Methodist Church Merger Becomes Effective
The Methodist Church Merger, which became effective on May 10, 1939, marked a significant unification of three major Methodist denominations: the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church (South), and the Methodist Protestant Church. This merger was formalized during a uniting conference in Kansas City, Missouri, attended by 900 delegates and 50 bishops, culminating in a solemn ceremony that included the reading and adoption of the "Declaration of Union." The merger aimed to reconcile past splits that arose from issues of church governance rather than doctrinal differences, emphasizing a shared faith among the congregations.
Historically, Methodism can be traced back to the 18th century with the efforts of John Wesley and his followers, who focused on personal salvation, social service, and a methodical approach to religious duties. Over the years, the movement experienced divisions, notably due to disagreements over lay representation and the contentious issue of slavery. The unification effort gained traction in the 20th century and ultimately brought together approximately 8 million Methodists in a historic reconciliation. This merger was viewed as a hopeful sign of unity amid broader societal conflicts, reinforcing the desire for a united Christian front against divisive forces. In 1968, the Methodist Church further expanded by merging with the Evangelical United Brethren Church, leading to the formation of the United Methodist Church.
Methodist Church Merger Becomes Effective
The Methodist Church Merger Becomes Effective
The merger of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church (South), and the Methodist Protestant Church to form the Methodist Church took place on May 10, 1939, during a uniting conference at Kansas City, Missouri, held from April 26 through May 10. Nine hundred delegates and 50 bishops attended. On the final evening 14,000 persons, mostly Methodists, from all parts of the country packed the auditorium to witness the closing events. After a solemn procession of delegates, bishops, and the three chairmen of the joint commission for church union (Bishops John M. Moore, Edwin H. Hughes, and James H. Straughn) the “Declaration of Union” was read. It was then adopted without dissent by the assembled bishops.
As the Episcopal address, read by Bishop John M. Moore on the first day of the conference, had stressed, the movement toward union was a logical one. The merging church organizations, having split in the past over issues of church government, had never diverged in doctrine:
On the larger matters we are already in agreement. Since we have never separated in faith, we will have no theological discussions.…This Methodism is no fabrication of ambitious, selfish ecclesiastics. It is rather the flowing together of great streams going out to the same seas.
The merger, Bishop James H. Straughn later commented, therefore gave all members the supreme satisfaction that “we are together again in one family, one home, witnessing to earnest yearning for an obedience to that ancient prayer for the unity of Christ's people.” His thought was similar in spirit to the congratulatory message that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent the conference from his Warm Springs, Georgia, retreat:
To a world distracted by malice, envy, and ill will, the Kansas City assembly is a harbinger of better things.…The Methodists have pointed the way to union. May God prosper the work and hasten the day when Christians of all confessions shall present a united front to combat the forces of strife that threaten our heritage of religion.
The Methodist movement started in the early 18th century with the evangelistic preaching of John Wesley (1703–1791), an Anglican clergyman and a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, who was assisted by his brother Charles and George Whitefield. Small numbers of Oxford students who gathered about these men to share their personal Christian experiences were soon dubbed Methodists in reference to the methodical manner in which they strictly observed what they saw to be their religious duties. Members of the Holy Club, as the group was called, were punctilious in their daily worship and study, set themselves a schedule for visiting the sick and those in prison, and conducted schools among the poor.
The emphasis of Methodism was on personal salvation through faith, fellowship in Christian service, and love for others. The stress of the movement was on religion as an inner experience, on conversion, and on testimony, and it was characterized by the strong social conscience of its adherents. It was brought to the American colonies in the mid-18th century. Without Wesley's knowledge, local preachers, especially Irish immigrants, began to spread his beliefs in Maryland in about 1764 and in New York two years later. By 1768 groups of Methodists in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey had modeled themselves upon Wesley's English “societies.” American independence from England following the Revolution necessitated the establishment of an independent Methodist ecclesiastical body in the United States. The Methodist Episcopal Church, which adopted the order of worship and religious precepts set down by Wesley, came into being at the Christmas Conference held in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 24, 1784. The first General Conference, the supreme policy-making body of the church, met in 1792.
Several schisms occurred in the church, although none was caused by doctrinal differences. The first serious split was in 1830. The dispute centered about the issue of lay representation in the church governing body, and reflected the general desire of the reformers to establish a broader base in church administration by limiting episcopal power. The controversy resulted in the formation of the Methodist Protestant Church in Baltimore, a non -Episcopal church with equal lay and clerical representation in its conferences that spread rapidly in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and neighboring states. Four years after its founding, it had a membership of 26,587.
The separation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, took place in May 1845 at a meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, called by southern church leaders. The division materialized in general over the increasingly bitter issue of slavery and specifically over the suspension of a slave-holding bishop who was not acceptable to northern Methodists. Despite its organization as an independent body, the 460,000-member Methodist Episcopal Church, South, retained the same doctrines and discipline as the parent Methodist Episcopal Church; however, at its first general conference following the Civil War, it adopted the position of the Methodist Protestant Church in allowing both lay and clerical representation at its general and annual conferences.
Since the two major schisms had not been caused by doctrinal divergences, the reconciliation of the three Methodist churches was broached as early as the 1870s. In fact, in 1868 the Methodist Episcopal Church had already moved towards clerical and lay representation at its conferences, a trend that eventually resolved the chief issue that had caused the formation of the Methodist Protestant Church in 1830. In 1870 the way was paved for healing the Methodist division between north and south when the General Conference of southern delegates welcomed northern representatives. In 1905 the two Methodist Episcopal bodies agreed on a joint hymnal and order of worship.
The movement for unification of the three major Methodist churches gained momentum in the 20th century. The first plan for union between the northern and southern Methodist Episcopal churches, voted upon in the mid-1920s, was adopted by the Methodist Episcopal Church but rejected by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In the 1930s a new plan of union, this time including the Methodist Protestant Church as well, won the support necessary for adoption. The reunion of May 10, 1939, brought together the largest number of Protestants (approximately 8 million) that had as yet been merged. On April 23, 1968, the Methodist Church also absorbed the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.