-Holiness relationship. Founded in 1946 as a protest against growing liberalism in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Methodist Church contained both Holiness and non-Holiness factions. Eventually, the tension grew too great, and in 1952 the denomination split over the issue of entire sanctification. The non-Holiness segment, led by W. W. (William Wallace) Breckbill, took the more ardently Fundamentalist position, aligning itself with the American Council of Churches of Christ (sic), a Fundamentalist alliance. In this case, mutual opposition to liberalism was not sufficient to make up for deep differences over the doctrine of sanctification. Once the split took place, those opposed to entire sanctification found themselves more comfortable in the Fundamentalist camp. This story reproduces in miniature the general outline of Fundamentalist-Holiness interaction.[9][12]