Methodism

This paper introduces and details the work on the correspondence of George Whitefield project to date. Approximately 2,700 letters have been collected for the project thus far. They will collectively shed new light on the 18th century Evangelical Revival.

The United Methodist Church has a theological statement in the Book of Resolutions 2012 on ministries in mental health that opens: We believe that faithful Christians are called to be in ministry to individuals and their families challenged by disorders causing disturbances of thinking, feeling and acting categorized as "mental illness." We acknowledge that throughout history and today, our ministries in this area have been hampered by lack of knowledge, fear and misunderstanding. Even so, we believe that those so challenged, their families and their communities are to be embraced by the church in its ministry of compassion and love.[1] According to a World Health Organization report in 2012 entitled " Depression: a Global Public Health Concern, " one in four persons suffers from a mental disorder, and among mental disorders, depression is the most prevalent. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide in terms of total years lost due to disability.[2] Depression, as well as other mental disorders, adversely impacts the ability of affected persons to perform at work, school, and in the family. The World Health Organization (hereafter referred to as WHO) estimates 350 million people of all ages around the world suffer from depression, contributing significantly to the overall global burden of disease. [3] Lack of treatment compounds the problem. Less than half of the persons afflicted with depression, and in some countries less than 10%, receive any kind of treatment.[4] Lack of treatment is due to a lack of resources, including education, diagnostic tools, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, medication and support systems. Lack of resources is directly connected to the poverty and underdevelopment of such countries. Misdiagnosis is also another contributor to improper treatment. Untreated or improper treatment of depression can lead to other more dangerous mental disorders and often to suicide. The WHO cites that over 800,000 persons commit suicide every year, and it is the second leading cause of death globally in 15-29 year olds.[5] Depression is not the only mental disorder that afflicts persons globally. Anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia, autism spectrum disorder and other mental and developmental disorders are on the rise as well, and countries face the similar challenges in treating these disorders. There are many individual and social factors that determine risk: genetics, perinatal infections, nutrition, stress, environment and environmental hazards, individual cognitive-behavioral coping skills, trauma, life crises, national policies, social protection, standards of living, work conditions and community support among others.[6]

The conversation on same-sex relationships in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) has been a long and emotional one. For ten years, this denomination, amongst others, has struggled to define its own position regarding this very important and highly emotive social issue. When conversations span a long period of time, it becomes easy to digress and to lose focus of the central questions that need to be worked through. It is thus important to look back and take stock of where the MCSA has come from and where it has moved to in this debate. In this article I will give a description of the history of the debate on same-sex relationships in the MCSA by drawing on the official statements and reports of Conference of the MCSA, the Connexional Executive and the Doctrine, Ethics and Worship Committee. Reflecting on this history, this article will suggest further steps for the MCSA in its ongoing search to find grace and truth on this matter.

The conversation on same-sex relationships in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) has been a long and emotional one. For ten years, this denomination, amongst others, has struggled to define its own position regarding this very important and highly emotive social issue. When conversations span a long period of time, it becomes easy to digress and to lose focus of the central questions that need to be worked through. It is thus important to look back and take stock of where the MCSA has come from and where it has moved to in this debate. In this article I will give a description of the history of the debate on same-sex relationships in the MCSA by drawing on the official statements and reports of Conference of the MCSA, the Connexional Executive and the Doctrine, Ethics and Worship Committee. Reflecting on this history, this article will suggest further steps for the MCSA in its ongoing search to find grace and truth on this matter.

The Methodist mission in America is to reform a continent. Methodists
undertook that mission beginning in 1784 in a country that saw itself as a “city on a hill.” By the 1820s, such a question assumed a new perspective as Methodists had become the leading denomination in the United States. Therefore, it is legitimate to inquire how these two senses of identity coexisted. This study seeks to investigate this issue for a conference, an organizational unit within the Methodist Episcopal Church. The conference chosen is the Upper Iowa Conference in what was once the wilderness and now is the heartland of the country. This examination will cover the first 60 years of its existence when it went from settling in a wilderness to being part of a melting pot.

Mary Bosanquet Fletcher (1739-1815) was a leading early English Methodist, active throughout her adult life as a preacher, author, spiritual director and head of a large household. She was also part of a largely unexamined network of intense and intimate friendships between Methodist women across England. This article analyses the ways in which Fletcher represented friendship in her autobiography, a text that was widely published and read throughout the nineteenth century. Fletcher's autobiography shows how religious conviction could shape a distinctive construction of female friendship, at a time when such friendships had growing social and cultural significance.

This essay reappraises the origins of French Quakerism based on new archival research conducted on both sides of the Channel. It identifies 34 Quaker missionaries in 17th- and early 18C France, sheds new light on the French reception of Quakerism and suggests possible connections with non-violent, charismatic movements in Languedoc.

"No, this is not advisable, rather very incorrect and pernicious."  In such a way Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther responded to a Lutheran pastor's query regarding the usage of "Methodist Hymns in a Lutheran Sunday School."  Walther sensed the peril of bestowing Lutheran usage to Protestant hymns, and outlined the theological implications in his response.
Though Walther's polemical contentions against Methodism may be caricatured and relegated to his historical climate, this hymn study shows how his 1883 opinions bear pertinence to 21st-century Lutherans in America.  The didactic and confessional role of the Kernlieder eclipses all competitors in the Lutheran church, and their unique doctrinal content ensures that they are the optimal choice for Lutheran church and school.

Oregon was the single most important missionary destination for the Methodist Episcopal missionary society in the 1830s and early 1840s.  This is true with regard to both financial expenditure and the number of personnel sent to this foreign land. Schoolmate sweethearts from Maine, Elvira and Henry Perkins, became the most culturally and linguistically adept missionaries working in Oregon during the initial phase of Methodism’s work in the Pacific Northwest. Henry Perkins’s journal reveals how he understood and carried out the work of Bible translation and evangelistic camp meetings among Native American groups along the Columbia River.  Large sections of the journal, clearly intended to be read by Methodists back east, also provide a glimpse into how Henry and perhaps also Elvira Perkins understood their work and how they believed it – and the missionary calling at large – should be valued by supporters.  I describe these sections as "recruitment discourses," and they illustrate how a few Methodists in the antebellum American west saw the theological and social obstacles which laid before them for the fulfillment of that mission.

Controversy often followed the itinerant ministry of the transatlantic revivalist George Whitefield. Whether it involved his dispute with Wesleyan Methodists over predestination, or his challenges to what he termed “unconverted ministers,” Whitefield, especially in his youth, courted controversy and even welcomed it. However, after his first preaching trip to Scotland Whitefield found himself on the receiving end of serious criticism by ministers of the Associate Presbytery, many of whom, like the brothers Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine, he once counted as friends. As their dispute over ecclesiology grew more heated, Whitefield himself cooled in his taste for debate – it was at this time that he began to negotiate a truce with John Wesley, and softened in his critiques of Anglican clergy. Clary’s chapter outlines the nature of Whitefield’s relationship to the Associate Presbytery, his own developing ecclesiological convictions, and the resulting controversy that ensued upon his refusal to limit his preaching to their churches only, in neglect of
Church of Scotland pulpits.

This paper was presented at a Methodist Conference in Kuala Lumpur in 2010. It discusses the importance of memory, the characteristics of Methodism, models of social engagement, and the significance of missionary encounters during the Colonial era and as Independence approached. Recent models of engagement with the nation and with contemporary ideas of holiness draw on these traditions which are still viable.

Although the academic research on religion in Fiji and the South Pacific is substantial, there are few examples of studies that connect religion with the larger discourses of Fijian tradition and social life. Even fewer are the ones linking culturally specific notions of gender performances to Christian devotion. By utilizing the theoretical framework of colonial mimicry, I argue that the Christianization of Fiji, particularly its continued impact on the social organization of modern Fijian society, has been reliant upon its collusion with premodern Fijian notions of gender, power and consanguinity. Based on historical enquiries and ethnographic material, I develop the argument that while conversion may be understood as the conscious adoption and mimicking of the western notion of religion as presented by Wesleyan missionaries in the 1800s, the Fijian understanding of their Christianity, the merging between Christian belief and Fijian social protocol and the consequent development of culturally specific articulations of
Christian devotion have produced substantial differences from western theological practice and teaching. A central distinction is the close link between performances of masculinity and Christian devotion found among Fijian Methodists.

Since the establishment of the United Methodist Church in 1968, the denomination has grown to become a global church with approximately eleven million members all over the world, making it one of the largest Protestant churches in the world. Since then the church has become increasingly aware of itself as a world church with membership and conferences in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the United States. While worldwide membership in The United Methodist Church has grown since 1968, membership in Europe and the United States has declined, offset by significant growth in Africa and Asia. In Africa, The United Methodist Church has expanded episcopal areas to include East Africa, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, East Congo, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa. Changes in worship style, the rise of the charismatic movement, the growth of nondenominationalism, and the emergence of megachurches have all challenged the church as it entered its third century. Most trying, The United Methodist Church has had to negotiate cultural shifts with regard to gender and sexuality, especially in the United States and Europe. Conflicts over homosexuality, marriage, and abortion have continued uninterrupted nearly since the formation of the denomination. These debates have opened up large domestic, international, and ecumenical rifts over the church’s doctrine and discipline.

Why did John Wesley leave the halls of academia at Oxford to become a Church of England missionary in the newly established colony of Georgia? Was his ministry in America a success or failure? These questions—which have engaged numerous biographers of Wesley—have often been approached from the vantage point of later developments in Methodism. Geordan Hammond presents the first book-length study of Wesley’s experience in America, providing an innovative contribution to debates about the significance of a formative period of his life.

John Wesley in America addresses Wesley's Georgia mission in fresh perspective by interpreting it in its immediate context. In order to re-evaluate this period of Wesley’s life, Hammond carefully considers Wesley's writings and those of his contemporaries. The Georgia mission, for Wesley, was a laboratory for implementing his views of primitive Christianity. The ideal of restoring the doctrine, discipline, and practice of the early church in the pristine Georgia wilderness was the prime motivating factor in Wesley’s decision to embark for Georgia and in his clerical practice in the colony. Understanding the centrality of primitive Christianity to Wesley’s thinking and pastoral methods is essential to comprehending his experience in America. Wesley’s conception of primitive Christianity was rooted in his embrace of patristic scholarship at Oxford. The most direct influence, however, was the High Church ecclesiology of the Usager Nonjurors who inspired him with their commitment to the restoration of the primitive church.

An extraordinary organizer and leader, Methodist layman John R. Mott (1865-1955) was influential in the establishment and growth of many different world-wide Christian organizations in the early twentieth century.  He was even asked to serve as ambassador to China by President Woodrow Wilson - a position he declined.  For his work in organizing people and resources for world peace Mott was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946.  This article focuses on Mott's efforts at ecumenism for the sake of Christian mission by analyzing three dimensions of Mott's work: Mott's Methodism, his efforts in global interreligious dialogue, and work in racial reconciliation efforts at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.  His work in relation to these three themes is traced throughout his life in order to highlight the development of his ideas and activism as he interacted with many different ecumenical organizations and world Christian leaders. . The article illustrates the tensions and inconsistencies that emerged in Mott's thinking and ecumenical practice as he sought to emphasize unity for the sake of mission in the many different facets of his work.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, loudly and strongly renounced the evils of warfare, yet never committed himself to a pacifist position.  In this paper, I argue that interpreting Wesley's stance regarding war is best understood through his doctrine of divine providence.  Since God controls the fate of nations, war must be seen as God's will on the one hand, yet also as the result of original sin on the other.  This tension informs Wesley's vision of history as well as the ethics of war and peace.

4Approchez-vous de Christ, la pierre vivante rejetée par les hommes mais choisie et précieuse devant Dieu, 5et vous-mêmes, en tant que pierres vivantes, laissez-vous édifier pour former une maison spirituelle, un groupe de prêtres saints, afin d'offrir des sacrifices spirituels que Dieu peut accepter par Jésus-Christ. 6En effet, il est dit dans l'Écriture : Je mets dans Sion une pierre angulaire, choisie, précieuse. Celui qui croit en elle n'en aura jamais honte.

7Elle est donc précieuse pour vous qui croyez. Quant à ceux qui désobéissent, la pierre rejetée par ceux qui construisaient est devenue la pierre angulaire. 8Elle est aussi une pierre qui fait obstacle et un rocher propre à faire trébucher. Ils s'y heurtent parce qu'ils désobéissent à la parole, et c'est à cela qu'ils ont été destinés. 9Vous, au contraire, vous êtes un peuple choisi, des prêtres royaux, une nation sainte, un peuple racheté afin de proclamer les louanges de celui qui vous a appelés des ténèbres à sa merveilleuse lumière. 10Vous qui autrefois n'étiez pas un peuple, vous êtes maintenant le peuple de Dieu ; vous qui n'aviez pas obtenu compassion, vous avez maintenant obtenu compassion.

2021 Best Book Award, John Whitmer Historical Association.
Finalist for Best Book in "Excellence in the Study of Religion, Textual Studies" by the American Academy of Religion.
Finalist for Best Book in Religious Non-Fiction, the Association for Mormon Letters.

Publishers Weekly, Starred Review: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-46965-566-6

Publishers Weekly, Top Ten Pick for the Week of May 25, 2020: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/83347-pw-picks-books-of-the-week-may-25-2020.html

Roundtable Reviews by Dr. Elizabeth Fenton, Dr. Brian Hauglid, and Dr. Michael Austin, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought:  https://www.dialoguejournal.com/2020/05/dialogue-roundtable-william-l-davis-visions-in-a-seer-stone-joseph-smith-and-the-making-of-the-book-of-mormon/

The Association for Mormon Letters, review by Andrew Hamilton: http://associationmormonletters.org/blog/reviews/current-reviews/davis-visions-in-a-seer-stone-joseph-smith-and-the-making-of-the-book-of-mormon-reviewed-by-andrew-hamilton/

The University of North Carolina Press (2020).
https://uncpress.org/book/9781469655666/visions-in-a-seer-stone/ 

In this interdisciplinary work, William L. Davis examines Joseph Smith's 1829 creation of the Book of Mormon, the foundational text of the Latter Day Saint movement. Positioning the text in the history of early American oratorical techniques, sermon culture, educational practices, and the passion for self-improvement, Davis elucidates both the fascinating cultural context for the creation of the Book of Mormon and the central role of oral culture in early nineteenth-century America.

Drawing on performance studies, religious studies, literary culture, and the history of early American education, Davis analyzes Smith’s process of oral composition. How did he produce a history spanning a period of 1,000 years, filled with hundreds of distinct characters and episodes, all cohesively tied together in an overarching narrative? Eyewitnesses claimed that Smith never looked at notes, manuscripts, or books—he simply spoke the words of this American religious epic into existence. Judging the truth of this process is not Davis's interest. Rather, he reveals a kaleidoscope of practices and styles that converged around Smith's creation, with an emphasis on the evangelical preaching styles popularized by the renowned George Whitefield and John Wesley.

Whilst a great deal of work has been produced in relation to St Benedict and John Wesley as individuals, and between the Benedictine tradition and the Wesleyan doctrine of sanctification and holiness, scholars have yet to compare the rules of Benedict and Wesley or their concomitant thoughts and biography. This dissertation will compare and contrast sections of St Benedict’s Rule and Wesley’s Rule for the Methodist Societies and the Twelve Rules of a Helper. In particular, my texts for comparison will be, in relation to John Wesley: The Historic Texts Part 1 and Part 2 of the Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church, and in relation to Benedict: St Benedict’s Rule: Prologue, Chapters 4, 7, 72 and 73. With an examination particularly pertaining to those areas wherein the spiritual emphases of Benedict and Wesley particularly converge, and where they are distinct in difference.

Many Americans in the nineteenth century argued for limited education for blacks –or no education at all for African Americans in the south. As a result, black churches took up the role and pushed for education as a means to liberate African Americans.1 The African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church stands as a good exemplar for a black denomination that explicitly expressed in their policies that they understood the connection of education to African American liberation. This study is a historical analysis of the AME Church’s advocacy of African American empowerment through education from 1816 to 1893.

In the AME Church’s nineteenth century doctrinal statements and publications the leaders explicitly stated that education was a necessary component for black liberation. In this dissertation I argue that, although there were other organizations that pushed for African American education in the nineteenth century, the African Methodist Episcopal Church stood at the fore in advocating for education and connecting it to African American liberation. My primary question is: How did the AME Church connect their advocacy for black education to liberation for African Americans in the nineteenth century?
The dissertation will explore two aspects of liberation in the nineteenth century. During the first half of the nineteenth century–from the AME Church’s founding in 1816 through the end of the Civil war in 18652–the Church worked toward a liberation that
1 Elliot, G.M. “We Must Educate”. AME Church Review. (April 1885): 330-34.
2 Chapter Three begins in 1816 with the founding of the AME Church and ends in 1865 the end of the Civil War. 1865 is also significant because slavery was officially abolished in December of the same year with the passing of the 13th Amendment focused on the abolition of slavery and overcoming racial oppression. In the latter half of the nineteenth century from 1865 to 1893 –with the death of Bishop Payne– the AME Church focused on a liberation that was geared toward the notions of uplift and self-agency within the black community, namely black social, economic, and political advancement.
The last chapter will examine how this historical analysis has implications for transforming African American education in present times. The text will examine the black church and its ability to empower the African American community through education, focusing on research that has been done on the role of the contemporary black church in African American education.

Enfin, mes frères et soeurs, fortifiez-vous dans le Seigneur et dans sa force toute-puissante. Revêtez-vous de toutes les armes de Dieu afin de pouvoir tenir ferme contre les manoeuvres du diable. En effet, ce n'est pas contre l'homme que nous avons à lutter, mais contre les puissances, contre les autorités, contre les souverains de ce monde de ténèbres, contre les esprits du mal dans les lieux célestes. C'est pourquoi, prenez toutes les armes de Dieu afin de pouvoir résister dans le jour mauvais et tenir ferme après avoir tout surmonté. Tenez donc ferme : ayez autour de votre taille la vérité en guise de ceinture ; enfilez la cuirasse de la justice ; mettez comme chaussures à vos pieds le zèle pour annoncer l'Évangile de paix ; prenez en toute circonstance le bouclier de la foi, avec lequel vous pourrez éteindre toutes les flèches enflammées du mal ; faites aussi bon accueil au casque du salut et à l'épée de l'Esprit, c'est-à-dire la parole de Dieu. Faites en tout temps par l'Esprit toutes sortes de prières et de supplications. Veillez à cela avec une entière persévérance et en priant pour tous les saints. Priez pour moi afin que, lorsque j'ouvre la bouche, la parole me soit donnée pour faire connaître avec assurance le mystère de l'Évangile. C'est pour lui que je suis ambassadeur dans les chaînes. Priez que j'en parle avec assurance comme je dois le faire.

This paper analyzes the character of the two churches involved with the 1968 formation of the United Methodist Church, and questions whether or not the two bodies were actually alike enough to fit together.  The author contends that Evangelical United Brethren had a much more conservative, evangelical character than the Methodists and had retained much of the Pietist flavor long eschewed by the Methodists.

Within the Southeastern Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church, women hold the majority demographic of membership across the jurisdiction’s churches. However, the leadership does not fully reflect the membership of Methodists across the southeast. This project and recent research reflects on the earliest attempts and failures to place women into the role of the episcopacy and offers insightful strategies employed by three specific candidates, whose elections were groundbreaking and offered significant impact to the jurisdiction and United Methodist denomination as a whole. By expanding the diversity of the episcopal role within the southeast, the leadership is beginning to look more like its membership. This research identifies specific election strategies that might be executed by others seeking the office, as a way to bring even more equity to the episcopacy.

John Wesley revised the Book of Common Prayer for the use of Methodists in America in four editions beginning in 1784. One frontier preacher's response may stand as typical of the neglect the book experienced-'Our preachers prefer to pray with their eyes closed.' Remaining little more than a historical curiosity until the mid-twentieth century, the Sunday Service underwent a renewal of interest as American Methodists participated in the liturgical renewal movement. Wesley's abridgment had a more significant role in British Methodism where it formed the basis of Methodist worship, along with the Book of Common Prayer itself (at least in the mainstream Wesleyan tradition.) This chapter traces the fortunes of this particular liturgical resource and consider its value for Methodism's (and the Uniting Church's) present sense of liturgical continuity with Anglican worship.

John Wesley is known for his preoccupation with providential omens, miracles, apparitions, instances of demonic possession and witchcraft – in a word, everything that seemed to be a manifestation of the supernatural in everyday life. Naturally, this category of phenomena could not do without dreams and visions which for the founder of Methodism were always an object of extraordinary interest. In his writings – sermons, letters and, especially, the Journal – Wesley meticulously recorded, or at least mentioned in passing, dozens of dreams that occurred to himself, his friends and relatives as well as people he encountered during his innumerable preaching trips in Britain and America. This oneiric collection, gathered mostly among Methodist “enthusiasts”, predictably included prophetic dreams presaging near future events (particularly somebody’s death), healing dreams (resulting in a dreamer’s miraculous recovery), dreams leading to a dreamer’s sudden conversion as well as visions of God, angels, heaven and hell. It is noteworthy that all these basic dream types were characteristic of the centuries-old Christian tradition, which in a natural way suited the Methodist project that aimed at recreating the Primitive Christianity as it was in its first centuries. What is more, many dreams recorded by Wesley were culture-specific and schematic: it is not surprising, for instance, to find out that the dreams of the passionate Bible-readers, in some cases at least, were patterned on some well-known biblical narratives (such as Samuel’s night call or Jacob’s ladder). In spite of his considerable regard for the supernatural phenomena Wesley was not uncritical in his assessment of them. In fact, his approach to dreams was ambivalent as throughout his texts the word “dream” most frequently meant “illusion.” Moreover, he often warned that dreams and visions were not always reliable, since their origin was uncertain. For that reason Wesley insisted that dreams should be verified with the “Scripture and common sense” and, if such a test was failed, they should be rejected as false and dangerously misleading. In this manner he analysed “waking dreams” of the then immensely popular visionary Emanuel Swedenborg, and vehemently repudiated them for the sake of preserving what he considered the Christian oneiric orthodoxy.

This work explores the efficacy of John Wesley’s theories and praxes concerning religious education in eighteenth-century England. Wesley theorized that children should be taught early on to love God, live in His image, and strive for a life of holiness. His theories were not exclusive to children but applied to all people including the illiterate and unlearned working class of England. As the Methodist movement expanded, Wesley’s unique methodology evolved to facilitate a more effective educational process. This methodology was grounded in his upbringing, influenced by his life experiences, and refined by his educational experiments. The outflow of his methodology was his various practices, namely, class meetings and Sunday schools. Religious education became the catalyst for social, moral, and religious change in Britain’s working class of the eighteenth century.

From the outset of the Evangelical Revival it was more than apparent that John Wesley “saw himself as having a particular mission to the poor people.”  Wesley dedicated almost seventy years towards helping the poor. His ethics sought to impact and transform the underprivileged and deprived parts of society, and thus, “one would be hard put to find many examples of people who gave away more of their adult resources of time and money than Wesley did.”  While his ethics cover a broad array of themes—including his views on slavery, war, education and community—it can be argued that Wesley’s ministry to the poor received a significant amount of attention.

Although the poor faced numerous disadvantages during the eighteenth-century, there remained three prevalent disadvantages that Wesley specifically addressed.  This article will suggest that these three were social, economical, and medical. With the social part, it will be important to explore contextual issues and Wesley’s own personal imitation of the poor. With economical, Wesley’s financial ethics will be examined, as well as how he attempted to assist the poor financially through various means. Finally, with health, the problem of disease within this era will be looked at too, as well as how Wesley’s Primitive Physic and his overall holistic soteriology attempted to restore health to the poor. Consequently, the following article will argue that John Wesley’s ethics helped to improve the lives of the poor on a substantial level.
According to Richard Heitzenrater, the question of ‘who were the poor in eighteenth-century England?’ has been a question which Wesleyan scholarship has failed to answer, or alternatively, “avoided asking.”  Poverty within an eighteenth-century context, therefore, needs to be addressed if Wesley’s ethics are to be understood. After all, “the concept of poverty and the nature of the problem in eighteenth-century England – is largely unknown to most Methodists today.”

Harvest Thanksgiving rests at the junction of liturgy, nature and memory. From the late-nineteenth century it was a major event on Nonconformist church calendars, drawing crowds well beyond regular attendance. Yet it was the Nonconformist churches’ uneasy relationship with icons, visual display and imagery of all sorts that made the spectacular displays of fruit and vegetables associated with Harvest Thanksgiving so memorable, so marvellously out of the ordinary. Photographs were taken and treasured and these offer a glimpse into a rich and peculiar world of food and display that is at once consonant and disconsonant with Nonconformity’s professed and assumed theological stances on the use of imagery. In this time of celebration and thanksgiving, of spectacle and transformation, how were Nonconformist prohibitions on display, materiality and excess so extravagantly overcome? How was the divide between the sacred and profane so colourfully rearranged? This article explores the histor...

« Alors tout le peuple s’est rassemblé comme un seul homme sur la place qui fait face à la porte des eaux. Ils ont demandé au scribe Esdras d’apporter le livre de la loi de Moïse, prescrite par l’Éternel à Israël, et Esdras, qui était aussi prêtre, a apporté la loi devant l'assemblée. Celle-ci était composée d’hommes et de femmes, de tous ceux qui étaient aptes à la comprendre. C’était le premier jour du septième mois. Esdras a lu dans le livre depuis le matin jusqu'à la mi-journée, sur la place qui fait face à la porte des eaux, en présence des hommes et des femmes, de ceux qui étaient en âge de comprendre. Le peuple tout entier s’est montré attentif à la lecture du livre de la loi.
« Le scribe Esdras se tenait debout sur une estrade en bois, fabriquée pour l’occasion. À côté de lui, à sa droite, se tenaient Matthithia, Shéma, Anaja, Urie, Hilkija et Maaséja, et à sa gauche Pedaja, Mishaël, Malkija, Hashum, Hashbaddana, Zacharie et Meshullam. Esdras a ouvert le livre de façon visible pour le peuple dans son entier – puisqu’il était surélevé par rapport à lui – et lorsqu’il a fait ce geste, tout le peuple s’est mis debout. Esdras a béni l’Éternel, le grand Dieu, et tous les membres du peuple ont répondu : “Amen ! Amen !” en levant les mains, puis ils se sont prosternés et ont adoré l’Éternel, le visage contre terre. Josué, Bani, Shérébia, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethaï, Hodija, Maaséja, Kelitha, Azaria, Jozabad, Hanan et Pelaja, qui étaient lévites, expliquaient la loi au peuple, et celui-ci est resté debout sur place. Ils lisaient distinctement dans le livre de la loi de Dieu et ils en donnaient le sens pour faire comprendre ce qu’ils avaient lu. »

Entrada divulgativa publicada en la página web "XVII.es. Historia y Arte" (https://xvii.es/el-pietismo/), el 8 de julio de 2020.

Divulgation article published on the website "XVII.es. History and Art" (https://xvii.es/el-pietismo/), on the 8th of July, 2020.

1 Crie à pleine voix sans te retenir, fais retentir ta voix comme une trompette et révèle à mon peuple sa révolte, à la famille de Jacob ses péchés ! 2 C'est moi que, jour après jour, ils consultent : ils veulent connaître mes voies. Comme une nation qui aurait pratiqué la justice et n'aurait pas abandonné le droit institué par son Dieu, ils me réclament des jugements conformes à la justice, ils désirent se rapprocher de Dieu. 3 « À quoi nous sert-il de jeûner, si tu ne le vois pas, de nous humilier, si tu n'y fais pas attention ? » C'est que, le jour où vous jeûnez, vous accomplissez vos propres désirs et traitez durement tous vos ouvriers. 4 Votre jeûne débouche sur des procès et des disputes, sur de méchants coups de poing. Vous ne jeûnez pas, comme vous le faites aujourd'hui, de manière à faire entendre votre voix là-haut. 5 Est-ce un jeûne de ce genre que je préconise, un jour où l'homme s'humilie ? S'agit-il de courber la tête comme un roseau ? Faut-il se coucher sur le sac et la cendre ? Est-ce cela que tu appelles un jeûne, un jour agréable à l'Éternel ? 6Voici le genre de jeûne que je préconise : détacher les chaînes dues à la méchanceté, dénouer les liens de l'esclavage, renvoyer libres ceux qu'on maltraite. Mettez fin aux contraintes de toute sorte ! 7 Partage ton pain avec celui qui a faim et fais entrer chez toi les pauvres sans foyer ! Quand tu vois un homme nu, couvre-le ! Ne cherche pas à éviter celui qui est fait de la même chair que toi ! 8 Alors ta lumière jaillira comme l'aurore et ta restauration progressera rapidement, ta justice marchera devant toi et la gloire de l'Éternel sera ton arrière-garde. 9 Alors tu appelleras et l'Éternel répondra, tu crieras et il dira : « Me voici ! » Oui, si tu éloignes du milieu de toi la contrainte, les gestes menaçants et les paroles mauvaises, 10 si tu partages tes propres ressources avec celui qui a faim, si tu réponds aux besoins de l'opprimé, ta lumière surgira au milieu des ténèbres et ton obscurité sera pareille à la clarté de midi. 11 L'Éternel sera constamment ton guide, il répondra à tes besoins dans les endroits arides et il redonnera des forces à tes membres. Tu seras pareil à un jardin bien arrosé, à une source dont l'eau n'arrête jamais de couler. 12 Grâce à toi, on reconstruira sur d'anciennes ruines, tu relèveras des fondations vieilles de plusieurs générations. On t'appellera réparateur de brèches, restaurateur de sentiers fréquentés.

Con questo contributo l’Autore intende ricostruire l’andamento demografico della comunità metodista di Padova dal momento della sua fondazione ai primi anni del Novecento (1866-1904). I dati sono stati ricavati da quattro Registri anagrafici – conservati nell’Archivio locale – di cui si è dotata la Chiesa, quello battesimale, quello matrimoniale, quello mortuario e quello dei membri della comunità: l’Autore si è concentrato in particolare su quest’ultimo, compilato e modificato a più riprese dai pastori e dai ministri di culto, poiché è il documento che con più evidenza mette in luce il dinamismo della prima missione metodista nel territorio. Oltre all’analisi quantitativa l’Autore ha ricavato informazioni storiche relative al protestantesimo veneto di fine Ottocento, segnato tanto dal Risorgimento italiano quanto dai movimenti migratori dell’Europa centrale, secondo la prospettiva della prima comunità evangelica sorta nel tessuto socio-religioso padovano tradizionalmente cattolico.
In this article the Author intends to reconstruct the demographic trend of the Paduan Methodist Community since its foundation to the first years of the 20th century (1866-1904). The data were obtained from four Registers used by the community: the baptism, the marriages, the mortuary and the community members one: the Author has considered particularly the latter – completed and amended several times by the reverends and the ministers – because it is the document that most clearly underlines the dynamism of the first Methodist Mission in the territory. In addition to the quantitative analysis, the Author has obtained some historical informations related to the Venetian Protestantism of the late 19th century, marked by both the Italian Risorgimento and the migratory movements of Central Europe, from the first evangelical community perspective in a traditionally Catholic society.