Unmasking Methodist Theology by Marsh, Clive

Unmasking Methodist Theology
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Unmasking Methodist Theology
edited by
Clive Marsh
Brian Beck
Angela Shier-Jones
Helen Wareing
continuum
NEW YORK • LONDON
CONTINUUM
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
15 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10010
www.continuumbooks.com
© Give Marsh, Jane Bates, Colin Smith, Tim Macquiban, Angela Shier-Jones, David Clough,
Judith Maizel-Long, Richard Clutterbuck, Martin Wellings, Andrew Wood, Barbara Glasson,
Stephen Dawes, Philip Drake, David Wilkinson, Margaret Jones, Anthony Reddie, Randy
Maddox, Susan Howdle, David Peel, Clifford Longley, Martyn Percy, Valenin Dedji ft
Jonathan Dean, 2004.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval
system, without prior permission from the publishers.
First published 2004
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-8264-7129-3
Typeset by Aarontype Limited, Easton, Bristol

Printed and bound by Cromwell Press Ltd, Trowbridge, Wilts
iv
Contents
Contributors vii
Introduction xi
Parti
Introduction 3
1 Controversy Essential: Theology in Popular Methodism 5
Jane Bates and Colin Smith
2 Dialogue with the Wesleys: Remembering Origins 17
Timothy S.A. Macquiban
3 Being Methodical: Theology Within Church Structures 29
Angela Shier-Jones
4 Theology Through Social and Political Action 41
David Clough
5 Theology Sung and Celebrated 48
Judith Maizel-Long
6 Theology as Interaction: Ecumenism and the 59
World Church
Richard Clutterbuck
7 Facets of Formation: Theology Through Training 70
Martin Wellings and Andrew Wood
8 Conferring as Theological Method 82
Angela Shier-Jones
Part II
Introduction 97
9 Stories and Storytelling: The Use of Narrative Within 99
Methodism
Barbara Glasson
10 Revelation in Methodist Practice and Belief 109
Stephen Dawes
V
CONTENTS
11 Appealing to 'Experience': What Does it Mean? 118

Clive Marsh
12 Joining the Dots: Methodist Membership and 131
Connectedness
Philip Drake
13 The Activity of God in Methodist Perspective 142
David Wilkinson
14 Growing in Grace and Holiness 155
Margaret Jones
Part IE
Introduction 169
15 Dispelling Myths and Discerning Old Truths 171
Anthony G. Reddie
16 'Letter from America': A United Methodist Perspective 179
Randy L. Maddox
17 This is my Story, This is my Song': Confessions of a 185
Cradle Methodist
Susan R. How die
18 Uniting in Response: A United Reformed Church 192
Perspective
David R. Peel
19 Methodism: Distinctive, or Just Catholic? 198
Clifford Longley
20 Back to the Future: A Search for a Thoroughly Modern 204
Methodist Ecclesiology
Martyn Percy
21 Methodist Theology - Where is it Heading? An African 211
Perspective
Valentin Dedji
22 Spontaneity, Tradition and Renewal 220
Jonathan Dean
Glossary 227
Bibliography 233
Index 243
vi
Contributors
Jane Bates is the Formation in Ministry Office Co-ordinator within the

Methodist Church Connexional Team. She is a theology graduate of the Uni-
versity of Leeds and a keen supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Brian Beck is a Supernumerary minister, was Tutor and Principal of Wesley

House Cambridge (1968-84), Secretary of the British Methodist Conference
1984-98, and President of the Conference 1993-94.
David Clough is a Methodist local preacher and Tutor in ethics and sys-
tematic theology at Cranmer Hall, Durham. He is about to publish a book
on the ethics of Karl Barth, is working on a volume on Christianity and
warfare, and has also written in the area of theology and technology.
Richard Clutterbuck was born in 1952. He has served as a theological edu-

cator in Tonga and as a Circuit minister in London. He is currently Principal
of the West of England Ministerial Training Course, an ecumenical institute
for theological training.
Stephen Dawes is a 'been-around' Methodist minister, currently on the staff of

the South West Ministry Training Course, and a minister in St Austell.
Formerly he was Chair of the Cornwall District, Old Testament Tutor at
Queen's College, Birmingham and Trinity College, Accra, and minister in the
Hexham, Stafford and Bodmin circuits.
Jonathan Dean is a Methodist minister serving in the Milton Keynes Circuit.

He trained for the ministry at Wesley House, Cambridge, and undertook
doctoral research into English Catholicism during the Reformation period.
Valentin Dedji is a Methodist minister from Benin (West Africa), currently

serving in north London. He is married to Edwige, a bio-medical scientist,
and they have four children. He has studied law and economics as well as
philosophy and theology. He is author of Reconstruction and Renewal in
African Christian Theology (forthcoming) and has published articles in The
Journal of Religion in Africa.
vii
CONTRIBUTORS
Phil Drake is a Methodist minister living in north Cardiff with his wife, Ruth,
and their three young children. He grew up in Leeds and studied and worked
in Sheffield before training for church ministry in Durham, serving a first
appointment in Liverpool. He is interested in all-age worship and adult edu-
cation, and wrote a postgraduate thesis about the 25 to 45 age group.
Barbara Glasson is a Methodist minister working in Liverpool city centre

gathering a new church around the making of bread and working with
people on the edge of conventional church. She studied agriculture at the
University of Nottingham, industrial mission in Hull, and practical and
feminist theology at Nottingham.
Susan Howdle read law at Oxford and was called to the Bar. She taught at
Bristol and Sheffield Universities and is now a member of the Council on
Tribunals. A Methodist local preacher and Journal Secretary of the Meth-
odist Conference, she was Vice-President of the British Methodist Confer-
ence 1993-94, and Chair of Methodist Homes for the Aged 1996-2002.
Margaret Jones is a Methodist minister who has been involved in both

Circuit work and ministerial training for twelve years. In September 2004
she will become Secretary for Presbyteral Ministry and Team Leader of the
Formation in Ministry Office in the Methodist Church Connexional Team.
Clifford Longley is the former Religious Affairs Editor of The Times and
Daily Telegraph, and is now Editorial Consultant of The Tablet. His most
recent book is Chosen People (Hodder & Stoughton, 2002).
Tim Macquiban is a Methodist minister, presently Principal of Sarum Col-

lege, Salisbury. He is Co-Chair of the Oxford Institute of Methodist Theo-
logical Studies, a Vice-President of the World Methodist Historical Society
and Vice-President of the Charles Wesley Society.
Randy L. Maddox is the Paul T. Walls Professor of Wesleyan Theology at

Seattle Pacific University. In addition to numerous articles, he is author of
Responsible Grace: John Wesley's Practical Theology (Kingswood, 1994).
He also serves as the North American Secretary of the Oxford Institute of
Methodist Theological Studies, and is General Editor of the Kingswood
Books imprint of Abingdon Press.
Judith Maizel-Long is Co-ordinating Secretary for Church Life at Churches

Together in Britain and Ireland. A Methodist minister, she was until recently
a tutor at the South-East Institute for Theological Education.
viii
CONTRIBUTORS
Clive Marsh is Secretary of the Faith and Order Committee of the Methodist
Church in Great Britain and author of Christianity in a Post-Atheist Age
(SCM Press, 2002). He lives in Rotherham with his wife Jill, a Methodist
minister, and their two children.
David Peel served United Reformed Churches in Northamptonshire and

Cleveland before becoming a Tutor and then Principal of the Northern
College in Manchester. He now is on the staff of the North East Ecumenical
Course and is involved in theological education within the Northern Synod
of the United Reformed Church.
Martyn Percy is Director of the Lincoln Theological Institute, within the

Department of Religions and Theology of the University of Manchester.
A priest in the Church of England and a Canon of Sheffield Cathedral,
he is also Adjunct Professor of Theology at the Hartford Seminary, Con-
necticut, USA.
Anthony Reddie is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Queen's

Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham and a
Research Consultant in Christian Education and Development for the Brit-
ish Methodist Church. He edits Black Theology: An International Journal.
His most recent book is Nobodies to Somebodies: A Practical Theology for
Education and Liberation (Epworth Press, 2003).
Angela Shier-Jones is a Methodist minister in the Bromley Circuit (London).

Prior to completing her training for the ministry she worked as an IT
consultant and lectured in pure mathematics and theology. She recently
completed a doctoral thesis on the possibility of a 'Methodist dogmatics'.
Colin Smith is Superintendent Minister of the Barnet Circuit and Deputy

Chair of the London North-West District. He is British Secretary of the Ox-
ford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies. He trained as a barrister and
managed a citizens' advice bureau before entering the Methodist ministry.
Helen Wareing is the Training and Development Officer for the Methodist
Church in Scotland. Following theological training at New College, Edin-
burgh, and Perkins School of Theology, Dallas, she has developed her
interest in lay Christian education in both church and community settings.
Martin Wellings read modern history at Lincoln College, Oxford, and com-
pleted a D.Phil, in church history before training for the Methodist ministry
at Wesley House, Cambridge. He is currently British Section Secretary of the
World Methodist Historical Society and Secretary of the Oxford and
Leicester District Synod.
ix
CONTRIBUTORS
David Wilkinson is Fellow in Christian Apologetics and Associate Director

of the Centre for Christian Communication at St John's College, University
of Durham. His most recent books include God, Time and Stephen
Hawking (Monarch, 2001) and The Message of Creation (Apollos, 2002).
Andrew Wood is a Methodist minister working in the Eastleigh Circuit, near

Southampton. Having degrees in modern history and theology, he com-
pleted research work in the area of story and personhood. He has an interest
in the dialogue between faith and popular culture, and convenes Interface,
the British Methodist group engaged in that dialogue.
X
Introduction
Afterthought or Driving Force?
The Question of Theology in British Methodism
What is so special about Methodism? That question may be easy to answer:

nothing. Or at least, there is nothing that is so special that Methodism can
claim a place above other Christian denominations. Yet it exists. It is a
theological movement, and it has been shaped and shaped itself in particular
ways for a variety of reasons. It is easy to accept that the shaping of the
different forms of Methodism which exist around the world is obviously due
in part to local and national cultural, historical, political and economic
factors, but theology will also have something to do with it. So what is the
particular theology of Methodism? Does it have a theology, or a set of theo-
logical emphases, any different from other mainstream Christian movements
or denominations? Does it matter whether it does or does not? These are the
specific questions which have given rise to this book. The book has a British
focus, and asks its questions directly about British Methodism since 1932.
The approach adopted, however, is different from what readers may ex-
pect. Rather than look simply at official statements, or ask one or two leading
theologians to undertake the task, this collection makes a start by opening up
the question of the many ways in which theology is actually 'carried' in
British Methodism. It begins to look at what the content of Methodist theol-
ogy actually is, by looking at how British Methodists do their God-talk, in a
great variety of ways. The book starts from an assumption: that Methodists,
for whatever reason, have perhaps been prone to play down any distinctive
elements, or to undervalue the theological aspects of their particular experi-
ence and insights. By its very existence, then, this book is claiming that it
would be a good thing for British Christianity if Methodists were to spell out
a little more the theology or theologies by which Methodism has been oper-
ating in recent times.
The chapters that follow therefore constitute a set of enquiries into such
theology since the three largest groups of British Methodists merged to form
the Methodist Church in Great Britain in 1932. Part I offers the fruits
of some historical digging. Part II dwells on selected theological topics or
emphases. Part III offers a range of reactions to the results expounded in
Parts I and II. In this way, an internal set of conversations happens between
xi
INTRODUCTION
the twenty-three contributors to the book, in the hope that readers inside
and outside Methodism will take the exploration much further. The book
thus invites readers to eavesdrop on a conversation in progress and to agree
and disagree as appropriate, so that both Methodism and Christianity
benefit more widely from the discussion generated.
Two qualifications need adding at the outset. First, the book is not meant
to be comprehensive. It is highly selective in all three of its parts. Those who
comment on, and use, the book will have their own say on the legitimacy of
the selection. However, it offers a framework for thinking differently about
how theology 'works' within a Christian tradition. Alongside the necessary
quest for doctrinal precision and liturgical coherence within a tradition, and
in relation to a broader ecumenical scene, any Christian denomination oper-
ates in a much more messy way. This collection acknowledges that this is so.
Second, this is but one small way of entering that messiness. It is scarcely a
full, ethnographic study of British Methodism in the period 1932 to 2000.
This present collection still remains largely dependent on written material.
It does not undertake the considerably more difficult task of teasing out
Methodism's theology/theologies from studies of oral history or local cus-
tom and practice. As Barbara Glasson reminds us (Chapter 9), oral tradi-
tions are of crucial importance to Methodism; but that larger study must be
for others to undertake.
Even despite these two qualifications, it needs to be stressed that this is a
responsible theological undertaking. The task group out of which this book
emerged has made judgements which carry weight. It decided not to include
any chapters on the theologies of individual Methodist theologians of the
twentieth century, on the grounds that this would be misleading: Methodism
might have its heroes, but by and large it does not look to individual thinkers
to articulate its theology. Individuals' contributions are, in any case, avail-
able in other published forms. The group also decided to structure Part II of
the book along themes and emphases of Methodist theological style and con-
tent rather than under general doctrinal headings such as Trinity', 'Christ',
'Spirit' or 'Church'. This, too, was a decision with theological import, as the
introduction to Part II makes clear.
Individual writers have also made judgements. The collection is not
'officially authorized'. The views expressed in each chapter are therefore
those of the individual writers. In relation to each aspect of Methodist prac-
tice, or each emphasis of Methodist theology, individual writers have come
to their own conclusions. In the case of Part I, individual writers offer their
own interpretations of the theological emphases which underlie different
aspects of Methodist practice. In the case of Part II, the contributors
themselves have chosen how to develop the themes agreed by the task group.
The collection is not, then, simply a descriptive work; it is evaluative
throughout. This is important for readers to acknowledge as they approach
xii
INTRODUCTION
the text. Readers are encountering an introduction to Methodist practice

and theology, but not a comprehensive, definitive, or even necessarily a
uniform guide. They (you!) are invited to receive its content and to interact
with it directly, either as a Methodist, a Christian from another tradition, or
as someone who simply wants to try to understand more about this most
recent British form of the Methodist movement.
The question whether theology is an afterthought or a driving force of the
Methodist tradition will never be far away. The Wesleys did not sit down,
rewrite Christian theology and then start a movement. But Methodism was
nevertheless theologically inspired from the start. The fact that Methodism
did not explictly construct a theological system in order to do its work does,
however, make the theology by which it lives, moves and has its being per-
haps seem like an afterthought. 'Afterthought or driving force' is, though,
an unhelpful polarity. But the seemingly simple alternative carries weight
because of Methodism's apparent love/hate relationship with the task of
articulating the views about God which make it function in the ways it does.
It is this reluctance which gave rise to this book.
The book which has resulted emerged from a project by the Faith
and Order Committee of the Methodist Church in November 2000. That
Committee oversaw the book's production and funded the meetings of the
task group which worked on the text. Beyond those who have contributed to
the collection, the following are to be thanked for the time and skills devoted
to the group's work: Jane Craske, Peter Doble, Neil Stubbens, Hyacinth
Sweeney-Dixon and Roberta Topham. Robin Baird-Smith at Continuum
supported publication from an early stage. The editors are grateful to him
for his confidence in the project from the outset. Liverpool Hope University
College funded a colloquium as part of the task group's work in April 2003
at St Deiniol's Library, Hawarden (North Wales). Staff members from the
Theology and Religious Studies Department of Liverpool Hope, namely
Kenneth Newport and Mark Elliott, contributed to that colloquium, along
with John Harrod, Paul Nzachahayo, Henry Rack, Peter Relf and John
Taylor. We thank them all. We are grateful also to Caroline Riley for sug-
gesting the title, and to Jeremy Bradshaw, Margaret Colquhoun, Grahame
Lockhart and Laurence Wareing for being critical readers of parts of the
draft manuscript.
Clive Marsh, Brian Beck, Angela Shier-Jones, Helen Wareing

October 2003
xiii
Parti
Introduction
Methodist theology is 'carried' in all sorts of ways. Historically speaking,

it was from the days of the Wesleys carried in hymns - condensed, sung,
heart-stirring summaries of profound life-changing theological convic-
tions - and in John Wesley's writings. It was also carried in journals and
diaries of early preachers, written and oral accounts of conversions, in
liturgical texts borrowed from other traditions, in countless lost extempore
prayers, and in oral and written rationales for particular courses of social
and political action. All these forms of 'carrying' continued into the twen-
tieth century and beyond, even if the style of these sources and the balance
between them may have shifted.
Part I of this book examines a number of such channels through which
theology has been carried. Five of the chapters deal explicitly with 'official'
sources: hymn-books, worship books, official statements and reports, and the
Methodist Church's 'rule book' (The Constitutional Practice and Discipline
of the Methodist Church known as 'CPD'). However, even when these
sources are examined, the focus is as much on what may be read 'between
the lines' of such sources as on what they state explicitly. In Angela Shier-
Jones' chapter 'Being Methodical' (Chapter 3), for example, the theologi-
cal significance of the very existence of a rule book of over 800 pages is
examined.
Two chapters - those by Timothy Macquiban (Chapter 2), and by Martin
Wellings and Andrew Wood (Chapter 7) - also make use of official sources,
but they go beyond and behind them. Timothy Macquiban looks at how
stories about the Wesleys, and attention to significant geographical sites,
have contributed to the way in which the Wesleys' lives have been remem-
bered and used. Martin Wellings and Andrew Wood look at a vast range of
training materials, even including reading lists for those in training for the
ministry, seeking to tease out implicit theological views at work.
The chapter by Jane Bates and Colin Smith (Chapter 1) is different again.
It takes a sample of material from The Methodist Recorder and from memo-
rials to the annual Methodist Conference (i.e. matters of concern raised by
local groups of churches (circuits) to which the Conference is required to
3
UNMASKING METHODIST THEOLOGY
respond) in order to see what 'ordinary Methodists' think. Although ordin-

ary Methodism is, of course, well represented not too far beneath the surface
of what is examined in all the other chapters, this chapter makes the specific
link with 'Methodism on the ground' more than do the others. It also invites
the thought that much more such work would be invaluable for the study
of Methodist thought and practice in the modern period.
The book acknowledges throughout that although British Methodism is a
theological movement, it plays down the fact, lest it seem too high-falutin.
This helps us to see why British Methodism also plays down its individual
theologians. Theology simply w, as part of the Methodist bloodstream. That
is what matters. It is the aversion to the promotion of individual theologies
which renders both the collective nature of this whole book, and the
diversity of the channels of theology examined in this first part, so signifi-
cant. If Methodism is first and foremost a movement which has a job to do,
then its primary task is not the articulation of a theological system. That
said, if, as a theological movement, it fails to go on articulating the theo-
logical motifs which drive it forward, then it has lost its soul. If those motifs
sometimes need teasing out a little, then so be it. It is to that task, for the
period 1932 to 2000 in Britain, that this first part of the book is devoted.
4
1
Controversy Essential:
Theology in Popular Methodism
Jane Bates and Colin Smith
May I suggest that in the final analysis all our troubles are at bottom
theological ones?
What a misery these pages have become, and not the least, the bickering
letters on the conversations which go on incessantly week after week.
Every issue of the Methodist Recorder should have a great deal of

theology in it.
(From letters published in the Methodist Recorder in
1945, 1968 and 1985)
In June 1940, shortly before the commencement of the Battle of Britain,

a battle was being conducted within the Methodist Church. Pacifists and
non-pacifists alike were disputing the integrity of their respective positions,
and the correspondence columns of the Methodist national newspaper were
a corner of this battlefield. A minister wrote that Methodism was in danger
of disruption from within.
Excellent men and women are in opposing camps, and Methodism will
be weaker if any of these disputants be lost. ... Let us agree that neither
side can monopolise either all the truth or all the sincerity. Let us have
unity of spirit and purpose without uniformity of belief. Let not our
differences become divergences. There is danger of this difference of
interpretation leading to discord and disruption. Methodist homes are
torn and rent by anguish in these days.
(Revd Percy S. Garden, 20 June 1940)
At one of the greatest moments of national crisis, Methodists were

publicly disputing with each other over deeply held views based on the Bible,
theology and personal discipleship. There was no way in which pacifists and
5
non-pacifists could reach a compromise position satisfactory to both, but a

means had to be found to hold together within one church those who could
not agree. This was one example of how, in a public way, Methodists
handled disagreement over theological issues.
This chapter examines two ways in which 'ordinary' Methodists in local
circuits engaged in theological reflection and sometimes dispute during the
twentieth century and for which printed records survive. Most ways in
which this engagement happened were ephemeral: sermons, classes, house
groups, Bible study and Sunday School teaching. Although sermons and
other material may have survived, the responses to them in discussion, in the
home and in private reflection, have not. Two sources of popular thought
have survived: letters in the Methodist Recorder and memorials from the
circuits to the annual Methodist Conference. Although these have limita-
tions, there is a large quantity of material in both areas available since 1932.
The Methodist Recorder was founded as a Wesleyan Methodist national
newspaper in 1861, and after the Methodist Union of 1932 it absorbed the
other Methodist newspapers. One regular feature has been the letters page.
This has provided a significant public place for Methodists throughout the
country to make their views known and to respond to changes within the
Church. Memorials are an important voice for circuits as the means of
addressing the Church's governing body. Any Circuit Meeting ('Quarterly
Meetings' until 1977) can send a memorial to the Conference expressing its
views and asking for action. The Conference is obliged to send a response of
some kind, though it may first refer the matter to a church committee for com-
ment. Major Conference reports have sometimes resulted from memorials.
The sheer amount of material from both of these sources has meant that
sample periods and issues have been chosen for examination. Table 1.1 gives
a general indication of the areas of Methodist concern in published letters
and memorials, though these are not always easy to categorize. There is an
overwhelming bias towards letters and memorials on Methodist Church
organization, including concerns about the use of money, representation at
meetings, circuit boundaries and use of property. The large number of memo-
rials in 1981 concerning the proposed new hymn-book are also included
here, though they were often concerned with theological content. It may be
that the overwhelming number of memorials falling into this category is
inevitable since the Conference is fundamental to the structure of the Church,
and the relationship between the Conference and the circuits is an organi-
zational one.
Table 1.2 reveals the source of letters to the Recorder with figures pro-
viding the percentage of letters published from presbyters, deacons and lay
people, as well as indicating the authorship of men and women. This reveals
that, in the sample months, though presbyters did not dominate the let-
ters page, the percentage for 1940 and 2000 being about the same, men did.
6
THEOLOGY IN POPULAR METHODISM
Table 1.1 Letters published in the Methodist Recorder, by theme
Public Private Doctrine/ Methodist Other

issues morality biblical Church
organization
1935 1 9 0 2 8 0
1940 9 1 2 3 0 0
1950 8 0 1 1 4 9
1960 7 2 5 1 5 6
1970 5 1 9 1 4 1
19801 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
1990 11 13 2 22 1
2000 5 0 3 10 1
Memorials sent to the Conference, by theme

1936 2 1 1 3 8 1
1941 3 0 0 6 0
1951 1 0 0 2 7 0
1961 2 0 1 4 3 1
1971 6 0 6 4 7 0
1981 5 0 6 1 3 4 0
1991 20 30 4 69 2
2001 6 0 0 5 3 0
l
Note Number of letters published affected by industrial dispute.
Table 1.2 Source of letters to the Methodist Recorder (%)
Presbyters Deacons Lay Men Women
1935 62 - 38 94 6
1940 40 - 60 95 5
1950 48 - 52 94 6
1960 33 - 67 84 16
1970 54 - 46 93 7
19801 57 - 43 81 19
1990 27 - 73 74 26
2000 39 4 57 80 20
Note ' Number of letters published affected by industrial dispute.
In only one of the sample months have women written even a quarter of the
letters printed and when the figure reached 26 per cent in 1990 it was partly
as a result of widows defending the poll tax in contrast to high rates pre-
viously paid.
7
It is not possible to know the percentage of memorials initiated by women

in Circuit Meetings. However, in view of the role of the Superintendent,
who for most of the period from 1932 could only be male and who even
now is less likely to be a woman, it is probable that few were offered by
women. In contrast the 2001 Church Life Profile indicated that 69 per cen
of Methodist worshippers were women (Escott and Gelder 2002: 3).
Sample Years
Three sample periods have been chosen to examine in more detail the con-
cerns of Methodists and their theology - 1935-36, 1970-71 and 2000-01.
Letters in the Recorder have been examined for May in 1935, 1970 and
2000, memorials for the years 1936, 1971 and 2001.
1935-36
In May 1935 the most popular subject for letters was the decline in giv-
ing for overseas missions (nineteen letters) with twelve on issues of war and
peace and seven on Christianity in Germany. There were also letters on the
decline in church membership and attendance at Sunday Schools as well as
letters on detailed church organizational matters. There was some theolog-
ical reflection on the financial shortfall for overseas work. Correspondents
questioned how God might be working in such a situation. There was a
call, from Mr A.J. Wilhelmy, for repentance from apathy and a belief that
Methodists had come to 'place more reliance upon material resources than
upon Divine resources' (23 May). Others wondered if in fact God did
'always will the money' and whether retrenchment might not put more
responsibility upon the overseas churches: 'the grace of God can use such a
movement to promote a great advance in church history' (Revd T.H. Sheriff,
9 May).
In 1935 peace was already an important but divisive issue for Methodists,
who were divided between pacifists and those who believed in rearma-
ment to keep the peace. A former principal of Westminster Training College,
Dr H.B. Workman, was concerned that it would be harmful to their spiritua
welfare if Methodists talked about the subject, but another minister,
Reginald Granville, argued that controversy was essential to the spiritual
health of any community. The essential thing was not 'that Methodism
should be united, but that the will of God should be done; and since there is
a division of opinion within Methodism as to what God's will in this matter
is, there is no means by which the truth can be discovered other than by
means of controversy' (9 May).
This was a recurrent theme. Was controversy within the Church to be
avoided or was it a way in which God's will might be discerned? After the
8
Second World War two of the major issues which caused strong feeling were
the Anglican-Methodist Conversations in the 1960s and the sexuality debate
of the 1990s. The Church of England did not achieve the necessary vote for
Anglican-Methodist union in 1972 and so, despite the Methodist Confer-
ence's vote in favour, the controversial nature of the subject was not tested
fully. When the Methodist Conference of 1993 in Derby debated the matter
of human sexuality, it passed six resolutions. Although it may be argued
that they contradict one another, they seem to have succeeded in holding the
Church together and preventing a major split. Individuals and small groups
have left the church over the years but Methodism has not seen a signifi-
cant breakaway in the twentieth century. Perhaps the frequent divisions in
nineteenth-century Methodism provided a warning, or else the energy de-
voted finally to achieving union in 1932 was such that unity was important
to Methodists despite their differences.
In 1936, the major issues of peace and war did not come before the
Conference by way of memorial, though they were vigorously debated,
a committee being appointed to report back on the Methodist Church's
attitude. Michael Hughes states, 'Despite these efforts to smooth over the
divisions ... the pages of the Methodist press continued to be filled with bad-
tempered discussions about international developments. ... Conference
commitment to "liberty of conscience" helped to prevent a formal split, but
it did little to bring the two sides together' (Hughes 2002:213).
The memorials in 1936 were more concerned with internal Methodist
Church business. There was concern about the decision of the previous year's
Conference to introduce a compulsory written examination for new local
preachers, and about the difficulties of textbooks and their theological bal-
ance. Some of the memorials arose from practical concerns about the need to
fill local pulpits, particularly in rural areas. The desire for all members to be
able to share in worship locally is in itself a theological issue. It was also
connected to the belief that people called to preach should not be excluded
because of lack of academic ability. This may have much to do with the value
that Methodists want to place on people, and the value that they believe God
places on them. The belief that God can call and equip anyone, regardless of
ability, to do his work is surfacing here. One circuit asked that the set text-
books should be broader in scope to reflect the breadth of Methodist doctrine
(Agenda 1936:20).
These memorials also reflect the importance of local preachers within the
Methodist Church. Throughout the period since 1932 the majority of Meth-
odist pulpits on a Sunday have been occupied by lay people. In 1933 there
were almost 35,000 local preachers (Milburn and Batty 1995: 119). With-
in Methodism, there is a strong emphasis on lay leadership in general and
of worship in particular. This is itself a theological conviction: worship is
the offering of the whole people of God. Lay people are called to preach the
9
Gospel, while not necessarily being called to the ordained ministry. Meth-
odism values highly the insights brought by local preachers from the world in
which they live and work. This has enriched Methodist worship since
Wesley's day and it is crucial for the continuation of Sunday worship in
Methodist Churches. About two-thirds of Methodist Sunday services are cur-
rently conducted by local preachers. Lay leadership of worship on this scale
encourages many in the Church to contribute to debates about their
training, development, support or deployment. It is thus not surprising that
local preaching continues to be a popular subject for memorials.
One memorial that year from the Hereford Circuit concerned the contro-
versy within the Methodist Church about the Methodist Sacramental Fellow-
ship (MSF) which held its inaugural conference in 1935. The memorial,
apparently based on second-hand information, asked the Conference to dis-
own the MSF with its 'definite Roman tendency' because it was 'contrary to
Methodist belief and usage'. It suggested that the use of the word 'Meth-
odist' should be restricted to those societies which had the sanction of the
Conference. This controversy was debated widely in the letters page of the
Methodist Recorder at the time, and a year later a large number of memorials
asked for a definite ruling as to whether the MSF contravened the doctrinal
standards. A Conference-appointed committee reported to the 1938 Con-
ference and was critical of the MSF. It recommended that its members should
unite freely 'with the whole body of their fellow Methodists in emphasizing
the great truths and practices for which the Methodist Church stands' (Brake
1984:365-6). Unity was again a dominant issue.
1970-71
Although the Church had entered a different age by 1970, the concern with
internal organizational matters had not changed as far as letters were con-
cerned. In May there were letters on membership tickets, manse furniture,
Christian giving, and the organization of the Methodist Association of Youth
Clubs' annual gathering. The major controversy at that time was over
the Church's attitude to the South African cricket tour. One writer, Mr God-
frey Cox, believed that Jesus would prefer the Conference to demonstrate its
opposition rather than attend to organizational business (7 May 1970).
Another, the Revd Roy Wedgewood, thought that Jesus would have been
scathing that the agitation was against South Africa but not against com-
munist countries (21 May 1970). These letters represented different ideas
about how Jesus would respond in a contemporary situation, possibly repre-
senting something of the writers' pre-existing political views, Jesus being
brought in to provide theological support.
The following year the memorials were equally divided. One supported the
World Council of Churches making grants to organizations working against
10
racism. The other asked for a clear statement of why and to whom the money
was being given and whether it was being given to freedom fighters.
Methodists have often demanded strict accountability for the use of money
and other resources. The views of the Methodist people were probably repre-
sented in the different opinions expressed - a concern with the situation in
South Africa and a desire to support those fighting racism and apartheid,
and an opposition to supporting violence in any circumstances or being asso-
ciated with adverse publicity in the press.
Other memorials in 1971 were concerned with the Anglican-Methodist
unity scheme and the administration of Holy Communion (both considered
below). There was a call for equity in the distribution of ministerial stipends
and a request for the pooling of removal expenses so as not to disadvan-
tage circuits on the geographical periphery of the connexion. A single con-
nexional magazine was requested, as was a directory of Methodist Church
departments.
Memorials requesting that meetings be more representative are found
in both 1936 and 1971. In 1936 the representation of women was of par-
ticular concern. Circuits, through memorials, seem to be reacting against
a situation regarded as unfair. The Circuits are wanting to give people a
voice in the leadership of the local Church or Circuit, thus respecting the
value given to their members by God. Memorials are also asking that
meetings be broad-based, representative of the whole Church and not only
narrow groups. Methodists want people to feel valued and to be listened to.
They also want to take seriously the importance of lay people in roles of
leadership, and the way in which local churches are a collaboration between
lay and ordained.
2000-01
In May 2000, in correspondence about Holy Communion, explicit theolog-
ical comment surfaces. Mrs A. Greaves asked if 'only a baptised lover of
Jesus' was welcome to receive. She asked what was to become of the open
table so valued in the Methodist Church (18 May 2000). The Revd John
Haley responded that Methodism had not always had such a practice.
Communion was open to those earnestly desiring salvation. 'Now, as we
respond to the modern will to be inclusive,' he wrote, 'it is thought undesir-
able to make any visible division between converted, saved or unsaved,
perhaps even to the point of rejecting the validity of such divisions' (18 May
2000). Another minister, David Miller, asked if the encouragement of
'the baptized' implied the exclusion of those of all ages who were not
baptized (18 May 2000). This exchange demonstrated the tension between
welcoming all and of setting theologically defensible boundaries (see His
Presence 2003).
11
A year later, at the Ipswich Conference of 2001, the possible introduction

was considered of a category of 'community preacher' for those who, for
reasons of language and culture, would not be able to follow the prescribed
study programme. The similarity of this to the 1936 debate is striking.
Another group of memorials opposed the suggestion of ordaining ministers
with district licences, a proposal which, though discussed in District Synods,
was not placed before the Conference. The memorials expressed concerns
that this proposal would undermine the Methodist understanding of ordina-
tion, as well as the connexional identity of the Church, particularly as it is
expressed through itinerancy. The proposal had intended to respond to the
local needs for ministry in the light of the shortage of ministers.
Two Hot Topics

Two topics which illustrate the highly practical character of Methodist
theology are the relationship between the Church of England and the Meth-
odist Church, and lay and diaconal authorizations to preside at the Lord's
Supper. Both of these topics engage Methodists in debate, stimulating exten-
sive correspondence in the Methodist Recorder and discussion at the Con-
ference, sometimes through the medium of memorials.
Relationship between the Church of England and

the Methodist Church
The issues raised through the pages of the Methodist Recorder and the
memorials sent to the Conference on this subject are consistent, whichever
scheme or set of talks is current. They revolve around the need for wide con-
sultation with each district, circuit and preferably church, the provision for
those who would not be able to accept organic union, and questions about
episcopacy. There are also practical concerns about property and ministry.
Wide consultation is a popular request. It is clearly important for Meth-
odists to own the major decisions taken by the Conference. A number of
memorials in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when a unity scheme was
being debated, called for the Conference to know the votes of each Circuit
Meeting so that it could be properly informed about the feelings of the
whole Church. There was also concern that 'ordinary' Methodists would
not understand the issues being debated by the church leadership and called
for a simplified explanation of the proposals. This might indicate a per-
ceived division between church leadership and church members, a feeling
which seems to have been especially prevalent when ecumenical conver-
sations were taking place. Consultation with all church members itself
reveals a theological conviction about inclusion, based on the connexional
principle. An alternative reading, of course, is that the Church was merely
responding to secular pressures for people to vote on constitutional change,
12
the 1970s seeing the first state-sponsored referenda on membership of the

European Community and devolution to Scotland and Wales.
In the 1980s a new set of proposals, Covenanting for Unity, was debated.
The issues raised in memorials were broadly similar to those raised a decade
earlier. Some requested further consultation, including a referendum of all
church members. One asked for referral back to the Methodist Church's
Faith and Order Committee, largely over concerns about episcopacy. It was
also thought that in any unity scheme the role of local preachers should be
appropriately acknowledged, thus emphasizing that Methodism must not
lose important aspects of its tradition. Concern was expressed through the
pages of the Methodist Recorder about the voting procedures. Methodists
often use procedural questions to challenge something which is of theo-
logical importance to them. The question arises whether this resulted from
a Methodist preoccupation with correct procedures within a connexional
church or is again a reflection of trends in society, where challenges might be
brought in the courts to delay or prevent controversial changes from taking
place. Concerns were also raised about those who would not be able to be a
part of a united church on the grounds that this would cause further divi-
sion. Such views were, however, expressed as a reason for maintaining the
current separation between the churches.
The greatest theological obstacle to visible unity has often been perceived
to be the episcopacy, and, through this, matters of ministry and oversight gen-
erally. This is borne out by the correspondence and the memorials. Arch-
bishop Fisher's 1946 sermon asking the Free Churches to consider taking
episcopacy into their systems caused much debate. The responses have
included the belief that unity should come above all else and therefore if it
enables the unity to happen, episcopacy should be accepted. The theological
principle of unity has often been quoted in letters and articles in the Methodist
Recorder. In the 1940s this was demonstrated through the desire for a com-
mon eucharistic table. Since then, the boundaries have moved and the issues
changed, though the principle, and some of the difficulties, remain the same.
Lay and diaconal authorizations to preside at the Lord's Supper

The position of the Methodist Church that, for the sake of church order,
only ordained presbyters are authorized as of right to preside at the sacra-
ment of the Lord's Supper has caused much debate over the years. There is
provision for those not ordained to preside in certain circumstances, but
a case has to be presented that there is deprivation within the circuit and that
a suitable person needs to be authorized (CPD: S.O. Oil). Authorizations are
granted annually by the Conference. This reminds the Church that although
the person with the authorization is not an ordained presbyter, the respon-
sibility to preside is granted by the connexion. This provides safeguards
13
against the difficulties of local politics and is an example of remaining true

to a principle, but responding pragmatically to the needs of the Methodist
people. The memorials brought on this subject and the articles and letters
submitted to the Methodist Recorder may reflect the importance which local
churches place upon Holy Communion. An assumption that anyone who
has pastoral care of the members of a congregation should be able to
administer Holy Communion also surfaces frequently, though it is always
resisted when connexionally discussed.
In 1946 the Methodist Recorder printed several letters on this subject.
Connected with this issue was the question of the participation of women.
There was a letter from Miss Joy May hew who had attended a Women's
Work missionary conference where a (male) minister had been called in
to preside at Holy Communion. This seemed unjust to the correspondent -
and this injustice was emphasized by the apparent rejection of the four
women who were leading the conference, three deaconesses and a missionary
(21 March 1946). Later that year, the issue was raised of local preachers and
the sacrament of Holy Communion. Mr B.T. Healey felt that to give some
local preachers an authorization and others not, was to discriminate between
them (8 August 1946). The assumption was made, wrongly then as now,
that authorizations can be given only to local preachers. Mr W. Bailey sug-
gested that the command of Jesus applied to local preachers and asked
whether to deny this right was 'an inclination towards the Roman Church'
(19 September 1946). There was therefore also a concern about giving
ministers a 'priestly' role.
Many memorials have asked for the decision about authorizations to be
made somewhere other than the Conference, such as District Synods or
Circuit Meetings. This seems to be so that it is made easier to respond to local
needs as they arise, and perhaps the local view less likely to be overruled.
A memorial was brought in 1983 asking for District Synods to be able to
grant authorizations (Agenda 1983:435). In 1993 there was a request for all
lay workers to have an authorization if they were so recommended by the
Circuit Meeting (Agenda 1993:881). It was requested in a 1995 memorial
that superintendents be allowed the use of discretion to plan local preachers
for Communion services (Agenda 1995:961). A 1996 memorial asked for
Circuit Meetings to make such appointments (Agenda 1996: 705; cf. Agenda
2003:784). Whether probationer presbyters - those in their first two years
as ministers - should be granted authorizations is a further recurring theme.
Currently, circuits have to prove deprivation in applying for an authoriza-
tion for a probationer in the same way as they do for anyone else. Some
memorials have requested that all probationers be given this authorization
automatically. Some have requested that there be consistency between those
in itinerant appointments and those in local appointments (where there may
not be the same case for deprivation).
14
The matter of authorizations for deacons caused a major debate at the 2001
Conference and generated much correspondence. A report that the Con-
vocation of the Methodist Diaconal Order was bringing a resolution to the
Conference requesting that deacons with pastoral responsibility be given
automatic authorizations to administer the sacrament provoked immediate
response. One view noted that 'presiding at the Lord's Supper does not belong
to the proper ministry of a deacon' (the Revd Norman Wallwork, 12 April
2001). From a different perspective it was deemed that 'the sharing of the
bread and wine as a central act of Christian worship needs no authorization by
Conference, synod or council' (the Revd Gerald Gardiner, 12 April 2001). Not
to allow deacons to administer the sacrament to those for whom they care was
felt by some to be demeaning to the ministry of the deacon. The Revd David
Jackson considered the current situation a compromise. 'On the one hand
are those who see no particular good reason why local preachers shouldn't
administer sacraments as a matter of course, relying on our very strong
doctrinal statements about the priesthood of all believers and the absence of
any specific charismatic gifts exclusive to ministers. On the other, we have
those who feel the whole status of ordained ministry is threatened if others are
allowed to share in the celebration of the sacraments' (12 April 2001). Others
felt that church order is important. '(T)o understand the priesthood of all
believers to mean that all in the Church are called to do everything, faith and
order notwithstanding, would seem to me to translate a doctrine about our
unmediated access to God into a suggestion that ordained presbyteral
ministry is quite unnecessary' (the Revd Kenneth Carveley, 3 May 2001).
Some deacons were also concerned that this could erode their distinctive
diaconal ministry, believing that the important factor was to place deacons
in appropriate diaconal appointments. The issue had arisen partly because
of deacons being put in 'presbyteral' appointments and congregations, thus
not understanding why they cannot preside at the eucharist. This is linked to
the notion that those in pastoral care ought to be able to administer the
bread and wine to those for whom they care. Indeed, Deacon Helen Brown
wrote: 'there is a great historical connection between pastoral charge and
eucharistic presidency' (19 April 2001).
Significant theological issues were seen to underlie this debate. Methodism
has historically emphasized the priesthood of all believers, but does not
generally understand this to mean that all are called to be and do everything
(Statements 2000:2a, 156-8). Church order is important, but questions of
status and power are presumably at work here also.
Conclusion
The analysis of letters from the Methodist Recorder and the memorials sent
to the Conference has revealed a strong emphasis on pragmatism. Sometimes
15
the theological justification for a pragmatic solution to a particular issue has

been arrived at after the event. Dealing with situations pragmatically and
with sensitivity to the context is in itself a theological position. It is, at root, a
form of the conviction that God is intricately present in the midst of life, in a
way that cries out for closer theological articulation. There is also much that
is to do with the ecclesiology and ethos of the Methodist Church, whether
theologically grounded or not. In researching the Methodist Recorder and
memorials to the Conference, it has proved difficult to 'get at' much theol-
ogy directly. Very little has been stated explicitly, though this does not mean
that it has not been present. The theological starting points are perhaps
assumed - the assumption being that they are known and that they are
shared. Underlying much of the material are the following concerns:
• A sense of the responsibility of the Christian within God's world -

though how this responsibility might be exercised has been perceived in
diverse ways. This has also led to strong views being expressed about the
use of resources, especially money.
• A concern for the unity of the Church - but this does not come at the
expense of everything else. Ideas as to how this unity might be expressed
have varied.
• Principles of connexionalism have been explored in the frequent desire of
Methodists for their views to be counted. Concern has been expressed as
to whether connexional officers can speak for the whole Church and
whether Conference decisions are owned by the local Church. There have
been clear tensions between perceived local needs and connexional policy.
• An emphasis on church structure, so long as this is done in terms of
consultation, connectedness and accountability.
• Inclusiveness within the Church - underlying this is a deep sense of the
equality and potential of all.
16
2
Dialogue with the Wesleys:
Remembering Origins
Timothy S.A. Macquiban
This chapter reviews the place of John and Charles Wesley in the shaping of
British Methodist theology over the past seventy years. It demonstrates that
the places, events and writings associated with their activities as evangelists
have often been jealously guarded and protected as signs of Methodist dis-
tinctiveness. Nevertheless, the actual use of Wesley texts in shaping modern
Methodist theology and practice was diluted during the twentieth century.
Methodist Identity: Telling the Story of the Wesleys

The year 1938 marked the point when the planned bicentennial celebrations
of the Wesleys' 'Aldersgate experience' of 1738 would be 'a starting point
for a new evangelistic effort throughout the world' (Agenda 1935:436). The
explosion of events and the outpouring of publications ensured that there
was 'an opportunity for calling the attention of the Methodist people to
the essential truths and spiritual experience' to which the Wesleys' conver-
sion was witness (Agenda 1937:493). One legacy of these celebrations was
a renewed interest in sites previously neglected and underfunded which
became foci for Methodist interest in its history and tradition. At Epworth,
the Old Rectory (the Wesleys' birthplace) was secured for World Methodism
and the local Wesley Memorial Church supported. In London, the City
Road Chapel was rescued from possible decay and restored in the 1970s to
its present position as the 'Mother Church' of Methodism. The older grand-
mother (The New Room, Bristol) continued to develop as a museum and
occasional worship centre. In reports to the Conference, there is an increas-
ing awareness of their international importance as places of heritage for
religious tourists to visit, but also of the need to connect their work with the
contemporary mission of the Church.
The centrality of the Wesley Day/Aldersgatetide celebrations as occa-
sions for opportunities to tell the story of the Wesleys and to revitalize the
Church becomes increasingly apparent. Perhaps the pressure to conform to a
17
liturgical year made the emphasis on the evangelistic roots of Methodism

and its self-identity more urgent: 24 May was conveniently close to
Pentecost for attention to be given to the prayer for revival in the Church
through the work of the Holy Spirit. Forms of service were devised (Agenda
1945:163) 'to face the problems and opportunities of our day as successfully
as Wesley did those of his' (Agenda 1949:430) and to provide a 'spiritual
link for Methodists throughout the world' (Agenda 1950:258).
The official publication Message and Mission of Methodism (1946) was
meant to help revitalize the evangelistic outreach of the Church but had little
reference to the Wesleys. A series of papers deriving from the booklet
(published in 1948) was intended to help the Church use the story of Meth-
odism in its urgent evangelistic task. The first, Focus on Methodism, dis-
cusses what the author saw as the distinctive features of Methodism in terms
of worship (the hymn-book), conduct (the practical response to the call of
Christ) and doctrine. There were five emphases: personal salvation, assur-
ance, freedom from sin (justification), involvement in fellowship (sanctifica-
tion) and God's love for all (Arminianism). One of those emphases, Christian
assurance, merited a separate work, highlighting the external evidence of
such in the life of the Church, the inward witness of the Holy Spirit, and
the confirmation of the conscience of believers. Several references to Wesley
writings are scattered around for further study and discussion. While the
pamphlet on worship lacks any use of sources specifically drawn from the
Wesleys, Dorothy Farrar's treatment of The Life of Prayer (1948) makes
extensive use of such writings, especially the devotional use of the hymn-
book. Wesley regarded this as a 'means of quickening the spirit of devotion;
of confirming his faith, of enlivening his hope and of kindling and increasing
his love of God and man'. Such devotion is seen as a means of revival.
Maldwyn Edwards, in his book The Social Witness of Methodism (1948),
extols social action by Methodists following John Wesley's example as a
great social reformer. His witness among the poor, against slaves and the
vested business interests in such a system, as well as providing health and
educational services for the masses, resonated with the call for Methodist
involvement in the affairs of the welfare state. Prior to 1950 the emphasis was
more on reminding people of traditional features of Methodism without
paying too much attention to the Wesleys themselves.
In the wake of the World Methodist Conference at Oxford in 1951, a Year
of Evangelism was declared. The presidencies of both W.E. Sangster and
Donald Soper paid distinctive, but complementary, homage to the evan-
gelical and sacramental aspects of the theology and hymnody of the Wesleys.
This encouraged a more inclusive approach than that characterized by the
pre-war hostility of many Methodists to the newly formed Methodist Sacra-
mental Fellowship (MSF), perceived by many evangelical Methodists as a
catholic distortion of true 'Wesleyanism'. The Oxford Institute of Methodist
18
DIALOGUE WITH THE WESLEYS
Theological Studies was established in 1958, arising from the World Meth-
odist Council's meeting in 1956, where important themes of 'Methodism in
the Contemporary World' had been discussed. Scholars and pastors from the
world Methodist family gathered to engage in serious theological reflections
including studies on key themes coming from the Wesleys' writings. This has
been an important stimulus to the revival in British Methodist Studies,
helped by the contribution of Raymond George and Brian Beck in par-
ticular. Its publications have spawned a renewed interest in dialogue with
the Wesleys in church reports since the 1960s. The Wesley Works project,
started in Oxford but now run through Abingdon Press (USA) under the
editorship of Richard Heitzenrater, envisages the publication of a modern
critical edition of all the writings of John Wesley in the next decade. The
writings of his brother are the concern of the Charles Wesley Society, estab-
lished in 1991.
The 1988 Celebrations of the Aldersgate Experience demonstrate this
renewed interest in the Wesley life story. They were conceived
for the celebration of the Christian faith, the discovery of the meaning of
the events of 1738, and fresh commitment to the renewal of the church
and the fulfilment of its mission, in partnership with our sister churches.
(Agenda 1985:432)
Prominent in the programme was preparatory study of the Wesleys' experi-

ence and its significance for today and how to tell the world at large. Material
for young people was produced. The Methodist Association of Youth Clubs
took as its yearly theme Change of Heart. A new biography of John Wesley
was commissioned which adopted a historico-critical approach with serious
consideration of the theological development of the Wesleys (Rack 1989).
Study material was produced including a book connecting Methodist heri-
tage to contemporary themes (Stacey 1988). The overall purpose of the
programme was declared to be 'to share the purpose of our calling' (Agenda
1988:472). Other events, focusing on ministerial education (1985), overseas
missions (1986) and local preaching (1996), reminded Methodism of its
historical emphases and contemporary concerns.
More recently, the question of self-identity has again raised its head. Brian
Beck's The Elusive Methodist Identity: Who Are We?' (Beck 2000) is
pertinent here. The Methodist Council (of the Methodist Church in Great
Britain), anxious to connect the concerns of Methodist Heritage with its
own promotion of Our Calling as the leitmotiv of current Methodist think-
ing and a model for practice in the Church, commissioned a research project
at Oxford Brookes University, which reported to the Council in November
2001. This work on heritage and contemporary mission connected the use of
story and sites to the Church's mission.
19
Methodist Theology: What Should we Preach?

The most distinctive feature of Methodist theology and practice has been
Wesley's doctrine of Christian Perfection. It has held central place in the
teaching, doctrinal statements on the Church and in the hymnody of Meth-
odism. But other emphases have been given prominence at particular periods
in the development of Methodism. At the 1935 Conference, the ministerial
session devoted a whole day to aspects of Christian Perfection including John
Wesley's teaching (by Henry Bett), its application to the personal life (Ferrier
Hulme) and its social implications (James Ellis). In 1937, Flew and others
produced the report on The Nature of the Christian Church (Statements
2000:1. 7-28). It was preoccupied with tradition, and the interpretation of
New Testament sources in support of the catholicity of Protestantism and the
place of Methodism in the Universal Church. It quoted the Deed of Union:
'The Methodist Church claims and cherishes its place in the Holy Catholic
Church which is the body of Christ' (Statements 2000:1.21). Wesley's role is
seen as pioneering a movement of revival whose emphases were assurance,
holiness or perfect love, and the practice of fellowship. Methodism was a
providential work of God exhibiting and recovering the marks of a true
church. These hallmarks of Methodism continue to be stressed in a variety of
places, citing the example of Wesley's own experience and his writings
(Statements 2000:1. 25-6).
The next major ecclesiological report made far more explicit use of
Wesley in the formation of an understanding of Methodism, stressing its
distinctive connexional structure as a mark of the life of God in koinonia
(communion) among his pilgrim people. Called to Love and Praise (1995;
Statements 2000:2a. 1-59) is the best exposition in twentieth-century Meth-
odist theology of engagement with Methodist practices in dialogue with the
Wesleys. Substantial sections of the report are given over to an exploration
of understanding the Methodist Church in terms of its origins as a society
and not a church, its worship and spiritual life and the mutual relationship
of believers and societies (Statements 2000:2a. 34-57). Emphasis shifted
from the providential nature of Methodism as a missionary agency towards
an understanding of Methodism as an authentic church. The marks of the
Trinity-in-koinonia are rooted in the Wesleys' love of tradition. However, a
tension between evangelical and catholic elements within the movement
remains, and may be seen at every level of the Church today.
The worship and sacraments of the Church follow the practice of the
Wesleys without necessarily their theological understanding. Extra-liturgical
practices and free worship have been placed alongside more formal elements
around a set (but not prescribed) liturgy. Prayer, as one of the principal
means of grace, alongside Bible study (and the sacrament of Holy Com-
munion, somewhat neglected and disputed at the start of the period) were at
20
the heart of Methodism in its origins as a 'praying fellowship' (Agenda

1936:401). Nevertheless the appendix to the 1960 report on Christian Wor-
ship still bears the scars of battles surrounding the establishment of the MSF
in the 1930s. It seems to apologize for the use of sacrificial imagery in the
Hymns on the Lord's Supper (1745) as though John and Charles were crypto-
Catholics whose example was a dangerous precedent for contemporary
Methodists. A report to the 1938 Conference had examined whether the MSF
was in line with Methodist doctrine and practice. It stressed the need for an
equal emphasis on corporate and private prayer and fellowship as means of
grace in no way inferior to the sacrament of Holy Communion (Agenda
1938:493). One MSF member, J.E. Rattenbury, contributed to this widen-
ing appreciation of sacramental theology through his two publications The
Evangelical Doctrines of Charles Wesley's Hymns (1935) and The Euch-
aristic Hymns of John and Charles Wesley (1948).
Since then the ecumenical climate has led to more frequent and central
communions more closely aligned to Wesleyan practice without the fussi-
ness of some aspects of MSF emphases. The Children and Holy Communion
report (1987) explores these tensions within sacramental theology and prac-
tice, between evangelical and catholic standpoints. These reflect John
Wesley's own practice and breadth of understanding which encompassed
both aspects (Statements 2000:2a. 168-70). The more memorialist view-
point centring on 'anamnesis' (remembering the passion of Jesus and his death
on the cross) was countered by a richer appreciation of the sacrificial under-
standing of God's work through Christ on the cross.
Regarding baptism, Methodism has had to come to terms with the
awkwardness of John Wesley's clear belief in the regeneration of infants
(Statements 2000: 2a. 77-8), in line with those who in the nineteenth century
reacted to Anglo-Catholicism by expunging that tradition. The Statement on
Holy Baptism (1952) gives weight to Bible and tradition but removed the
references to Wesley's A Treatise on Baptism (1756) included in an earlier
draft along with the development of Methodist interpretations of New
Testament passages. Instead it preferred to stress prevenient grace and the
need to declare God's love to children rather than explain away Wesley's
views on regeneration as the prelude to the necessity for New Birth (State-
ments 2000: 1. 33-8). The later report on Christian Initiation (1987) gives
more attention to Wesley, with reference to his Notes on the New Testament.
It justified this as 'one of our Church's doctrinal standards', offering a 'model
approach to Scripture' which used the best available contemporary scholar-
ship just as Wesley did in his own day (Statements 2000:2a. 66).
Central to twentieth-century developments in understanding of Christian
ministry has been the way in which diaconal and lay ministries, and varieties
of presbyteral ministry, have unfolded. The report Ordination in the Meth-
odist Church (1960; Statements 2000:1. 101-7) was grounded in the earlier
21
work on the doctrine of the Church undertaken by Newton Flew. It

concentrated on the interpretation of the priesthood of all believers and the
understanding of the role of the single order of ministry of word and
sacrament. This is rooted in the scriptural evidences for 'presbyter-bishops'
and Wesley's own conversion to this break with the Anglican practice in
1784 when he started his own ordinations. No reference is made to his use
of the writings of King and Stillingfleet (Statements 2000:1. 103-4). The
1974 report on Ordination rehearses the earlier arguments. First, it stresses
the societary and connexional origins of Methodism. Second, in contrast to
and without reference to Wesley, it introduces the concepts of sector min-
istry and the diaconate as a means of locating the Methodist Church more
firmly within understandings of ministry prevalent in the worldwide Church.
This seems a curious weaving of two rather disparate ways of understanding
the relationship of ministries and church (Statements 2000:1. 108-19).
There is here little sense of the Methodist Church's being bound by the letter
of Wesley's interpretation but going with the spirit of change towards more
flexible patterns of ministry.
The Ministry of the People of God report (1986; Statements 2000:2a.
195-228) pays little attention within its sections on Christian ministries in
daily life and work to Wesley's use of or thoughts on lay ministry. There are
two oblique historical references to Wesley (200), and John Wesley's practice
of visitation is referred to with regard to pastoral visitors and preachers
(207). Arguments about the diaconate inevitably ignore the Wesley material
as an embarrassment to the development of a distinct order unlike the
Anglican orders he knew. Discussion about episkope and episcopacy, how-
ever, could use Wesley's own understanding of superintendency and his
example of leadership (suitably modified!) as offering alternative models to
those of bishops in the catholic tradition.
Finally, Methodist use of scripture is considered in the report A Lamp to
My Feet and a Light to My Path (1998; Statements 2000:2b. 644-68). This
relies heavily on the interpretation of the Deed of Union (1932) and the
weight it gives to the core doctrinal standards of Wesley's Notes on the New
Testament and his Forty-Four Sermons. The authoritative nature of scrip-
ture is tempered by the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in inspiring fresh
understandings through prayerful study and the use of the intellect (sec-
tions 4.4 to 4.8; Statements 2000:2b. 653-4). The Deed of Union and
Catechisms (1952, 1986) are faithful to this 'rule' which recognizes scripture
as 'the supreme rule of faith and practice' but which allows individuals and
the Church, as Wesley experienced in his own lifetime, to interpret scripture
in a variety of different contexts and ways. The report offers seven models
of biblical authority, acknowledging that the range of models is held by
individual members across the Methodist Church, and is thus also reflected
in the Conference (Statements 2000: 2b. 644-68).
22
In all these different areas of discussion about doctrine, a set of double

standards in the use of the legacy from the Wesleys seems to be operative,
justified by Wesley's own pragmatism. Sometimes the Church seeks to
adhere to Wesley's thought and practice. At other times it seeks to ignore or
set aside that which it now regards as appropriate for the eighteenth century
but not for our own day.
Methodist Practice: What Should we Do?

Evidence from the dialogue of twentieth-century Methodism with the
Wesleys which informs practice is even less clear. The two-century difference
between a pre-industrial society and a highly urbanized consumer society set
in a world economy make the direct application of Wesley's social economics
difficult. Academics and practitioners have attempted to do so with varying
degrees of plausibility, notably Jennings (1990) and Runyon (1998).
In the inter-war discussions of the New Christian Social Order, to which
Samuel Keeble and Henry Carter contributed, the distinctive Methodist
contribution is seen to stem from Wesley's own teachings and example. His
sermons on Scriptural Christianity, the Sermon on the Mount and the Use of
Money as well as the Rules and his teaching on Christian Perfection are cited
in the 1934 Declaration concerning a Christian View of Industry in Relation
to the Social Order. It judges that in these, John Wesley
exhibited a deep concern for social need, born of his evangelical faith
and preaching. It (The Methodist Church), therefore, has warrant of its
own for directing the attention of the Methodist people to the grave
questions of social and industrial well-being. (Agenda 1934:491)
Yet nowhere in the subsequent application of Methodist emphases, in

calling for the abolition of economic poverty and a just distribution of
resources, in health and education, in the provision of leisure, nor in the
comments on monetary policies, international trade and world peace, is there
specific reference to Wesley. The assumption is made that such things are part
of the legacy bequeathed by Wesley to the Methodists. The work of Henry
Carter, Secretary of the Christian Citizenship Department (author of Meth-
odist Heritage (1951)), and E.C. Urwin and Douglas Wollen, providing
readings from Wesley's social teaching in John Wesley, Christian Citizen
(1937), informed the debates in issues of social responsibility. These views
were represented in the Declaration on Christian Social and Political
Responsibility (1949) which they helped to shape. Its major emphasis was
on the wider biblical and theological sources. While it declared that 'the
spirit and genius of Methodism ... from its foundation has sought to exhibit
the social consequences inherent in the Christian message', it failed to
23
demonstrate how its theological conclusions were rooted in Wesley himself.

Rather, it drew on the example of Wesley's ministry and on his concern for
religious liberty, for the loyalty of Methodists as citizens, and for the human
rights of prisoners, slaves and the poor (Agenda 1949: 357-65).
More recent reports draw more heavily on Wesley's social context and his
writings as informing Methodist attitudes, as with the Civil Disobedience
report of 1986, quoting Wesley's Thoughts on Liberty. Sometimes references
are used to point to the ambiguities within the tradition or lack of clear
guidance on contemporary issues. Gambling and alcohol are good examples:
there is no specific ban on gambling nor objection to drinking of ale on
Wesley's part.
Wesley's Arminianism is put to good use when arguing the case for social
and religious inclusion. In the report on Relations with People of Other
Faiths (1983), his sermon On Charity is cited as evidence that God's mes-
sage is for all, as a light to every nation, for he is the God of the whole uni-
verse. It follows that dialogue as part of God's mission is authentically in the
spirit of Wesley, even though the case for Wesley as a precursor of interfaith
dialogue is neither argued nor demonstrated (see Macquiban 1995: 33-43).
Equally, Wesley's texts could be used in opposition to a policy of more
openness and dialogue, as with the Kings Lynn Circuit's Memorial in 1990
urging the Church to proclaim (sic) the true Christian Gospel, as exemplified
in Wesley's sermons in Salvation by Faith, Justification by Faith and the
Sermon on the Mount (Agenda 1990: 729). The use of Wesley's writings as
proof texts was often as crude as the use of the Bible in such matters. Human
sexuality was the most contentious issue. Many Methodists did not cite
Wesley except to justify readings of the Bible one way or the other. In the
Conference report finally adopted in 1993, Wesley is appealed to in support
of an argument on the authority and interpretation of scripture: 'Wesley's
reading of the Scriptures was of his time, and, in cultural terms, so were his
attitudes to sexuality. For him the pursuit of holiness was paramount'
(Agenda 1993:249; Statements 2000: 591). In not condemning homosexual
practice it may be argued that Wesley is here used to support the argument
for acceptance of lesbian and gay relationships. However, a careful reading
shows that Wesley can in fact be brought in on both sides of the argument.
In terms of living together in community, in church and society, how
Wesley envisaged the life of classes and societies in eighteenth-century
Britain continues to inform issues of membership and lifestyles, through the
publication of the Rules (1952) and Character of a Methodist (1952, 1956),
and through the way they continue to be the basis for catechisms and
conditions of membership. Even in the earlier Lesson Helps on the New
Catechism of the Wesley an Methodist Church (1928), there are no refer-
ences other than the Bible and contemporary theology to aspects of Wesley's
theology when dealing with grace, sin and repentance. In the section on the
24
Church, definitions are offered of distinctive features which spring from

Wesley's practice. The specific message of Methodism is confined to one
section (47) on the Four Alls, and another (48) on fellowship and lay involve-
ment as indicative of Methodist ethos.
In 1938 the evangelistic and doctrinal aspects of John Wesley's preaching,
supplemented by Charles' hymns, are included in the outline lessons recom-
mended. Proper preparation in the 'essential significance of John Wesley's
conversion' and his emphases on assurance, fellowship, Christian perfection
and personal evangelism is required (Agenda 1938:359). These themes
remain central to a Methodist understanding of Christian commitment
(Called By Name 2002).
The seminal text Sharing in God's Mission (1985), the work of Donald
English and others in the Home Mission Division, is also informed by the
Wesley heritage. The third section of the report, on social caring and the
struggle for justice, contains extensive references to, and examples of, John
Wesley's educational and prison work. This was typical of the social
righteousness he sought (Agenda 1988:439-42). Related to this renewed
emphasis was the Mission Alongside the Poor project, which had drawn its
inspiration implicitly as much from Wesley's social inclusion evident in the
work among the poor as from twentieth-century readings of liberation
theology (Agenda 1996:223-37). The character of the twentieth-century
Methodist is in lineal descent from the reformist and humanitarian attitudes
of John Wesley. His example continues to influence the social, political and
economic views of Methodists. What he did and with whom he worked
were more important than the theological and political critique he offered.
Methodist Texts: Holy Writ or Occasional Guidelines?

Since the 1930s there has been no diminution of interest in the writings of
the Wesleys, judging by the publications of Epworth Press. Yet there was a
growing resistance to what was perceived in some quarters to be an obses-
sion with knowledge of the Wesley texts (something which ex-Wesleyans in
particular were wishing to maintain). The earlier emphasis on examination
of familiarity with the Forty-Four Sermons and Notes on the New Testa-
ment gave way to later lip-service under the new Faith and Worship process
required of local preachers, according to which one sermon is selected by the
candidate and questions addressed to that sermon only. In 1936 the
Sunderland West Circuit asked the Conference to publish an abridged edition
of John Wesley's Notes, taking out 'such passages as have no particular
doctrinal content'. This was rejected.
By 1957, interest in Wesley and Methodist origins had declined suffic-
iently to remove Methodist history from the criteria for publication, unless
it could be demonstrated to be 'an important book for Methodist reasons'.
25
By 1972 the Book Room report frankly admitted that 'contributions to

Methodist history have continued to be less numerous than of old' because
there was a 'diminishing Methodist public for publications of purely Meth-
odist interest' (Agenda 1972:523-4). Yet the Book Room and its successors
at Epworth Press were seen as carrying on the work of Wesley whose 'chief
armoury' was the tract. Works such as Baker's A Charge to Keep (1947) and
The Faith of a Methodist (1958) and Colin Williams' John Wesley's
Theology Today (1960) were seen as modern apologies for a distinctive
systematic Methodist theology in a way different from the formal catechisms
of the Church. The Catechism approved in 1986 (revised in 2000 to incor-
porate reference to the 1999 Methodist Worship Book) had rather more
reference to Methodist worship books, hymn-books, the Deed of Union
and Wesley texts. Yet out of sixty-nine questions for which answers and
resources were given, only five refer to Wesley: those dealing with persever-
ance (Q19), Christian Perfection (Q34), the doctrine of the Holy Trinity
(Q64), the existence of the Methodist Church (Q65) and its distinctive
features (Q67).
The debate over the production of Hymns and Psalms centred on the
number of Wesley hymns to be included in an ecumenical and contemporary
resource book. The Committee acknowledged arguments for and against:
'Regarding the Wesley material, the reports have expressed themselves
strongly ... for and against a specific ratio of Wesleyan material' (Agenda
1981:50).
Those who argued for, stressed their fundamental doctrinal and devo-
tional value in upholding Wesley's teaching, giving a sense of identity to the
Methodist movement. Those who argued against, questioned the quality
and usability of such hymns in modern worship. The Committee resisted the
notion of a separate collection of Wesley's hymns. It took the view that
certain hymns should be included to represent the corpus of historical,
devotional and theological treasures which Methodism had contributed to
English religious life. The Bristol Synod went so far as to argue for the
inclusion of 200 Wesley hymns. Others argued for more contemporary
material. In the end a compromise was reached; 154 Charles Wesley and
seventeen John Wesley hymns were included in the 823 chosen. In the
process of revision, 'Methodists were made to realize how much the Wes-
leyan doctrine of Christian Perfection was a distinguishing feature of their
belief which, with sacramental hymns previously neglected, were given a
prominent place' (Watson and Trickett 1988:4). The centrality of Wesley
hymns was preserved against all the odds in the ecumenical and evangelical
climate of the modernizing 1980s.
Interestingly, the Methodist covenant service has, with some liturgical
revision, not only survived but gained in importance as a tool for the re-
dedication and badge of Methodist self-identity. Significantly, the central
26
covenant prayer was used at the Enthronement Service for the Archbishop of
Canterbury in 2003.
We can thus see that the Wesley texts were treated in several different ways:
• as doctrinal standards to be taken seriously or to be afforded lip-service;

• as texts to be reinterpreted;
• as theological resources for contemporary Methodism;
• as historical artefacts to engage the attention of the antiquarian spirit.
While the presence of so many texts or hymns in collections and liturgies is a

record of the importance people with power have placed on them, their use
by the people in the pews or preachers cannot necessarily be guaranteed to
deliver what connexional committees or officers hope to preserve.
Conclusion
This survey, concentrating on published reports of the annual British
Conference and publications of its Book Room, has indicated the following:
• The Methodist Church's dialogue with the Wesleys has been shaped
primarily by the need to rehearse the story of Methodism, celebrated in
events and commemorated in the physical survival of records and sites.
These have sometimes become holy writ and wayside shrines to preserve
the precious memory of the people called Methodists raised up in God's
providential purpose. Latterly they have been used to a greater degree as
tools for evangelism and as means for engaging with contemporary
mission. This interest in Methodism's own narrative, including especially
its 'founding narratives', poses questions about why the Methodist
Church in particular is a story-telling movement.
• The writings and hymns of the Wesleys have often been paid lip-service in
the attempt of the Methodist Church to engage in meaningful theologies
of church, ministries and mission. When reflecting upon social policies
and lifestyle, the time-specific responses of the Wesleys have been even
more problematic. What the Wesleys did has assumed far more impor-
tance than what they thought and wrote. Any theological examination
of how British Methodism has functioned since 1932, then, invites the
reader to ponder why stories about the Wesleys receive more atten-
tion, or at least carry more practical power, than attention to their own
words and reflections. It would be tempting to draw the easy conclusion
that a pragmatic people relates best to concrete tales than the potential
abstractions of theology, or even the poetry of hymnody. However, such
a conclusion would require a more extensive study than has been pos-
sible here.
27
• The clusters of time around the significant celebratory years of 1938 and
1988 boosted interest in Wesley and Methodist studies. Too often
Methodism in the twentieth century was preoccupied with preserving or
hiding its identity (depending on the course of ecumenical dialogue)
or engaging in self-destructive debates and efforts in the key areas of sex
and structures, particularly in the 1990s. The challenge issued by the
material of this chapter is how a more broad-based appeal to the Wesleys,
including but moving beyond reference to their own stories, might be of
use not only to Methodism. Identity formation for Methodists might then
be less of an exercise in defensiveness and more an example in contem-
porary resourcing of the Church in its mission, through the collective,
ongoing experience of the Methodist people.
28
3
Being Methodical:
Theology Within Church Structures
Angela Shier-Jones
Introduction
Pythagoras' theorem may be stated in twenty-four words. The Lord's Prayer
in its traditional English form has only seventy words and Archimedes'
Principle is similarly brief (sixty-seven words). The Ten Commandments
can be listed using 179 words but the millennium edition of The Consti-
tutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church (hereafter 'CPD')
required no less than 225,966 words - to tell us what? This chapter attempts
(in around 5000 words) to explicate at least some of the theology implicit in
the structure and governance of the Methodist Church. CPD is not as long as
the bicentennial edition of the Works of John Wesley (currently fifteen
volumes with twenty more projected), but this chapter illustrates how both
volumes of its content (which together contain the legislative basis of Meth-
odist polity) can none the less be just as informative of Methodist theology.
The tendency to regulate is deeply embedded in the Methodist psyche.
As early as 1743, the Wesleys wrote The Rules of the Society of the People
called Methodists and required a copy to be given to each person joining a
society (CPD 1: 73-5). It was believed that the lifestyle of someone who kept
these rules would be distinctive and clearly recognizable. To depart from it,
wilfully and constantly, was to cease to be a Methodist' (Carter 1937:26).
Today it is CPD which, by The Methodist Church Act, the Deed of Union and
Methodist Standing Orders, defines the characteristic way in which Meth-
odists are called to be Methodists in the world. The theology implicit in the
structures and practices of the Methodist Church can often be explicit in
CPD where these things are defined and detailed.
Rules and regulations are usually made for a reason. In the case of a
church, even if the reasons do not always begin with theology, they almost
always result in theology. There has tended to be a myth in Methodism
that as a result of its much-vaunted 'pragmatism' there is little theology
29
underpinning its structure or governance. This is simply untrue. Meth-

odism's pragmatism has been highly purposeful. The theology lies in the
purpose which motivated the 'pragmatic' creation, implementation or modi-
fication of church polity. A word of warning is warranted, however. There is
no reason to suppose that the particular theological positions which moti-
vated the creation, implementation or modification of a particular Standing
Order, Act or declaration are either evident or still true today. This should
not prevent our looking for the way in which Methodist structures and gover-
nance have helped to carry Methodist theology, but it should act as a
warning about the historical nature of what is uncovered. A particular
aspect of Methodist theology should not be deemed to have been cast in
stone simply because at one time it was codified in CPD.
The Rule of Life - A Theology of Responsible Grace?

In order to attend a Methodist Society meeting in Wesley's day individuals
were required to demonstrate only a 'desire to flee from the wrath to come, and
to be saved from their sins'. It was only if they wished to continue in the Society
that they were then required to give evidence of their desire for salvation
through their growth in grace and holiness. This original entry requirement
was rooted in the early Methodists' conviction of the efficacy of the 'means of
grace' or the 'ordinances of God': the ordinary means whereby God might
channel his preventing, justifying and sanctifying grace. These include public
worship, the ministry of the Word either read or expounded, the Lord's
Supper, family and private prayer, searching the scriptures, and fasting or
abstinence (CPD 1: 75). The emphasis which Methodism traditionally placed
on the necessity of individuals availing themselves of these means of grace has
been interpreted as a theology of responsible grace (Maddox 1994; Runyon
1998). God offers all that is necessary for justification and sanctification, but
individuals must respond by participating in the working out of their salva-
tion. A significant part of that 'working out' is the involvement of the indi-
vidual in the service of Christ in the Church and in the world. Once grace
has been received it should result in action for and with others for the sake
of the kingdom. This was the theological root of the emphasis on fellowship
which has been an enduring characteristic of the Methodist Church.
In the years following the union of 1932 there was a profound change in
the entrance requirements for membership from non-confessional to confes-
sional. It would, however, be a mistake to attribute changes in wording to a
loss of belief in responsible grace. This change to the Methodist constitution,
as with so many around this time, was due to Methodism's need to develop
its theology of the Church. Members needed to be members of a 'church'
rather than a 'society'. The reports in support of this change none the less
continued to insist that membership should be granted only if there was
30
THEOLOGY WITHIN CHURCH STRUCTURES
sufficient evidence of an intent to lead a new life. It is still the case that
before admitting someone into membership the Church Council shall 'be
satisfied of each candidate's sincere acceptance of the basis of membership in
the Methodist Church as shown by evidence of life and conduct, by fidelity
to the ordinances of the Church and by the maintenance of Christian fellow-
ship in the means of grace' (CPD2: S.O. 050). This suggests that although
people are no longer given a 'rule book' when they are received into mem-
bership the concept of an individual 'Rule of Life' as envisaged by Wesley
has not been lost entirely. The Deed of Union now states that 'All those who
confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and accept the obligation to serve
him in the life of the Church and the World are welcome as members of the
Methodist Church' (CPD2: Deed of Union 8).
In practice, the individual's obligation to serve Christ in the life of the
Church and the world is now rarely queried except in terms of attendance at
worship. Methodism continues to teach that members should avail them-
selves of all the ordinances of the Church. However, it is only if members
persistently absent themselves without good reason from the Lord's Supper
and from the meetings for Christian fellowship (usually meaning Sunday
worship) that they are removed as members of the Methodist Church in
accordance with clause 10 of the Deed of Union.
In spite of the loss of emphasis on the individual rule of life, a theol-
ogy of responsible grace continues to be expressed in the wider structures,
worship and discipline of the Church. It takes the form especially of the
efficacy of the means of grace and of the ability of the individual to grow in
grace and holiness.
Mission
The means of grace are inextricably linked to Methodism's understanding
and practice of mission. Responsible grace means that mission is the shared
responsibility of the whole Church. This is the theological motive behind the
connexional principle of the strong supporting the weak, expressed by the
power of the Conference 'to continue, or found, or authorise the founding of,
connexional funds or institutions for the promulgation of the gospel at home
and abroad and for other objects and purposes' (CPD2: Deed of Union 21).
No local church should be prevented, for purely financial reasons, from
participating in mission and providing the means of grace - in particular
the sacraments, worship and fellowship. This is why the Conference is still
responsible for the stationing of all those serving as presbyters and deacons.
The Conference is the only body which can approve the lay authorizations
which are necessary to ensure that no church is deprived of the opportunity
to celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion, a means of grace which is
also believed to be a converting ordinance.
31
A theology of mission and grace underpins almost all the discipline of the
Church. Many Standing Orders exist to ensure that the individual is enabled
by the Church, at all levels of its structure, to fulfil the obligations and
responsibilities detailed on the membership ticket. S.O.634, for example,
details how church stewards are to ensure that all members of that church
can be faithful to the ordinances of the church. They are required to make
certain that 'all services, meetings and other engagements appointed on the
circuit plan in connection with the Local Church are duly held'. The link with
mission may be seen from the fact that they are also to 'see that all necessary
arrangements are made for the administration of the sacrament of baptism'.
S.0.637 similarly details how communion stewards are to 'make provision
for the proper celebration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and for the
holding of love feasts whenever appointed'. Class leaders are given the
specific responsibility of 'encouraging their members to fulfil their commit-
ments as set out on their ticket of membership', namely to make use of the
'means of grace' (S.0.631). Circuit stewards have the responsibility, shared
with members of the Circuit Meeting, to provide for the 'spiritual and
material well being of the circuit' (S.0.531). This corporate responsibility for
mission and spiritual growth is emphasized by the description of the Circuit
Meeting as the 'focal point of the working fellowship of the churches in the
Circuit, overseeing their pastoral, training and evangelistic work' (S.O. 515).
Church Polity - A Theology of the Priesthood of all Believers?

A theology of 'responsible grace', wedded to mission and evangelism,
emphasizes the necessity for full participation of all members in the life and
work of the kingdom and of the Church. Within Methodism this has helped
to foster the belief that certain aspects of what have traditionally been
considered to be solely the prerogative of the ordained are, at least in part,
the shared obligation of all Christians.
According to the Deed of Union, Methodism holds to the doctrine of the
priesthood of all believers. This doctrine is held in tension with the principle
of 'representative selection' and the concepts of 'call' and ordination. The
Church denies that any 'priestly virtue' is conferred on an individual by
ordination, insisting that 'no priesthood exists which belongs exclusively to
a particular order or class of persons' (CPD2: Deed of Union 4). There are
certain tasks which lay members of the Church may not do, according to the
agreed discipline of the Church, but there are none that they cannot do.
Ordination is open to those men and women whose calling by God has been
tested and confirmed by the Church. It is not defined solely in terms relating
specifically or exclusively to presbyteral ministry. Diaconal ministry is an
equivalent ordained ministry, distinct from, but in no way subordinate to,
the ministry of the Word and Sacrament. Nor is ordained ministry confined
32
to the work of the circuit. What was initially known as sector ministry and
described as 'full time ministries in such areas of community life as educa-
tion, industry and the social services whether exercised in organisations
subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist Church or otherwise' (S.O. 740) is a
recognized form of presbyteral ministry.
The Church has proved itself extremely reluctant to define the practical
consequences of its doctrine of the priesthood of all believers in 'priestly'
terms. There is a noticeable absence of 'priestly' language in CPD. When
referred to, the doctrine is almost always described in terms of the ministry
of the whole people of God. The word 'priest' appears to carry negative con-
notations with which the Church, even when viewing the role inclusively, is
uncomfortable. Whether or not this is a part of Methodism's nonconformist
heritage, it applies to almost all traditional 'ecclesial' language. There is no
mention in CPD of 'episkope', for example, only of oversight or pastoral
charge. Similarly, it is Methodism's collegial form that is emphasized, not
its implicit hierarchical structure. This apparent aversion to traditional
ecclesiological language needs to be borne in mind when the theology
resulting from the practical outworking of Methodism's doctrine of the
priesthood of all believers is explored.
The Ministry of the Whole People of God

Ministry is the calling to serve God in the Church and in the world and is
therefore the accepted obligation of all members (CPD 2: Deed of Union 8).
The most common forms of ministry are those concerned with the sacra-
ments, worship, mission and evangelism, and pastoral care. Each of these
forms of ministry is regulated by Standing Orders as a result of being con-
sidered by the Church to be specific callings which can be tested and
'recognized'. Of all these forms, two in particular dominate the Church's
structure and polity, namely mission and oversight.
The original oversight exercised by Wesley over the connexion was
provided for after his death through the formation of Districts. Each District
was led by a preacher, the forerunner to the current District 'Chair', whose
role was defined in 1955 in terms of ministry, evangelism and administra-
tion. 'The prime duty of the Chairman is to further the work of God in the
District ... being especially diligent to be a pastor to the ministers, deacons
and probationers and to lead all the people of the District in the work of
preaching and worship, evangelism, pastoral care, teaching and adminis-
tration' (S.O. 424). Chairmen were not normally 'separated' from their
Circuit ministry in order better to fulfil that threefold role until two years
later, a situation which, for some, continues today.
One reason why the role of the Chair has proved so problematic is that,
theologically speaking, Methodism has considered itself as a connexion of
33
societies and not of regions, i.e. of people, not of places. Although Dis-
tricts may therefore exist to provide 'support, deployment, and oversight of
the various ministries of the Church' (S.O.400A), historically it has been
the Circuit which has acted as the main focus for oversight and mission. The
Circuit is the primary unit in which Local Churches express and experience
their interconnexion in the Body of Christ, for purposes of mission, mutual
encouragement and help' (S.O. 500; cf. Called to Love and Praise 1999:
4.7.4 = Statements 2000:2a. 55).
Local churches are grouped as circuits for their 'mutual encouragement
and help (especially in meeting their financial obligations) in accordance
with directions from time to time made by the Conference' (CPD 2: Deed of
Union 38). The responsibility for oversight of the Circuit lies with the Cir-
cuit Superintendent among whose powers is the right to chair every formal
meeting held in the Circuit. Until restructuring in 1974 this could have
proved a rather onerous task if it were ever attempted. The 1964 edition
of The Ministers' and Laymen's Handbook of Business in Methodist Cir-
cuit Meetings lists no less than ten separate Circuit committee meetings, and
nine local church meetings, each with its own constitution and business to
address. To these would have been added four quarterly meetings which the
Superintendent was obliged to chair.
At the Conference of 1749, the 'Assistants' or Superintendents were

directed 'to hold Quarterly Meetings, and therein diligently to inquire
both into the spiritual and temporal state of each Society, and to send
from every quarterly meeting a circumstantial account to London of
every remarkable conversion, and of everyone who dies in the triumph
of the faith'. (Swift and Sheldon 1964: 9)
Although excessive, the number of meetings is none the less a reflection of

the importance that the Church has traditionally placed on mission and over-
sight. Over the twentieth century there was, however, a steady but noticeable
decline in interest in the spiritual work of the Circuit. The 'business' of the
Circuit meeting now tends to be almost solely concerned with 'temporal
matters'. The number of Circuit committees was drastically reduced in the
1990s when each Circuit was given the authority to decide for itself which
committees it needed to convene 'for the furtherance of the work of the
Circuit and for the effective communication with the District and the Con-
ference in areas of special concern such as world mission and social
responsibility' (S.O. 551).
The focus of attention seems to have moved away from the Circuit and on
to the societies or 'local churches' as they are now called. The change both
of focus and name undoubtedly reflects a change of self-image. Although
officially 'society' and 'local church' are equivalent according to the
34
definitions in the Deed of Union, 'society' is not used anywhere else in the
Deed or in Standing Orders. Methodism today is best described as a
connexion of local churches which sees itself as a part of the Church of
Christ. 'The Church exists to exercise the whole ministry of Christ. The local
church, with its membership and larger church community, exercises this
ministry where it is and shares in the wider ministry of the Church in the
world' (S.O.600).
The development of the sub-structures of the Methodist societies, of
'classes' and 'bands', was a combination of fortuitous accident and eclecti-
cism. The bands were open originally to those who were more earnest in
their desire for salvation. As Wesley developed his understanding of the
doctrine of sanctification, band membership was restricted to those who,
while they might not yet be in possession of the 'full assurance' of their
salvation, were none the less converted. Band membership thus came to be
seen as one of the indicators of the state of holiness attained by a member.
It was the first layer of Methodist structure to disappear. In Wesley's time,
when classes met once a week, it was to enable class leaders to question
their members closely about the current state of their Christian faith and
provide advice and/or reproof as required. Today, classes, where they meet
at all, are more like 'house groups' with less emphasis on confession and
personal spirituality, and more on fellowship and mutual support. The role
of the class leader is also often confused with that of the pastoral visitor,
although they are very clearly distinguished in CPD (S.O.631). The persis-
tence of the class within Methodist structures (in spite of its almost total
demise in practical terms) may perhaps be attributed to its theological
import to the Church. Its total demise might suggest, for example, that there
was no longer an emphasis within Methodism on shared pastoral oversight
or Christian Perfection: the belief that the individual can, and should, con-
tinue to grow in grace and holiness.
An impression of the importance to Methodism of shared pastoral over-
sight may be gained from the fact that class leaders are at the top of the list of
the 'principal officers' appointed by the Church Council. They must believe
themselves called to that role and be prepared to be recognized and com-
missioned at a service arranged for that purpose (S.O. 630). The Pastoral
Committee has the distinction of being the only obligatory subcommittee
of the local church. Its stated purpose is to conduct an annual review of the
membership (S.O. 644). It is the Pastoral Committee, not the minister in pas-
toral charge, which allocates 'pastoral responsibility among the class leaders
and pastoral visitors' (S.O. 631) and which has the authority to remove the
name of a member from the class book, thus bringing that membership to an
end. The only other body with such jurisdiction is a properly constituted
church court of discipline (CPD 2: Deed of Union 10). It is likewise the
responsibility of the Pastoral Committee to put forward suggestions and
35
recommendations for membership to the Church Council and 'to take such
part as the Church Council may require in arranging training for mem-
bership' (S.O. 644).
The local church's societary origin had resulted in three distinct meetings
jointly, but not necessarily amicably, governing the church. The leaders'
meeting had spiritual oversight of the church, being composed originally
of the travelling preachers, the society stewards and the class leaders. The
trustees' meeting, on the other hand, was charged with ensuring that the terms
of the Trusts, upon which the Methodist property was held, were complied
with. These two committees were amalgamated in 1974 to form the Church
Council, the overall governing body of the local church. The third meeting,
once regarded by Wesley as being 'peculiarly adapted to the spiritual ad-
vancement of the members of his societies', was the Society meeting which
then became the General Church Meeting (Swift and Sheldon 1964:45). This
still has the responsibility of electing the church stewards and representatives
to the Church Council and enquiring into the work of God in the church.
It should therefore be evident that within Methodism there is a real min-
istry of the whole people of God rather than a simple sharing in the ministry
of the ordained. This is emphazised by Methodist structures which not only
define but also provide the means whereby those who are called may share in
proclamation, mission and evangelism, and pastoral oversight.
The Authority of the Church

No one can understand British Methodism who does not recognize the
central position and authority of the Conference. This body exercises a
determinative influence over every part of the life of the Methodist
Church. Its authority is very great and gives to the life of Methodism as
a whole that sense of cohesion which finds expression in the term 'the
Connexion'. (Agenda 1975:5)
The annual Methodist Conference originated in the desire of Wesley to

'confer' with his fellows on matters of doctrine and pastoral oversight of the
Methodist societies. Its purpose was to provide Christian fellowship and
support theological enquiry. It was not initially envisaged as a substitute, or
supplementary, form of government of the united societies. As Wesley made
clear, 'I myself sent for these, of my own free choice; and I sent for them to
advise, not to govern me. Neither did I at any of those times divest myself of
any part of that power above described, which the Providence of God had
cast upon me' (Minutes 1766: 61). Wesley came to realize that it was, none
the less, the only body which could effectively govern the connexion after his
death. Through the Deed of Declaration in 1784 he gave authority for one
hundred preachers to be the supreme legislative body of the connexion. These
36
were chosen so 'as to provide a complete cross-section of the Methodist

itinerancy' (Baker 1965:245). The Conference was thus transformed from
'acting like a "chapter" for the itinerant "order of preachers"' for informal
conversation upon the work of God into the governing body of the connexion
charged with the oversight of doctrine, discipline and membership as well as
of the body of preachers (Called to Love and Praise 1999:4.2.2. = Statements
2000:2a. 34).
The Deed of Declaration was a theological as well as a legal document, as
the reasons for the rapid division of Methodism so soon after Wesley's death
makes evident. It assumed a theology of church governance which was
largely dependent upon a very different understanding of ministry from that
which Wesley's extensive use of the laity had engendered. It excluded those
who were not preachers from the decision-making process and was, ulti-
mately, unable to ensure that the Conference would remain representative
even of a cross-section of the ministry. 'Representative', accountable, church
government for the Methodist Church as a whole came only after almost a
century of secession. No other single theological issue in its history has
had - and promises to continue to have - the same impact. As Scott Lidgett
reflected, 'The controversies which led to the various secessions turned
exclusively upon either general or particular disagreements in regard to
church government. The rights and responsibilities of the ministry on the
one hand and of the laity on the other, the powers of Conference as
representing the whole church and the local liberties of particular churches,
were the main subjects of controversy' (Lidgett 1909:419). In 1932 the
Deed of Union attempted to define the nature and composition of the united
Conference in a way which it was hoped would address these issues. The
'special authority' of the Legal Hundred of Wesleyan Methodism was
removed. The task of providing continuity for the Conference passed to an
agreed number of Conference-elected representatives. The main 'represen-
tative' session of the Conference after reunion comprised equal numbers of
lay and ordained members; something which was changed in 1998 to a
minimum of one-third lay and one-third ministerial.
Initially a separate Ministerial Session of Conference dealt almost exclu-
sively with matters of ministerial training, oversight and discipline. These
powers were greatly reduced in 1989 with the introduction of a new cate-
gory of 'shared business' requiring the concurrence of both sessions. Final
authority on almost all matters now rests with the Representative Session
of Conference. Finally, in 1998, the Conference recognized the change in
Methodist theology regarding the nature of ordained ministry and intro-
duced a Diaconal session with equal status and authority to that of the
ministerial session.
The constitution of the Conference after 1932 allowed the Church as
a whole to practise one of the Conference's initial purposes - to confer.
37
Memorials from circuits and resolutions from districts may be sent direct to
the Conference. This provides a means whereby local church members, in
agreement, can question, guide and direct some of the Conference business.
The Conference is required to enquire theologically about matters that are of
local as well as national concern. This emphasizes connexional fellowship
and accountability and also ensures some variety in its discussions. Ninety
memorials and suggestions were submitted for consideration by the 1933
Conference, a figure indicative of the normal level of input. In 2000, for
example, 113 memorials were received. Somewhat perversely, the practice
of sending memorials has, over time, had the effect of increasing the
Conference's perceived authority. Questions are now raised at connexional
level which can result in policy or doctrinal decisions and judgements which,
theoretically at least, affect the entire connexion.
The Deed of Union defines the Conference's powers in general terms as:
'The government and discipline of the Methodist Church and the manage-
ment and administration of its affairs' (CPD2: Deed of Union 18). This
includes the power to make, amend or revoke any Standing Order, rule
or regulation, and to station ministers, deacons and probationers. It is the
fact that 'The Conference shall be the final authority within the Methodist
Church with regard to all questions concerning the interpretation of its doc-
trines' (CPD2: Deed of Union 5) which ensures that the Conference stays at
the centre of Methodism and is prevented from degenerating into a purely
administrative body.
This power now rests in far fewer (albeit more representative) hands than
initially envisaged. The Conference has reduced in size, from 900 in 1932 to
only 384 at the close of the century. Restructuring in 1974 and again in
1996 increased District representation first to 72 per cent and then 80 per
cent of the voting membership. An implicit theology of the Holy Spirit oper-
ates within this aspect of the practical outworking of the theology of the
priesthood of all believers. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit
that the Conference is able to guide the work of the Church and to exercise
authority over it.
This is powerfully expressed in the 1976 Methodist Church Act which gave
to the Conference for the first time the ability to make changes to the
doctrinal standards clause of the Deed of Union. Previously only Parliament
could change this section of the Deed. The Act was not uncontested by some
within the Methodist Church who feared that the very basis of reunion would
be undermined by this new freedom of the Conference (Brake 1984: ch. 5).
In its final form, however, the Act only allows for changes to be possible after
an initial resolution of the Conference carried by a 75 per cent majority,
followed by 'full consultation down to and including the local church level'
and confirmation at the Conference two years later by a similar majority.
It was believed that such safeguards would allow for the working of the
38
Holy Spirit throughout the whole of the Church, to effect a realistic

consensus prior to any serious modifications to 'Methodist Doctrine'. Confi-
dence in the Conference's ability to arrive at a 'correct' interpretation of
Methodist doctrine on subjects as diverse as exorcism, ethical investments,
infant baptism and abortion thus now hinges on a trust in the operation of the
Holy Spirit to affect the heart and mind of the Conference. 'The Methodist
Church, pointing to its own origins, and to Scripture, holds to the conviction
that the Holy Spirit leads the Church to adapt its structures as it faces new
situations and new challenges' (Statements 2000:2a. 57).
Conclusion
In 1976 the Methodist Church Act was passed which defined the purposes of
the Methodist Church as follows:
4. Purposes. The purposes of the Methodist Church are and shall be

deemed to have been since the date of union the advancement of -
a) The Christian faith in accordance with the doctrinal standards
and the discipline of the Methodist Church;
b) any charitable purpose for the time being of any connexional
district, circuit, local or other organisation of the Methodist
Church;
c) any charitable purpose for the time being of any society or
institution being a society or institution subsidiary or ancillary
to the Methodist Church;
d) any purpose for the time being of any charity being a charity
subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist Church.
(CPD 1:10)
For legal reasons, it was insufficient to state that the purpose of the
Methodist Church is to advance the Christian faith and engage in charitable
works. These things have to be undertaken in accordance with a specifically
'Methodist' ethos which is somehow derived from Methodism's doctrinal
standards, structures and discipline. As a result, the Methodist Church's
purposes can seem, at least in part, self-fulfilling; Methodist discipline exists
to serve purposes which are largely dependent on that selfsame discipline for
their definition. On the other hand, as has been shown, there is a theology in
the rules which helps to define the structures which support and uphold the
Church. It cannot be called a comprehensive theology, and it is certainly
incomplete, but it may well be peculiar to Methodism and its 'methodical'
approach to a life of faith.
It is a theology which is characterized above all by a dependence on God's
grace. This exhibits itself as:
39
• An emphasis on proclamation and mission. It is by grace that we are

saved and enabled to seek out and avail ourselves fully of the means of
grace that God has provided.
• A theology of responsible grace. Once we have experienced the grace of
God at work in salvation, we are responsible for responding to it. This
means working out our salvation by our willing participation and
involvement in the work of the kingdom.
• An emphasis on the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Growth
in grace and holiness cannot be achieved in isolation - it is a communal
task and hence the driving motivation for the way in which the Church
is structured and governed the way that it is. Grace cannot be reserved.
It is the gift of God for the people of God. It is not surprising therefore
that a church which has chosen to emphasize grace should also (inadver-
tently - or perhaps by grace) evolve an order and structure which carries
this implicit emphasis.
40
4
Theology Through Social and Political Action
David Clough
Everyone knows that Methodists have traditionally opposed alcohol and

gambling. Most Methodists in the UK know that their church has been
involved in practical action and political campaigning on a wide range of
other issues, from NCH (previously National Children's Home) to the anti-
apartheid movement. The social and political action of the Church has
clearly been an important part of its life, with a strong relationship to the
beliefs of Methodists. What can we learn about the theology of Methodists
from the social and political projects they have chosen, and the way they have
pursued them?
In this chapter I argue that the way in which Methodists in the UK
have engaged in social and political activism since the union of the Church
in 1932 is crucial for appreciating how they understand the nature of the
Church, its mission and the Christian life. Should the Church be concerned
only with how it conducts its own affairs, or should it concern itself with
how local communities and nations order themselves? Does the good news it
has to share end with bringing new members into the knowledge and love of
Jesus Christ, or does this gospel have implications for the social conditions
in which people live? And should Christians be concerned more with their
own holiness, or with working to make the lives of others easier?
Since 1932, the range of social and political issues addressed by the Meth-
odist Church has been wide and diverse, including the sale and consumption
of alcohol, Sunday observance, welfare policy, war and peace, refugees,
gambling, industrial relations, issues of race relations at home and abroad,
sexual ethics, nuclear disarmament and domestic and international issues of
poverty. Concern about many of these issues resulted in charitable activities,
and required political action alongside or in place of church-based initiatives.
Recognizing the ongoing commitment of Methodists to social and polit-
ical action begins to point to how the Church understands its nature and
mission. Taking note of the kinds of issues the Church has involved itself
with, however, indicates much more about Methodist theology, and chart-
ing the changes in the concerns of the Church since 1932 suggests how
41
Methodists have developed in their theological commitments. A survey of

the Agenda of the 1932 Wesleyan Conference provides a snapshot of the
social concerns of the Church at the time. The new department set up to re-
flect on social affairs is named Temperance and Social Welfare', and this
title gives a clear indication of the importance the uniting churches ascribed
to the issue of limiting the sale and consumption of alcohol. The Conference
also gives attention to what activities are suitable for the Christian observ-
ance of Sunday, as well as concerns about betting and gambling. The 'Coal-
fields Distress Fund' is noted, which was set up to relieve poverty among
Methodists in mining areas. Wider concerns are evident in the refusal of the
Conference to allow military training on Methodist school grounds, as well
as statements about welfare policy, unemployment and world peace. Other
reports show the widespread involvement of Methodists in caring more
directly for those in need, through the city missions, foreign missions, Prisons
Committee and National Children's Home.
One issue that illustrates the change in Methodist attitudes over the
seventy-odd years since the union of 1932 is how the Church has treated the
topic of alcohol. Long before then, members of the branches of Methodism
had been active in the temperance movement, and this activity continued in
the years following union. Efforts were targeted especially at young people,
and the Christian Citizenship Movement asked them to sign pledges to
abstain from alcohol. As early as 1943, however, Liverpool District sent a
memorial to the Conference asking that 'Temperance' be dropped from the
title of the 'Temperance and Social Welfare' Department. The Conference
rejected this suggestion, and other memorials during this period assert the
continued importance of temperance. Seven years later, however, in 1950,
the Conference approved changing the title to the 'Department of Christian
Citizenship'. An accompanying report stressed the continuing importance
of the issue of temperance alongside other concerns, and it continues to be
reported on regularly. A further ten years later, in 1960, Temperance Sun-
day was renamed Christian Citizenship Sunday. In 1967, temperance ceased
to be one of the main headings under which the Department of Christian
Citizenship undertook its work, and in the same year the department decided
to disband the Order of Christian Citizenship with its pledge. The report of a
Commission on Methodism and Total Abstinence in 1972 recorded that only
30 per cent of ministers said that they were total abstainers, concluded that
there were merits in both the abstinent and non-abstinent positions, and
suggested that alcohol should be seen in the context of other drugs issues. The
1987 report to the Conference, 'Through a Glass Darkly', took a further step
in rethinking attitudes. It charted the social and health costs of alcohol
consumption, and advocated either total abstinence or 'responsible drink-
ing'. Alcohol consumption, however, remains a live issue for the Church.
This may be seen in the narrow defeat of a proposal at the 2002 Conference
42
THEOLOGY THROUGH ACTION
to allow alcohol to be served with meals for external conferences at West-

minster Central Hall.
The shift of attitudes on alcohol is mirrored in other issues associated with
what was once called the 'Nonconformist Conscience', in particular gam-
bling and Sunday observance. In both cases strict attitudes evident at the
time of union were gradually weakened in the decades that followed, in line
with shifts in attitudes among the British population generally. Thus in 1964
a proposal was presented to the Conference to allow dancing and non-
monetary games of chance on church premises, and in 1965 the tradition of
reflecting on issues of Sunday observance on Low Sunday each year was
abandoned. The 1965 Conference showed a narrower concern about alcohol
in recommending a law against driving under the influence of alcohol, but
was more exercised by setting aside the requirement for divorcees to show
penitence in order for them to be church members, and by reflections on
disarmament and apartheid in South Africa. The liberalizing of attitudes to
sexual ethics evident here is representative of other decisions in the same
period. Examples include a contribution to the Royal Commission on Mar-
riage and Divorce in 1957 approving reform of the law to make divorce
easier, agreement with the Wolfenden Report in 1958 that homosexual acts
should no longer be a criminal offence, rethinking opposition to contra-
ception in 1961, and support for the legalization of abortion in 1968.
It is important to recognize that none of these issues can be reduced simply
to a concern for standards of personal conduct. Alcohol was a real social ill
during the times when the temperance movement was at its height, with
families going hungry for want of money spent on beer. Winning abstinence
pledges was in many cases an important means of relieving economic hard-
ship, and the relationship between alcohol consumption, crime and ill-health
remains significant. Campaigns against gambling were similarly aimed at
enabling money to be spent on more urgent needs, and the recent alliance
between trade unions and churches to restrict Sunday trading indicates that
concerns for Sunday observance, too, had a social dimension. None the less,
taking together the moves to relax standards in relation to alcohol, gambling,
Sunday observance and sexual ethics, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that
over a long period and on a broad scale Methodists have been placing
progressively less emphasis on traditional standards of personal conduct.
Looking more closely at a second issue, the work of the Church in relation
to issues of poverty, provides further insight into developments in Methodist
social and political action since 1932. As with alcohol, the Church had a
long history of concern and action on the issue. Robert Wearmouth details
the influence Methodists had in the trade union movement and in the begin-
nings of the Labour Party, and this political involvement continued in the
decades after union (Wearmouth 1957). The work of the urban missions,
pioneered by Hugh Price Hughes and others, also continued after 1932, and
43
the Agenda of the first Conference after union (1933) contains reports from
missions in Bermondsey, Birmingham, Bolton, Bradford, Bristol, Glasgow,
Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Salford and Shef-
field. The National Children's Home was already active in 1932 and has
remained a key part of the mission of the Church ever since, and Methodist
Homes for the Aged began in 1945. The Coalfields Distress Fund of 1932 is
followed by other initiatives in response to particular instances of economic
hardship, such as a fund for refugees from Germany in 1939, which was
succeeded by a wider Refugee Fund, and then the Methodist Relief Fund,
which had an international remit. Methodists later collaborated with others
in the projects of the World Development Movement and Christian Aid.
More recently, the Church has been involved domestically in the urban
project Mission Alongside the Poor, which pre-dated the Anglican Faith in
the City initiative. Among broader issues of social justice, the British
Methodist Church has shown particular concern for race relations. South
Africa featured in Conference reports as early as 1952, and remained a
regular concern in the following decades, to such an extent that in 1971
complaints were made to the Department of Christian Citizenship that
South Africa was receiving too much of the department's attention. Domes-
tic issues of racism have been a frequent concern since the 1960s.
In contrast to the significant shifts in standards of personal conduct such
as alcohol, gambling and sexual ethics, the social and political action of the
Church in relation to poverty represents a substantial commitment that has
been continuous throughout the past seventy years. Indeed, this engagement
with society stands in continuity with the history of the Church from the
Wesleys onwards. Since 1932, Methodists have refined their methods of
tackling problems of economic disadvantage, such as by recognizing the
importance of working alongside those in need rather than setting up
projects 'for' them. But the commitment to addressing poverty and other
social justice issues both directly and by campaigning for political change is
consistent and impressive. Since the level of attention given to issues such as
alcohol and gambling has been reducing for some time, continued strong
emphasis on social justice issues means that they now have a relatively
greater importance for the Church than in 1932. Methodists are now likely
to be less interested in whether they drink alcohol or buy lottery tickets, and
more interested in social justice issues such as racial discrimination, relief of
the debt of countries of the two-thirds world, or fair trade.
In 1935, the Christian Citizenship Movement of the Methodist Church
published an affirmation aiming to mark 'a way of discipleship and embody
a Rule of Christian life and work for the complex circumstances of our time'
(Agenda 1935:470). Part of the affirmation was a parallel set of 'Personal
Resolves' and 'Social Aims'. The 'Personal Resolves' are commitments the
members of the movement make in their individual lives; the 'Social Aims'
44
are commitments to work in the wider world. Thus under the heading
'Peace', members agree to 'accept Christ's way of peacemaking in every rela-
tionship' as a personal resolve, and to work for 'the repudiation of war by
the nations' as a social aim. Similar sections treat issues of work, money,
gambling, temperance, family life, and leisure and worship. This affirmation
recognizes that discipleship requires an understanding of holiness with
personal and social dimensions, which accords with earlier traditions of the
Church from the Wesleys onwards.
My contention is that in the years since this affirmation was written, the
Methodist Church in the UK has changed its emphasis from this balance
between attention to the personal and the social, to a clear preference in its
proclamation for issues of social holiness and justice. There are two ways in
which we could interpret this change. First, we could say that the Church
followed broader social trends, becoming more liberal in social attitudes,
and softening its previously strict line on personal behaviour in relation to
alcohol, gambling, and issues of sexual morality such as divorce and abor-
tion. This is a picture of a Church either that does not believe there should
be significant differences between the behaviour of those within the Church
and those outside it, or it does not believe it is realistic to expect members of
the Church to behave differently. We might point to the decline of the class
meeting as contributing to this change in expectations about what the
Church will look like: without small group meetings of this sort, sustaining
church members in lives that are at odds with society is very difficult indeed.
A second, and more positive, interpretation of the shift of attention
towards social issues in this period is that it shows the Church deciding to
engage with the world. Previously, much of the Church's address to society
was negative and critical, based on its members' observations of the con-
sumption of alcohol, involvement in gambling and behaviour on Sundays.
Many working for change in the Church during these years believed that
outdated church attitudes were impeding its mission, and that the Church
had to alter its approach to social issues in order to be taken seriously by
those outside. This is a picture of the Church grappling with changed times,
and recognizing the necessity of recasting its message in the light of them.
We might also note in this context that a focus on social issues does not
mean individuals escape demanding choices about how to conduct their
lives. Recognizing the need to campaign against apartheid in South Africa
required similar or greater fortitude and commitment as campaigning for
temperance had required in earlier days. Personal holiness is not neglected,
then, but understood as requiring a different kind of discipline: instead of
looking inward to reflect on how to keep separate from the vices of the
world, we look outward to engage with and change it.
I suspect that both of these interpretations have a role in understanding
the shift of emphasis towards social issues by the Methodist Church since
45
1932. The Church is not separate from society but part of it, and therefore
the Church is inevitably affected by broad shifts in national opinion. In days
when temperance and strict observance of Sunday became less attractive to
the nation as a whole, it became harder for the Church to sustain an unfash-
ionable witness. For many in the Church, however, changing the character
of the Church's social and political agenda was not accommodation to social
trends, but part of the mission required by these new times. If the Church
had frozen its social policy in 1932, it would have been giving up on its
responsibility to speak to the society to which it belongs.
We can gain three key insights about Methodist theology from the devel-
opments in this period I have outlined. First, the engagement of the Church
with the world outside its doors suggests that the Church retains its orien-
tation towards an Arminian view of salvation, rather than a Calvinist one.
John Wesley opted for the Arminian view that human free will was com-
patible with the sovereignty of God. This led to the affirmation that 'all can
be saved' against the Calvinist view that God has predetermined an elect
group for salvation. These theological doctrines have a direct impact on the
way the Church engages with the world. On the Calvinist view, the actions
of human beings cannot change the decrees of God, so the focus of the
Church becomes living faithfully as the elect of God. On the Arminian view,
everything is at stake in the mission of the Church: all can be saved, and so
the Church has a responsibility to be active in doing all it can for those
outside the Church. The Methodist Church continues to see its mission in
this latter, Arminian, perspective.
The second insight about the nature of Methodist theology which we can
draw from its social and political action is allied to the first. In its mission to
the world outside it, the Methodist Church remains committed to the view
that concern for the souls of those it meets cannot be divorced from concern
for their social and economic welfare. This was the case from the beginnings
of Methodism, when setting up schools, homes for widows, and even access
to loans, were natural responses to the needs of those encountered by the
Church. The kingdom of God has consequences for how society is ordered,
and Christians contribute to the realization of the reign of God by working
for just societies that provide for those who are in need. This aspect of Meth-
odist belief accords with commitments of liberation theologians that the
Church must concern itself with social justice, and Methodist theologians
have been closely identified with liberation theologies in Latin America.
The third insight is that the social and political activism of the Methodist
Church reveals its optimism about what may be achieved by human efforts
in association with divine grace. There would be no sense in all the social
and political activity of the Church if its members did not believe that this
activity had the potential to make a difference in the world. On a personal
level, the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian Perfection expressed the belief that
46
sanctification could lead to genuine change in the life of the Christian. The
engagement of the Church with the world about it shows that the Church is
optimistic about such change in a social context, too. Working to enable the
reign of God is not merely a Christian duty, but expresses a belief that such
action can contribute to real improvements in the lives of those in need.
I began this chapter by suggesting that taking note of the social and
political activity of Methodists in the UK since 1932 would reveal aspects of
how they understand the nature of the Church, its mission and the Christian
life. My conclusion is that the brief survey I have presented above indicates
that Methodists are committed to the idea of a public church, its social
mission, and a corporate vision of the Christian life characterized by action:
• A public church: British Methodists are not content to belong to an

inward-looking 'holy club' but retain a belief that the Church has an
important contribution to make in the shaping of public life, by reflecting
together on social and political questions, and seeking to communicate
the results of these reflections to those outside the Church.
• A social mission: Alongside evangelism, the commitment of the Church
to 'spread scriptural holiness through the land' (CPD 2: Deed of Union 4)
continues to include working to improve the economic and social con-
ditions of those in need, through direct intervention and campaigning
for political change, and the Church retains an optimism about what
may be achieved by human efforts in co-operation with the grace of God.
• A corporate Christian life of action: There is a clear shift in the British
Methodist Church during the twentieth century away from concern with
alcohol, gambling and Sunday observance, and towards broader issues of
social and economic justice. Taken together with the liberalizing of
attitudes on issues in sexual ethics such as abortion and divorce, this shift
indicates a decreasing emphasis on earlier conceptions of personal holi-
ness and more focus on engaging with society, with greater attention to
the social dimensions of what it means to be a holy people.
47
5
Theology Sung and Celebrated
Judith Maizel-Long
Introduction
The twentieth century saw unprecedented social, technological and cultural
change in Britain and the wider world. Methodism has had to negotiate the
resulting challenges, and changed and was changed in the process. All of this
is well documented in Methodist worship.
Hymns have generally had greater significance for Methodists than have
service books. If you ask a Methodist about the incarnation of Christ, you
will often hear the reply, 'Our God contracted to a span' (H&P109), or
about the work of Christ: 'Died he for me, who caused his pain?' (H&P216).
Successive hymn-books were the way in which Methodists learned Christian
doctrine, expressed the liturgical response of the congregation in public wor-
ship, grounded their daily devotions, and grew in faith and understanding.
The annual Methodist Prayer Handbook suggests that they still be used in
daily devotions (e.g. Cradle of Life 2003). Hymns have been at the heart
of Methodist worship and spirituality. As John Wesley had hoped in the
introduction to the 1780 hymn-book, the hymns have constituted a 'little
body of experimental and practical divinity'. Hymns and hymn-books have
been loved, highly valued and actually used. To cite an example: I have in
my possession an edition of the 1933 hymn-book in small print on India
paper, small enough to fit into a cigarette case and still leave room for some
cigarettes. It still smells of tobacco from the Yorkshire soldier who carried it
in action.
For some denominations, one may confidently write a theology on the
basis of authorized liturgies. In British Methodism, most Sunday worship is
not formally liturgical. Worship in Methodism is authorized through being
led by authorized persons. The majority of services are led by local preachers,
a minority by presbyters (ordained ministers) and, latterly, by worship
leaders (who are not authorized to preach). Methodist deacons do not preach
unless they are also local preachers. All of these authorized persons may write
their own prayers, pray extempore, or use published material. Consideration
48
THEOLOGY SUNG AND CELEBRATED
of such material must therefore allow for the fact that although authorized
texts set out norms and standards, and though other sources are used, printed
material represents only a part of the pattern of worship.
At Methodist Union in 1932, the Methodist Church was preparing to
produce a hymn-book and a service book for the new united denomination.
There was considerable diversity for the new denomination to include, from
the liturgical character of the Wesleyans, to the free and extempore style of
the Primitive Methodists. The typical Sunday diet of worship in a Wesleyan
Methodist Church was a printed order of Morning Prayer, one of the Meth-
odist revisions of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer of 1662,
with sung canticles, psalms and a sermon. This service was aimed at the
existing membership of the Church. On Sunday evening there was normally
an evangelistic preaching service with hymns and popular choruses, such as
those by Sankey or van Alstyne (Turner 1998: 51; George 1996). In contrast,
Primitive Methodists avoided the use of books of liturgy, on theological
and evangelistic grounds. It was believed that the Holy Spirit's immediate
inspiration was more authoritative than reading a service from a book. The
ability to pray extempore was widely regarded as the sign of the work of
the Holy Spirit in the heart of the preacher. The preacher who invariably read
prayers from a book was viewed with suspicion, as lacking in authenticity.
They also did not wish to discriminate against the large number of their wor-
shippers who had limited reading skills, prior to the introduction of universal
compulsory primary education in 1880. Of course, free and extemporary
worship often falls into rigid patterns of its own. Nevertheless, the Primitive
Methodists had published a service book by the end of the nineteenth
century, as had the United Methodist Free Churches and the Bible Christians
(Turner 1998:51). British United Methodist worship had a style between the
Wesleyans and the Primitive Methodists.
Extempore prayer continues to be a characteristic of Methodist worship.
Successive worship books have gone out of their way to state the importance
of the tradition of free prayer (BoO: 7; MSB: Preface; MWB: viii). Never-
theless the regular practice of extempore prayer appears to have declined in
Methodism during the twentieth century.
In this chapter, evidence concerning the theology of Methodist worship
will be taken from three worship books, and three hymn-books, published
between 1904 and 1999. These are the Book of Offices of 1936 (BoO),
the 1975 Methodist Service Book (MSB), the Methodist Worship Book of
1999 (MWB), the Methodist Hymn-hook of 1904 (a joint production of the
Wesleyan Methodists, the Methodist New Connexion and the Wesleyan
Reform Union), the Methodist Hymn Book of 1933 (MHB) and Hymns and
Psalms from 1983 (HStP). (Hymns and Songs, a supplement to the MHB,
was published in 1969 and was widely used, but was replaced by Hymns
and Psalms).
49
Evidence from the Hymn-books

The continuities and changes evident in the three hymn-books of 1904, 1933
and 1983 are illuminating in showing developments in the self-understanding
and principal concerns of Methodism, as may be seen by a comparison of
their arrangement.
Trinitarian theology permeates all three hymn-books, yet there are
different emphases. If we measure the significance of a topic by the number
of hymns in that section of the hymn-book, the Holy Spirit is emphasized
least in 1904, and grows steadily in significance until full expression of the
Spirit's co-equal personhood within the Trinity is witnessed in 1983. This
reflects parallel developments in academic theology and in the charismatic
movement, movements one might not have imagined would together move
the Universal Church, not only British Methodism, in the direction of deeper
exploration of the doctrine of the Trinity (e.g. Wainwright 1980; Moltmann
1981; Gunton 1991). A further example of the development of Trinitarian
theology may be seen in the attributes of the first person of the Trinity. 'The
Father' is not elaborated separately, nor are the Father's attributes listed
separately, until 1983.
A major change demonstrated in these hymn-books between 1904 and
1983 is the disappearance of the separate sections on 'Death', 'Judgment'
and the 'Future State'. Hymns and Psalms includes these hymns in its final
section 'The Church Triumphant', and hymns about judgment in the sec-
tion 'Christ's Coming in Glory'. These changes may reflect the questioning of
Christian doctrine during the twentieth century, often attributed to the mass
slaughter of the World Wars, in bringing into question the doctrine of the
so-called Tour Last Things': death, judgment, heaven and hell.
By the late twentieth century, the dominant theological issue for the
Methodist Church appears to be 'What does it mean to be the people of God?'
The greatest difference between Hymns and Psalms and all the preceding
Methodist hymn-books is its different theological focus. Salvation was the
main concern of the Church in the earlier Methodist hymn-books. In 1983,
there is a tripartite order of 'God', 'World' and 'God's People'. The focus of
Hymns and Psalms is thus on the Church, not on salvation. The 'Christian
Life' remains highly significant, but does not predominate. In 1983, the focus
is on ecclesiology - what it means to be God's People. The answer sug-
gested by the organization of the hymn-book is that for God's People the
agenda is Mission, Unity, Witness and Service. Although ecclesiological in
focus, then, the structure indicates that the Church exists for the world.
Salvation thus remains in view, but is approached more corporately, and
more through respect for the existence of the Church as a body: worship-
ping and witnessing.
50
Evangelism appears to decrease in priority during the century. The hymns

in Wesley's 1780 hymn-book were set out with evangelism as the organizing
principle and starting point: 'Exhorting sinners to return to God'. Admit-
tedly, the 1904 hymn-book starts with God, and begins the pattern of setting
out the hymn-book as a systematic treatment of Christian doctrine. But the
rationale of the 1780 hymn-book had been to be the handbook of a religious
revival, whereas all twentieth-century hymn-books are handbooks for Chris-
tian life within the Church. Nevertheless, the importance given to evangelism
fades during the twentieth century. The section The Gospel Call' decreases
between 1904 and 1933, and in 1983 shrinks further, being divided between
the subsections 'Conversion and Commitment' and 'Mission and Unity'.
Evidence from the Worship Books

The Liturgical Movement
It may be difficult for us to grasp, at the beginning of the twenty-first
century, the influence of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) of 1662 on
all Christian worship in the English language for the next three hundred
years. John Wesley had provided a revision of it primarily for the Methodists
of America, which was also used by Methodists in England (Wesley 1784).
With the Authorized Version of the Bible (also known as the King James
Version) published in 1611, these two books provided a dignified and poetic
English which shaped public worship in all churches in the English-speaking
world. During the twentieth century, the grip of these powerful influences
was largely overthrown - and one of the forces of change was the Liturgical
Movement.
The Liturgical Movement has had a great impact on the worship of
mainstream churches in Britain during the twentieth century, and caused
many of the changes in Methodist worship (Jones et al. 1986). Especially
from the mid-twentieth century onwards, scholars and liturgists participat-
ing in liturgical revision went back beyond the BCP and the Reformation to
models of worship of the Early Church for inspiration. There was consider-
able attraction in creating modern language services drawing from texts
which pre-dated by centuries the historical schisms of the Church into East
and West, Protestant and Catholic (MSB: Preface).
BoO had shown early signs of the impact of the Liturgical Movement in
Methodism. Its authors stress that they are drawing on the whole range
of Christian tradition in the provision of its forms of service. 'The wealth of
liturgical devotion which is the noble heritage of the universal Church has
been largely used, and forms of worship belonging to the East and to the
West, to ancient times and to more modern days, have all been explored to
enrich these pages' (BoO: 7).
51
The style and atmosphere of Holy Communion, often referred to in

Methodism as the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, has shown enormous
changes. The first order for The Lord's Supper or the Holy Communion' in
BoO follows closely the Book of Common Prayer in adopting a heavily
penitential tone. The minister and people were expected to kneel for almost
the entire service, and the chief emphasis was the memorial of the death
of Christ. This service was used in its entirety largely within churches of
Wesleyan heritage. In other Methodist churches, the second and shorter
order was more widely used. It was most frequently added at the end of a
Sunday preaching service. Customarily, there was a break after the last
hymn of the service, during which many of the congregation departed. Often
only a handful stayed. In contrast to the pattern followed generally up to the
1960s, the MSB and MWB both draw on the Liturgical Movement's very
different emphasis on celebration and joy, shared by the whole congrega-
tion. Compilers of Hymns and Psalms, seeing that this wider register of
moods and meanings in Holy Communion had been present in earlier Meth-
odist tradition, included a larger number of Charles Wesley's eucharistic
hymns. Methodist worship is now able to explore the whole range of differ-
ent theological themes to be found in the service, such as those of the
heavenly wedding feast of the Lamb, and the transforming power of the Holy
Spirit (e.g. H&P:614, 602). Further features of the influence of the ecu-
menical context upon Methodist Communion practice are the increased
frequency of celebration, from once a quarter to once or twice a month, and
the question of participation by children in Holy Communion.
A greater awareness of the importance of the Church Year is also a
consequence of the Liturgical Movement's influence, and has changed the
character of Methodist worship. It is now rare for a service not to show
some awareness of the Church season, even if the lectionary readings for a
given Sunday are not used. This is particularly the case for Advent and Lent.
In many places, attention is paid to the seasonal colour with regard to church
banners and pulpit falls, as well as the clothing of the minister, preacher,
or leader of worship. The greater sense of the varying moods of the seasons
has led to the development of seasonal services of Holy Communion in
the MWB, which also states the appropriate colours for each Sunday of the
Church Year. From the later twentieth century, commentators observed that
we are moving into a more visual and less verbal culture. May not more
appreciation of the symbolic nature of colour better equip our message to be
understood in the present age? The introduction of ecumenically agreed
lectionaries has radically affected the worship and preaching in the Meth-
odist Church, linking it into the days and seasons of the Church Year, and
providing for systematic expository reading and preaching of Scripture.1
The Liturgical Movement has thus led to essentially 'Free Church' pat-
terns of worship being transformed by 'ecumenical' norms sourced in the
52
historic patterns of the early centuries of the Church. It is important to

understand that the Liturgical Movement does not refer to the past for its
own sake, but as a means of growing into greater mutual understanding of
Christian traditions, and for the unity of the Christian Church.
The language of worship

Considerations about the use of language in worship relate to broader
cultural changes. Two developments are especially noteworthy in the period
1933 to 2000: the modernization of language and the issue of inclusion and
exclusion.
'Thou' and 'thee' and their related verb forms had hung on in liturgy and
prayer for more than two hundred years after having been dropped in
standard English, due to the continuing influence of the BCP and the
Authorized Version of the Bible. English poetry held on to 'thou' and 'thee'
rather longer, but no major poet used these forms after the First World War.
Arguably, the churches did not fully respond to the issue of using contem-
porary English, however, until towards the end of the century. The Methodist
Conference held a vigorous debate as late as 1974 regarding the propriety
of using 'You' rather than 'Thou' to address God (Turner 1998:55). The
MSB included the 1936 Service of Holy Communion partly in order to
satisfy those who preferred that particular form of address (MSB: B41-B58).
With regard to the modernization of language in broader terms, the MWB
offers a traditional language option for three key texts for worship: the
Lord's Prayer, the Prayer of Humble Access and the Covenant Prayer (MWB:
156-7, 288-90). In general, however, within the necessary constraints of
poetry and the liturgical context in which its texts are used, the MWB has
modernized the forms of English used.
Worship in British Methodism has also changed in response to questions
arising out of the different stages of development of the movement for the
equality of women during the twentieth century. Early evidence is found in
the equality of the vows of marriage partners in the BoO, where the promises
and vows are identical for the man and for the woman. The ordination of
women as ministers was discussed by the Methodist Church from 1933
onwards though not agreed until 1971 (Statements 2000:1. 95-100). The
actual presence of women presbyters cannot itself be said to have directly
affected the language of worship, but the fact that discussions about the im-
plications of women and men being made in God's image (cf. Genesis 1.27)
were happening could not but bear fruit in the longer term.
Explorations along such lines began in the Methodist Church in debates
on drafts for the MSB in 1975. The women's movement and the World
Council of Churches had begun to discuss issues of exclusive and inclusive
language. If men and women are both full members of the congregation,
53
why is it addressed as 'brethren', and why are Christians always 'he'? If male
and female are both created in God's image, why is God always spoken of as
masculine? Such questions were raised (e.g. by Pauline Webb when a WCC
Vice-President) though they received scant attention and support in the
Methodist Conference. However, growing numbers of men and women
noted the oddity of such phrases as 'We pray ... that we may rightly use
your gifts to set men free from drudgery and want' (MSB:B8).
By the time of the planning for Hymns and Psalms, the Hymn-book
Committee agreed the principle of inclusive language, and emendations were
made. The heading of H6tP section I, for example, became 'God's Being and
God's Majesty'. Further debate on the issue within the Methodist Church
was referred to the Faith and Order Committee, which in 1992 produced the
report 'Inclusive Language and Imagery about God' (Statements 2000:2b.
462-90). Small steps towards the implementation of the recommendation of
the report have been taken, not least in the MWB, though even these have
not occurred without considerable debate.
There is a pattern of development of language and style and theology
through the century, paralleled in the worship books of other major British
churches. Each of the Methodist worship books had an Anglican parallel.
The Church of England Prayer Book proposed in 1928 was rejected by
Parliament as being a revision which favoured the Catholic wing of that
Church. Its Methodist parallel, the Book of Offices, met with wide accep-
tance, even though the marriage service is very similar to the Anglican
Prayer Book of 1928, and some quotations from the Apocrypha are included
in the service for the Burial of the Dead. The MSB is paralleled by the
Church of England's Alternative Service Book of 1980 in its use of modern
English, and both follow the same ecumenical lectionary. Both of these have
been criticized for using unpoetic English. The MWB was closely followed
by Common Worship (2000). Both might also be described as 'postmodern',
because they contain many more options than do any of their predecessors,
suggesting the value of being able to choose from a range of liturgies. There
have been parallel service books published by the United Reformed Church
and the Church of Scotland, in which similar styles have been adopted at
similar times.
Theological shifts in the worship books

When considering the theology of the hymn-books, we noted a shift from
Jesus-centred to Trinitarian emphases. A parallel change may be seen in the
services of Baptism. In 1936, the prologue emphasizes the bringing of
believers' children to Jesus. The reason for the rite of baptism is that it is the
explicit command of Jesus. The baptismal services are moved to the begin-
ning of the MSB, are headed 'Entry into the Church', and emphasize baptism
54
as the rite of entry into the Church. This is indicated very clearly by the
opening prayer: 'Heavenly Father, we thank you that in every generation
you give new sons and daughters to your church' (MSB:A6). The MWB
begins with neither Jesus nor the Church, but with baptism as the gift of the
Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, to which we are called to respond
(MWB: 63). The service of infant baptism in the MWB clearly expresses the
prevenient grace of the Arminian theology embraced by the Wesleys.
Prevenient grace, although a characteristically Methodist doctrine (Tabra-
ham 1995:33-5), is not stressed in the baptism services of 1936 or 1975.
However, it is made explicit in the service of 1999, in the words addressed to
infant candidates for baptism: 'N, for you Jesus Christ came into the world
... all this for you, before you could know anything of it' (MWB 1999: 92-3).
The doctrine of assurance is also considered a Methodist emphasis. The
doctrine indicates that Christians may know, in the present, by the inner
witness or reassurance of the Holy Spirit, that their sins are forgiven and that
they are reconciled with God (Townsend 1980: ch. 3; Turner 1998:43-4).
While present in the hymn-books in such a hymn as 'Blessed Assurance, Jesus
is Mine', the doctrine's presence in Methodist liturgy is less clear. It is argu-
ably present most clearly in the BoO Service of Holy Communion, though it
has disappeared from view in the MSB and the MWB. Perhaps such a doc-
trine cannot find easy expression in the formal language of liturgical worship.
In the funeral services of all three worship books we find a unanimity in
the emphasis on the great mercy and compassion of God. The BoO empha-
sizes those biblical texts which assure us that God is merciful and compas-
sionate, 'not willingly griev[ing] or afflict[ing] the children of men', and
'lov[ing] us with an everlasting love'. This emphasis on our loving God who
wills the salvation of all is also found in the later funeral services (MSB: B5;
MWB: 469). These services do not mention hell, and there is only one pass-
ing reference to judgment (MWB: 474). Arminian theology emphasizes the
loving and faithful character of God.
A distinct change between the earlier and twentieth-century theologies
and attitudes to human beings may be seen in a tension between the two
Holy Communion services found in the BoO. The first of these follows the
BCP very closely, with a heavy emphasis on sin and repentance. The second,
shorter order for Holy Communion stresses rather the mercy of God and the
saving work of Christ.
The single order for Holy Communion in the MSB introduces a new note
of joy and celebration, emphasizing the anticipation of the heavenly feast.
In 1975, the congregation is no longer told to kneel, as in the BoO, but rather
to stand for the Thanksgiving (Eucharistic) prayer, as they are in the MWB.
It is difficult to determine whether the decline in availability and use of kneel-
ers affected the liturgical direction, or vice versa. In practice, most Methodist
churches gave up the use of kneelers in the pews, and congregations sit to
55
pray, except at the communion rail, where kneeling is still the predominant
pattern. At any rate, the change of stance expresses a change of attitude and
mood in worship. The final prayer in the 1975 book expresses the new
attitude to eucharistic worship: 'We thank you, Lord, that you have fed us in
this sacrament, united us with Christ, and given us a foretaste of the heavenly
banquet prepared for all mankind/people' (MSB:B17; MWB: 194, 197).
The widening of participation, and the inclusion of children, is a clear
corollary of the doctrine of prevenient grace. Developments in the celebra-
tion of Holy Communion during the twentieth century have tended to make
the service more joyful, thankful and celebratory, in the context of an eschat-
ology of hope for all creation (Wainwright 1971).
In the changing ways of celebrating the Lord's Supper over a seventy-year
period, a number of factors are at work. The estimate of human beings as
essentially 'wretched sinners' is being challenged. Human beings are viewed,
rather, as people made in God's image who have indeed sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God, but whose situation is hopeful thanks to all that
God has done in Christ, and continues to do through the Holy Spirit at work
in the world and in the Church. This particular theological emphasis is the
fruit of theological and biblical scholarship in our time, which is not so much
in sympathy with the pessimism about the human condition inherited by
most of the Western Church from St Augustine of Hippo. Recent Wesley
scholars have come to recognize that John and Charles Wesley were greatly
indebted to the Greek Fathers of the Church, who had a more hopeful
estimate of the human condition, and of God's intentions to redeem the
whole creation in Christ than that generally held by the Western Church (e.g.
Kimbrough 2002).
Key theological issues

At first glance, the BoO looks very much like the BCP in its language and
forms. A celebration of Holy Communion according to the Book of Offices
in a Methodist church in 1960 would have used language closer to 1662 than
to the language actually being spoken in society in 1960. The MWB seems to
be more different in six decades than the former appears in three centuries.
The Methodist Church has shown itself willing to change on grounds of
mission - to make clear the Christian message in words which speak in the
present age. Methodism affirms that culture, context and society change, and
the expressions of Christian faith in worship must change also. It may not
have changed quite as fast as society is currently changing, nor as fast as some
other denominations. Yet British Methodism has not forgotten Charles
Wesley's urging to serve the present age, and indeed, never to stand still until
Christ's kingdom comes. In the changes to hymnody and liturgy during the
56
twentieth century British Methodism follows the theological principles of

Christian mission. It has endeavoured to enable the worship and the message
to be in the language and culture of late twentieth-century Britain.
We have traced some key changes in moving away from the BCP and its
theology which was dominant for so long among English-speaking Protes-
tants. Turning away from Reformation models of worship has liberated
Methodism from a theological emphasis which goes back through Cranmer
and Luther to St Augustine, on the essential sinfulness of human beings who
should approach God only in penitence. This interpretation was in tension
with the understanding of grace which John Wesley received from Arminius,
is expressed in the hymns of Charles Wesley, and derives, as we have noted,
from the more hopeful estimate of human nature found in the Greek
Fathers. The Eastern tradition follows the emphasis of St Paul that the New
Creation is already begun in Christ, and that therefore we may approach the
worship of God with joy and celebration, in anticipation of all that God
intends to do in bringing all things to completion in Christ.
Letting go of the BCP tradition has been assisted by the growth of a new
vision of unity in Christ, of which the closely linked ecumenical and
liturgical movements are a part. The BCP and Authorized Version of the
Bible tended to anchor Methodist self-understanding in the English-speaking
Protestant parts of the Christian Church. In contrast, the ecumenical and
liturgical movements working together in the twentieth century are a new fac-
tor in theology - working towards and in anticipation of the unity of the
Christian Church as a whole. Methodist theologians tend to think of Meth-
odism on an ecumenical map, no longer only on the Protestant map of the
Christian family, as we can see in services in the MWB which offer a Meth-
odist angle on wider traditions of Christian worship, such as healing and
renewal services, and services for Holy Week and Easter.
One of the paradoxes of letting go of the influence of the BCP is that
Methodism has rediscovered the importance of Trinitarian theology, and the
Arminian emphases such as prevenient grace, assurance, sanctification, and
Christ as the universal Saviour. These doctrines which are central to the
theology of the Wesleys are generally more prominent in the MWB than in
either the BoO or MSB.
Methodist theology has become less centred on evangelism, and the pil-
grimage of individual Christians, and more concerned with being a church,
a body of people exploring what it means to be the People of Christ in the
world. It has also returned to some original emphases of the Wesleys. The
Wesleys had drawn on a wider range of Christian traditions than those of
Reformation Protestantism. As twentieth-century Methodism has learned to
see itself on the wider map of the Christian Church, it has reaffirmed some of
the key emphases it inherited, and rediscovered them in the new context and
cultures of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century.
57
Conclusion
The emphases of British Methodist theology as evidenced through its
twentieth-century hymn-books and service books may be summarized thus:
• Trinitarian theology.
• Being the People of God in the world.
• Salvation, grace and assurance.
• An ecumenical outlook through consciousness of being part of a
Universal Church.
• Exploration of eucharistic theology.
• Men, women and children made in the image of God.
• Salvation and grace.
Notes
1 Joint Liturgical Group (JLG) 1 (two-year lectionary) followed by the MSB, the
Church of England Alternative Service Book (ASB) of 1980. JLG 2 (four-year
lectionary) followed by the Methodist Church 1992 to 1999, and the Revised
Common Lectionary (since 1999) which has been adopted by several world com-
munions, including the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Reformed
and Methodist.
58
6
Theology as Interaction:
Ecumenism and the World Church
Richard Clutterbuck
Introduction
A hallmark of British Methodism is its commitment to a theology of inter-
dependence. Methodism has distinctive emphases in theology, as is made
clear by other chapters in this book. Nevertheless, it has never seen itself as an
independent school of theology. It has been self-sufficient neither in matters
of theology, nor in liturgy. Rather, it has been aware of its interdependence
with other churches and traditions. At least in British Methodism, it has been
common to observe that John Wesley was himself an eclectic theologian,
weaving from the diverse sources of the Christian tradition a theology and
practice appropriate to his own situation. Twentieth-century British Meth-
odism has not been afraid to develop its worship and theology by borrowing,
adapting and sharing the theology and liturgy of other communions. Simi-
larly, it has offered other churches its own insights and traditions.
This chapter justifies and illustrates this statement by presenting evidence
from two areas. One is that process of dialogue and common action known
as the ecumenical movement. The second is the developing experience of
living as part of a World Church. Both are especially prominent in the period
since the union of British Methodism. Even in these two areas only a sample
of the evidence can be shown, as they cover immense issues and a wide range
of material. As well as official conversations with a number of other
churches, the theology of Local Ecumenical Partnerships and the theological
significance of the presence in Britain of many Christians from the Carib-
bean and West Africa could, for instance, be considered. Rather than attemp-
ting to be comprehensive, this chapter concentrates on the specific area of the
theology of the Church and its mission. Even so, there is only the opportunity
to offer samples from the rich range of available material. What is offered is
a series of snapshots that illustrate rather than exhaust the theme. We look at
three pictures of British Methodism developing the theology of the Church in
59
ecumenical interaction. In the second part of the chapter, drawing largely on

the successive reports to the annual Methodist Conference of the Methodist
Missionary Society and the Methodist Church Overseas Division, we look
at the changing relationship between British Methodism and those over-
seas churches that began as its missions and grew into autonomous partners.
These different aspects of theological interaction cannot, of course, be kept
apart; ecumenical and world Methodist relationships inform each other.
Compared with other chapters, this section has a stronger focus on the
contribution of individual theologians and church leaders. There are two
reasons for this. One relates to my subject matter. The ecumenical move-
ment, especially in the mid-twentieth century, was influenced by a number
of individual leaders. British Methodism, for all its ambivalence about giving
great weight to individuals, was no exception. The other is more practical:
given such a small amount of space to survey such a huge subject, focusing
on individuals is one way of representing the whole.
Theological Interaction Through the Ecumenical Movement

Ecumenical interaction in theology is hard to quantify. It takes place in
many ways and at different levels. Formal conversations, conferences and
reports are only a small part of a process that takes place more commonly
through informal contacts, reading and writing. But written reports and
records, though rarely exciting, do make this interaction clear. The official
statements of British Methodism's annual Conference, as well as the publi-
cations of its theologians and the sermons of its preachers, have shown a
willingness to embrace insights and methods from other Christian traditions.
The World Council of Churches, and its precursor in the pre-war Faith and
Order Movement, represents a small - though significant - part of British
Methodism's theological interaction. The inspiration for the various move-
ments that eventually came together in the WCC was the great Edinburgh
Missionary Conference of 1910, presided over by the leading ecumenical
figure of the day, the American Methodist John R. Mott. In two of these
movements, the Faith and Order Movement and the International Mission-
ary Council, British Methodists, and Methodists from overseas Districts of
the British Methodist Church, played important roles, influencing both the
theology of the ecumenical movement and the theology of their own
churches. The eventual formation of the WCC in 1948 owed a great deal to
the recent and traumatic experience of war in Europe and the rest of the
world. Its subsequent development, however, reflected the post-colonial
world of independent nations and the shift in the centre of gravity of the
Christian world from the North of the globe to the South.
The word 'interaction' in the title of this section is important because it
enables us to see the theological relationship between British Methodism
60
ECUMENISM AND THE WORLD CHURCH
and the ecumenical movement as a two-way process. While, as we shall

see, the Methodist Church has been influenced by the theology emerging
from ecumenical encounter, it has itself exercised a powerful influence on
the development of ecumenical theology. This is particularly the case in the
understanding of the nature of the Church.
Our first snapshot of this ecumenical interaction comes from the years
immediately following Methodist union. From the 1920s to the 1950s,
Robert Newton Flew (New Testament scholar and Principal of Wesley
House, Cambridge) was involved in the international Faith and Order Move-
ment and (after its formation) the World Council of Churches. The influence
of ecumenical theology may be seen in his important work Jesus and His
Church and in the 1937 Conference Statement on The Nature of the
Christian Church, to which Flew made a substantial contribution. The 1937
statement on the Church, which served until it was superseded by Called to
Love and Praise in 1999, contains a robust exposition of Methodist ecclesi-
ology, claiming it to be faithful to the thrust of New Testament teaching on
church and mission. There are typical Methodist emphases on the continuity
of Christian experience, the gift of the Spirit and on the universal mission of
the Church to preach the Gospel, serve the poor and bear witness to the
kingdom. The assertion that 'The true catholicity of the Church may be
found in its mandate and its task' (Statements 2000:1.17) is a succinct
summary of what is distinctive in the Methodist tradition. The Statement
includes a denial that any one approach to church order and ministry can
claim exclusive warrant from the New Testament. It also includes a vigor-
ous resistance to the idea that episcopal succession is either a necessary or
a sufficient condition for the Church's faithfulness to the apostolic mission.
Yet the statement also shows a willingness to engage with issues raised in
ecumenical discussion about the Church, and clearly sets Methodist self-
understanding within the context of a world of many Christian traditions.
It pays attention to the issue of Methodism's continuity with the Chris-
tian tradition as a whole and it addresses the question of the catholicity of the
Church in a situation of denominational pluralism. There is an explicit
acknowledgement that Methodism is part of a pattern of separate denomi-
nations that can be, at best, only a partial reflection of God's gift of unity.
The Methodist Church, like other world-wide communities within the

one Church, cannot be content with the present broken communion of
Christendom. Not one of these communities can legitimately claim to
be the whole of the catholic Church on earth. Neither are those separate
communities analogous to the local 'church' in primitive Christianity.
Today the Church of Christ on earth means all the believers in whatever
community they are found, who confess Jesus as Lord, to the glory of
God the Father. We acknowledge that all the communities which make
61
this confession and maintain it among their members, whether the

Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Eastern, Lutheran, Reformed, Presbyter-
ian, Anglican or Free churches may humbly claim to belong to the Body
of Christ. (Statements 2000:1.26)
The other side of the equation is that Flew was also an important influence
in the ecumenical sphere. For example, he contributed chapters on both
Methodist and Roman Catholic ecclesiology to the volume which he edited
on the nature of the Church, prepared for the 1952 Lund Faith and Order
Conference (Flew 1952). This theological interdependence is especially
important, coming so soon after Methodist union in 1932. Perhaps the
emphasis on relationships with the wider Christian Church helped to reduce
concentration on the lingering issues between the different Methodist
traditions which entered into the union.
A second glimpse of British Methodism's relationship to ecumenical
theology comes from the 1960s. To read the documents prepared in 1967 to
1968 for the ill-fated scheme of Anglican-Methodist union is like opening
a bundle of love letters from the days of high passion in a relationship that
has now dwindled to a more distant friendship. The scheme, which fell short
of the required majority in the Church of England Convocations and Gen-
eral Synod, was a detailed proposal to unite the churches in two stages,
beginning with the reconciliation of ordained ministries and full commun-
ion (Turner 1985: ch.10). It still represents the most thoroughgoing piece
of theological interaction between the British Methodist Church and an
ecumenical partner.
In 1946 the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, preached an
influential sermon on Christian unity, during which he called on the Free
Churches to take the historic episcopate into their system. British Methodism
gave a more positive response to this proposal than other Churches, demon-
strating again its willingness to embrace episcopacy, as it had in agreeing to
the formation of the Church of South India. The unity conversations them-
selves, and the many local and regional discussions that took place as the
proposed scheme for unity was debated, brought Methodists and Anglicans
into greater appreciation of each other's traditions. Although the Confer-
ence twice approved the unity scheme by a large majority, there were those
(Colin Morris and John Vincent among them) who argued that it repre-
sented a misplaced emphasis. Questions of church order were taking priority
over the Church's call to work for the values of the kingdom of God. This
sceptical voice represents an important strand of Methodist theology, with
its strong emphasis on mission and kingdom priorities.
Throughout the 1960s, this interaction and debate on issues of church,
mission and unity continued to occupy a great deal of Methodist attention.
In 1964 the Nottingham Faith and Order Conference provided a vivid
62
illustration of this. This gathering committed the non-Roman Catholic

Churches of Britain to work for visible unity by 1980. On the one hand, this
commitment was influenced by the progress already made by the Anglican-
Methodist conversations; on the other, the commitment was taken very
seriously by Methodists in theological thinking and action. The founding of
the ecumenical Queen's College, Birmingham, was both a fruit of this inter-
action and a means of seeking to ensure that future generations of Methodist
and Anglican ministers would have an ecumenical theological formation.
Not everyone in British Methodism was happy with the more catholic
approach of the Faith and Order Movement. Reginald Kissack traces the way
in which contact with the ecumenical movement has changed the ecclesiology
of the Methodist Church (Kissack 1964). This is from what he calls a 'left-
wing' emphasis on the Church as Christ's gathering-together of believers,
to a 'right-wing' vision of the Church as a universal, consistently ordered
communion. It is a trend he does not entirely endorse. Writing in the mid-
1960s, he argues that Methodism has its own tradition of ecumenical
commitment, based on its Arminian openness and its doctrine of Christian
Perfection. He is sceptical of what he sees as a tendency for the Methodist
Church, in its relations with episcopal churches, to seek sacramental respect-
ability, rather than to offer a missionary response to the needs of a secular
world. In this he reflects another aspect of WCC theology in the 1960s, the
more radical voice that spoke of 'The Church for Others' and 'The Mis-
sionary Structure of the Congregation'.
Finally, we look at a much more recent encounter. In 1982 the WCC Faith
and Order Commission published Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, a
document that set out a broad ecumenical consensus on these often conten-
tious issues. The British Methodist theologian Geoffrey Wainwright (whose
own early work, Eucharist and Eschatology, had been inspired by attending
a Faith and Order Conference as a youth delegate) chaired the editorial
process for the final text. 'BEM' (as the document has become known) was
sent out to churches around the world for a process of reception. It sought
recognition that the historic Christian faith and practice was expressed in
this text. It also asked churches for an indication of the changes that this
recognition might prompt. The British Methodist response was in broad
agreement with BEM, despite raising a number of critical points (Statements
2000:2b. 412-29).
In 1999, the Conference adopted a new statement on the nature and pur-
pose of the Church, Called to Love and Praise (Statements 2000:2a. 1-59).
This text seeks to offer an account of 'the nature of the Christian Church
in Methodist experience and practice'. However, it shows a church drawing
consciously on the insights of the Ecumenical Movement. The relationship
of the Church to the trinitarian life of God - prominent in recent ecumenical
discussion - is evident here also. In particular, Called to Love and Praise
63
adopts many of the insights and much of the language of BEM. The empha-
sis placed on the Greek word koinonia (communion or fellowship) in the
discussion of what it means for a church to maintain the apostolic tradition
is a case in point. The personal, communal and collegial aspects of ordained
ministry is a second example.
The above examples show a church theologically committed to dialogue,
partnership and unity. The distinctive Methodist way of approaching this
involved an emphasis on mission: for both proponents and opponents of
unity schemes issues of faithfulness to God's mission were central.
Theological Interaction through Relationships with

Partner Churches
The Church of South India
An appropriate way of linking the two concerns of this chapter is to con-
sider the inauguration of the Church of South India in 1947 - a landmark in
the history of the Ecumenical Movement. For British Methodism it repre-
sented a twofold initiative. On the one hand, it was the pioneer of church
unity schemes bringing together episcopal and non-episcopal churches into
a new communion. On the other, it was the first post-war example of an
overseas British Methodist District ceasing to be dependent on the British
Conference. Publications from that time make it evident that Methodism in
Britain found the Church of South India an exciting and prophetic devel-
opment. For example, Marcus Ward (a British Methodist serving on the staff
of the United Theological College, Bangalore) compared the cautious
editorial of the Church Times with the extremely positive assessment of
the Methodist Recorder (Ward 1953:45). Its theological impact on British
Methodism came in a number of ways. It underlined the connection between
the search for unity and the credible mission of the Church. It suggested that
ways could be found of overcoming the historic barriers between churches -
especially in such areas as ministry and oversight. It led the way in bring-
ing together the liturgical riches of a number of traditions. It also began to
make people aware of a question that would come into greater prominence
towards the end of the twentieth century: What would it mean for the Chris-
tian Church to take on a form that is authentically Indian but is also
appropriately catholic?
From missionary colonies to world church partnerships

While the phrase attributed to Wesley, 'the world is my parish', may have
become a cliche, it points to an important theological affirmation: there
are no geographical limits either to the gracious action of God or to the
64
missionary calling of the Church. The Methodist Missionary Society (MMS,

which still exists as a legal entity, although now operating under more
contemporary titles) has always been an integral part of the work of the
British Methodist Church. In 1932 British Methodism presided over an
'empire' of overseas Districts, each of which was accountable to the British
Conference. At the time of writing only one dependent overseas District
remains, all others having become autonomous. The reports of the Mission-
ary Society (and, later, the Methodist Church Overseas Division) chart the
development of new relationships between 'home' and 'overseas' churches,
and set out fresh theological insights into the nature of the Church and its
mission. It is a movement that may be summarized as 'from paternalism to
partnership' and 'from conflict to co-operation'.
The MMS reports in the years immediately following the Second World
War suggest a mood of anxiety and even bewilderment as they look for
'signs of the times' among rapidly moving world events that include the
communist ascendancy in China, the independence of India and the moves
towards independence in Africa. Their language often draws on battlefield
imagery to speak of a war on forces of chaos and unbelief - and even on
other religions. It is a theology of church against world.
The 1960s brought in new personnel and introduced new insights. These
were based, in part, on the major consultation with overseas partners which
took place at Skegness in 1961. This was the first attempt to bring together
representatives of all the churches founded through the work of British
Methodism. It was contextual theology in action, asking how the Church
and its mission should respond to the 'wind of change' blowing through the
post-war world. The doctrine of the incarnation, as the report makes clear,
was its theological basis:
Christ Jesus is the incarnation of God - God in our flesh - and the
Church which is His is built into the body of international life
inseparably: it too is an incarnation. It therefore has fallen to this
decade when 'freedom' is the watchword in a hundred languages for
Methodism to face the question which the Nations face; regional,
cultural, independence. (Thompson 1962: 59)
It is a theme echoed by a further consultation later in the same decade.

Emphasizing the ministry of the whole people of God, a contributor insisted
that, 'Every act of evangelisation, in the biblical sense of verbal procla-
mation of the Gospel, must be rooted in that of being in the world, in loving
solidarity with people' (Connexional Overseas Consultation 1967:49).
The appointment of Jamaican-born Philip Potter (a future General Secre-
tary of the World Council of Churches) as a secretary of the MMS signalled
an openness to theological leadership from outside the United Kingdom.
65
This was theological interdependence on a world scale. It began a trend,

later formalized in the 'World Church in Britain' programme, and led to a
theology of humility and openness. Colin Morris, writing in 1974 as General
Secretary of the newly formed Overseas Division, declared: 'the question ...
is not "Have we the resources to teach others what we know of Christ?"
but, "Have we the grace to receive what he wishes to teach us through
Christians who, in many languages and a bewildering variety of church-
manship, proclaim him as Lord?"' (Agenda 1974:50).
Such a language of partnership was not confined to Methodist churches.
Two of the best-known Church of England mission writers, Max Warren
and Stephen Neill, also produced short books on a theology of partnership
in mission during the 1960s. In the same decade the autonomy of overseas
Methodist churches began to accelerate, in parallel with the independence of
African and Asian countries from British rule. The tone of the MMS reports
in this decade is optimistic, seeing the hand of God in the rapid development
of independent nations, with fresh opportunities for partnership in mission
and service. 'The Advancing Kingdom' was a typical heading in the report of
1965. The Church is now seen as co-operating with the work of God in
human freedom and development.
The report to the Conference in 1963 took as its theme 'Inter-Church
Relationships'. It noted the beginning of the formal conversations between
the British Methodist Church and the Church of England, and put these into
the context of the Conference's network of worldwide Methodist and
ecumenical relationships. They are, it says, 'not concerned with the British
Methodists becoming part of the Establishment; they are parallel with
other negotiations elsewhere and are concerned with the localised English
life of two world communions. Any other approach is marred by spiritual
"imperialism"' (Agenda 1963:269). The same page emphasizes a charac-
teristic Methodist concern for effectiveness in mission to be at the heart of
ecumenical progress: 'It is beautiful for Brethren [sic] to dwell together in
unity. It is even more beautiful when they crusade together in unity.'
A changing theology of mission

The reports to the Conference, especially during the 1970s and 1980s, sought
to educate British Methodism by presenting the changing face, and the
changing theology, of Christian mission. Those written by Colin Morris
during his tenure as General Secretary must rate as outstanding pieces
of popular theology. The method of this theology often includes stories -
a narrative theology that looks for concrete expressions of God's mission.
It also involves theological reflection on the events and movements of the
contemporary world. The content of that theology is rich and varied. It em-
braces theologies of giving and receiving, encounter, and education. There is
66
a growing recognition that the need for mission is universal and that British
Methodism is engaged in mission overseas partly to serve its mission at home
more effectively. (The existence of separate Home Mission and Overseas
Divisions was often lamented, on the grounds that Christian mission is
essentially one.) These separate arms of the Church did, however, enable
different aspects of the theology of mission to develop: the more 'evangelical'
theology of Home Missions and the more 'radical' theology of the Overseas
Division. Much of this radical theology emanated from the World Council of
Churches. In 1973, for example, the report to the Conference highlights the
questions raised at the famous 'Salvation Today' conference organized by the
WCC in Bangkok and the new emphasis on 'world mission' rather than
'overseas missions'.
The changing theology of mission struggled to find continuity in the midst
of change, seeking, for example, new ways of talking about the role of
missionaries:
the missionary is one embodiment of God's way of showing humanity
the things that belong to its peace - Divine truth enfleshed in human
personality, the Gospel mediated through loving personal encounter,
the fusion of message and messenger. (Agenda 1978:35)
While these Conference reports were not read by all Methodists, the
theological emphases and methods they expressed found their way into
more popular publications (appearing, for example, in the magazines Now
and Facets), publicity material (on posters displayed in churches) and
educational initiatives (in filmstrips and videos).
Theology Through Interaction: Some Summary Comments

Theology does not live in books and reports; it lives in the practical business
of Christians being the Church. It is therefore important to point to some of
the concrete effects of the process of theological interaction that this chapter
has described. Here are some examples:
• Worship that reflects ecumenical interaction Whereas earlier Methodist
liturgies (orders of service authorized by the Conference) owed a great
deal to the Book of Common Prayer, both the Methodist Service Book of
1975 and its successor the Methodist Worship Book of 1999 show the
influence of ecumenical interaction.
• Sustained commitment to ecumenical action British Methodists have
been heavily involved in Local Ecumenical Partnerships (LEPs) and in local
groupings of 'Churches Together'. At the national level, in spite of several
damaging setbacks, the Methodist Church continues to initiate conversa-
tions aimed at developing greater links with its ecumenical partners.
67
• Ecumenical training for ministry Almost all training for presbyteral and
diaconal ministry takes place in ecumenical settings, not merely out of a
pragmatic desire to use scarce resources, but from a stated policy of
training ecumenically to enhance Methodist ministry and to contribute
to unity.
• The partnership of prayer From being a means to pray for British
missionaries overseas, the Methodist Prayer Handbook (e.g. Cradle of
Life 2003) is now the means for praying for God's mission throughout
the world, including Britain, and for praying for mission partners to and
from Britain.
• The impact of returned missionaries and mission partners The exchange
of personnel has been both the cause and the expression of theological
interaction. Particularly in the 1950s to 1970s, those returning from
overseas service became theological resources at national level in the
connexion, in Circuit ministry, in training institutions and as lay members
of committees and churches.
Three conclusions may be drawn from all of this about how British
Methodists do their theology:
1 Theology is undertaken through encounter and dialogue - with other
denominations, other world churches and people of other faiths.
2 Theology entails discerning 'the signs of the times', being sensitive to the
work of the Spirit in the world, and to the resistance to the Spirit of God in
world events.
3 Theology takes place through story-telling, about individuals, churches
and cultures.
Four conclusions may be drawn about the resulting content of the
theology of British Methodism:
1 The unity of the Church is rooted in the mission of God to reconcile the
world in Christ and is expressed through common sharing in that
mission.
2 Methodist theology is not an independent tradition. Methodists seek a
theology able to express the inevitable interdependence of all Christians.
3 Methodism sees ecclesial order and structure as theologically important,
but contingent on the mission imperative in any situation.
4 The theology of mission is crucial in Methodism, but has devel-
oped in a number of specific ways since the 1930s:
• From images of war and conflict with other faith communities to a
sense of respect for what God is doing in and through them.
• From mission primarily as evangelism and the spread of Christian
influence, to a sharing in all that God intends for human wholeness.
68
From an implicit theology of mission as a task primarily entrusted to

the Western churches, to a theology of partnership in mission. This is
not simply political expediency, but an expression of the centrality of
mutual dependence, and of 'bearing one another's burdens': to be
expressed and developed through sharing of resources in both
directions, giving and receiving.
69
7
Facets of Formation:
Theology Through Training
Martin Wettings and Andrew Wood
When the Methodist Conference met in Newcastle in June 1973 the agenda
was dominated by connexional restructuring. Commenting on a Confer-
ence of dull debates in sweltering heat, the Methodist Recorder reported:
'Never did so many listen to so few', under a subheading 'Humidity 1, Con-
ference 0'. One issue, however, almost brought the Conference to life:
a debate on memorials critical of Doing Theology', the doctrine textbook for
local preachers, published in 1972. The controversy ran for several years,
demonstrating that training material could be deeply provocative as well as
indicative of the implicit and explicit theology of the Church. This chapter
offers snapshots of the training offered to four groups during the twentieth
century: Sunday School pupils and teachers, candidates for church member-
ship, local preachers, and candidates for the (presbyteral) ministry. It seeks
to draw out the theology communicated by, or underpinning, the schemes of
training and formation organized by the Church.
'Remember the Children': From Teachers and Pupils to

'Partners in Learning'
Locally and nationally, enormous resources were devoted to the Christian
education of children and young people through Methodist Sunday Schools.
The newly united Methodist Church in the 1930s claimed over one million
pupils in Sunday Schools, supervised by an army of almost 200,000 teachers.
Numbers fluctuated until the 1950s, then fell steeply to about 300,000
young people in the 1990s (Turner 1998:70). The Church was active at a
connexional level in providing teaching material for Sunday Schools and in
offering initial and further training for teachers. Local work was therefore
supported by a vast apparatus of publishing, lesson preparation, summer
schools, training courses and expert advisers funded by the connexion.
70
THEOLOGY THROUGH TRAINING
Three aspects of Sunday School work may be noted here, each having
a bearing on the formal communication of Methodist theology. First, a
pattern of ecumenical co-operation was established well before 1932 in the
setting of the Sunday School syllabus and the preparation of lesson material,
and this continued throughout the century. Methodists played a full part in
the British Lessons Council (BLC), developing material from the Inter-
national Sunday School Lessons (Cliff 1986:210). The BLC worked on a
three-year syllabus until the late 1960s, when it unveiled a new syllabus,
'Experience and Faith', and a new teaching resource, Partners in Learning.
This ecumenical or non-denominational approach gave Sunday School mate-
rial a broadly Protestant or Free Church emphasis, rather than a specifically
Methodist content. Teacher-training too was promoted ecumenically with
the development of the Spectrum (1989) and Kaleidoscope (1993) courses.
Second, twentieth-century Sunday School material reflected the theological
and educational preoccupations of the time. This was seen, for example, in
the changing attitude to world missions, where the traditional annual block
of lessons on missionary work in a particular country was challenged in the
1950s and replaced in the 1960s. Partners in Learning, launched in 1968,
represented an experiential approach to teaching reflecting the influence of
Piaget and Goldman in the wider educational world (the order of words in
the new BLC syllabus, 'Experience and Faith', was surely significant). The
aim of the course was to explore experience of life, the world and God and
thus to nurture faith, rather than to 'indoctrinate' children or cram them with
information. By linking the syllabus to the Church's lectionary and by pro-
moting a change of nomenclature from 'Sunday School' to 'Junior Church',
the developments of the 1960s and 1970s underlined a model of the Church
as an all-age community. Children were no longer 'the Church of tomorrow',
prepared through Sunday School for a transition to adult commitment. They
were already partners in an enterprise of exploration for all.
Third, there is evidence of a gap between connexional policy and local
practice. The take-up of connexional training courses for Sunday School
teachers was small throughout the period - only a few hundred of the hun-
dreds of thousands of teachers undertook formal training. The introduc-
tion of Partners in Learning sharpened discontent with officially provided
material, provoking allegations that it was not sufficiently biblical. Surveys
suggested that Partners in Learning was in use in perhaps half of the Sun-
day Schools; material used elsewhere ranged from Scripture Union courses
(the most popular alternative) to Enid Blyton's Children's Life of Christ. The
choice of material might not be doctrinally driven: local custom, personal
preference, ease of use or access, perceived suitability to a particular group,
or capabilities of the teachers could all influence choice. In some areas, more-
over, the demands of the Sunday School Anniversary, carefully rehearsed
over several weeks, could punch a substantial hole in any agreed syllabus.
71
The result was that the theology advocated and expounded in connexional
publications, delivered through training courses of the Methodist Division
of Education and Youth and reflected in reports to the Conference bore only
a faint resemblance to the implicit theology taught in a substantial number
of local Sunday Schools and Junior Churches. Whether any of the undenomi-
national brands on offer - Partners in Learning or its competitors - could
be called distinctively 'Methodist' is open to serious question.
Two further facets of formation must be borne in mind in considering the
impact of Sunday School and Junior Church. First, Sunday School lessons
were delivered and experienced in the context of worship, and for many
graduates of Methodist Sunday Schools the chief legacy of that experience
was a theology coloured by hymns and Choruses. The united Church inher-
ited The Methodist School Hymnal (1911), jointly produced by the
Wesleyan and United Methodist Churches and by the Wesleyan Reform
Union. A new official hymnal was provided for Sunday Schools in 1950,
seeking a blend of traditional and modern material and avoiding 'the morbid
and the sentimental'. CSSM (Children's Special Service Mission, forerunner
of Scripture Union) chorus books and other non-denominational evangelical
resources remained popular, however, and this genre was boosted by the
charismatic movement in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Second, it
was recognized throughout the period that the personal influence of leaders
was crucial. Regardless of the content of the printed material in lesson books,
children and young people inevitably gained their grounding in theology
from the beliefs of those who taught them. The faith communicated to
children, therefore, owed a great deal to the faith nurtured in adult church
members, and we now focus on membership preparation.
'This is Christianity', or at least Methodism - Church Membership Material

1933 to 1996
The preparation and authorization of materials to prepare people for
membership is an important indicator of the state of Methodism's theology
and spirituality. As early as 1938 a Conference committee on the conditions
of church membership reported: 'We find in many cases that membership
has become haphazard and almost meaningless, instead of being a realized
fellowship in the Body of Christ calling for consecration and service, and set-
ting an example of true community before the world' (Agenda 1938: 359).
The committee fell short of recommending any one course of study, such as
Herbert Watts' popular booklet Joining the Church, in continuous use from
the 1920s to the 1940s. It did note that such material 'should aim at a deep
and lasting Covenant with God and by consequence with his people' and
that 'It should be concerned with the way of Salvation, with what God has
done with us, is doing, and will do for us' (Minutes 1939:413). This twofold
72
pattern of personal covenant and corporate participation was largely taken

up by the various materials that followed.
Watts' book and Duchars and Roberts' What Membership Means. Notes
on Bible Readings for use in Preparation for Church Membership were not
seen as theological treatises but as practical guides to help course leaders
(the latter was sponsored by the Methodist Youth Department (MYD), as
was much subsequent work). These guides were very wide-ranging, covering
Church, sacraments, Bible, members' duties and responsibilities, giving,
outreach and Church history. Interestingly, both began with the seriousness
of the Church's call on the believer, with The Church, founded by our Lord
himself to build up our faith, to create a fellowship of Christian believers
and to do his work in the world' (Duchars and Roberts 1948: 6).
It was the 1960s before the Church Membership Committee com-
missioned its own material, entitled simply Manual of Membership in the
Methodist Church. This was in very widespread use in membership prepara-
tion classes until the late 1960s. Like the earlier material, it focused on what
the believer needed to understand about the ways of God and the Church.
The creeds, Senior Catechism, the Book of Offices, the Commandments and
the service for the Public Reception of New Members were core sources,
with extra material on the shape of contemporary Methodism, its history
and beliefs.
In 1968 a further booklet Joining the Church. A Manual of Membership
for Methodists was approved by the Conference. This manual 'attempts to
look at the nature of Christian living, experience and faith in a way that
makes sense' (Joining the Church 1968: 5). This book was the first to reverse
the order of explanation from 'church' to making sense of the individual's
experience and commitment and the lordship of Christ. It shared the inclusive
sense of membership evident from the 1930s onwards, together with the con-
cern not to put obstacles in people's way. It was the first to suggest a theology
underpinning such work: in a final chapter, 'Assumptions', handling issues
such as the Bible ('not an infallible book ... because it was written by many
... a library of books'), God as Creator, Jesus as divinely human (yet still
utterly sure he had a unique standing with God) (ibid.: 57-9). Interestingly
the creeds were even then seen as not normative for belief (a theme that
is amplified in later material): '[they] are not laid down as a body of truth
which every Christian must accept. ... It is a summary of those things which
Christians have found to be true' (ibid.: 65). The 1973 Conference noted
that this course was still being widely used, and that new material was in
preparation.
The 1975 Guide to Church Membership was the first to use sign and
symbol: the fish, representing the one Christian Church and shared faith,
and the shell, an old symbol of the Methodist youth movement, representing
journeying. The organized Church now appeared towards the back of the
73
booklet and the creeds were symbolic rather than literal: 'When we repeat
them we are not necessarily affirming every detail but associating ourselves
with the Church past and present' (Guide to Church Membership 1975: 3).
New adult education methods of learning including much greater stress
on the value of group discussion and drawing on the participants' own life
experience had made themselves felt by the 1980s when Exploring,
Deciding, Joining (1986) was made available. The style was that of ques-
tions which prompted the course members to engage with biblical passages
and find their own way. This material also reflected a change from courses
aimed predominantly at young people progressing from Sunday School
to adult membership (hence MYD sponsorship of membership manuals) to
courses designed for adult participants exploring faith or renewing commit-
ment to the Church. By the time of the 1996 A Guide to Church Member-
ship there had been a marked change in learning styles and aims. But still the
individual's own response to Christ was seen as primary, since everything
else flows from that. There is no exploration of the theological issue of who
Jesus is, or what we can know about him; the material takes an experiential
approach based on nurturing discipleship.
An alternative source for those leading membership groups was the Meth-
odist Senior Catechism, published in 1952. This was complemented in 1966
with Michael Skinner's This is Christianity. Although not an officially sanc-
tioned work, Skinner's book, a methodical and rather orthodox exposition of
the Catechism, was widely used in the following decade. The Catechism was
substantially revised in 1986. The two versions were separated by nearly
forty years and certain differences of emphasis are clear. Certain theological
emphases are less prominent by the 1980s. A discussion in the 1952 docu-
ment of the role of Methodism within the wider Church as testifying to
the universal grace of Christ, the gift of assurance and the power of the
Spirit to make us perfect in love (Senior Catechism 1952: Q4) had be-
come more descriptive by 1986, including the 'Four Alls' and a description
of the traditional features of the Methodist Church (Catechism 1986: Q68).
An extended explanation of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers had
been replaced in emphasis by the idea of the ministry of the whole people of
God (Senior Catechism 1952: Q44; Catechism 1986: Q44, 45). Interestingly
though, in the light of the far more open-ended definitions in contemporary
membership manuals, the 1986 document included a very orthodox descrip-
tion of the creeds. The language of the 1986 version has also become less
technical, which may reflect the reality that those who become members
often have little background in Methodism, or indeed Christianity. In 2002
Called by Name was published to complement local church teaching on the
basics of Christianity (Called By Name 2002). This is concerned particularly
with the accessibility of our talk about God, and uses many images from
contemporary life and modern art to aid reflection.
74
What sort of theology did such material carry? The overwhelming sense is
of a Trinitarian, practical, inclusive and exploratory theology. Practical in the
sense of addressing the questions and challenges of contemporary culture;
inclusive in its commitment to containing a number of perspectives and
theological approaches; exploratory in being unafraid to push the boundaries
of thought and action in the name of mission. Inevitably, there is less
exploration of the most progressive, radical forms of theology than might be
expected in other kinds of training material with a less apologetic purpose.
There is a strong, if changing, sense of Methodist identity. This is well illus-
trated by changes in the Catechisms, the shift from the defence of the doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers (1952) to the description of believers as the
whole people of God (1986) being a case in point. However, both were
underpinned by a focus on the needs of the individual to experience and grow
as a Christian within a distinctive Methodist environment, which makes
specific demands on every member.
Training Local Preachers

It is easy to overlook the importance and influence of local preachers, but
throughout the period covered by this study they comprised the largest group
of formally trained and recognized Methodist theologians in the connexion.
There were over 37,000 fully accredited local preachers and 'preachers on
trial' in 1932, and although numbers fell during the century, there were
still some 10,000 in 2001 (about 3 per cent of the total membership of the
Methodist Church) (Milburn and Batty 1995: 87; An Anglican-Methodist
Covenant 2001:11). Local preachers were also the main communicators
of Methodist theology to congregations, conducting about two-thirds of
Methodist Sunday services at the end of the twentieth century (Milburn and
Batty 1995:140). Through their quarterly meeting, local preachers exercised
a collective constitutional role as guardians and stewards of the Methodist
tradition of faith in their Circuit, charged with administering discipline over
preachers, supervising training and confirming or declining candidates for
admission to their ranks.
Before 1932 the training of local preachers followed an apprentice-
ship model. Aspiring preachers were placed 'on note' with an experienced
preacher, progressing to a period 'on trial' before eventual accreditation.
Trainees were examined orally in the local preachers' meeting on their
reading, their Christian experience and their knowledge of and belief in
Methodist doctrines. Some circuits set up training classes which preachers
'on trial' were required to attend. From the 1890s the different branches of
Methodism promoted correspondence courses and published magazines de-
signed to encourage preachers to study, but the connexional examinations
were voluntary rather than mandatory (Milburn and Batty 1995:49, 76-82).
75
Shortly after Methodist Union, encouragement to use prescribed textbooks

as a basis for Circuit oral examinations gave way to a compulsory written
paper, set and marked at national level. The first examination, introduced in
1936, covered biblical studies and Christian doctrine. A recommended
homiletics textbook appeared in the 1950s, but 'worship and preaching' did
not become a compulsory examination subject until 1971. The first doctrine
textbook, Christian Foundations by Maldwyn Hughes, was commissioned
by the Wesleyan Local Preachers' Committee in 1927 and recommended by
the united Church in 1932. A variety of set texts succeeded Christian Foun-
dations until the introduction of an integrated modular course, Faith and
Worship, in 1990. It should be noted that local preachers were also expected
to read John Wesley's Sermons and his Notes on the New Testament,
and that these were used in the examination syllabus, although the way of
handling these 'foundation documents' changed as the twentieth century
developed.
A survey of the Christian doctrine textbooks shows many obvious differ-
ences. Some were substantial volumes, packed with information about the
history of doctrine and about contemporary theology. The first book, Chris-
tian Foundations, and the last, Groundwork of Theology, offered the most
detail and made the most demands on reader and student. Other books,
particularly The Faith and Study Notes on Christian Doctrine, were much
slighter. Some texts were written by a single author, while others were the
work of a group, whether a symposium such as Doing Theology or a panel
taking collective responsibility for the final product, like Faith and Worship.
There were clear variations in educational method, with the integrated and
modular approach of Faith and Worship marking a decisive break with the
past. Instead of setting separate examinations on biblical studies, theology
and homiletics (each based on a different textbook), scripture, theology and
practice were integrated into a course requiring local assessment, with a
diminishing role for written examinations. The theological stance of the
material varied too, as will be seen below .
Significant similarities, however, underlie these differences. The material
was all connexionally commissioned and duly authorized by the Conference.
With the exception of a few lay contributors to Faith and Worship, every
author was an ordained Methodist minister, and many were on the staff of
theological colleges and members of the connexional Faith and Order
Committee. Until the new approach of Faith and Worship, the shape of
the material broadly followed the pattern of the creed, with chapters on
God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, salvation and the Church.
The most important similarity across the century is the influence of con-
text. Here, three overlapping strands may be detected. First, each text sought
to address its generation's perceived intellectual challenges to Christianity.
For Maldwyn Hughes these were the results of biblical criticism and
76
Darwinian evolution. For the contributors to An Approach to Christian

Doctrine they included the ideology of communism and the conclusions of
modern psychology. For Doing Theology secularization was a key chal-
lenge, as it was for Groundwork of Theology. Faith and Worship acknow-
ledged the issue of Christian faith in a world of faiths (Hughes 1928:26-8,
248-50; Lewis 1954:4, 54; Stacey 1972:42-4; Stacey 1977:128-30; Faith
and Worship 1990, unit 11:13).
Second, the texts reflected the changing ecumenical scene. The earlier
material defended a Methodist understanding of the Church and refuted
claims that a valid ministry depends on an 'apostolic succession' through a
line of bishops. By 1972, when Neville Ward could write in Doing Theology
that the majority of members of the Methodist Church 'are convinced that
its future is in union with the Church of England', such Methodist apolo-
getics seemed out of place (Hughes 1928:159-66; Lewis 1954:169-73;
Stacey 1972:179).
Third, the material faithfully reflected what Fred Farley in 1938 called 'the
generally accepted results' of theological discussion (Farley 1938: 7). Each
text mirrored the theological outlook and priorities of its generation. Three
examples may be given. The mid-twentieth-century emphasis on salvation
history and on 'letting the Church be the Church' came over loud and clear in
An Approach to Christian Doctrine, which placed the chapter on the work of
Christ before the chapter on the person of Christ, devoted two chapters to the
Church and omitted any reference to the kingdom of God (all departures
from the pattern of Christian Foundations a generation before). Doing
Theology echoed the theological agenda of the 1960s, discussing religious
language, the 'debate about God' and 'secular man', and provoking a storm
of criticism from the traditionally minded. Groundwork of Theology was
frankly pluralist, reporting a diversity of beliefs on such topics as the virgin
birth, the resurrection and the nature of hell (Lewis 1954:72-90, 94-112,
157-73, 177-95; Stacey 1972:42-4, 45-57, 59-63; Stacey 1977:153-4,
197-202, 310-11). The overall impression is that the texts sought to synthe-
size the mainstream theology of the day and to communicate it to local
preachers.
Explicit reference to Methodist emphases, traditions and sources played a
comparatively small role in this enterprise, a role which diminished steadily as
the century unfolded. Maldwyn Hughes expounded Methodist doctrine,
quoted the Wesley brothers, made use of Methodist scholars, cited the
Wesleyan Catechism and regarded John Wesley as a significant theologian
(the most faithful interpreter of evangelical Christianity since Paul) (Hughes
1928:204). Farley's less academic work referred to Methodist theologians
and to Conference statements, and robustly expounded assurance and perfect
love. The overt use of the Wesleys in An Approach to Christian Doctrine was
less frequent, but each chapter was paired with one of the twelve Wesley
77
sermons set for special study in the connexional examination. Specific

questions on the Sermons were dropped in the late 1960s, leaving them to be
dealt with in the Circuit oral examination. Doing Theology barely mentioned
the Wesleys and had nothing to say about Methodist doctrinal emphases, and
although its supplement and successor volumes did remedy this, Groundwork
of Theology's extensive quotations in the 'foundation documents' section of
each chapter read more like a historical reference than the use of a living
authority or resource. Wesleyan theology and Methodist doctrinal emphases
were marginal to Faith and Worship.
The training of local preachers went beyond the connexional examina-
tions. Conferences, summer schools and courses were organized. Further
study was encouraged through the Methodist Study Centre. A small lending
library was maintained by the Local Preachers' Office. Magazines, hand-
books and manuals were published and schemes of 'continuing development'
were promoted. There is no evidence to suggest, however, that the overall
thrust of this material differed from that of the doctrine syllabus, nor to
discourage the conclusion that the theology delivered through the training of
Methodist local preachers was attuned to the general theological climate of
the day (or sometimes of the day before yesterday), with a faint and fading
tinge derived from the Wesleys.
Recommended Reading: Book Lists 1933 to 1995

The sorts of books recommended for reading by candidates and probationer
ministers are illuminating in a number of ways. They suggest theological
themes which the Church considers important, and how such material may
have found its way, via informing the preaching and teaching of ministers,
into the lives of church members. Between 1933 and 1970 the book lists for
probationers and, less comprehensively, for candidates, were published in
the Minutes of Conference. After 1970, lists of suggested reading for
candidates were produced by those responsible for connexional training.
These sources reveal something about the theological emphases of official
Methodism during these years. How much of the suggested material was
read is of course a matter of conjecture. This section examines the theology
component of what was for many years an exhaustive (and exhausting!) list.
If, as Thomas Langford has suggested, Methodism has its roots in a prag-
matic theology drawn from the Wesleys (Langford 1998: 3-4), then this was
still very much in evidence in the 1930s. One book above all dominated these
early years - John Baillie's And the Life Everlasting, recommended for
candidates and probationers from 1935 until 1950. Baillie makes the point
that his theology is not systematic or speculative, but practical (the first
chapter is entitled 'Contemporary Questionings' and the whole book is about
the proper balance between our earthly vocation and our eternal destiny).
78
Donald Baillie's God was in Christ, recommended from 1950 into the 1970s,
has a similar feel - in his preface to the first edition (1947) he says, 'this book
is not a treatise, but an essay for the present time' (Baillie 1956: 8). Maldwyn
Hughes' Christian Foundations (first published in 1927), recommended for
candidates through the 1930s and 1940s, makes a strong claim for the role of
experience (Hughes 1928:1-3).
Although there is a concern for the fundamentals of Methodist theology -
hence the importance of Newton Flew's Idea of Perfection and John Oman's
Grace and Personality - there is only a modest amount of Methodist
scholarship in the lists: Maldwyn Hughes, and, much more recently, Neil
Richardson, Frances Young and Geoffrey Wainwright being among the few
exceptions. There is more than a nod to Scottish Presbyterianism in the
influence of John and Donald Baillie, and in H.R. Mackintosh on the doctrine
of Christ and types of contemporary theology. From the European context,
Anders Nygren, Karl Barth and Emil Brunner all make the lists in the 1950s
and 1960s while Hans Kiing's On Being a Christian is a regular on the list
from the mid-1980s. The important Anglican collection Soundings, with its
chapters on natural theology, science, psychology and other religions, makes
an appearance in the 1980s, showing a broad ecumenical interest, as do later
works by Anglican writers such as John V. Taylor and Harry Williams. The
North American context is represented in the later material by Elizabeth
Fiorenza and Daniel Migliore.
By the 1980s a yet wider context is evident, with John Hick's God has
Many Names and Kosuke Koyama's work on Asian theology, Three Mile an
Hour God pointing to the irresistible global context. By the 1990s this had
become a substantial component in the theology list - the 1990 list includes
Theo Witvliet's A Place in the Sun and James Cone's A Black Theology of
Liberation. Feminist theology also finds a place - the 1990 list includes
Elizabeth Fiorenza's In Memory of Her, while the issue of inclusive language
is raised with Brian Wren's What Language Shall I Borrow? from 1993.
After the mid-1990s the list for candidates was itself replaced by various lists
from the individual training institutions.
What may be learned from these book lists for candidates and proba-
tioners? The theology included in the lists is inevitably and hugely varied but
certain theological themes predominate. Foremost among these are Christ-
ology and Atonement. In both there is a generosity of spirit and honesty
of approach which does not seek to define a single overarching metaphor,
but posits a range of ways of understanding which tends to privilege human
experience as setting the agenda for the dialogue with scripture and
tradition. F.W. Dillistone's work on the Atonement, for example, on the list
from the 1960s until the 1990s, draws on contemporary literature and art
to suggest various 'parables' and 'analogues' which deal with sacrifice, re-
demption, tragedy, judgment, compassion, forgiveness, reconciliation and
79
integration! As Dillistone adds in his preface: 'No single pattern of language

is adequate to encompass the Cross: a model which may have aroused grati-
tude and trust in an earlier age may not stir our imaginations today' (Dillis-
tone 1968:vi). There is a commitment to a dynamic Trinitarian theology,
with new books focusing on the person of Christ and the work of the Holy
Spirit in every decade (for instance, Robinson 1928; Baillie 1934; Taylor
1972; Moule 1978). There is also a strong apologetic strain in the material
(Kiing 1978; Richardson 1979; Ward 1991).
Although there is a relative scarcity of Methodist writers in these lists,
Methodist theology has always gleaned from ecumenical and global sources,
and has reflected the key movements in these sources. There is a practical,
concrete element to much of the theology, concerned primarily with relating
themes of current theological reflection to the needs of the Church and its
members. There is also a radical edge to much of the theology, particularly
from the 1960s onwards, and a willingness to question accepted orthodoxies.
Clearly the compilers were aware that those offering for ministry should be
challenged to rethink and expand their theological horizons.
It is worth adding that several connexional reports give a broader picture
of the theology underpinning ministerial formation. Chief among these is the
report on ministerial training in 1966, The Ministry of the People of God in
1988, a report on the funding of ministerial training in 1996, and The
Making of Ministry, a follow-up to the 1996 report incorporating the results
of subsequent consultation. A theological commitment to the practice of
theology as a public and contextual discipline, as in the book lists, is evident
throughout. The 1966 report shows its sympathy with this commitment as it
quotes the Second Vatican Council: 'Though mankind is stricken with
wonder at its own discoveries and its power, it often raises anxious ques-
tions about the current trend of the world, about the place and role of man
in the universe, about the meaning of its individual and collective strivings
and about ultimate destiny of reality and of humanity' (Agenda 1966:173).
Theological formation should equip the minister with an ability to wonder
and a task to listen to these anxious questions of humanity. This is further
emphasized in the 1996 report which identifies that training involves both
'analysing situations and experience' and 'developing a critical awareness of
situations so as to maintain a prophetic stance towards them' (Agenda
1996: 883). The Making of Ministry report states explicitly that Methodism
should maintain its traditional commitment to theological education by
'contributing its share to the maintaining of theological research as a public
search for public truth' (Agenda 1997:217).
Such reports therefore resonate with the broader themes of the book lists.
They share a commitment to the working out of theology in the public realm
and the secular context with all its questions and challenges. Neither the
80
books included in such lists nor the principles of training found in the
reports give any basis for a Church that is withdrawn from the world and its
concerns.
Conclusion
Each section of this study has a conclusion of its own, but some common
threads may be identified here. Key themes of the theology transmitted by
training and formation have been:
• a broad mainstream Christian orthodoxy in which the Trinity as a way

of demonstrating God's presence and activity has central place;
• an openness to ecumenical and contextual dialogue.
The key areas of theology which characterize the material are:
• the meaning of Christ's ministry, death and resurrection;

• what it means to be human;
• our experience of, and response to, divine grace in this world;
• the promise of liberation and eternal life.
At its best, this theology has been practical, attuned to contemporary

concerns and ready to learn. At its worst, it has been an anaemic partner of
the spirit of the age, marked by a progressive attenuation of anything dis-
tinctively Methodist. Although little of the training material was intended to
form a coherent or systematic theology, it does reveal what Methodists
wanted to pass on as of constitutive importance for the Christian.
81
8
Conferring as Theological Method
Angela Shier-Jones
The first Methodist Conference called by Wesley had an agenda of just three
questions:
1 What to teach?
2 How to teach?
3 What to do?; that is, how to regulate doctrine, discipline and practice.
The Conference then spent two of the three days of its duration conferring
over the doctrines of justification and sanctification. Only on the last day
were 'matters of discipline' discussed. Compared with Methodist Confer-
ences today, the most significant change (apart from the increase in the size
of the Agenda) is that the order of Conference business appears to have been
reversed. This is an unavoidable consequence of the Conference now being
the governing body of the Methodist Church. But as the final interpreter of
Methodist doctrine, the Conference has a responsibility to confer on matters
of doctrine and assist in the dissemination of its conclusions throughout the
connexion. This chapter examines how successfully the Conference has
achieved this.
The first section explores the theology arising directly from the purpose of
the Conference. The second section examines how Methodist theology, as
recorded in Conference documents, may have been affected by the Methodist
Church's engagement with wider theological issues resulting from changes in
society and culture. The final section asks whether or not there is a theo-
logical rationale behind this particular way of doing theology.
Faith and Order - Methodist Ecclesiology?

Since 1932, the Methodist Conference has spent more time conferring over
matters of church order and discipline than it has over specific matters of
82
CONFERRING AS THEOLOGICAL METHOD
faith or doctrine. The questions which have dominated the Agendas are
those arising naturally out of a search for how to be 'church': What is
membership? How is it conferred and how is it related to confirmation?
How is leadership related to ministry? Who has authority in the Church and
by what right do they hold it? Most of the explicitly theological material in
Conference documents has therefore tended to be predominantly ecclesio-
logical. This is especially true of Conference documents intended for gen-
eral publication and dissemination. From 1935 to 1960, for example,
questions concerning membership of the 'Leaders' Meeting' may be found in
every Conference Agenda, often more than once. Questions about authori-
zations to preside at the Lord's Supper have likewise appeared in all but
five Agendas during the same period. The introduction to the first volume
of Statements and Reports of the Methodist Church on Faith and Order
acknowledges the ecclesial bias with the comment that
the collection is very one-sided in its interests. There is much about

baptism and membership and the Lord's Supper - especially with
regard to who should preside at it - but little about the great doctrines
of the Methodist tradition or about some of the great theological
questions that our generation faces. (Statements 2000:1.1)
There is some truth to its claim that the deficit has been made up by the
contributions to the Conference of other divisions and committees. There
are corresponding volumes of collected statements and declarations from
the Division of Social Responsibility, for example, as well as numerous
published Conference reports. However, it would be wrong to suggest that
issues dealt with by these means have received the same degree of attention
and deliberation as have ecclesiological concerns. There have, for example,
been only two specific Conference documents concerned with Christian
citizenship and political responsibility compared to no less than ten on
church membership.
The positive side to this prolonged ecclesiological bias is that Conference
documents form a detailed record of British Methodism's evolving under-
standing of the nature and diversity of the Church and, in particular, of the
ministry of the people of God. When viewed as a whole they testify to a con-
sistent desire to marry the practical consequences of the doctrine of the
'priesthood of all believers' with the received, 'traditional' understanding of
church, ordained ministry, and the ministry of the Word and Sacrament.
This has resulted in:
• The recognition of 'connexionalism' as a valid means of being 'church'.

• The new and unique understanding of diaconal ministry.
• The removal of any gender bar from all forms of ordained ministry.
83
• The recognition of the call and value of 'sector' and 'local ministries'
as a proper form of presbyteral ministry (on which see further, Agenda
2002:455).
• The growth of recognized lay ministry to include full-time pastoral
assistants, evangelists and worship leaders.
To attribute all of the above to Methodism's much vaunted 'pragmatic

theology' (i.e. to claim that Methodism found something which worked and
then developed the theology afterwards to fit it) is simply unjust. The record
of the Conference debates testifies to long and often protracted processes of
deliberation and evaluation of the theological principles underlying these
issues before these gifts were made fully available to the Church. Some issues,
such as episcopacy, lay presidency at Holy Communion and 'believers'
baptism', continue to be brought regularly to the Conference, suggesting that
there is yet more theology needing to be done by the Church with regard to
these matters.
Ecumenism and specific unity talks have added significantly to the range
of ecclesiological matters dealt with by the Conference. Since 1978, for
example, there have been no less than five separate reports concerning epis-
copacy, three about confirmation and two directly concerned with extended
membership. The success of more general forms of ecumenical interaction,
coupled with the specific failure of the Anglican unity talks, may be what lies
behind the seemingly determined attempts to bring Methodist ecclesiology
and in particular its ministerial practices more into line with those of the
wider Church. On this, see Richard Clutterbuck (Chapter 6, this volume).
There remains a degree of tension between the demands of ecumenism
and what is often ambiguously referred to as 'traditional' Methodist theol-
ogy. For example, the 1982 report Episcopacy and Methodist Doctrinal
Standards was considered necessary in order to allay suspicions and sub-
stantiate an earlier claim of the Faith and Order Committee that acceptance
of the historic episcopate would not violate Methodist doctrinal standards.
Similarly, while publicly acknowledging in a statement that the Methodist
Church 'may cease to exist as a separate Church entity during the twenty-
first century' (Statements 2000:2a. 58), the Church repeatedly affirms,
values and continues to develop its own peculiar identity and understanding
of ministry - even when it is known to be contrary to that of its ecumenical
partners. The most obvious and recent example of this is British Method-
ism's unique and exciting understanding of the diaconate as being both a
religious order and a form of ordained ministry which is complementary to,
but distinct from, that of the presbyterate.
It would be far too simplistic to attribute the Conference's ongoing pre-
occupation with issues of ministry, membership, lay presidency, discipline
and so on to old (pre-1932) Methodist denominational loyalties. Differences
84
between the uniting denominations, especially with regard to the nature of

ministry, have undoubtedly played their part in provoking and shaping early
Conference debates on these matters. None the less, such contributions have
diminished over time, whereas the tendency for Conference Agendas to be
dominated by ecclesiological issues has shown no sign of abating. The devel-
opments may therefore best be attributed to deeply held and historically
traceable Methodist theological principles concerning faith and order.
Methodism has always insisted on the importance of good 'order' to the
nurture and development of faith. This argument has been used repeatedly
to justify and explain necessary changes in church discipline and ecclesial
practice. Disciplined discipleship is an important Methodist theological
emphasis. At the same time, the Church has always been reluctant to limit,
by definition, the way in which the grace of God can and will be effective in
the Church, the individual and the wider world. This has been the basis for
many seemingly 'pragmatic' changes, such as the ordination of women and
the recognition of 'sector' ministries. When most of the discussions con-
cerning faith and order, as carried by Conference documents, are examined
in detail, it becomes clear that the Church's ecclesiological questioning
derives from the emphasis placed on proclamation, equality before God,
grace, discipleship and fellowship, and especially ecumenism.
Function and Purpose

In addition to specifically ecclesiological material, Conference documents
also include reports and statements on a wide range of theological matters.
In 1933, for example, the Conference approved reports and resolutions with
regard to lotteries and betting, Sunday and the use of leisure, youth and
citizenship, international and industrial relations, unemployment, arma-
ments and slum clearance, in addition to reports concerning its normal busi-
ness of property, finance and stationing. That year was in no way remarkable
for its diversity. In 1999, the Conference conferred over the national lottery,
collective worship in schools, the essence of education and the ethics of
investment, as well as 'the best interests of new-born babies and their healthy
development in their first months and years' (Agenda 1999:384). All this was
in addition to the 'ecclesiological' reports which, in that year, were concerned
with connexional training strategies, flexible patterns of ministry, member-
ship and Christian discipleship, the nature of the Christian Church, planting
new churches and worship in ecumenical partnerships.
Thus, in spite of the emphasis on ecclesiology, it is no exaggeration to
claim that every major theological concern, including the Fatherhood of
God, the uniqueness of Christ, the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, universalism, the
nature of humanity, the sacraments, the Church and the ministry has been
mentioned or referred to somewhere in a Conference document published
85
since 1932. British Methodism's concern with practical theology has been
recorded in reports on such issues as the Christian use of leisure, Sunday
trading, good pastoral practice and marriage preparation. Its political and
reforming theological concerns have been expressed more than adequately
in reports on citizenship, unemployment, war and peace, apartheid, racial
justice and gender justice, to name but a few. The Church's ethical theology
has been developed and examined in reports such as The Unborn Child' and
The Ethics of Wealth Creation'.
All this theology and ecclesiology has not been laid out 'systematically'.
This does not detract from its validity, but it has unavoidably masked both
its scope and its originality (or otherwise). Individual reports 'date' quickly
and the explicit theology they contain is then easily dismissed as being
merely a particular (pragmatic) reaction to the specific context of the Church
at that time. In spite of this, Conference documents have still helped to
'confer' Methodist theology, albeit implicitly. They have achieved this by
providing the means to examine and compare changes, developments, con-
stants and even immutable elements, in what has formally been accepted as
Methodist theology.
When reports and statements from different decades are reviewed, it
becomes evident that a considerable shift has occurred in Methodist theo-
logical thinking. The starting point for much of contemporary Methodist
theology has been the exploration of relational aspects or characteristics of
God rather than God's purposes or functions. This coheres with much
current Western theology, but is often in stark contrast to Methodism's own
inherited tradition. For example, a theology of creation now tends first to
explore the relationship between God and creation rather than God's
purpose for creation. Changes brought about by this shift show how much
the Church has been participating in wider theological debates (e.g. about
the Trinity, Christology, creation and the nature of humanity).
The Trinity
Until the late 1980s, Conference documents contained very little specifically
Trinitarian theology. When God was referred to there was a tendency to
treat each person of the Godhead separately. The 1939 Declaration concern-
ing the Christian view of marriage and the family, for example, concludes
with the threefold statement regarding chastity that 'God can supply the
needed grace. Christ has revealed a spiritual order upon the resources of
which they may draw. The Holy Spirit is always and everywhere present'
(Minutes 1939:406 = Declarations 1971: 111 = Declarations and State-
ments 1981:74). It was usually the case that each person of the Godhead
was depicted as playing a unique and highly specific role in the process of
salvation. God the Father was portrayed as the sole architect of the salvation
86
which was achieved at great cost by God the Son, Jesus Christ, who in turn
bequeathed to us the gift of God the Holy Spirit who 'fulfils the life of Christ
in the life of the Church and of the believer' (Minutes 1952:217).
Moreover, each person was described as possessing the attributes neces-
sary for the fulfilment of those particular roles. The explanation was thus
offered that God Almighty was so called because he 'is the Eternal Ruler of
the universe, and has all power to fulfil his purpose' (Minutes 1952:216).
Jesus is called Christ because 'He fulfilled God's promises to mankind
through the Hebrew people that a king would come to reign in righteousness
and peace'. The Holy Spirit, when mentioned at all, was similarly described
by reference to what he 'does' for us. Such functionally or 'purposefully'
descriptive language has not completely disappeared from Conference docu-
ments. But contemporary 'relational' Trinitarian theology - in which each
person of the Godhead is described not by their purpose but by their rela-
tionship to one another - was becoming the norm in British Methodism by
the close of the century.
The first indication of the extent of this theological shift came in the
structure finally chosen for Hymns and Psalms. In contrast to the Methodist
Hymn Book this is a theocentric volume divided into three main categories,
namely God's Nature, God's World and God's People. This change was
developed further in the Methodist Worship Book (MWB), as a brief
comparison of the wording of the Covenant services from 1936 and 1999
illustrates. The Covenant service has always insisted that the covenant which
a Christian makes is with God; what has changed is the understanding of the
roles of the individual persons of the Trinity in enabling the covenant to be
made and/or renewed and kept. In 1936, the Book of Offices stated that as
Christians, Methodists were called 'to live no more unto ourselves, but to
Him who loved us and gave Himself for us and has called us so to serve Him
that the purposes of His coming might be fulfilled' (BoO: 123). By 1999 the
same section in MWB states that 'By the help of the Holy Spirit, we accept
God's purpose for us, and the call to love and serve God in all our life and
work' (MWB: 287). That this is not a simple substitution of God the Father
for God the Son may be deduced from the way in which the service continues
to remind members that: 'Christ has many services to be done' (MWB: 288).
The service therefore reclaims a Christological emphasis, but from within a
clearly Trinitarian perspective. The same shift may be found throughout the
Methodist liturgical corpus, all of which appeared first in the Conference
Agendas and required the approval of the Conference to become adopted as
the standard for Methodist worship.
There thus appears to have been a deliberate attempt to promote a more
relationally Trinitarian understanding of God, the theological consequences
of which for any distinctly 'Methodist' theology it is still too early to discern.
There is evidence to suggest that it may give new impetus to a popular
87
Methodist understanding of the theology of fellowship and grace. The new

services of Holy Communion and Baptism, for example, are distinctly
relational and Trinitarian in their language and form. They succeed in using
this way of presenting the nature of God to emphasize that the sacraments
are dependent on the grace that flows out from the Trinitarian God, through
the community to the individual with the sole purpose of bringing the
individual into fellowship.
Christology
The theological importance of the humanity of Christ has been re-examined
by much of the wider Church during the last century. This fact should not be
allowed to diminish how large a task that was, and perhaps still is, for
Methodism. At the start of the century, Christology in Methodism, largely
as a result of its Wesleyan pedigree, underemphasized the human nature of
Christ.1 Wesley had taught that Christ could think no evil thoughts (Wesley
1988:473) and could experience no involuntary emotions (Wesley 2000: on
John 11.33-5). In spite of his insistence that the 'flesh' which Jesus took
signifies 'whole man' and his claims that Jesus is a 'real man like other men'
and 'a common man, without any peculiar excellence or comeliness', Wesley
still taught that Christ's human nature was a body prepared for Christ to
sacrifice (ibid.: on John 1.14, Philippians 2.7-8, and Hebrews 9.5).
Such inherited teachings continued to be authoritative within Methodism
until the early 1980s. Wesley's Notes on the New Testament remained
among the doctrinal standard for Methodist preaching (CPD2: Deed of
Union 4), thus suggesting that Wesley's Christology should continue to be
a standard for Methodist Christology. This helps to explain the paucity of
references to the human nature of Christ in the Senior Methodist Catechism
of 1952. Apart from where it is mentioned in the historical creeds, the
humanity of Christ is only referred to as a response to the question: 'What
do we mean by "conceived of the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary"?'
(Minutes 1952:216). By contrast, the most recently published Methodist
Catechism makes frequent mention of the humanity of Christ. It specifically
states that Christ shared our human life and death. That 'Jesus Christ is God
the Son who was born among us as a human being; in him alone we can see
God the Father' (Catechism 1986/2000:34).
Conference documents contain obvious attempts to justify and explain
this theology. It could be argued this should not be necessary if the teaching
were already accepted within the Church. In the most recently adopted
statement which considers the issue, the humanity of Christ is explained as
being in keeping with Methodism's stated adherence to a key Reformation
88
principle (i.e. it is not enough to accept as a doctrine the humanity of Jesus

Christ). It is essential that the incarnation is made a factor of Christian
discipleship as it was in the time of the Reformation when 'The humanity of
Jesus in His earthly life, which had always been a dogma of the Church,
became an article of practical piety' (Statements 2000:1. 24).
Creation
According to Conference documents the theology of creation begins with the
assumption that the earth had been created for some purpose directly con-
nected with God's plan for humanity. Past statements affirmed repeatedly
that God created this world in love and that God also 'in His Wisdom, placed
animals under man's dominion' (Declarations 1971:133). As a consequence,
British Methodism has believed and taught that humanity has a calling to
serve in the world as a steward under God (Statements on Social Respon-
sibility 1995:119). Towards the end of this century, it was debated whether
or not this earlier theological thinking was inadequate. Earlier theologi-
cal assumptions were seen to have led to a tendency for Christians to
overemphasize the lordship of humanity over creation and, consequently,
a failure to recognize the extent of God's providence. Theologies of co-
creation and renewal based primarily on Genesis 9.2-3 had led to a
'deplorable arrogance towards nature' (ibid.-. 117). Consequently, 'Christian
theology, uncritically accepted by orthodox science, must carry a large
measure of responsibility for the ravaging of the environment and for
dangerous disturbance to the harmonious balance of the natural creation'
(ibid.: 117).
The theology of creation within British Methodism began to change in
accordance with its growing concern over the way in which all of creation is
interrelated. Interdependence and mutuality rather than lordship and
dominion become defining words in the model of stewardship now advo-
cated. It is a model based on the incarnation of Christ: 'In Jesus Christ
God brought to fullest expression the divine purpose in creation: to create
free and mature persons living in harmony with one another, with a
redeemed universe and with God' (ibid.: 89). This change has encour-
aged corresponding developments in two other important areas of theology.
The first is in the Methodist doctrine of providence, which the Church
recognizes as applying to all of creation and not just humanity. The second
extends the Methodist understanding of Christian mission to include:
'sharing in putting right the relationships with God's creation that have
gone wrong, and growing towards the balance and good stewardship
envisaged in the Biblical vision of the world as it is meant to be' (Over to
You 2000: 9).
89
The nature of humanity

British Methodism has grown increasingly cautious about making definitive
theological statements. The debates and reports on such issues as abortion,
euthanasia, homosexuality and the place of sex-offenders within the Church
are testimony to its ongoing struggle to understand the nature of humanity.
In each instance, the debates have centred around the seeming contradiction
between what might be, or indeed has been, interpreted as a sin according to
either scripture or tradition, and what might be understood as the love of God
and of humanity being made in the image of God. In almost all these debates
the main theological issue at stake has been that of scriptural authority.
On the whole, British Methodism has refused to limit the potential of
human nature to that disclosed by its own previous interpretation of the
written Word. It has required human nature and potential to be interpreted
by that which is disclosed by the living Word. This is in keeping with
Methodism's historical understanding of the nature of grace, but can also
seem to be contrary to other Methodist historical beliefs such as the author-
ity of scripture. Ultimately, these debates, those surrounding the practice of
homosexuality in particular, led to a request for greater clarification of the
authority of scripture in British Methodism. In consequence, Conference
documents now state explicitly what had previously been implicit in most of
the above reports, namely that there is no single common or dominant
theological understanding of the nature of scriptural authority at work in
British Methodism (Statements and Reports 2000: 644-68, esp. 662-4; and
see further Agenda 2001: 327).
That British Methodism is generally at ease operating with this under-
standing of scriptural authority may be seen in its refusal to define whole
sections of humanity according to traditional or 'biblical' categories (e.g.
'wife' or 'wage-earner'). This has led to significant theological adjustments,
some of which remain peculiarly rooted in the Methodist theology of grace
and the 'right' to grow in grace. Consider, for example, the ordination of
women. In 1933, the Conference agreed that there was no function of the
ordained ministry 'as now exercised by men, for which a woman is disquali-
fied by reason of her sex' (Statements 2000:1. 95). However, Methodism at
that time also believed that, in marriage, 'a woman accepts responsibilities
which would interfere with the fulfilment of the duties of an itinerant
ministry' (ibid.: 97). This view persisted until as late as 1961 when it was
once again suggested that 'The duties of the Ministry may take second place
to the call to become a wife and mother' (ibid.: 134). It was honestly
believed that a woman 'could not care for a church and fulfil her family
responsibilities, nor should any women be encouraged to neglect her home
to serve the Church' (ibid.: 133). Understandably, therefore, the conclusion
was reached that: 'Because of the functional differences between husband
90
and wife the ordination of a woman must carry implications that do not
hold in the ordination of a man' (ibid.: 134).
Later reports insist that men and women are not defined but are enhanced
and made whole by the purposes in their life and the roles which they choose
to undertake. Thus, with regard to ministry, it is recommended that all those
'whose primary focus of ministry is within the life of the local church or
circuit', whether male or female, 'need time for their families, other interests
and leisure pursuits' (Statements 2000:2a. 253). In keeping with wider
changes in society, there has also been a growing ability within the Church
to recognize and affirm the value of less traditional relationships. It insists
that other familial forms such as the 'household family', which may be
bonded through its shared need and mutual caring rather than through the
roles of husband and wife, should not be devalued or discriminated against
(Statements on Social Responsibility 1995:24). Conference records relating
to issues of marriage show that the Church has tried to achieve this
acceptance without depreciating the importance of Christian marriage. The
Church teaches that although 'men and women are recognised as being
physically and psychologically different, before God and within marriage
neither sex is superior' (ibid.: 35). Attitudes towards single people have also
changed. The Church now recognizes and affirms that 'Individuals can be
and obviously are, completely fulfilled as single people. Marriage is not the
best way for everyone' (ibid.: 33).
All of these adjustments reflect the Church's 'resolute belief in the
fundamental equality of all human beings in the eyes of God' as well as
its 'abhorrence of all systems of government which treat any individuals
or groups as second-class citizens' (Minutes 1988:11). They also illustrate
how Methodist theology has responded to the many different contexts of
twentieth-century pluralistic society without sacrificing too many of its
theological emphases. The modifications are in keeping with Methodism's
conviction that the social order which the Christian seeks can only be
'created and sustained by the grace of God and by the effectual working of
His Spirit in and through regenerated and consecrated Christians. ... We are
not called to be the architects of the new society. We build, but according to
His plan' (Statements on Social Responsibility 1995:59). They are thus
examples of the practical outworking of Methodism's theology of provi-
dence, grace and discipleship. Conference documents are littered with simi-
lar examples where Christians are called to 'actively desire a transformation
of the present social order to bring its structure and intention into harmony
with the Christian principle' (ibid.: 63). The underlying theology is a belief
in the possibility as well as the desirability of reform: 'Believing that it is the
will of God that the manifold of human relationships in the social order
should be directed by the life-giving wisdom of His Holy Spirit, we antici-
pate and welcome a changed and better order' (ibid.: 63).
91
Grace and Revelation

Not only has British Methodist theology changed but the Church's members
have been made aware of the changes. The confidence to make definitive
judgments on more contentious issues has been tempered of late by an
awareness of the damage caused by past pronouncements. None the less,
British Methodism continues to reappraise its theological perspectives, to
reopen dialogues and revisit awkward issues. In so doing, it uncovers one
more theological treasure buried in its Conference documents: an implicit
theology of revelation.
Reports and statements are brought to the Conference in the expectation
that the will of God for the Methodist people may be revealed to them
through the processes by which a report is received and/or adopted or
rejected. It is not an obviously 'divinely appointed' means of discerning
God's will, but it is one which is recognized by the Methodist people as
being open to the power of the Spirit. Not all reports that are brought to the
Conference are adopted or received. Not all recommendations are accepted
or incorporated into the life of the Church. The Conference can, and does,
respond to the will of God and, in so doing, change and modify, accept or
deny the theological propositions which are offered to it. One of the best
known examples of this occurred in 1974 when the report on Ordination
was amended by the Conference. The conclusion to the report was rewritten
in such a way as to challenge the Church to see the practical difficulties
raised against women's ordination as 'part of our work in seeking God's
will' with the ultimate belief that 'what He wills is always possible'.
The connexion's insistence on the Conference remaining the sole inter-
preter of Methodist doctrine may be viewed as a powerful expression of
Methodism's belief in the priesthood of all believers and in that doctrine's
providing a basis for a doctrine of revelation. It is the task of the whole of
the Conference, not one individual, to decide what is of God in what has
been shared and how the Church should respond to it. It is a process which
is totally dependent on grace as there are no absolutes or 'final authorities' to
which the Conference can turn for assistance.
The content and subject matter of Conference documents suggests that
there is a strong belief in Methodism that revelation is mediated by the Holy
Spirit through scripture, reason, tradition, people, circumstances, creation
and events, all of which are affected by context. Scripture and tradition, as
we have seen, need not be the only, or even the primary, means of revela-
tion. In the report on human sexuality, for example, personal testimony
was considered an important means of enabling the Church to discern what
God may be saying about same-sex relationships. Similarly, reason, par-
ticularly when used in conjunction with philosophical, scientific and socio-
logical insights, has helped the Church discern new ways of worshipping and
92
relating to God. The way in which language shapes and defines our identity
and relationships has, for example, taught us the danger of gender bias in
theology. The Church is now more aware of how traditional 'male' readings
of biblical texts may create a distorted, less inclusive, image of God.
Global issues such as apartheid, famine and the reality of nuclear weap-
onry have also helped to challenge the Church to reconsider historical 'elitist'
or 'colonial' theologies. In 1995 this enabled the Church to admit that
'themes like "justice", "peace" and "freedom", which impregnate the scrip-
tures and the church's worship, are not singular in meaning ... is justice, for
example, the appropriate reward for individual effort, enterprise and behav-
iour; or is it a description of a social order where access to opportunities,
basic resources for living and human rights are roughly the same for every-
one?' (Statements on Social Responsibility 1995: 105). The challenge for the
Church is to be open to the gift of revelation which God has already shared
with the World Church and this increasingly pluralistic society.
British Methodism has thus come to accept that all revelation, including
that of scripture, must be interpreted. It is therefore 'the task of every
generation to try to determine, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, how
the Word of God in scripture informs our decision-making in the present'
(Statements 2000:2b. 666). As the above statement suggests, there is also an
underlying belief that revelation and its interpretation are communal, a gift
of God to the whole Church.
The Holy Spirit might, of course, inspire the Church, via a Conference
report, to reach a policy or belief which seems to some to be contrary to
scripture or tradition. That this is possible is confirmed by the acceptance
within the Church of certain contemporary practices, such as the remarriage
of divorcees. British Methodism accepts this seeming contradiction by insist-
ing that the experience of the Spirit in the Church cannot be confined to the
traditional means of grace, for: 'It has been the Church's experience that the
Spirit works through both tradition and spontaneity' (Statements 2000:2a.
137). At the heart of this understanding of revelation there is an expectation
of something different, something as yet undiscovered. Methodism clearly
does not believe that it has discovered the last word on any doctrine. It does
believe that through the Conference the living Word continues to speak.
It meets annually to reflect on and confer over theology and business alike,
in the knowledge that in its own experience 'the presence of the living God
is inexhaustible, life-renewing, life-transforming; so the Church may live in
expectation and hope that God will continue to lead it into truth'
(Statements 2000:2b. 666).
Conclusions
• Faith and order: The bulk of the theology in Conference documents is
ecclesiological. Questions of ministry and sacramental practice have
93
been of particular concern. The motivation for much of British Method-

ism's emphasis on ecclesiology may be attributed to a determination to
hold together Methodist emphases on discipleship and grace.
• Purpose and being: British Methodist theology has been affected by
changes in the wider world and by a shift in theological perspective.
Instead of beginning with the function or purpose of God and creation,
the starting point for much contemporary theology has been the
relationships within the Godhead and between God and creation. The
areas most noticeably affected have been: Trinitarian theology, Christ-
ology, creation, and the doctrine of humanity.
• Grace and revelation: There is an unwritten but none the less evident
theology of revelation carried by Conference documents. They speak of
the expectation and anticipation of revelation being perceived and
mediated by grace, through the structures and work of the Church as its
members confer together. Within Methodism, revelation is held to be
communal, mediated and, most importantly, dynamic and contemporary
as well as historical. Revelation is a gracious consequence of living deter-
minedly in relationship with God.
Note
1 Almost all scholars who have investigated Wesley's Christology have found it to be
deficient. Deschner lists five contemporaries who consider Wesley's Christology
problematic including J.E. Rattenbury (1935:156) where Rattenbury comments not
on John's but on Charles' Christology, and what he thought of the Lord's humanity
(Deschner 1985:40).
94
Part II
Introduction
Each chapter in Part I contained a summary of theological emphases which

appear to be operative in the material analysed. Some of the conclusions may
have come as no great surprise. Study of the materials used and commended
in training and formation should lead to the conclusion that the centre place
is occupied by 'a broad mainstream Christian orthodoxy' in which the
doctrine of the Trinity functions 'as a way of demonstrating God's presence
and activity'. Methodism is a Christian movement, after all. It should not be
found to be non-Trinitarian. And it should not be possible to conclude that
there is a specifically 'Methodist' doctrine of the Trinity. To follow such a line
of expectation, or to be able to draw such conclusions, would be damaging to
Methodism. This explains why, in this more directly theological part of the
book, there are no chapters on 'Spirit', 'Human Being' 'Christ', Salvation' or
any other of the major Christian doctrines. It is in no sense the intention of
this second part of the book to offer a potted Methodist systematic theology.
To conclude that nothing significantly theological can be said about the
Methodist movement would, however, be misleading. If Methodism did not
begin for overtly doctrinal reasons - the Wesleys did not decide on a theo-
logical shift, and then start the Methodist movement - this does not mean
that it is not worth teasing out what, theologically speaking, Methodism still
has to say. The search for the distinctive voice does, of course, get tangled up
with other concerns. On the one hand, Methodism's theological voice is
sounded even while the substantial percentage of what it says is identical to
what all other Christians say. Only a small part may be novel or interest-
ingly different. In ecumenical encounters, there is then the constant debate as
to whether to stress the (considerable) common ground over against the
(relatively slight) differences. But the 'relatively slight' may, of course, prove
profoundly significant for all Christians to know about and reflect upon.
The search for Methodism's distinctive voice can, on the other hand, too
easily become tangled up also in a quest to justify the independent exis-
tence of an institution (the Methodist Church). This should be hard to do on
theological grounds alone. Methodism did not, after all, separate from the
97
Church of England on a doctrinal issue. But this does not mean either that
the defence of the institution is indefensible (it is simply not our concern
here) or that the highlighting of theological distinctiveness is inappropriate.
On the contrary, articulation and accentuation of theologically distinctive
elements may be precisely what Methodism needs as it asks itself anew
whether it should continue to have an independent existence, even while it
stresses what it shares with other traditions. Ecumenism often appears to
have taught its practitioners that you learn more about your own tradition
in the process of coming to respect others. Furthermore, you have to know
your own tradition very well indeed in order to be truly ecumenical at all
(with agreements and disagreements fully laid out on the table).
Part II, then, lays out some Methodist distinctives. Three of the chap-
ters (those by Barbara Glasson, Stephen Dawes and Clive Marsh) are at
first glance more to do with method and style. Barbara Glasson (Chapter 9)
notes the huge role played by 'stories' in Methodism. She sifts through the
many ways in which narratives are passed on in Methodist tradition and
reflects on story-telling as a theological process. Stephen Dawes (Chapter 10)
looks at the Methodist understanding of authority, in relation to the doc-
trine of revelation. How do Methodists think God 'speaks'? Clive Marsh
(Chapter 11) dwells on Methodists' insistence that their theology is 'experi-
ential' and related to everyday living. He tries to tease out what theological
thinking informs this emphasis.
Three chapters take up theological themes: connexion, the action of God,
and grace and holiness. Philip Drake (Chapter 12) draws out from the theory
and practice of Methodism's emphasis upon 'connectedness' the theological
insights which underpin it. The Methodist refusal to view the Christian
in isolation is shown to have far-reaching consequences. David Wilkinson
(Chapter 13) locates his examination of Methodist understanding of the
action of God within recent treatment of the doctrine of providence.
Margaret Jones (Chapter 14) explores the borderlands of ethics, spirituality
and theology in her analysis of Methodist thinking about personal growth.
It is important to note that these six ventures into theology are not the
only possible way of reading the theological emphases of British Methodism,
even in relation to the evidence gathered in Part I. But the dynamic move-
ment from Part I to Part II is important. As a 'doing' movement, Methodism
is prone to leave the theology by which it operates too easily unexamined
because it leaves it contained within the actions or words which lie behind
the studies in Part I. Methodism is often reluctant even to offer the bullet-
points with which Part I writers concluded their chapters, let alone to draw
out the kinds of reflections offered in Part II. The challenge to readers, then,
is to consider the significance of the method being followed here, as much as
to value and critique the conclusions offered.
98
9
Stories and Storytelling:
The Use of Narrative Within Methodism
Barbara Glasson
Stories are one way in which people account for the experiences of their
individual lives or communities. They can spring from experience or tell of
experience. They provide a sense of connection to our history and to other
people. Stories help people to make sense of their lives, to see a bigger picture
and ask questions about meaning. They throw light on the complexity and
subtlety of what it means to be human. They may be personal and localized
or collective and generalized. Stories may be affirmative and inspirational or
negative and contrary to convention.
But are they 'theology' or anything much to do with theology? And are
'Methodist stories' different or any more theological than other stories?
What about the stories that the stories do not tell? Who is telling the tales and
who has been excluded? What and where are the stories in the Methodist
tradition and where are the silences? These are the concerns of this chapter.
When I consider my own personal story within a wider Methodist narra-
tive I am aware of discontinuities as well as a sense of belonging. Stories have
to be linked to faith experience, but I need to be honest about the dis-
crepancies. Many of the stories I have heard and shared within Methodism
speak of a struggle with faith and Church. Given that storytelling has been
such a treasured part of our tradition, it is worth asking: Do Methodism's
stories reflect that struggle or promote a false reality of the Church?
What is 'Story'?
A story may be described as a subjective description of an objective truth.
Storytelling is a process of claiming an experience and telling it in such a way
that the hearer connects with the experience. A good storyteller will be able
to engage listeners in such a way that they are able to visualize the event and
enter into it. Because stories claim experience, Methodists have used them as
a tool to converse with theological assumptions about faith. This is why
stories are often at the heart of preaching.
99
Stories can be told about people, organizations and events. They can give
a sense of belonging, a continuity with history so that readers or listeners feel
they are 'part of the same story'. They can inspire commitment or offer a
new way of looking at things, and are a way in which experience can change
lives: either through the experience contained in a story or through the act of
telling. Because Methodism has valued personal experience so much, stories
have been used to inspire and encourage people in their personal and com-
munal pilgrimage of faith.
Stories may take the form of a narrative history: a mythology that gives a
community a sense of identity with historical figures or life-changing events.
They may be factual but are more often than not based loosely on events, with
a licence to embellish facts in order to paint a picture. They may be agents of
conversion or warnings against the consequences of actions. In other words,
stories usually have a point to them.
There are stories within stories. My own life story, which arises inescap-
ably out of all the facts and experiences that have made and formed me,
contains a 'Methodist strand'. I think, for example, of the family history that
reminds me of my grandparents (members of the Central Hall in Chester)
and of the stories told about them and their hospitality to refugees during
the Second World War. I think of my great uncle, a minister in South Africa,
founder of Hartley Vale Football Club (now the national ground for South
Africa). Then there is my own story of life in small town Methodism, my call
to ministry and how that has worked out and brought me to discover new
ways of being church in Liverpool. All of this is held within the wider story
of Methodism as a movement and a denomination, with its roots in Wesley.
And the story is ultimately located also within the history of the wider
Church and 'the story of Jesus Christ', which is not a static reality but a
living narrative. There is, then, a dynamic between my own experience and
the many traditions within which it is held.
Personal story, family history, stories about Methodism, stories heard
from the pulpit and stories told of and about Jesus all, then, interweave. But
in personal experience and engagement with others, painful stories of exclu-
sion and silencing can also be 'heard'. These stories are told but not always
in the context of the Church and not always with words. Stories can there-
fore be 'told' just as eloquently by the choices people make about what to
say and what not to say, and about who they choose to listen to.
In all these ways the Church is telling its theology and hearing stories
about God. Out of experience and through storytelling people are com-
municating their beliefs about God. It is, of course, usually the stories in
sermons which are best remembered. The best sermon illustration is the
one that needs no explanation. The story that 'speaks for itself can be a
window on the way God is for us. It can be an indication of how faith has
100
NARRATIVE WITHIN METHODISM
been discovered in the past. An experience recalled can give hope and
provide insight into the way to live in relationship with God.
But the process of linking experience, scripture, reason and tradition oper-
ates as a hermeneutical framework within which the practice of story-telling
can be life-giving. By locating their own narratives in relation to the story/
stories of Jesus and the story/stories of God, the richness and potential
fullness of what stories 'carry' can become clear.
Methodism and Stories

Methodists tend to use stories in particular ways. The use of stories is itself
favoured over doctrinal or credal statements. Methodists often assume a
theology. It is implicit, hidden, hard to spell out - 'We know it when we
hear it' - and favours a process of story-telling over any systematic form of
theology. This gives a 'family feel' to Methodist stories, a nod of recognition
in response to a story told from within the 'Methodist family history'.
Methodists respond well when stories are used in theological discussion.
Stories have been used in reports to the annual Conference, for example,
'The Report of the Conference Commission on Human Sexuality' and 'The
Ministry of the People of God in the World' (Agenda 1990:130-5; 544-55),
and often appear in ecumenical studies in which Methodists have been
involved (e.g. Richter and Francis 1998; Time for Action 2003). Accounts of
personal experience provide the starting point for conversation. In such texts
we can see story-telling unfolding as a theological process as experience,
tradition, scripture and reason work together.
But is there anything specific or distinctive about Methodist participa-
tion in this theological process? If we look at the two stories told to me
about my own Methodist family tradition, we see two dimensions of the
way in which Methodists have used stories as part of their theological com-
munication. The first is to create in an individual a sense of identity within
the Methodist 'family'. The second is to urge a hearer towards theologically
inspired social action.
My grandparents' open hospitality to evacuees from Liverpool during the
Second World War is a reminder of the practical implications of a living faith.
My grandparents were not, of course, the only ones opening their homes
at that time. The Central Hall in Chester was full of people whose faith led
them to have a social conscience and throughout Methodism's history there
are stories of such people. But as David Clough reminded us in Chapter 4
(p. 46):
In its mission to the world outside it, the Methodist Church remains
committed to the view that concern for the soul of those it meets cannot
be divorced from concern for their social and economic welfare.
101
Methodism has always valued stories related to particular individuals as a

means of demonstrating the transformative power of faith for an individual
and for a community. The virtue placed upon a noble character was used as
an encouragement to others to follow in the same path. These stories were
used as examples of the presence of God's transforming power. Metho-
dism's belief in grace for all, not simply the elect, was an implicit theme in
these narratives which were then used to encourage ordinary people to claim
such transforming love for themselves.
Such stories may sometimes come into the category of folklore, but they
exemplify a particular strand of tradition and are used with a clear reforma-
tory purpose. In an account of the life of the Reverend Thomas Bowman
Stephenson, J.H. Lidden writes:
You will notice, too, that Stephenson, who never assumed the trying
attitude of the superior person, did not call the homes he founded by any
such name as refuge, asylum, shelter, poor-house or penitentiary, for one
of the swift gracious and intuitive reactions of his chivalrous mind was
to be always careful not to hurt children's feelings. (Lidden 1954:25)
Similarly, the founder of Methodist Homes for the Aged, Walter Hall, Super-
intendent in Tottenham in 1943, was moved to found homes for elderly
people without means. His aim was to help them avoid the workhouse and
live out their old age with dignity. Such stories are not just hero myths; they
are Methodism's family history. The gathered nature of Methodist societies,
the relative intimacy afforded by a small denomination and the network
provided by connexionalism have given Methodism the sense of telling a
family history. Stories of conversion, leading to personal and social reform,
are common in Methodist tradition too.
In both rural and urban settings there is often a local narrative that relates
to small communities and families associated with a chapel. Traditional
hallmarks of this common identity are events such as the 'Church Anni-
versary': a rallying point for worship and probably a social gathering includ-
ing a meal. At best such familial 'fellowship' has been a way of encouraging
a sense of belonging. At worst they have been exclusive, and proved a barrier
to mission and rationalization of resources. The concept of fellowship
springs directly from a corporate sense of the need to respond to God's
grace. In more formal ways it is represented by men's and women's meetings
and organizations such as the Wesley Guild which schedule programmes of
social gatherings, learning and study.
Family history does not, however, simply bolster a sense of identity. Such
stories have a purpose. They claim an identity and spur others to action. It is
here where the second dimension comes into play. In the case of Methodism,
102
these 'family stories' spring from a theology of holiness that links the
tranformation of an individual's private life to the struggle to transform
society for the poorest. God's activity may be seen in, and makes a difference
to, ordinary people - even us. The above story told about my great-uncle is
pertinent here. Clearly he personified what would now be considered an old-
fashioned, even questionable tradition of mission. Yet as a man of faith in
his time and culture he was working authentically to transform the society
in which he ministered. Conversion of heart and mind was also linked to
conversion of circumstances. The children needed space to play, hence the
football ground. For him, within his own story, the issue was how his own
practice could contribute to what he believed God wanted for the world.
As told to me the story is part of my family tradition, yet it invites me not to
copy his actions, but to ask how my own story, and the story of Jesus, may
coincide in my own practice.
To illustrate this interweaving of stories, I shall use a contemporary story
told by Inderjit Bhogal:
Graham is homeless. He says people call him a 'tramp' and sometimes

give him money. He lives on the streets of Sheffield where I have got to
know him well . . . .
As we got into conversation I asked him to help me.
'I'm working on a sermon about tables and bread and parties in the
wilderness', I said
'I love bread', he said
He broke off a large piece with his rugged hands and held it out to me.
I received it and said 'Amen' and ate it in bits over several minutes
All around us a city centre environment with its own beauty, but a
wilderness with a lifestyle of grabbing and greed and profit before
people. People racing about. Some sitting down to rest. Before me now
a parable of the text, 'a table in the wilderness.'
I was being fed by one of the poorest people I know. I was a guest of
honour at a table in the wilderness. 'You treat me like an honoured
guest.' (Bhogal 2000:31)
The story begins with an individual encounter. The reflective process with
which the narrative engages is illustrative of how, through story, we can
attain an understanding of God alongside the poor which leads to a commit-
ment to the ongoing work of God through social and political reform.
Such a theological understanding of the practice and purpose of story-
telling relates to the approach of the Urban Theology Unit (Sheffield) and
involves appropriation of liberation theology. It offers a critique of Wesley's
'salvation of circumstances':
103
This 'remythologising' is not an evacuating theology but an escalating

theology ... we take the secrets of Jesus and ask how they are working
as hidden leaven within man's (sic) total secular existence, his behav-
iour, his love, his commitment, his housing, his 'sense of the important',
his compassion, his politics, his career, his ambition, his sacrifice, his
communality, his solitariness. (Vincent 1976:20-1)
The engagement with liberation theology espoused by Vincent brought

a radical reworking of theological themes for some within Methodism,
although not for all. His work issues a challenge to the Church, to engage
with a broader base of theological insights than those traditionally con-
sidered to be peculiar to the Methodist tradition. Vincent is attempting to
develop theological thinking and action rather than allow theology simply
to be implicit in the storytelling process. His commitment to the poor and
a willingness to 'listen to their story' prompted Methodism's 'Mission
Alongside the Poor' programme which called the Church to economic and
social discipleship, and ran from 1983 to 1996. Its roots were both a
Methodist understanding of grace and salvation for all and also a radical
political commitment derived from South American liberation theology.
Stories can thus be used to link public action and responsible grace. They
help to make the connection between belief and its outworking by giving
practical examples of the difference such belief can make.
Further back in British Methodist history, the Primitive Methodist tradi-
tion contributed a vast archive of stories of social reformers to the common
'Methodist' pool of narrative. Springing from a tradition of cottage meet-
ings, camp meetings and class groups among the labouring poor it led on
to radical involvement in political and trade union affairs. The story of
Joseph Arch, champion hedge-cutter and Primitive Methodist preacher who
founded the Agricultural Workers' Union, was typical of the reform which
the Primitive Movement engendered (Turner 1998: 86; Turner 2002:165).
The question which any form of Methodism constantly needs to ask itself
is whether it continues to create space for its story of faith to be shared. Is it
the case that so much of Methodist history is implied in Methodist stories
that unless you are 'in the know' the story makes no sense? Are Methodists
content to live with a formalized narrative about a set 'way of doing things'?
There is a real danger of Methodism only talking about and to itself rather
than being actively engaged as a faith community, using a more open-ended
narrative.
Storytelling as a Theological Process

What is the difference between telling a theological story and chatting to
your neighbour over the fence? To engage with the theological purpose of
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story is to begin a reflective process that draws on experience, tradition,

scripture and reason. The good storyteller will do this without noticing -
without having to say at the end, The moral of this story is ...'. A good
story contains its own meaning; it is a living narrative that involves both the
teller and the receiver of the words.
Inderjit Bhogal's story about Graham is worth another look in this regard.
The story tells of an encounter between two people - an event rooted in
time and place. The conversation between the two men shapes the narrative:
4
"I'm working on a sermon about tables and bread and parties in the wilder-
ness", I said. "I love bread", he said.' In this story experience is being
honoured. It is not extraordinary experience; it is the sort of encounter any
one of us could have. But we hear Inderjit working with the story. He immedi-
ately engages in a process of theological reflection. He is reminded of his
sermon and the tradition of the eucharist. He begins to realize that the story
of his encounter with Graham has theological significance. There are echoes
here of biblical texts, 'a table in the wilderness', 'y°u treat me like an
hounoured guest'. These are familiar words to him, they connect with the
place of the poor in God's kingdom. They are not remote biblical references.
They are connected to the event he is describing.
The story is also located in a political and cultural reality. Inderjit sees
that both Graham and he are caught up within this narrative. Such a reflec-
tive process carries implications for the reader. Inderjit speaks of an under-
standing of kingdom where the first are last and the last first. He challenges
the reader to such an encounter with the poor, to learn of God from this
experience and to bring that understanding to throw light upon our own
faith journey.
The process of theological reflection is partially implicit and partially
explicit within the narrative. We can hear that Inderjit is working from a
starting point of God's grace for all. He is standing within the story as
someone equally in need of that understanding as Graham the homeless
man. There is an equality in the encounter. Grace is undeserved, surprising
and free. He is working with themes of liberation and redemption that can
empower and change ordinary people. Theology is throwing light on his
experience and the experience is throwing light on his theology. The point of
the story is that there is a practical connection between gospel and experi-
ence that has the potential to make a difference. He is rejoicing in it, wanting
to share it with his reader. The story points to God's continuing activity in
the world among the poor and dispossessed.
A Methodist Theology of Story?

Methodists are not the only Christians to use stories. They are not the only
ones who focus on experiential forms of theology. Others work alongside
105
the poor and dispossessed, and not all Methodists do. So what is peculiar
about Methodists' use of stories?
I am suggesting that it is the combination of many factors relating to the
use of stories, and the extent to which Methodism as a movement uses
stories, which are especially striking. By linking my own participation in the
Methodist family narrative (both within my own family and the family of
Methodism) with the form of experiential theology which Inderjit Bhogal's
storytelling embodies, a number of features become clear.
First, stories are the way in which Methodists shape and express their
theological identity. Second, it is through stories that Methodists clarify
how, with whom and where they 'belong'. Third, Methodists tell stories for
the purposes of exhortation and imitation. 'Christlikeness' is less about
sainthood than about the imitation of earthed human beings, with whom
people can identify, in their own form of Christlikeness. Or conversion
stories are told as proof that no one is beyond the reach of God's grace.
Fourth, all people have a story to tell, and no one's story is without value.
The discipline of listening to anyone's story itself links with the conviction
that 'all can be saved'. But the story of God's grace cannot come into full
effect until people tell their own stories and find their stories located within
the story of God, as in Inderjit Bhogal's experience.
Challenges to Storytelling
If Methodists do indeed tell stories in the way outlined above - in the context
of a conversation between scripture, reason, tradition and experience, and
with the kinds of purposes outlined - we can also see the potential hazards of
such a process. Each of these dimensions is challenged by the others. Each
invites critical engagement, as the following two examples show.
In considering experience, we need to ask whose experience is being heard
and whose overlooked. Even the cursory glance at letters to the Methodist
Recorder outlined in Part I of this book shows that we are not hearing a
representative cross-section of experience. The story Inderjit told did not
engage with the first-hand experience of Graham the homeless man. It was
a story about, rather than a first-hand account of, Graham's reality. The
exclusion of the experience of particular groups of people by a dominant
narrative has been an ongoing theme of theologies of liberation.
Liberation theologies of all colours take the experience and voices of the
oppressed and the marginalised - of the wo/men traditionally excluded
from articulating theology and shaping communal life - as the starting
point of their epistemological and theological reflection. (Fiorenza
1996:49)
106
The questions 'Who is not being heard?', 'What experience is not being
claimed?' and 'Who is being left out of the story by the way in which it is
told?' need to be at the forefront of Methodism's own practice of story-
telling. 'How many women and men have been rendered silent because the
words just did not exist to "hear them into speech"? What is needed is a
hearing engaged in by the whole body that evokes speech - a new speech -
a new creation' (Grey 1989:1).
As noted, the danger for a storytelling movement is that it keeps on
telling its own story to itself: Methodists talk to Methodists about Method-
ism. Engagement with the wider tradition of the Christian Church through
the ecumenical movement, understanding of other faiths, listening to those
who are no longer able to engage with the tradition is also part of the story-
teller's task. Gone but not Forgotten: Church Leaving and Returning is so
important here, moving the church to listen to negative stories and to learn
from them (Richter and Francis 1998).
Reason has come to bear on storytelling in new ways since the Enlighten-
ment. Critical thought and scientific insight shed light on the process of story-
telling. They have also forced Christianity to look critically in particular at
the stories it has told of itself throughout the world in its missionary activity.
Stories about mission and missionaries are a means of mission. They can also
be obstacles to mission when not subjected to rational scrutiny. The cultur-
ally diverse forms in which tales are now told - through film, television,
novels, pictures and poetry - are also relevant here.
The challenge to Methodism, then, is to be true to its tradition of story-
telling, while engaging with the hermeneutical interplay between experience,
reason, tradition and scripture. Being true to its recognition of the theo-
logical power and significance of storytelling will entail Methodism not
only telling its own tale, but listening to new stories with which it will need
to work.
Finally, A Story
What difference does a theology of storytelling make to the Church today?
How do stories help us work out what it means to be Methodist Christians?
I want to tell a story about Ben. I acknowledge this is my story, not Ben's -
but here goes.
I am a Methodist minister working in a new church in Liverpool city
centre. Like my Methodist grandfather I also work alongside displaced
people. Every week Ben comes to make bread with us and to be part of our
community. Ben is a gay Iranian Muslim asylum-seeker. We have been
entrusted with Ben's story - he will be stoned if he is returned to Iran.
Ben's brother is dying of hepatitis. Each Tuesday we light a candle for him
and say a prayer. Like my grandfather, I am informed by my deep Methodist
107
conviction that God's grace is for all. But such a conviction challenges me to
the limits of my wisdom. Like my grandfather also I am not alone. Wisdom
comes from a community that is actively engaged with what it means to
work with the Arminian principle of grace. There are no simple solutions.
Stories are complex, multifaceted and enigmatic. We see only through a
glass darkly but are not without resources. There is a process at work in the
community which holds and tells such stories that will engage with experi-
ence, scripture, tradition and reason. We are committed to work with prag-
matism and love and will not get things right all the time. But we believe in a
God of abundant mercy. That is what it means for me to be part of a small,
fragmented and struggling church community.
The narrative theology that Methodism makes use of, consciously or
otherwise, is a key tool for us in this task. Through life experience, we are
constantly called to check out our foundation paradigms, assumptions and
prejudices. The process matters. But within the process we are conscious of
the continuing sense of being called forward by the incarnate God, whose
grace and forgiveness, experienced every day, are bigger than we could ever
have imagined.
108
10
Revelation in Methodist Practice and Belief

Stephen Dawes
The Methodist Church claims and cherishes its place in the Holy
Catholic Church which is the Body of Christ. It rejoices in the
inheritance of the apostolic faith and loyally accepts the fundamental
principles of the historic creeds and of the Protestant Reformation.
(CPD 2: Deed of Union 4)
In saying this, British Methodism situates itself firmly within mainstream

Christian history and theology in general and Protestant Christianity in par-
ticular. It is saying in the broadest of terms that God's name and nature, will
and purpose have been revealed to us. It asserts that something of God may
be seen in the natural world and be discerned by human reason. It believes,
however, that the fullness of God's self-revelation has been given specifically
rather than generally, for it has been given to us in God's self-disclosure in
the calling into being of the people of God, and in the events, personalities
and experiences of their pilgrimage. This receives its fullest expression in
the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ but continues in the gift of the
Spirit to the Church. This means that we can speak of God continuing to
reveal God's self. Much of this revelation is made available to us in the
Bible - the 'Word of God' - and it is the task of the Church to discern,
interpret and apply, with the aid of the Spirit, in the contemporary church
and world what has been revealed there. It is also the Church's responsibility
to be alert to what God has revealed to the Church since then and to what
God continues to reveal.
Given this position statement we can expect Methodism's official under-
standing of 'revelation' to be located in orthodox Protestantism. And that
is what we do find, insofar as we can find anything at all, as there are very
few references to 'revelation' in official documents: six in the Catechism
(Catechism 1986) and two in the Deed of Union. From the most significant
references in the Catechism we learn that 'Christians are those who believe
that God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ' (Ql), that 'the Bible is the
109
record of God's self-revelation, supremely in Jesus Christ' (Q52) and that

Methodism's 'doctrines are based on the revelation of God in the Bible'
(Q67).1 The Deed of Union is more nuanced:
The doctrines of the evangelical faith which Methodism has held from
the beginning and still holds are based upon the divine revelation
recorded in the Holy Scriptures. The Methodist Church acknowledges
this revelation as the supreme rule of faith and practice. (CPD2: Deed
of Union 4)
Despite certain ambiguities this understanding of revelation as focused in

Jesus Christ and/or the Bible is theologically unexceptionable within Protes-
tant theology.
The nearest thing to a Conference statement on 'Revelation in Methodist
Practice and Belief is A Lamp to my Feet and a Light to my Path, the 1998
statement on 'the nature of authority and the place of the Bible in the Meth-
odist Church' (Statements 2000:2b. 644-68). This offers a snapshot of the
diverse positions on the authority of the Bible held by Methodists, and
emphasizes that it cannot be definitive. Revelation terminology emerges
briefly (Statements 2000:2b. 647), to be followed by the insistence that 'all
texts require interpretation' which leads into a sketch of the history of
Biblical interpretation. The two sentences from the Deed of Union are care-
fully analysed. Paragraph 4.2 notes that these sentences are carefully worded
and that we should notice what they do and do not say. It spells this out in
four important sub-paragraphs. Paragraph 4.3 is a delightful example of
having one's cake and eating it: 'This statement implies that the authority of
the Methodist Conference is subject to the authority of God's revelation
recorded in the Scriptures. Its authority is not independent of, nor superior to,
the revelation recorded in Scripture. However, the Conference is the final
authority in the interpretation of this revelation' (Statements 2000:2b. 652).
After reference to Wesley and a nod towards Q52 of the Catechism, the
report discusses the authority of the Conference, offers some wry observa-
tions on how the Conference actually works, illustrates Methodist decision-
making processes in general and gives examples of how biblical material
has been handled in relation to particular issues. Then under the heading
of 'Scripture and the Methodist Church Today' it attempts a consensus
summary:
7.1 The Methodist Catechism (Q52 ...) sets out the Methodist under-
standing of the role of the Bible. The Bible is thus the primary
witness to God's self-revelation, above all in Christ, within the
formative events of the life of God's people, pointing the Church of
today to the present activity of God. The Church throughout the
110
REVELATION IN METHODISM
centuries has heard the Word of God in the Bible in many different
settings, and has affirmed its authority by accepting it as 'canon'.
7.2 Today the Holy Spirit speaks through the Scriptures to awaken
and nurture faith and provide ethical direction for the Christian
community. Through exploration of the Bible, the Church's on-
going task is to discern God's revelation afresh in every time and
place. True biblical interpretation depends on the Holy Spirit,
recognises the literary character and the historical and cultural
background of each book, takes account of the teaching of the rest
of Scripture, and acknowledges a rich diversity of theologies and
contexts. (Statements 2000:2b. 661)
The report ends with seven models of biblical authority found in the Church,
some of which generated the only mild controversy to emerge from an
inevitably bland and timid report. This report offers the only official eluci-
dation there is of the understanding of revelation in Methodist belief and
practice alluded to in the Deed of Union and the Catechism.
If we ask whether this is a fair representation of how, in the broadest
of terms, God's self-revelation is actually discerned in official Methodism,
then the material presented by Angela Shier-Jones in Chapter 8 indicates
that the answer is 'Yes'. She observes that Conference procedures are evi-
dence of Methodism's belief that God's revelation continues and that
the Church has the role of interpreting what has been revealed previously
in scripture and elsewhere. 'Scripture' is not the only place of revelation;
'tradition' and 'reason' are there too, as well as other sources, though sur-
prisingly she does not use the traditional word 'experience' to denote them.
She insists that more than pragmatism is at work in this discernment, in
that Methodism considers 'revelation is mediated by the Holy Spirit through
scripture, reason, tradition, people, circumstances, creation and events, all
of which are affected by context' (Chapter 8, p. 92).
Above all, she points out, the process of discerning revelation is com-
munal. Here it is the task of the Conference, after full consultation, to decide
and interpret what God's revelation is. In this process, she says, Method-
ism may be inspired to policies or beliefs contrary to scripture or tradition
because the living Word continues to speak and 'God will continue to lead
[the Church] into truth' (Statements 2000:2b. 666). So views can change
through time, a fact illustrated also by the changes in the textbooks for local
preachers noted in Chapter 7 of this book. Angela Shier-Jones concludes:
There is an unwritten but none the less evident theology of revelation

carried by Conference documents. They speak of the expectation and
anticipation of revelation being perceived and mediated by grace,
through the structures and work of the Church as its members confer
111
together. Within Methodism, revelation is held to be communal, medi-

ated and, most importantly, dynamic and contemporary as well as his-
torical. Revelation is a gracious consequence of living determinedly in
relationship with God. (Chapter 8, p. 94)
The recurrent theme of Jane Bates's and Colin Smith's chapter - whether or
not controversy is the way to discern the will of God - is relevant here. They
accept that although the pages of the Methodist Recorder are an impor-
tant place for diverse voices to be heard, often with the request for wider
consultation, it is at and by the Conference that decisions are made or, occa-
sionally, avoided. It concludes that there is in Methodism a 'strong emphasis
on pragmatism' but that what lies behind it is difficult to ascertain. We may
observe from them that God's will is seriously sought in Methodism, and
that there is no way of doing this other than through prayerful and informed
debate. All this confirms that the 'consensus summary' of A Lamp to my
Feet and a Light to my Path does seem to be a reasonably accurate summary
of the Conference way of doing things.
The next question, therefore, is whether we can unpack what Angela Shier-
Jones calls the 'implicit' or 'unwritten' theology of revelation. No attempt has
been made to do so formally in British Methodism. There has, however, been
some informal use of the term 'the Methodist Quadrilateral', an expression
which seems to have emerged in the unity discussions which led to the
formation of the United Methodist Church in the USA in 1968. Its essence is
expressed in this paragraph from the Book of Discipline of that Church:
'Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in
Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and
confirmed by reason' (Book of Discipline 1996: 74).
Since then the Quadrilateral has been the subject of increasing debate in
three areas: first, whether or not it actually does represent Wesley's way of
doing theology; second, about the relative weight to be given to the four
'constituents' and, third, on what is meant by 'experience'. Neither the com-
plexity nor the acrimony of those debates has featured in the UK.
The only occurrence of the term in a Conference publication in the UK, to
my knowledge, is Donald English's use of it in the tapes which accompanied
the significant 1985 Home Mission Division publication, Sharing in God's
Mission, though its four constituents are found in section D5 of Unit 1 of
Faith and Worship where they are called 'the Building Blocks of Faith'. The
aim of Sharing in God's Mission was to ask every church to look at what it
was doing and at what it ought to be doing. Its basic conviction was that
God has revealed himself as a God of love and that he is at work in his
world. Our mission, therefore, is to share in what God is doing. The first
tape is about how we can know anything about God:
112
As Christians we gain our knowledge of God from the Bible in general

and Jesus Christ in particular, a knowledge which has been and con-
tinues to be tested through our Christian traditions down the ages, in
the exercise of God-given reason and in our personal experience of
living in the world according to our faith.
Here are the four constituents of the Quadrilateral, which Donald English
calls 'sources of knowledge.' He argues that for Wesley, the Bible 'was the
centrepiece for our knowledge of God through Jesus Christ by the Holy
Spirit'. Revolving around the Bible, like the pieces in a baby's mobile, are
reason, tradition and experience. The Bible is always in the centre, but we
look at it through these other perspectives at any given moment.
This approach recognizes that when we read the Bible we do so from
where we are now as Christian people in today's Church (experience). We
read it as heirs of a long tradition of looking at the Bible and learning other
things of God's will and ways (tradition). We read it as people who bring all
of the truth that comes through education, culture and science to bear on
any given question (reason). Likewise we read it as people who believe that
God's Spirit is active in our lives and in the Church today, leading us on as
the Johannine Jesus promised he would (John 14:26, 16:13 - more experi-
ence). Thus on any particular question we will examine the whole of the
Bible teaching from these other perspectives. Equally, we will look hard at
our experience, the traditions of the Church, and our reasoning in the light
of the Bible; for the Bible must inform these things as well as be informed by
them. All this mobility in the to-ing and fro-ing of interpretation is involved
in discerning God's revelation and looking at what the Bible has to say to us.
This approach supports the 'Bible as centrepiece' position in the Ameri-
can controversy over the relative weight to be given to the four constituents
of the Quadrilateral, as opposed to the 'four equally weighted parts' point of
view. It also represents the first four 'models of Biblical Authority' identified
in A Lamp to my Feet and a Light to my Path. Before we raise questions
about its viability we need to note that there are, in fact, several different dis-
cussions going on in this talk of the Quadrilateral. One is about the sources
and resources of theology, its 'building blocks', as Faith and Worship
describes them. Another is the question of how we do theology - where
we start and how we build with these blocks. But the crucial discussions for
us are those about revelation. Is 'seeking God's revelation' primarily about
unpacking the Bible or is it about focusing on discerning the presence and
activity of God in the heres and nows? How does the one of these inform the
other? Is 'revelation' something that happened or that happens? Is it about
disclosure or discernment or both? Assuming that God is at work in the
world and that his presence and work can be identified, the Quadrilateral
113
works away at the question 'How'? Its shortcomings are real. The distinc-
tions between the four constituents are far from clear-cut and a geometric
model is too tidy by half. However, by putting three more perspectives into
the frame in addition to the Bible it at least engages with current discussions
about the authority and inspiration of the Bible and how we read it.
'The primacy of Scripture' is a slogan of one party in the American debate.
Exploration of its inadequacy highlights important insights into how revela-
tion is received or discerned. If this expression means that British Methodism
treasures the Bible, respects its heritage and reads it with the utmost serious-
ness, I would personally rejoice, despite the lack of evidence. If it simply
means that the Bible is the primary witness to the grace of God in which we
stand, the primary testimony to the will and purpose of God, or 'the primary
witness to God's self-revelation' (Statements 2000:2b. 661) few Methodists
will have any quarrel with it. If it means that in making decisions about life
and faith we pay greater attention to the Bible than to the other three con-
stituents of the Quadrilateral, many, though not all, would also see this as an
unexceptionable thing to do. Beyond that, however, the phrase is suspect
because it fails to reckon with the realities of interpretation.
It is a truism of hermeneutics that the Bible is a text which is read, that
every reading is an act of interpretation and that all readers have their own
agenda generated by their context and interests. When we see this obvious
point the real weakness of 'the primacy of Scripture' - the view that the
Bible must be given priority in the Quadrilateral - becomes clear. The Bible
does not interpret itself; it is not self-explanatory. There is even a sense in
which the Bible is silent, that it cannot speak for itself and that its users give
it the only voice it has. The Bible is, after all, a book. No matter how vener-
able it is, it has to be opened and its chapters and verses selected before they
can be quoted and used. And no matter how much the Bible is venerated by
its users, in the exercise of reading, interpreting and using it, it is those users
who exercise the only possible 'primacy' there is as they do the initial open-
ing and selecting and the final quoting and using. Of course the Bible can
speak to us powerfully without our opening it or anyone reading it, because
it is such a part of our culture and spirituality that sayings, scenes and stories
come unbidden into our minds, or bidden by God's Spirit, as we might
prefer to say. Either way, every reader is an interpreter and every reading an
interpretation, which is surely why 2 Peter 1.20 advises us to check out our
readings with others if important decisions are to be made on the basis of
those readings. This is presumably why, in part at least, we take such care
about the recruitment and training of preachers, ordained and lay.
It may also be why the Deed of Union contains this short clause: The
Conference shall be the final authority within the Methodist Church with
regard to all questions concerning the interpretation of its doctrines' (CPD 2:
Deed of Union 5). Among other things, this gives the Conference the role of
114
discerning what it is about God that is being revealed now in Jesus Christ
and/or in the Bible. It establishes the Conference as the official interpreter
of God's will and ways for the Methodist Church. It makes the Conference,
in effect, Methodism's corporate magisterium, though Methodists might
bridle at the word. In Chapter 3 Angela Shier-Jones illustrates how this
operates, concluding that the Conference's ability to do this hinges on
'a trust in the operation of the Holy Spirit to affect the heart and mind of
the Conference' (p. 39). Be that as it may, the Conference performs this
interpretive role through the 'prayerful and informed debate' of conferring,
both on the floor of the Conference itself and, it must be noted, in consul-
tation with the Districts and Circuits. It must also be said, however, that
rulings on how the Methodist Church shall interpret a particular doctrine
or practice are made only rarely, which some see as a plus and others as
a minus.
God could presumably have done it differently: but this somewhat messy,
indecisive, occasionally controversial and certainly laborious way of doing
things does seem to be of a piece with God's other ways of working. It repli-
cates the divine risk-taking in creating humanity 'in God's image', the choice
of Abraham as covenant partner and the means of the self-revelation of
God through 'incarnation'. It represents God's against-the-odds beliefs in
community, mutuality and connexionalism - surely part of the meaning
of koinonia in the New Testament? It reveals God's patience in the long-
term strategies of faith, hope and love. It also demonstrates God's reluc-
tance to deliver the kinds of answers his people so often demand and God's
expectation that they have to work at these things too. Whether or not these
profound continuities will prove strong enough to defend this counter-
cultural understanding of revelation from the surge of fundamentalism
(which believes that saying The Bible says' is the answer to everything), the
seduction of management methodology (which believes that we can reorgan-
ize ourselves into the kingdom of God) and the dazzles of postmodernity
(which believes that any pick-and-mix spirituality goes as long as it turns
you on), or whether they should, is, of course, another question. At the
moment all of these are real temptations for the Church.
For various reasons, however, it is unlikely that the phrase 'the primacy of
Conference' will catch on, even though it expresses accurately the constitu-
tional position of the Conference as the authoritative body in Methodism
which determines, if and when such determination is needed, how the
Methodist Church will interpret scripture, tradition, reason and experience,
and so order its life and doctrine. Principal among these reasons is the other
reality of Methodist life, that Methodism is also individualistic, localized and
congregational, and so the dictates of the Conference have never received
automatic or universal acceptance in the life of every church and Circuit or
the heart and mind of every church member.
115
What, then, of revelation in the practice and belief of this Vernacular

Methodism'? Leaving aside the individualism which delights in using 'the
priesthood of all believers' in the ruggedly individualistic way of which the
Conference disapproves,2 there is a real sense in which Church Council and
Circuit Meeting replicate the Conference in discerning the will of God in
their contexts. In their 'conversation on the work of God' - though that
old phrase has largely fallen out of use - these bodies, at their best, seek
in a prayerful and informed way to discern God's will for their mission and
life. The constituents of the Quadrilateral will inevitably be present in such
conversation, as will be the expectation that God has something to say.
Scripture will be quoted, often in a 'folk-fundamentalist' kind of way. Tradi-
tion will be deferred to, as many will want to go on doing what has always
been done. Reason and experience will inform the quality and the content of
the discussion and it may come to a vote. The dangers of ignorance, localism,
factionalism and manipulation by persons with power, lay or ordained, are
obvious, but the Conference is not exempt from these things either. In this
local 'holy conferring' a proper responsibility is being exercised for dis-
cerning the purpose of God in a particular time and place; and it is quite
appropriate to apply the term 'revelation' to the conclusions of these local
discussions if God is believed to be concerned with small things as well as
great. Tension is, however, inevitable at times, not least because both the
Conference and vernacular Methodism share the same methodology but dis-
agree about where final authority lies. The Conference, correctly in constitu-
tional terms, claims that position for itself. Much vernacular Methodism, for
historical, cultural and theological reasons, simply disagrees. Their meth-
odologies, however, are identical: they reach their conclusions by conferring,
and deem their conclusions to be God's 'revelation'.
There is much to be said for this methodology and for Wesley's genius in
instituting a Conference in his movement. Yet lest undue claims be made,
three points need to be remembered. First, as Faith and Worship puts it, 'the
Church has traditionally looked at four main types of building blocks for
constructing its faith' (Faith and Worship 1990: Unit 1, D5a), so to claim
these in the form of the Quadrilateral as being especially Methodist is claim-
ing too much. Second, the same may be said of 'holy conferencing', since the
first 'Conference' where the Church grappled with discerning God's will for
it is the one in Acts 15 - where all the dynamics noted in this chapter may
be seen at work. The Methodist Conference does not preface its rulings with,
'It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us' (as in Acts 15.28), but perhaps
it should! Third, the Methodist understanding of the role of the Conference
in discerning God's revelation and being its final arbiter is not unique. What
Methodism does do here is face up to the realities of the inevitable pro-
cesses of interpretation and so make explicit what is either implicit in other
Protestant denominations or even denied altogether. Perhaps, after all, this
116
honest exposing of our 'working out' actually does merit the description of a
'treasure', as Angela Shier-Jones would like to call it.
Notes
1 Other references occur in Questions 13, 28 and 33.
2 i.e. reading the phrase to mean the priesthood of every believer, rather than that of
all-tbe-believers as in Called to Love and Praise 4.5.3 (Statements 2000:2a. 47).
117
11
Appealing to 'Experience5: What Does it Mean?
Ciive Marsh
Experience ... is the governing principle with Methodism all the way
through, not only with respect to the actualities of personal religion, but
with regard to religious rites, and ecclesiastical regulations, and evan-
gelistic methods, and indeed everything else. (Bett 1937:125-6)
The task of this chapter is to examine whether this statement is true. Our
task is theological rather than historical. Can it be shown that Methodism
actually emphasizes experience in its understanding of and speaking about
God? And in what does this 'experience' actually consist?
Experience: The Problem

The first part of this book uncovered a number of ways in which Method-
ism's preoccupation with experience is evident. References to 'pragmatism'
may, in the end, mean no more than 'being practical', but they demonstrate a
keen interest in the concrete, on 'what works', and on what connects with
daily living. Alongside this, the notion of Methodism being a tradition of
'feeling' - an emotional affair ('hearts strangely warmed') - extends the
sense that Methodism and experience stand closely together. Experience
of worship, hymn-singing above all, is relevant here. Despite the existence of
authorized liturgical texts, it is less the content of those texts and more the
experience of using them and being caught up in the emotions created by
the practice of singing which generates the experience important for faith.
Methodists are, it seems, less interested in doctrine and more in lived faith,
practical Christianity, or in the inner convictions without which any form of
belief is simply not worth having.
This tells us, though, very little about the content of Methodist theology.
Even if 'experience' - of Christian action in daily life, or of faith's inner
aspects - is accepted as a Methodist emphasis, it may indicate at most where
Methodists begin their theology: you start with an action, or you start with a
118
APPEALING TO EXPERIENCE
feeling. The implication is then that you move on from there in order to do
your theological thinking (if you do any at all). Perhaps the 'emphasis on
experience' is, then, nothing other than a point about Methodism's method
for doing theology. If scripture, tradition, reason and experience (the so-
called Methodist or 'Wesleyan' Quadrilateral) are to be regarded as building
blocks for theology, then experience is simply being emphasized, even by
those who profess to be biblically based Christians. The problem therefore
needs sharper focusing.
Scrutiny of a range of Methodist texts in our given period is of help here.
A closer look at some of Bett's own references to 'experience' are revealing
(Bett 1937:31, 36-7, 122, 130, 141). What they show is that he is really
talking about Christian experience, the experience of being redeemed, or
knowing oneself to be forgiven, for example. It is neither 'experience' in the
sense of daily living, nor simply an emotion. Even if any such Christian
experience will have emotional consequences and affect daily life, the experi-
ence to which Bett refers is to be equated with neither.
We must, then, be very careful when speaking of Methodism's appeal to
experience. To assume that 'we know what we mean' may be to mislead
profoundly. This is especially so given the 'experiential learning' revolution
which has occurred in the world of education, which encourages all learners
to begin from, or relate all knowledge directly to, 'experience'. In this latter
contemporary context, 'experience' usually means, more broadly, life, not
specifically 'Christian', experience.
The 1972 local preachers' textbook Doing Theology', controversial in its
day, illustrates some of the points at issue here. In that text we read: 'No list
of the sources of theology ... may leave out personal experience. Methodists
have traditionally stressed the importance of this particular source and this
brings them, in method at least, close to ... modern theologies' (Stacey
1972:20). These modern theologies 'have as their starting-point the experi-
ences and decisions of everyday existence'. This is not what Bett was referring
to, nor what early Methodists were emphasizing (explicitly at least), as is
borne out by the ambiguities of a later local preacher resource. The 1977
textbook Groundwork of Theology uses 'religious experience' as a general
heading, though it posits a broader and narrower view of what consti-
tutes religious experience (Stacey 1984:17-21,47-50). Stacey concludes that
'these two ways of looking at religious experience ... are similar in that they
both refer experience to the rest of the Christian religion for an interpretation
and a judgment' (50). In other words, there are two ways of talking about
experience in Christian theology: one is 'life experience' which is then theo-
logically interpreted; the other is a particular kind of life experience which
may be called 'religious experience'. In either case, whether we focus upon
human experiences deemed religious, or on other supposedly 'non-religious'
119
human experience, they still have to be checked out in relation to Christian

tradition.
The central questions may therefore be sharpened in this way:
1 When Methodists appeal to experience, what are they referring to?

2 How is 'everyday existence' understood and made use of within Meth-
odist theology?
3 What theological emphases are revealed by the way in which Methodists
address those first two questions?
I address each of these questions in the next three sections.
Methodists on Experience: A Brief Analysis

There can be little doubt that the shift in understanding of the term 'experi-
ence' which took place in the latter half of the twentieth century proved quite
a challenge to British Methodism. Up until that point, it could be acknow-
ledged more easily that appeals to experience did indeed refer to some kind
of 'religious experience'. Even if there may have been different interpreta-
tions about precisely what was meant, experience was clearly assumed to be
an experience of God, of Christ, of the Spirit, or of the redemption brought
about by God. If Methodist usage slipped and reference was made to experi-
ence of conversion or of fellowship, then it would have been easier to accept
that conversion and fellowship were not, of course, ends in themselves.
The experience of Christian fellowship should naturally be thought of more
in terms of an experience of the Spirit, or of Christ, enjoyed in the context
of, or through, Christian fellowship.
The experiential learning revolution touched a number of sensitive
Methodist nerves, however. With hindsight, it is possible to see that the way
in which Methodism handled experiential learning educationally accentu-
ated key aspects of its approach to theology, both positively and negatively.
Two points need noting.
First, it was very easy for Methodism to direct its references to 'experi-
ence' (formerly 'Christian experience') towards 'life experience' because of its
pragmatic, practical focus. Methodists want to see themselves, and be
known, as 'ordinary people'. Even if their faith (or at least their church-going
habits) might get them entangled with social climbing, there is a deep resis-
tance to making any claims to extraordinariness or 'getting above oneself.
Therefore when John Stacey says, 'one of the most important sources of
theology is what happens to us' without narrowing this down to anything
identifiably religious (Stacey 1972:20; italics in original), this makes per-
fect sense to Methodists. It is ordinary living that is being referred to. That is
the arena within which the working out of Christian faith has to happen.
120
What is more, on the surface it does not sound like a radically new depar-
ture: Methodists have always been working with experience in this way,
have they not?
Second, though the appeal to experience prior to this had, in fact, been an
appeal to 'Christian experience' of some kind, it was still possible to distin-
guish it from other definitions of 'religious experience'. In other words, it need
not amount to a sense of the awefulness, the frightening but attractive power
and the urgent energy of the mysterium tremendum et fascinans (the awe-
inspiring and compelling mysterious power) which Rudolf Otto had exam-
ined early in the twentieth century (Otto 1950). Methodists might emphasize
inner experience, but they were not, by and large, into mystical experience.
Their redemption was of a very ordinary kind. There may have been tales of
ecstatic conversions in Methodism's origins and even at other points through-
out its history. But by and large, Methodism practised a disciplined spiritu-
ality, capable of dovetailing with normal, working or domestic life.
Controversy surrounded Doing Theology's appearance (Brake 1984:
367-9). The focus of the critique was not, however, explicitly on the 'experi-
ence' aspect of the book, even if with hindsight a link with the actual
criticisms brought may be seen. At the time, the concerns were about its
'liberalism', its inconclusiveness, the lip-service it paid to doctrinal tradition,
and the sheer demands it placed on the preachers expected to use it. Now
we can see that the shift that was underway in the use of 'experience' in
theological exploration in Methodism was having major repercussions.
Methodism was a form of Christianity which emphasized experience; but in
appealing to experience, it was becoming unclear what it was appealing to.
In the history of its spirituality and its largely implicit theology there is no
escaping the religious nature of Methodism's primary appeal to experience,
then; nor can there be avoidance of the deeply felt nature of that experi-
ence. But if Methodism was to maintain its commitment to celebrating the
presence of God in the midst of ordinary life and to resist the tendency
to 'box' God into a religious corner via the cultivation of specific 'religious
experiences', then it needed (and needs) to do more theological work to
clarify how this may be done.
My contention, then, is simply threefold. First, theological teasing out
of the primary theological ideas at work in Methodism's understanding of
'experience' (accepting its primary 'religious' character) has to take place.
Second, the religious character of that experience need not be feared or
downplayed in the process of its being identified and located within the so-
called 'secular realm'. For it is only when theological ideas are worked out in
relation to everyday life-contexts that a theology of ordinariness (as opposed
to an ordinary theology) has a chance of being developed. Such a theology is,
I suggest, what Methodism aspires to. Third, and ironically, it is only when
theological reflection is undertaken upon, and in relation to, daily living that
121
the true purpose of theological discourse, and of religion itself, is discovered.

Religion and faith are not then 'left behind' as if dispensable; they merely
come into their own.
To press these points somewhat differently: Bett claimed that Methodism
'may be said to be the last stage of the Reformation' (Bett 1937:145). By this
he means that Methodism took the secularization process to which the
Reformation contributed further forward. If he overstates his case, he is
nevertheless on to something. Either the Reformation accelerated the seculari-
zation process or it sacralized daily life (the two possibilities may not be easily
distinguishable). In other words, either Methodism continued the process of
Christianity losing its grip on Western culture generally; or it clarified a main
purpose of Christianity by showing how it was, all along, meant to enable
God to be discovered and celebrated while people were engaged in the most
mundane of tasks. The former is a pessimistic reading. The latter is compel-
ling and important, but offers the reminder that faith can be reduced too
easily to a set of tasks. Whichever option is favoured, however - and Meth-
odism seems always to tend towards the latter - Methodism undoubtedly
contributed to what the Reformation began. What Bett fails to see is that this
qualifies his appeal to (religious) experience in favour of the line suggested by
Stacey. Methodism's recognition of the significance of the ordinary, in other
words (not least in terms of the people whom it sought to reach in the name of
the redeeming God), stands in tension with the nature of its appeal to experi-
ence. Methodism should logically have gone much further than it did. Not
only should it have clarified how the experience of redemption by God is to
be enjoyed by ordinary people; it should also have spelled out more how
redemption was to be experienced in ordinary situations, rather than simply
in gathered bands and societies set apart from the world.
The central assertion I wish to make - the implications of which I shall
tease out in the next section - is that Methodism, as Stacey suggested, does
indeed mesh with the 'modern theologies' referred to above (the emerg-
ing 'existentialist' and 'empirical' theologies; Stacey 1972: 20). It really
does want people to do their theology in relation to what actually happens
to them, and not just what happens to them 'religiously'. But it thereby
also shares the weaknesses of those theologies in leaving unexplored what
makes the everyday experiences theological, around which understandings
of redemption by God are woven. Our task is twofold: to clarify what
Methodism, by its assumptions and practices, is 'getting at' in the ambiguity
of its appeals to experience; and to press the theological case it presents by
its practice. At root, the major challenge is this: How is daily life to be
theologically understood, theologically interpreted and lived better as a
result? And how is Methodism helping us to address that question through
its apparent emphasis upon theology as lived and experienced?
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Everyday Life and Methodist Theology

As with most theologies of experience, Methodism's emphasis upon 'living',
'pragmatic' or 'concrete' faith creates difficulties. Not only can it underplay
the extent to which all experience needs interpreting; it can also imply a
resistance to reflection and an unwillingness to be open to any divine depth
in what is being experienced. To try and find a way of expressing this
linguistically, I suggest that Methodists can too easily make do with 'experi-
ence as\ rather than 'experience of\ By using these contrasting preposi-
tions I simply wish to indicate that Methodist theological interpretation
of human living is allied so closely to experience itself that the value of
theological interpretation is seriously downplayed. Methodism's commit-
ment to practice leads its members and adherents to consider their life
experiences as their theology. The experience as a loving mother or daughter
is the experience of God's love, without remainder. The experience as a
participant in a successful local political campaign which benefits the home-
less is the kingdom of God. An experience as a member of a warm fellowship
(in a church or house group) becomes an end in itself. This is the experience
of the Spirit. This is redemption.
Now we need to be careful here. There are too many jokes about theol-
ogy students who would prefer to talk about resurrection rather than
experience it to be comfortable with such sharp distinctions. Clearly, both
experience as and experience of are necessary for a full human life. I do
not merely want to know that I can experience the love of God through the
love my brother has for me; I want to enjoy my brother's love in the process.
But the fact is that I learn something both about my brother and about
God through the loving relationship. To put it another way, theological
thinking does something to life experience. It is not mere retrospection
and comment 'after the event'; it helps form and shape people as they live.
For Christians, life experiences will constantly be located within Christian
tradition. Without this, their ongoing revelatory character and redemptive
potential is left hidden.
'Fellowship' provides us with an example of all of this in concrete form. An
experience of warm fellowship is not automatically a redemptive experience.
Only when a person has been able to face him- or herself as looked upon,
valued and judged by God in such a context can an experience have the
potential to be fully redemptive. For only then does a person know that God
is able and willing to take away all that stands in the way of a person's
enjoying a full and lively relationship with God and others. It could, in short,
be thought relatively easy to apply theological labels both to everyday exper-
iences and to religious experiences. But these theological labels carry freight
which needs unloading. When unloaded, the theological interpretation does
123
not smother the experience; instead it interprets it, developing the experi-
ence into an even richer experience of God and human living. No one
need doubt that a sense of fellowship and redemption might go together.
But an experience of warm fellowship is not necessarily redemptive, even
while an experience of redemption will not leave a person isolated.
What Methodism is 'getting at', then, is the fact that Christian faith pri-
marily entails none of the following: a merely mental or intellectual matter,
a solitary experience, or a spiritual sensation which disregards the material.
In order to maintain its commitment to Christian faith as an embodied, lived,
social 'experience', enjoyed in the context of ordinary life, Methodism has,
however, paid a high price. It has been reluctant, for whatever reason, to
accompany its commitment to an 'ordinary faith' with the fullest theological
articulation of its position.
I have many hunches as to why this is so. The social base out of which
many early Methodists emerged remains influential to this day, in Britain
at least, in Methodists' 'inferiority complex'. To this is linked a reluctance
to theorize: this would be to complicate unnecessarily (when ordinariness
should reign), or to value education too highly (which would be getting
above one's station). This in turn is reflected in a pervasive tendency of
Methodist presbyters (even) to claim 'I'm not a theologian', a tendency
which can be documented, and which persists to this day. All three of these
factors relate to a fourth: the formal educational levels of most Methodist
ministers remained quite low in comparison with their theological teachers
right up until the 1950s. In British Methodism's self-understanding, then,
there have been very few theologians indeed, and the culture of Methodism
suggests this is a good thing.
This chapter seeks to reverse this tendency. This is neither because of
any resistance on my part to the pragmatic/practical/experiential theology
so dear to Methodism, nor is it a means of trying to steer Methodism
towards some new and unwelcome way of doing 'dogmatics'. On the con-
trary, there is a clear sense in which experiential theology is the only
theology worth bothering with; and too many books of theology are too big
and too abstract anyway. The argument for greater theological articulation
has a twofold purpose: so that life experiences can be enjoyed more fully and
richly as ways of experiencing God; and so that the reflective discipline
of interpreting life experience may in turn enable other experiences, and
the experiences enjoyed by others, to be equally richly mined. This is, in
short, about doing theology in the service of human flourishing, and doing
theology as mission.
But what are the theological hallmarks of this commitment of Methodism
to a 'theology of ordinariness'? I suggest there are two principal hallmarks
(redemption and Spirit), and a third which derives inevitably from them
(church/society).
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The Theological Implications of Methodist Appeals to Experience
Redemption: participation in Christ

The first hallmark is redemption. Methodism would not exist without
embodying in its corporate life a commitment to the saving work of God in
the life of the Christian believer. Redemption has two dimensions: participa-
tion in Christ and radical self-acceptance.
"Participation in Christ' is an intense shorthand description of the whole of
the Christian life. It signals that all life lived in a Christian way is lived within
God, since God is understood in and through the person of Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, all such living is somehow included within the work that God
was and is undertaking 'in Christ'. This shorthand description indicates three
features about redemption: dependence, corporateness and empowerment.
Christians are dependent upon God's saving action in Christ for their
contemporary sense of well-being. But the focus of this dependence is less
upon a past action by God and more on the nature of God's contemporary
presence. The state of well-being to which living by faith bears witness thus
results from being counted a member of a people (the body of Christ) who are
likewise aware of their dependence upon God. The dependence is, however
empowering and energizing rather than a powerless, debilitating dependence.
Participation is active participation in the sense that it is worked at as a living
relationship with God, in Christ and with others. As such, it is a channel
through which a participant receives strength and the courage to act with and
for God.
In relation to this primary constellation of factors about 'redemption as
participation', a further aspect of God's saving work comes into play. It is
not possible to speak of 'God's saving work in Christ' in Christian theol-
ogy without devoting some attention to atonement. The link is not, how-
ever, as straightforward as often suggested. It is true that Methodism has
assumed the usual range of orthodox approaches to the atonement. These
are contained in Methodist liturgies (e.g. MWB). Furthermore, Methodist
theologians and biblical scholars have shown direct interest in the doctrine
(Langford 1998:59-66). However, the fact that Methodist theologians are
not known first and foremost as 'theologians of the cross' is an indication
of how atonement, where explored, is subsumed within other themes of
theology in order to be consistent with the Methodist experience of redemp-
tion. Atonement - the way in which God participates in the world in an
effort to right its wrongs, and to prepare its people for right living - is thus
understood in the light of the way that Methodism has glimpsed how God
brings this about: through enabling people to participate in Christ. Partici-
pation in Christ means participation in Christ's suffering and resurrection, in
the company of others, and is made possible because of God's known
125
participation in the world, in the manner perceived in Christ. The cross,

however, is less the focus of any single, isolated means by which this is
achieved and more a consequence of God's committed participation in the
world. In other words, something undoubtedly happened in the past which
affects the present: Jesus the Christ died, and his death has taken on huge
significance. Focus on the present does not collapse everything into the
present. Present participation is in Christ in continuity with the past, caught
up in the consequences of the death of Jesus the Christ. It is also par-
ticipation in the resurrection of Christ, which is the promised presence of the
living God in Christ beyond all death-dealing elements in contemporary life.
Redemption: radical self-acceptance

The second dimension of the Methodist understanding of redemption draws
upon issues surrounding exploration of the significance of the cross as more
traditionally understood. 'Radical self-acceptance' denotes the fact that
redemption entails acknowledging who one really is, and that one is already
wholly known before God, and loved by God whether or not one can even
accept oneself. 'Radical' indicates the full extent of this self-knowledge. God
alone knows fully who we really are. But our own quest for self-knowledge,
together with the acceptance of God's already knowing us, compels us to
delve to the roots of who we are. However little we may know or under-
stand ourselves, we are confronted with a basic, life-giving truth: God loves
us in spite of what we are known to be. On the basis of that prior, divine
acceptance, we are enabled to face our weaknesses, our wilful neglect of God
and others (sin), and to be empowered by God always to be new, refreshed,
inspired people. These are contemporary ways of expressing the Methodist
conviction that 'all need to be saved' and that 'all can be saved'.
Methodist commitment to a social understanding of redemption thus
incorporates two elements within its understanding of redemption: its grasp
of the human condition (all are sinful and in need of salvation), and its appro-
priation of incarnation and atonement (God commits to the task of saving the
world by participating in its life). Corporately understood, this redemption is
nothing other than participation in Christ. To be redeemed is to be rescued
from the sense that well-being depends on the isolated human self. It means
to discover, in the company of others, the God known as the God evident in
Christ, and to participate in the present life of Christ. Only in this way,
indeed, can the self be known more fully.
Spirit
If participation in Christ is a key to unlocking the corporate sense of
redemption, then recognition of the activity of the Holy Spirit must be noted
126
alongside it. Methodism is a Spirit-driven movement. One is prompted to

participate in Christ, to receive the gift of radical self-acceptance and well-
being which redemption brings, and to turn to others, always 'by the Spirit'.
Methodism is not, however, in any simple way a 'charismatic movement' in
the sense in which the term was often used during the second half of the
twentieth century. Methodism's commitment to practicality, pragmatism or
ordinariness leaves Methodism resembling a very concrete, material(ist)
form of Christianity by comparison. Not many Methodists can be accused
of distinterest in the material aspects of life. Methodism's understanding of
the Spirit therefore needs some teasing out.
Methodism's theology of the 'concrete Spirit' can perhaps be contrasted
with the way in which, in Anglican circles, contemporary experience of God
may be more aptly expressed in terms of incarnation or 'continuing incar-
nation'. 'The incarnation' refers, of course, to God's presence in the person
of Jesus Christ, often directly to the time of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
This decisive in-breaking of God into history is then at the very least a
decisive case or pattern for the way God is intimately involved in the ways
of the world. Not every tradition, however, speaks readily of such activity of
God as 'incarnationaP. Methodists affirm that God was and is 'active in
Christ', and it would be wrong to polarize traditions too simply here. How-
ever, as already indicated, redemptive participation in Christ is the primary
Christological concern for Methodists. What Anglicans do with the doctrine
of incarnation, Methodists, I suggest, are more likely to do with the doctrine
of the Spirit. When Methodists begin to tease out what is actually going on
when they participate in Christ, receive (communally) the redemption offered
to them, face their failings, and enjoy the sense of well-being which can come,
then it is to the doctrine of the Spirit that they turn. 'Experience' is at root
spiritual experience, and thus experience of the Spirit.
This has major repercussions in Methodist life and theology. First, as a
thoroughly Spirit-driven movement Methodism is prone to be less concrete
(and practical and pragmatic) than it claims. The Spirit blows where the
Spirit wills, and the Spirit's actions are invisible and known only by their
effects. This leads to a tendency to leave hidden the sense of God according
to which views are held and actions decided upon. The experience of the
Spirit is such an inner experience that it is often left inarticulate. Second,
despite the social dimension of redemption so prominent in Methodism, it is
the Spirit-driven character of the movement which makes it more individual-
istic than it believes itself to be. Hughes's textbook for preachers, Christian
Foundations, is striking in this respect. There are separate chapters devoted
to most expected doctrinal themes (revelation, Christ, God, humanity, sin,
reconciliation, Holy Spirit, Trinity, ministry and sacraments, hope). But
there is then an entire, lengthy chapter on 'The Work of the Holy Spirit in
the Individual' (Hughes 1928/1933:146-71). This is revealing about how
127
Methodism even now develops its understanding of redemption in practice,

in a way which qualifies substantially its social focus.
Church/society
It is not surprising that 'church' appears as a third theological hallmark
of Methodist experience. A social understanding of redemption cannot but
wrestle with the social form in which one would expect an experience of
redemption to occur. Methodist attention to a social understanding of re-
demption is, however, riddled with ambiguity, an ambiguity not resolved by
attention to the undoubted existence of a 'British Methodist ecclesiology'
(Carter 2002). Methodism cannot do without 'church' or churches, being
itself a worldwide Church and collection of churches. British Methodism was
spawned by the Church of England and is only comprehensible in relation to
it even now, despite the British Methodist Church's own separate existence,
and whatever comes of the most recent attempts at realignment. But by liv-
ing with a history which declares that discoveries and experiences of self and
God are genuinely possible for all - including the socially excluded - it has
created a social understanding of redemption which delivers an uncomfor-
table understanding of 'church'. Methodism's commitment to the extra-
vagant availability of the benefits of God's grace need not produce an easy
'secular theology', cannot feed an individualistic spirituality without cost to
both believer and wider society, and certainly does not render church and
Churches irrelevant. However, it continues to raise awkward questions about
the potential variety of social forms in which redemption may be experi-
enced, Christ participated in, the self radically accepted and the Spirit's
empowerment enjoyed.
In the time of the Wesleys, the class and band meetings of early Meth-
odism were seen as necessary supplements to what the Church then offered.
In practice they were often alternatives and, in time, became a rival struc-
ture. A great contemporary challenge to Methodism, not only in Britain,
may not be how the class meeting is to be recovered, but how its spirit and
theological freight can be rediscovered in the social contexts in the present in
which people actually live their lives. Perhaps it is these 'communities' which
have a chance of becoming the explicit social contexts of redemption (chap-
laincy settings, families, leisure groups, mission in the workplace, educational
groups). 'Ecclesial consciousness' in Methodism is, in short, less ecclesiastical
than is comfortable for the Methodist Church itself, let alone the ecumen-
ical context, even while Methodists remain committed to a social model of
redemption.
I have heard it said that the closest present-day event to the class or band
meetings of the Wesleys' time is an Alcoholics Anonymous Group. Band
meetings really functioned as eighteenth-century group therapy. John Wesley
128
wanted class members to reveal in their lives a 'desire to flee from the wrath
to come'. Such terminology need to change in a contemporary redemptive
context, but the demand for therapy, self-help, self-improvement and relaxa-
tion classes increases - some of them taking place in Methodist premises
(Marsh 2002:23-4,29-30). The 'need for salvation' remains with us. If the
'desire to flee from the wrath to come' were at least translated into a request
whether people 'really want to take this Christian thing seriously', then it
would be a start. But without the theological framework supplied in this
chapter, the experience which Methodism has always wanted to demon-
strate is available to all may not prove redemptive.
Conclusion
In this chapter I have sought to clarify some theological emphases of
Methodism which have become evident through its emphasis upon experi-
ence. I have suggested that Methodists are referring primarily to a 'religious'
experience: Methodists want people to be 'redeemed'. Teasing out what this
entails led to explorations of the notion of participation in Christ, radical
self-acceptance and experience of the Spirit. Redemption is a fundamentally
social experience.
Rather than collapse such a social understanding of redemption into a
doctrine of the Church, however, or to see such 'religious experience' as
separate from daily living, Methodism has maintained both a society/church
ambiguity at its heart, and a profound unease about the explicitly 'religious'
character of its 'theology of ordinariness'. This approach offers a challenge
for any contemporary Christianity wishing to declare that God's grace is
available to all. How are the many and diverse social contexts within which
people currently actually live their lives to be interpreted theologically, so
that their redemptive potential is noted and fulfilled? And how is the pub-
licly evident social form of Christianity (church) - which not all readily
identify as itself redemptive - to play its part in theology's public task? In re-
sponse to these two questions Methodism maintains its commitment to the
ordinary and the everyday, while being convinced that experience is central
to Christian living. Ultimately of course, a crucial test of the adequacy of any
theology is whether it can be lived: does it help me in my relations with my
children? Will it make me a better co-worker? In this regard Methodism's
legacy is problematic. Its tendency to equate experience as (e.g. a fellowship)
with experience of (God/Spirit/Christ) has the positive consequence that it
provides a way in which experience of God is to be enjoyed explicitly in the
context of daily living, and potentially beyond the identifiable Church. Its
becoming a Church in its own right has limited the impact of that insight
and arguably stunted its potential to articulate and develop a theology to
sustain its insight into 'redemption in ordinary'. It has taken its working-out
129
of the experience of redemption away from workplace and family. A con-

temporary challenge, therefore, is for Methodism to rediscover and rework
the theological premisses of its own existence, and to suggest ways in which
these may be appropriated and explored today, not only by Methodists.
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12
Joining the Dots:
Methodist Membership and Connectedness
Philip Drake
This chapter explores the theology behind Methodist membership and con-
nexion. It looks at the context and theology of membership and connexion
in turn. Both of these facets of Methodist life point to a sense of commun-
ity and a theology of relationship. The Methodist community is more than
just its members: every Methodist congregation has its adherents and is en-
couraged to keep a community roll as well as a list of members. Neverthe-
less, Methodist membership is a focus for what it means to be a part of that
community. The responsibilities and mutual obligations that come with
membership of the Methodist Church are expressed in terms of connexion.
Connexion is a description both of the interrelatedness and the practical
organization of the Methodist community. The third and final part of the
chapter argues that the perspective of mission is necessary to give the fullest
meaning to Methodist membership and connectedness.
Membership: Connecting the Individual and the Corporate

Context
The place of membership in modern Methodism has been influenced by a
number of factors. First, there is a decreasing emphasis on the societary
origins of Methodist membership. Methodism began in the eighteenth
century as a movement within the Church of England. Those who joined the
movement became members of a society. This has been reflected in Methodist
history by the fact that members were made by the decision of the leaders'
meeting (in more recent times by the Church Council), though later a service
was added to provide for the public reception of members (Called to Love
and Praise 1999:4.2.7 = Statements 2000:2a. 36). A 1992 report commen-
ted that in the popular perception at least, members were received in this act
of worship rather than in the Church Council meeting (Statements 2000:
2a. 114,116). As a consequence of this report, members are now formally
131
received during the act of worship, with the role of the Church Council being
changed to one of approval rather than admittance.
Second, there has been debate as to the relationship of Methodist mem-
bership to the membership conferred through baptism. Is membership
of the Methodist Church to be wholly distinguished from membership of
the Church universal? 'New members', a term used until 1962, suggested
that membership was something different from the membership conferred
through baptism. Subsequently, this was changed to 'full members', a term
also discarded (in 1992) as denying the completeness of membership given in
baptism. The service of reception of members no longer places any prefix
against those coming into membership. From this point of view the service
simply emphasizes a different aspect of membership - an expression of
'believing' rather than 'belonging'.
Third, there has been an increasing emphasis on the rite of confirma-
tion. A report to the Conference in 1962 on the use of the term 'confirmation'
highlighted the similarities and differences between the rite of confirmation in
episcopal churches and the Methodist Service for the Public Reception of
New Members. It described them as 'different aspects of a complex whole'
(Statements 2000:1.67). However, it placed no objection on using the
term 'confirmation' as an alternative title for the Service of Public Reception.
A brief look at titles of services reveals a changing emphasis: the service of
'Public Reception into Full Membership, or Confirmation', in the Methodist
Service Book (MSB), becomes a service of 'Confirmation and Reception into
Membership' in the Methodist Worship Book (MWB).
Fourth, ecumenical dialogue has highlighted differences in definitions of
church membership between the denominations. While membership of the
United Reformed Church, for example, has been regarded as being quite
close to a Methodist understanding of membership, other traditions' under-
standings (e.g. the Church of England's) have proved more difficult to recon-
cile. This awareness of differences appears to have affected the way in which
membership has been used in Methodism in recent times. For example, what
was described as being received into membership 'of the Christian Church'
in the MSB has subsequently become the more circumscribed membership
'of the Methodist Church' in its successor of 1999.
Together, these factors show a developing understanding of membership
in the context of worship and the wider catholic tradition. The concept of
membership has evolved as Methodism has grown in awareness of its rela-
tionship with other church denominations. The challenge for Methodism is
to discern whether Methodist membership has become more of a hindrance
than a help in an ecumenical setting. Is Methodist membership an aspect of
Methodism that has had its day, an eighteenth-century construct that is of
little relevance in today's Church?
132
METHODIST MEMBERSHIP
The discussion is complicated by the realities of membership in practice.

Some members show little more than a passing interest in the Church.
Others, who are not formal members, contribute a lot of time and energy to
the activities of their local Methodist Church. Still others are on the fringe of
church life and are never really offered the opportunity to commit them-
selves further. Others, again, stumble into membership without a clear idea
of what membership involves or without adequate preparation for member-
ship. Then there are those who, in these 'mix-and-match' days of post-
denominationalism, simply look for a church that suits them and show little
regard for formal systems of membership.
Theology
The call of God in Christ: a theology of grace and response
The basis of Methodist membership is clear: 'All those who confess Jesus
Christ as Lord and Saviour and accept the obligation to serve him in the life
of the Church and the world are welcome as members of the Methodist
Church' (CPD 2: Deed of Union 8). From this definition, membership is
understood as 'committed' membership, and reception into membership a
public declaration of personal commitment. As such, reception into Meth-
odist membership may be seen in terms of one particular aspect of the rite of
Confirmation. Whereas the understanding of confirmation as a strengthen-
ing of the Spirit fits in very well with infant baptism as an act of God's grace,
the understanding of confirmation as an affirmation of faith on the part
of the individual parallels the commitment given by the individual in the act
of reception into membership. The reception into membership, then, is a
personal response to the grace first shown through baptism. Methodist
membership is about 'being chosen' before it is about 'choosing'. The terms
of Methodist membership express a conviction to live out that calling in a
particular context - that of the Methodist Church and the local congrega-
tion to which the individual belongs.
Into the body of Christ: a theology of incorporation

The symbolic action used in the reception of members is the shaking of
hands, 'an extension of the hand of fellowship'. But as a joining of limbs, it
is also an illustration of the biblical image of the body of Christ. The prin-
ciple of Methodist membership is an embodiment of this image. The body of
Christ is extended so that we might be incorporated into it. 'Now you are
the body of Christ and individually members of it' (1 Corinthians 12.27).
In Paul's image of the body of Christ, the limbs, or members, of the body are
joined to form a single entity. 'For just as the body is one and has many
133
members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it
is with Christ' (1 Corinthians 12.12). For Steve Croft, membership of the
body of Christ describes 'a very strong and close way of belonging' (Croft
2002:129). It is in the light of this strength of intimacy and deep sense of
unity that the Methodist member is to regard the privileges and duties of
membership. These are to 'avail themselves of the two sacraments, namely
baptism and the Lord's Supper', and to 'cultivate [fellowship] in every
possible way' (CPD 2: Deed of Union 9).
Of the whole people of God: a theology of ministry

In the body, God has arranged the parts so that 'the members may have
the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with
it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it' (1 Corinthians
12.25-6). Integral to an understanding of membership is the ministry of care
exercised between the individual parts. In this ministry, each part works for
the good of the whole. The individual members are distinctive, and each has
its own special role to play. There is a variety of gifts, but each is equally
valued. These gifts are given by God 'to equip the saints for ministry, for
building up the body of Christ' (Ephesians 4.12). Within Methodism much
is made of this ministry of the whole people of God. In this theology of
ministry, the potential of each member is recognized, and the individual's
gifts are to be acknowledged and encouraged. An important expression of
commitment to this ministry is the annual service of covenant renewal
(MWB:281-96). In this corporate act of worship, Methodists offer them-
selves and their gifts for God's service, in faithfulness and in thankfulness for
all that God has given them.
Growing in holiness: a theology of sanctification

Methodist membership is currently declining in Britain. One possible reason
behind the falling figures is a declining level of commitment in society
generally, but a further possibility is that declining numbers result from a
decreasing value placed upon membership. Traditionally, Methodists have
been expected to grow in the spiritual life. As such, Methodist membership is
not an end point in itself, but is rather concerned with an ongoing growing
in holiness, within a process of sanctification. But it is also understood that
the individual cannot grow by following his or her own path alone; it is a
social task achieved in the company of others. As Wesley claimed, there is
no holiness but social holiness. This corporate setting is crucial to an indi-
vidual's membership. Hence the presence of a congregational promise in the
service of confirmation and reception of members: 'Members of the body of
Christ . . . . Will you so maintain the Church's life of worship and service
134
that they may grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of God and of
his Son Jesus Christ our Lord?' (MWB: 101). Methodist members are expec-
ted to make use of opportunities for learning and fellowship, Bible study and
prayer, for it is among the membership as a whole that the individual will
grow in the life of faith. It is a mistake to assume that the lack of a focus on
issues of individual lifestyle is a lack of concern for personal growth. Rather
there is an understanding that such growth takes place best in the company
of others. The well-being of individual members cannot be separated from
the health of the communal body as a whole.
Connexion: Connecting the Local and the General

Context
The concept of connexion is strongly rooted in Methodist tradition. A brief
consideration of the term as a distinctive feature of Methodist life reveals the
following points.
First, connexion has particular meaning relating to the structure of the
Methodist Church in Britain. Frank Baker focuses his attention upon con-
nexion as an organizational principle, identifying it as a means of linking
early Methodist societies together 'if they were to grow in spiritual strength
and efficacy' (Baker 1965:230). This pattern of connexion has been expres-
sed since the formation of Methodism in a sharing of resources. The most
prominent means of sharing is the stationing of itinerant ministers, but there
are other specific examples such as the distribution of money through the
various connexional funds. More generally speaking, stories, experience and
opinion are all shared in both formal and informal ways (on this, see
Glasson, Chapter 9, this volume).
Second, there is a tension in the connexional system between authority and
accountability. Government can be exercised over the Church as a whole
only in the sense that it is representative of its constituent parts. Connexional
authority rests not in a top-down model of government but is rather to be
found in a pattern of interdependence and mutual obligation. Local churches
are connected to one another through a system of circuits and districts, and
representation at the annual Conference. The connexion therefore provides a
creative tension in that it rules out both arbitrary authority from above and
a self-centred Congregationalism from below. However, two strains on the
connexional system can threaten to break this tension. One is the argument
that some decisions taken centrally have become too far removed from
grassroots Methodism; hence the view of those who highlight the mismatch
between connexional policy and local need. The other danger is of too much
authority residing with individual congregations. Local churches are autono-
mous in many ways, and recent relaxation of structures has allowed churches
135
the flexibility to respond more effectively to their local context. But the
danger is that they do so with less and less reference to the obligations that
pertain to a connexional system.
Third, the significance of connexion within Methodism needs to be seen
against the increasingly important background of ecumenism and the World
Church. Many of the points highlighted by Richard Clutterbuck emphasize a
connexional principle of interdependence, as he makes reference to 'partner-
ship in mission', 'the centrality of mutual dependence', 'bearing one another's
burdens' and 'a sharing of resources in both directions, giving and receiving'.
The report Called to Love and Praise (1999; Statements 2000:2a. 1-59)
emphasizes that the principle is not exclusive to Methodism, but its experi-
ence of a connexional system is an important contribution to the process
of ecumenical dialogue. It is interesting that the Anglican theologian Colin
Buchanan can point to connexionalism as the pattern of organization in the
early Church (Buchanan 1998:273).
Fourth, a concept of connexion is gaining a particular prominence in the
Methodism of today: 'The Methodist emphasis upon "connexionalism" is
an idea whose time has come' (Craske 1999: 172-4; Shannahan 1999: 34).
Connexionalism is identified as one of the main emergent themes of the
volume in which that statement appears (Craske and Marsh 1999). Despite
its archaic spelling, 'connexion' is a particularly appropriate word for today,
given developments in modern society. It resonates in a world where much
is made of the process of networking within organizations, internet links
on the worldwide web and the relational dimensions of human living.
These and other developments in society as a whole present a timely oppor-
tunity for a reclamation and reinterpretation of the Methodist principle
of connexion. For example, Methodists will want to examine a concept of
connexion in the light of the political process of devolution. What new
understandings of connexionalism and Methodism in Wales, Scotland and
England will need to be developed in responding to these changed patterns
of government?
Theology
Joined and knit together: a theology of interdependence
Connexion is the complement of membership. If the focus of the section on
membership was on individual parts of the body, a study of connexion gives
cause to highlight the links between the parts. In biblical imagery of the
body, these links are like the 'ligaments and joints' (Colossians 2.19) that
fasten and knit the body together. O'Brien emphasizes the distinction in
physiological understandings in the ancient world between the joints as
'points of contact' and the ligaments as providing nourishment (O'Brien
136
1982:147). A practice of living in connexion may be said to work in a simi-

lar twofold fashion. There are points of contact - an exchange of message or
greeting, a meeting or a conversation for mutual encouragement - which
break down our sense of isolation, and remind us that we are not made to
stand alone. There are also channels of supply - the giving and receiving of
gifts, the sharing of resources - through which the parts of the body find
vitality and the whole body is built up. In a pattern of connexion, these
ligaments and joints allow a freedom of movement for the parts of the body,
but also restrict that movement in a way which allows the whole body to
work together. As such, connexionalism is a recognition of the interdepen-
dence of churches within the body of Christ.
Clothed with love: a theology of unity in diversity

Christians are linked by a common bond of love in Christ: 'Above all, clothe
yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony'
(Colossians 3.14). In this example, the illustration of 'connection' is the
process of binding or tying clothes around the body. This bond is a reminder
that a pattern of connexion is present in all our relationships: personal and
communal as well as institutional. Living in connexion suggests a quality of
relationship without which connexion will cease. We are to be responsive in
our relationships, working at mutual obligations and being accountable to
one another. The members of the community in Colossae are encouraged
to work at their relationships by clothing themselves with kindness, humil-
ity, meekness and patience, showing forbearance and forgiveness to those
around them (Colossians 3.12-3). It is through attention to these virtues that
they will be able to live peaceably with others, even though they may be very
different. As they have already been reminded, 'there is no longer Greek and
Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but
Christ is all and in all' (Colossians 3.11). The Methodist Church, too, is a
diverse body and includes people from a wide variety of outlooks and back-
grounds. This very diversity gives Methodists a sense of unity as they learn
to live by the ties of connexion and the bond of love. As Methodists commit
themselves to living with difference, connexion becomes an important
expression of Methodist unity.
The head of the body: a theology of a larger Christ

'He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the
head of the body, the church' (Colossians 1.18). In this development of
Paul's example of the body, the emphasis is on the authority of Christ as the
head of the body. The use of 'church' here could refer to the local church or
the universal Church, but it is also an image that reaches out beyond the
137
confines of our limited imagination to the whole of creation. In this theology

of the cosmic Christ we are given an understanding of the Christ in whom all
things connect. Our present reality as members of the body of Christ needs to
be seen alongside the vision of the Christ in whom all things hold together.
The theology of a cosmic Christ reveals the partiality and incompleteness of
the connexion to which we belong. In the meantime, connexion reminds us
that we are always part of something bigger: Congregation, Circuit, Connex-
ion, Catholic Church. Methodist membership is 'of the Methodist Church
and of the church in this place' (MWB: 100): the role we play out in the local
setting is nothing less than membership of the Methodist Church as a whole.
In the Deed of Union, the Methodist Church 'claims and cherishes its place in
the Holy Catholic Church which is the body of Christ' (CPD2: Deed of
Union 4). Connexion encourages us to broaden our horizons, to look beyond
ourselves, not only to links with other Methodists, but also to ecumenical
relationships and the World Church. We are to remain open in our connected
lives. There needs to be continued encouragement to make connections with
other Christians, and also with people of other faiths and none. Christ tran-
scends the barriers of our own making, and is made incarnate in many
cultures and contexts. Connexion means being ecumenical in the widest
sense, pushing the boundaries at every point, as we seek the larger Christ who
calls us to live in new patterns of relationship and new networks.
Mission: Connecting the Church and the World

Context
Membership was central to the early Methodist societies, but in the context
of the established Church, Methodists were much more at the missionary
edge than at its institutional heart. Methodism's eighteenth-century origin
was as a fringe movement of the Church, showing a particular concern for
those on the margins of social and economic life, who were largely ignored
by the Church as a whole. Keeping this missionary edge was to be a chal-
lenge to Methodism as it made the transition from a society within the
Church to a denomination in its own right. Turner argues that the institu-
tion itself has retained an outlook of mission: 'Methodism, at its best, has
always seen church structures determined by missionary needs' (Turner
1998:94). Methodists have traditionally fostered an attitude of concern for
society and its needs, expressing the Christian responsibility to live out their
faith in the world. Preparation courses for membership and membership
tickets included for many years the commitments of membership under
separate headings of 'In the church' and 'In the world'.
The declining influence of the Church in British society has manifested
itself in a decline in Methodist membership. A membership figure of 838,019
138
at the Methodist Union in 1932 had fallen to 617,018 in 1970 and 327,324
in 2001 (Tabraham 1995:87; Turner 1998:21; Minutes 2002:65). These
figures may be viewed against a decline in membership of voluntary organi-
zations (for example, political parties) as a whole. In these circumstances it is
possible that the membership of many congregations has become inward-
looking, orientating itself around maintaining the institution rather than
engaging in mission. The recent mantra 'from maintenance to mission' may
be interpreted as an attempt to address and reverse this tendency. Methodism
in Britain has something to learn here from other branches of the Methodist
family in different parts of the world where membership is growing.
If the missionary goal remains in any form within Methodism, strategies
for achieving that goal have had to adapt. One route followed increasingly
by churches is to work in partnership not only ecumenically but also with
non-religious agencies and organizations. There is a challenge here for Meth-
odism to understand these alliances with the secular world as an extension
of aspects of connexion. Through such friendships and alliances, connexion
moves beyond the Church and locates itself firmly in public life.
Theology
For the whole world: a theology of the love of God
Methodism has traditionally adopted an Arminian doctrinal stance, affirm-
ing that God's saving love is for all people and not only for an elect. As both
David Clough and Angela Shier-Jones note, this theological understanding is
the motivation for Methodists to undertake mission. In this theology of 'all
can be saved', church membership cannot be viewed as membership of a club
for the exclusive benefit of those who belong to it. As has often been said, the
Church exists for the benefit of those who are not its members. In a restate-
ment of this argument from an Anglican perspective, Peter Selby looks for an
understanding of church membership which is inclusive rather than exclu-
sive in nature: 'In knowing that our membership of the community of faith is
the result of a free and unmerited mercy, we are invited to share the hope
that includes all within the possibility of that mercy' (Selby 1991:33).
In other words, there is no basis for one's own personal membership that
cannot be applied to anyone else. Wellings and Wood note that much of the
preparation material for membership over the past seventy years has been
exploratory rather than didactic in nature, showing 'the inclusive sense of
membership evident from the 1930s onward, together with the concern not
to put obstacles in people's way' (Chapter 7, this volume p. 73). At its best,
Methodist membership is not a closed circle marking a boundary to keep
others out. It is intended to be an open connexion, looking to reach out into
the world.
139
Between church and world: a theology of mission

In the life of the early Church, as recorded in Acts, the quality of life within
the body of believers is related to the quality of mission undertaken outside of
the community (e.g. Acts 2.44-7). This pattern has been reflected within
Methodism by the emphasis on a life of discipline and devotion that leads
into a life of service and social action. Church membership should prepare
the people of the Church for living as Christians in the world. The most
recent material on membership from the Methodist Church (Called by Name
2002) makes much of the elements from the Our Calling document, endorsed
by the annual Conference of 2000. One of the most potentially creative
aspects of Our Calling is that it lends itself readily to making links between
Church and world. One such link is between learning and evangelism: the
story we hear in the Church is the story that we tell in the world. Similarly
with caring and service: the care we receive within the Church becomes the
care we offer to others through service outside of the Church. Commitments
of membership can all too easily be divided into categories of Church and
world. The challenge is to see ministry and mission not as two distinct activ-
ities of membership but as different aspects of the same whole. Church and
world are not to be blurred, nor are they to be regarded as wholly separate.
In such an understanding, Methodist members place themselves at points of
connection between the two.
Conclusion
A number of themes have emerged from this study of membership and con-
nectedness. Most prominent among them has been a theology of the body
of Christ. Different aspects of this theology have been revealed, not least
those of incorporation and interdependence. This theology of the body has
provided a framework for beginning to explore and explain key issues for
Methodism such as a ministry of the whole people of God and living with
difference in a broad church. The second theme is that of relationship. The
discussion has laid an emphasis on quality of relationship in matters of
membership and connectedness. Through a pattern of connexion relation-
ships are worked at and allowed to grow. Such relationships include those
between God, the individual member, the Church and the world. Third, the
study has highlighted the role played by the ecumenical movement, and its
very different effects on membership and connexion. Methodism has long
regarded itself against an ecumenical backdrop. In recent decades this ten-
dency has become even more apparent. If ecumenism has revealed some of
the limitations of a concept of Methodist membership, by way of contrast
a Methodist principle of connexion has come into its own in an ecumen-
ical age. Finally, there is the theme of mission, as Methodism revisits its
140
understanding of mission with each generation. The thrust of the argument

presented here has been the necessity to orientate membership and con-
nectedness towards building relationships beyond, as well as within, the
Church.
141
13
The Activity of God in Methodist Perspective
David Wilkinson
A Methodist preacher once told an old story about drought. It had not
rained for weeks and the crops were slowly dying. The response of the
churches was varied. Some simply accepted that it was all predestined and
asked the Lord to show them clearly what they needed to learn. Some
started to form a committee to look at what practical measures could be
taken. Some decided to hold a meeting and pray for rain, although it was
noticeable that only one woman brought her umbrella with her!
That story is striking both because of the stereotypes it contains and the
theological questions it raises. Traditionally, Christian theology has under-
stood God to have a personal and particular concern for the unfolding
histories of his creatures. God's action in the world is seen not only in crea-
tion, but also in the Exodus and in the cross. Yet, how does God act in the
world? Does God guide and control all events in the universe? Further, what
should our response be and indeed can we influence these things by prayer?
If Angela Shier-Jones is right to suggest that Conference documents convey
continued belief in the active participation of God in the life of the Church,
then we are left with similar questions. Many of us will look at Conference
reports and ask: How does God actually work through all of this?
We are entering here the doctrine of providence and its canvas is huge.
In this chapter it is impossible to do justice either to its breadth and com-
plexity, or to the many and varied contributions that Methodists have made
to its development. To explore the activity of God in the Church and world
at least involves the doctrines of creation, preservation, incarnation, resur-
rection, Spirit, ecclesiology and miracle. But some attempt at addressing the
question of 'how God acts' must nevertheless be made.
The past few decades have seen a tremendous growth of interest in provi-
dence in contemporary theology. The biblical theology movement affirmed
that the central message of the Bible is a proclamation of divine action, but
in so doing raised the question of how God actually worked. In addition, the
problem of evil has led some theologians to show great reserve about a God
of particular providential acts, thus defending God's non-intervention in
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THE ACTIVITY OF GOD
natural evil such as earthquakes and disease in terms of the regular structure
given to the world. Alongside this has been a serious attempt to see whether
or not science does speak of a predictable mechanistic universe which rules
out the activity of God (Russell et al. 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999). Finally,
within evangelical theology there has been a recent bitter dispute between
the proponents of so-called 'openness theology' (Sanders 1998; Pinnock
2001) and those who want to hold a more traditional Calvinist line in
providence (Helm 1994; Carson 1996:215; Bray 1998; Fackre 2002).
Such a vigorous debate invites the participation of Methodists. In Part I,
Richard Clutterbuck suggests that Methodist theology is characterized by
interdependence, and Martain Wellings and Andrew Wood trace out the
way in which Methodist theology has responded to its contemporary con-
text. The renewed interest in the doctrine of providence therefore challenges
Methodists to renewed thinking and appropriation of their tradition. In
order to help in this process I attempt to map out the terrain created by
different models of providence that are currently available, via their leading
proponents, in the theological arena (Wilkinson 1998). I will then ask what
constitutes a Methodist journey or journeys through this terrain. While each
of the models is linked to those who are usually associated with them within
the theological literature, it is interesting to note that each model has been
held within the Methodist community.
Models of God's Providence

1 The 'working in the mind' God
The existentialist approach of Bultmann and others draws a distinction
between the 'exterior' world of science and the 'interior' world of religion, in
that there is a fundamental difference in our knowledge of physical events
compared to the God who is known in experience. God does not act in the
physical world in any particular physical way, but achieves his purposes by
'acting' in the person of faith as he or she encounters God's Word. Prayer for
the end of a drought will not lead to God making it rain, but to the praying
person being moved to help.
The objections to this view have concerned whether such a fundamental
distinction can be made as even a model of God changing a person's mind
implies some particular interaction of God with the physical world. That
is, although the relationship between mind and brain remains complex and
unresolved we do know that a relationship exists. It seems difficult to see
how God can interact with our minds without interacting in some way with
the electrical signals in the brain. Further, others have strongly suggested
that the 'working in the mind' God does not really make sense of the bib-
lical story.
143
2 The 'sit back and watch' God

Wiles argues that God's action is limited to that one great single act which
caused and keeps the universe in being. It is an act that allows radical
freedom to human creatures and indeed radical self-limitation on God's part
(Wiles 1986). His analogy is that of an improvised drama. The author pro-
vides basic characters and the setting. The resulting drama may follow the
intention of the author, but the actors have freedom to determine their own
outcome. Evil thus becomes the risk taken by God in allowing actors free-
dom to live within a physical lawful environment. For Wiles, providence
becomes an kind of teleological insight into the general physical process that
interprets religious experience in retrospect. For example, conversion is not
to be understood as God forming a particular relationship with an individual
but is simply recognizing God's action in bringing the world into being.
Now, it is reasonable that if God is at work in the world then part of its
expression will certainly be found in the reliability and beauty of the laws of
nature. In addition, we must agree that God must have a consistent rather
than fitful relationship with creation. However, a God who does nothing
particular in the universe makes it difficult to see how God can be spoken of
in terms of personal relationships (White 1985: 70-1). In addition, Wiles has
been attacked for the way he interprets both the incarnation and resur-
rection. A God who does nothing particular cannot become flesh and cannot
raise someone from the dead.
3 A 'persuasive' God
Process theology uses an analogy between God's action and our experience
as agents, and attempts to proceed by assimilating the nature of the universe
to our nature. Each event in the universe has a psychic pole and a material
pole, and God works as an agent at the subjective level, exercising power by
persuasion or lure rather than coercion. It has a number of defenders includ-
ing some distinguished Methodist scholars (Cobb 1973; Griffin 1975; Pailin
1989) and some of the leading thinkers in the field of science and religion
(Barbour 2000).
The attraction of this is that God is able to lure the physical while inter-
acting with the 'spiritual'. However, a number of problems have been
raised (Clayton 2000). First, is there any evidence that the physical world
has such a nature, and how are the psychical and material poles connected?
Second, does it mean that even primitive objects such as quarks have an
ability to 'select' outcomes? Third, it is difficult to see how God can do any-
thing of importance at such a level. Is God reduced to as passive a deity as
Wiles' creator?
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THE ACTIVITY OF GOD
4 An 'open' God
Within mainstream theology since the 1980s it has been fashionable to see
God's creative love always accompanied by vulnerability (Vanstone 1977;
Moltmann 1985). In this theology of kenosis God limits himself and gives
to human beings, and indeed the universe, a degree of freedom to explore
their own potentiality. God therefore creates through an evolutionary pro-
cess that includes chance, in order to give human beings the possibility of
development with the consequence of the risk of suffering (Ward 1996).
Yet this God who gives openness to the future of the universe has pro-
voked one of the major controversies of the past decade in evangelical
circles. This is not only of interest to evangelicals, but the battle has often
been presented as between Wesleyan/Arminian and Calvinist views of provi-
dence. Indeed the debate is fuelled by a political struggle within evan-
gelicalism between Reformed movements influenced by Calvinist theologies,
and the growth of more Arminian Pentecostal and charismatic traditions
which acknowledge a debt to Wesley (Cross 2000).
Pinnock argues that traditional theism championed by Calvinism's view of
an all-controlling sovereignty was developed primarily from Greek philoso-
phy and is profoundly unbiblical. He argues that the Bible uses images of
God as a free personal agent who acts in love, co-operates with people and
responds to prayer (Pinnock 2001:27). God creates a world where the future
is not yet completely settled and takes our response seriously. Pinnock speaks
of the 'most moved mover' in contrast to the 'unmoved mover' of classical
theism. He argues that this understanding of the providence of God has sig-
nificant practical consequences in the areas of prayer and lifestyle.
There are significant similarities here with process theology, but with a
greater stress on God's transcendence and a claim to be motivated more by
scripture than by philosophy. Certainly both the process view and the open
view share common roots in the Wesleyan/Arminian tradition (Stone and
Oord 2001). However, we need to be careful about this. The affirmation of
human freedom is common but Wesley and Arminius held to traditional
definitions of unchangeability, eternity and omniscience. Both process and
openness go beyond this with more radical modifications such as God hav-
ing a temporal aspect in order to give a more 'coherent' philosophical view.
It is instructive to examine this openness proposal in a little more detail as it
claims its Wesleyan heritage. We will return to it later in the chapter.
5 A 'bodily' God
'Panentheism' uses an analogy between God's action and our action but
attempts to assimilate God's action in the world to our action in our bodies.
Jantzen sees the world as God's body, God working in it just as the soul
145
works within the body (Jantzen 1984). In a similar way Peacocke views the
universe as a foetus in the 'womb' of God (Peacocke 2001). Thus God can
act on any part of the world in a way similar to our action on our bodies, but
God is also greater than the world.
Such an approach has attraction, not least in holding together both imma-
nence and transcendence. However, problems have been raised. First, do we
understand enough about embodiment in order to use such an analogy?
How does 'the soul work in the body'? Second, if the universe is in some way
God's body, then does God become vulnerable as the universe changes with
time? The analogy is very good at 13.7 billion years when the universe has
order and discernible structure, but is totally inappropriate when the uni-
verse is a quark soup. And what was God like before the Big Bang? Third,
such an analogy sees the nature of the physical world as an organism hav-
ing unity to its overall structure. But the universe is just too subtle to fit
the picture. In some senses it shows 'organism' qualities, in other senses
'mechanistic' qualities, and in yet other senses 'chaotic' qualities, of which
we will say more below. It is a subtle admixture of many things. Fourth, it
may be argued that panentheism threatens God's otherness and freedom
while also compromising the world's freedom to be itself.
6 A 'chaotic' God
Polkinghorne argues that if there is room in the physical world for our own
exercise of free will then surely God must enjoy similar room. He then locates
this space within chaotic physical systems (Polkinghorne 1988).
In recent decades there has been a growing realization that physical
laws do not constitute an exhaustive description of the world, as science
only gives us better models representing in part the reality which is there.
Furthermore, in quantum theory and chaos they imply flexibility of action
within the process they describe. Thus quantum theory says that at the
atomic level there is an uncertainty in nature itself. Pollard argued that this
uncertainty may be the locus of God's free and 'cloaked' action in the world
(Pollard 1958). Unfortunately it is difficult to see how God working at the
uncertainty of the quantum level would affect the everyday level. Due to this
quantum uncertainty the atoms in my body have a mathematical probability
of passing through the atoms of a wall. But this does not mean that in
everyday life there is no point in using the door!
Chaotic systems have a great advantage over quantum systems in that
their effects are felt at the everyday level. Therefore, Polkinghorne argues
that it is here that God has freedom, and that God's activity is unable to be
directly seen. The importance of chaos is that, in contrast to the 'clockwork
world' deduced from Newtonian mechanics, there are systems obeying
immutable and precise laws that do not act in predictable and regular ways.
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THE ACTIVITY OF GOD
When the dynamics of a system are chaotic they can be predicted only if the
initial conditions are known to infinite precision. This means that for finite
beings there is an uncertainty about some systems within the everyday
world, such as the weather, even if the laws of physics are known (Houghton
1989; Gleick 1993).
Polkinghorne argues that chaos means that the universe is inherently open
to the future, unpredictable and undetermined. This then is the 'space' both
for human freedom and a free process defence for natural evil, in that the
openness that the universe has in exploring its potential can sometimes be
for good and sometimes for evil. Further, he suggests that God is at work in
the flexibility of these open systems as well as being the ground of law.
God's particular activity is real, but it is hidden. Providence becomes a
subtle interaction between our freedom, the freedom inherent in the physical
nature of the universe and God's freedom. Polkinghorne has gone beyond
the openness in many of the approaches outlined above by locating it within
specific physical systems.
Therefore, is it right to pray for rain? Yes it is, according to Polkinghorne.
This is because the weather is a chaotic system showing this openness to the
future. Is it right to pray for summer to come before spring? The answer is
no, for the seasons are determined by the simple non-chaotic system of the
earth's rotation about the sun.
In response some have asked whether chaos implies just a limitation on
our knowledge rather than a genuine ontological openness in the universe
itself. We may not know the future but is an infinite God limited in this way?
In addition, should God be confined to such 'gaps' of scientific prediction? Is
God's activity so self-limited to chaotic systems and in a way that is hidden?
7 A 'double agency' God

Rather than describing in scientific terms the causal joint of God's action,
Farrer argued that we cannot conceive of God's way of acting in terms of
our own, and therefore the causal joint between God's action and ours will
always be hidden. Each event in the universe will therefore have a double
description, a so-called 'double agency'. The event may be spoken of in
terms of the providential action of God while at the same time it will have a
full natural description in the laws of nature or the action of human agents
(Farrer 1967). Such an approach has been followed by others who have
vigorously defended a strong view of God's providential guiding of history
while at the same time allowing for a complementary description in terms of
natural processes (MacKay 1978; Houghton 1995).
Objections to this view concern whether freedom is at all real in this
picture, and whether it is simply a retreat into mystery in the face of difficult
questions.
147
A Methodist Contribution?
It will be clear from Part I that Methodist theology has a complex fluidity
about it which is part of its strength. Its journey across a particular terrain
can be flexible. In the area of providence one cannot point to one definitive
work or indeed read directly from Wesley himself. However, I do believe
that the theological approach of Methodism has important points to con-
tribute to the above debate. It may not favour one of the seven options over
and above the rest, but it does pose questions to all. What might these ques-
tions be to guide us on a journey through this complex terrain?
1 Theological method
It is interesting that the doctrine of providence has often been located in the
areas of systematic or philosophical theology. In the past this has often
isolated it from scientific insights and indeed the complexity of the biblical
material. Further, within those disciplines there has been a tendency to move
towards a coherent and simple model of providence. This leads the modern
Calvinists into one rigid model while at the other end of the theological
spectrum God is divested of any power or freedom in order to acquit God of
the problem of evil.
Wesley's contribution as a theologian in this area is significant. English
comments:
Wesley's greatest contribution of all was his ability to face seemingly

intractable problems and to place them into a creative tension which
was not resolved but was lifegiving. (English 1979: 91)
Thus he placed a Protestant understanding of salvation alongside a Catholic

doctrine of perfection in a way that brought together the experience of
forgiveness and the desire for holiness. In the area of providence, a Methodist
contribution therefore resists any attempt to oversimplify the doctrine for
the sake of resolving all tensions. Complexity and mystery must be main-
tained, especially if this is life-giving.
Such complexity concerning providence has always been at the heart of
scripture, reason, tradition and experience. Interestingly Calvin explores
such complexity when he sees God, the Chaldeans and Satan as all active in
the Chaldeans' attack on Job's shepherds and flock. Further, the Bible some-
times claims that nothing happens which God does not make happen (e.g.
Isaiah 45.7) and sometimes that time and chance have an important part to
play (e.g. Ecclesiastes 9.11-12). Pinnock claims that the parable of the prod-
igal son (Luke 15.11-32) 'dramatizes the truth of the open view of God'
(Pinnock 2001:4). This is fine as long as you do not complicate the matter
148
THE ACTIVITY OF GOD
by noticing that Luke joins this parable with two others which 'dramatize'
God as taking the initiative seeking a lost sheep and a lost coin (Luke
15.1-10). To take scripture seriously, as Pinnock wants us to do, means that
these images must be held together in tension in any doctrine of providence,
emphasizing both the freedom God gives and the active grace of God.
This difficult tension is a reminder that any one view of providence might
be neat and simple in the philosophy textbook but may be far too simplistic
to do justice to a complex universe and the God who both sustains and
relates to the universe. It is an easy trap to look for a simple philosophical or
theological system and ignore some of the biblical data or indeed our
experience of God's work in our lives.
This highlights the real strength of holding together in dynamic relation-
ship the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. As Stephen Dawes points out this has been
the topic of hot debate on the other side of the Atlantic (Thorson 1990;
Gunter et al. 1997). Leaving aside for the moment debates as to which of the
four sources has primacy, if any, the Methodist way of holding together
experience, reason, Bible and tradition is extremely fruitful for the theo-
logical examination of providence. Too often philosophers have developed
the doctrine in isolation. There has been a lack of emphasis on the com-
plexity of the biblical material or indeed on the biblical material at all.
At the same time, Methodists would want to emphasize the importance of
our experience of the world not least in the insights of reason in terms of
modern science (Hawkin and Hawkin 1989; Luscombe 2000; Wilkinson
and Frost 2000). It is fascinating that in the 'classic texts' on providence
in the twentieth century (Ogden 1963; Kaufman 1968; Wiles 1971; Cobb
1973; Griffin 1975; Bultmann 1983) a serious ignorance of the develop-
ment of contemporary science is demonstrated. Kaufman even states in 1968
that 'we cannot conceive of an event without prior finite causes'. This is
embarrassing in the extreme. Quantum theory had been around for at least
forty years and Pollard had written about its implications for providence
some ten years earlier.
In contrast, the Methodist scholar Albert Outler in 1968 shows a com-
mendable engagement with science (Outler 1968). He begins by considering
just how closed nature and history are to the action of God. Rejecting
quantum theory as the gap in which God works, he nevertheless uses it to
show the limits of science and to make the case that the scientific laws are
provisional and descriptive, not prescriptive.
Chaos and quantum theory must be taken seriously. They may not pro-
vide easy gaps into which one can insert the intervention of God, but they do
demolish the mechanistic universe that has so dominated discussions of
providence. They remind us also that any model of providence must reflect
the varied and complex nature of the universe. There is predictability and
unpredictability, and a number of different avenues that God may choose to
149
interact with the universe. At the same time theology must be serious in its
interaction with science but must not be dominated by it. The Wesleyan
Quadrilateral is a simple way of challenging any discussion of providence
that is overly dominated by either experience, reason, the Bible or tradition.
2 New creation
If the doctrine of providence has been isolated within systematic or
philosophical theology, it has also been developed in isolation from new
creation. Discussion has centred on providence and creation with little
attempt to reflect the importance of new creation in Christian tradition.
A major emphasis in recent Wesleyan theology, especially in the USA, has
been the recognition that the theme of new creation is a major component of
Wesley's mature theology and indeed may play an integrative role (Outler
1985; Runyon 1998). Maddox has helpfully characterized this 'trajectory' in
Wesley's theology as moving through new creation from the personal spirit-
ual dimension and the socio-political dimension to the cosmic dimension
(Maddox 2002). It is this emphasis on the cosmic dimension of new creation
that can be brought to the development of any doctrine of providence.
Providence must relate to both creation and new creation. While the nature
of creation will inform providence in terms of God's constant sustaining of
the universe and his giving of freedom, the nature of new creation brings
questions of God's ongoing purpose and his own freedom into the discussion.
Biblical passages which focus on new creation emphasize the sovereign
act of God, with eschatology based on God as creator (Wilkinson 2002).
On the basis of this, Bauckham attacks models of providence which make
God dependent on the universe, for only a transcendent creator God can
give hope of new creation (Bauckham 1993:51). Models of providence have
to take seriously the universe over its entire history, rather than just the
present state of the universe. Those which picture the universe as God's body
work reasonably well with a universe of its present structure, variety and
life, but are weak when we look forward to a universe which decays in the
futility of a lifeless and unstructured heat death (Wilkinson 2003). Models
that stress immanence too much at the expense of transcendence face a bleak
future in terms of the end of the universe.
Likewise, models that stress God's non-intervention in the universe are
presented with interesting questions in terms of the end of the universe.
For example, does Wiles take seriously that his model pictures God as
sustaining a process which will end in futility? The universe may seem cre-
ative and diverse at the moment, giving the human actors freedom to work
out the drama as they wish, but what of the time when the universe is
tending to destruction? Has God given the actors freedom to work out their
own drama in a theatre that is destined for demolition?
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THE ACTIVITY OF GOD
The eschatological dimension also questions open views of the future.

Many of these views want to reflect eschatological closure in the victory of
good over evil at the end of time, but it is difficult to see how this might hap-
pen. In Pinnock's case, for example, there is virtually no engagement with the
major biblical themes of new heaven and new earth. He uses the analogy of
God as the 'master chess player'. God is the consummate guide allowing both
freedom to the other person involved in the game and yet able to bring about
ultimate victory. But does such an analogy represent genuine openness? The
struggle to find an adequate picture shows the limits of the openness view in
the light of eschatological closure.
Wood has suggested that in the past, providence has been severed from
creation (Wood 2002). He sees that providence has been allocated the
time 'in between' the world's creation and its consummation, and has been
drained of any creative significance. Therefore the emphasis in the doc-
trine has been on preservation, stability, order and harmony, and that the
virtues it inculcates are mainly passive. He then argues that we must recap-
ture the unity of creation and providence in order to see the 'creative
character' of the doctrine. Yet he could go further. Gunton has suggested
that creation is to an end, which is that all that is within space and time is to
be perfected in praise of the creator (Gunton 1992:57). Moltmann views
Christian eschatology not as the ending but as the beginning of new creation,
when creation is finally taken up into the life of Trinity (Moltmann 1996).
To recapture the unity of creation, new creation and providence strengthen
all, giving providence in particular both an encouraging and challenging
voice in Christian lifestyle.
Advocates of openness see their position as a motivation to Christian
responsibility and action, as our free human agency can make a difference
(Boyd 2000: 94). While accepting the point, made by David Clough and
others in Part I, that an Arminian doctrine of grace is the motivation for
mission, I suggest that it is not enough. Wesley's understanding of new
creation gives confidence alongside opportunity. God's plan for new creation
demonstrated in the death and resurrection of Jesus is about the eventual
triumph of good over evil. We may believe that we can make a difference, but
also that the end is assured. This gives confidence to Christians alongside
opportunity. This is essential to the 'optimism of grace'.
3 Trinity
A welcome move in systematic theology in recent years has been a reaffir-
mation of the importance of Trinitarian theology (Gunton 1993). As the
writers in Part I have ably shown, this reaffirmation of the Trinity has been a
characteristic element of British Methodist theology of recent years and will
151
be an important emphasis that Methodists will want to explore in any

doctrine of providence.
Wood rightly points out that in systematic theology providence has been
seen in relation to the Father, with the neglect of any Christological or
pneumatological considerations (Wood 1999). Thus the tendency is to see
the providential God as the Supreme Being of philosophical theism and with
God's actions being determined by natural theology. Such a sterile doctrine
of providence is corrected by Trinitarian thinking. God is both transcendent
and immanent, acting as creator and sustainer, as the incarnate Christ who
dies on the cross and is raised from the dead, and as the power and presence
of the Holy Spirit pervading the Church and the world. This reminds us once
again that the nature of God's providential action is complex and how we
perceive it is also complex. The triune pattern is the way God relates to all
things but it is also the pattern of our knowledge of that relation. To the
extent that we may understand how God is related to what goes on, we
understand it 'through Jesus Christ' and 'in the Holy Spirit'.
Trinitarian thinking has often been neglected in the area of providence in
favour of logic or science. It safeguards a specifically Christian understand-
ing while posing creative questions to the doctrine. An example of this may
be found in Pannenberg's attempt to describe the work of the Spirit in terms
of the force of a field, as an immaterial force causes physical changes (Pan-
nenberg 1989). Much can be said against such a suggestion (Wicken 1988),
but it does raise the question about whether some generalized physical
theory can serve as meaningful metaphor for God's cosmic presence, and
indeed about the limits of such a metaphor. Clive Marsh's reminder of the
hidden work of the Spirit poses the further important question of whether
there is always a limit to the doctrine of providence. The Methodist perspec-
tive may involve reminding the philosophical theologian that God's activity
may never be fully understood.
4 Grace
Finally, Methodists bring to the discussion of providence the importance of
prevenient grace. Here, Wesley's understanding of God's free and generous
acting in the world, which both gives responsibility to his creatures and
characterizes his own responsibility as creator and redeemer, comes to the
fore (Cobb 1995: 35-41; Maddox 1994). God's purposes are achieved in
relationships of response and responsibility. In terms of personal salvation,
God is active before conversion, during conversion and in the growth to
holiness. God is active both in preparing this path and in active help along
the way.
Therefore, in terms of models of providence, Maddox is right to
comment:
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THE ACTIVITY OF GOD
While the longstanding Wesleyan commitment to God's response-

ability resonates strongly with the process emphasis on God's temporal,
creative, and persuasive nature, it should be no surprise that this same
commitment renders many Wesleyans less happy with the apparent
restriction of God's role in the ongoing process of the whole of reality to
only that of 'lure'. Is such a God still truly response-able? Where is the
basis for eschatological hope within this restriction? Is there not a place
for God to engage us more actively than this, without resorting to
coercion? (Maddox 2001b: 142)
Wesley's understanding of grace reminds us of God's free, continuous

and multi-faceted activity. Further, it is a reminder that we cannot save
ourselves. Whatever freedom is given to this creation, we cannot reach our
potential in isolation. However we want to speak of the doctrine of sin, our
freedom is severely limited by our rebellion against the God whose intimate
relationship with us makes us fully human. Helm makes the forceful point
that 'Our plight is such that only a God who can effectively bring about his
redemptive aims ... can help us' (Helm 1999). Outler argues that grace is
'the mainspring of any proper Christian doctrine of providence' (Outler
1968:55). Due to grace, God is truly free to allow evil and yet sovereign to
veto its final triumph.
Conclusion
Is there then a particular 'Methodist' understanding of providence? Is one
of the above seven models to be owned by a Conference statement while
the rest are rejected? Of course not: the models remind us of a complex
terrain, but our four Methodist insights should help us navigate on the
journey. We will want to move away from models that are simplistic,
models that do not do justice to the breadth of God's purposes or nature,
and models that rob God or ourselves of real freedom and responsibility
in the universe. All the models have their limitations, but they also have
value. As David Bartholomew wisely comments, 'it is more important to
establish that God could act in a world of chance than to discover how he
does it' (Bartholomew 1984:143).
Can any of this theological discussion of God's action in the world help us
in understanding God's action in the Church? What does it mean to say that
'in the providence of God Methodism was raised' and can we also say that in
the providence of God certain sections of the British Methodist Church are
declining? These are huge questions, but our discussion may allow us some
preliminary comments. First, it should be clear by now that we must be wary
of any answer that does not do justice to the richness of the biblical mate-
rial, tradition, reason and experience. God is not to be confined to our
153
philosophical models or prejudices, nor is his work to be confined to our

models or prejudices about the Church. Second, we need to see the Church
in an eschatological perspective where we live as a community of foretaste of
new creation. Third, a Trinitarian understanding will mean that we hold the
power of the Holy Spirit alongside the experience of the crucified and risen
Christ. God's activity in the Church may be seen both in the dying and the
rising. Finally, God's initiative in action for us and with us gives us both
confidence and responsibility in discipleship and mission.
In all of the theological discussion and alternative models, it is easy to for-
get that providence gives Christian lifestyle its 'buoyancy and gracefulness'
(Outler 1968:123). To perceive God's gracious presence and activity is to
respond in worship, see this life as good and to be freed from ultimate
anxieties so that we can live intensively in the present and look hopefully
towards the future.
It is my conviction that Methodists have an important role to play in safe-
guarding such an understanding. Our contributions in terms of theological
method, new creation, Trinity and grace may not be unique, but they are
important in pointing to the way ahead and to remind us to take an umbrella.
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14
Growing in Grace and Holiness
Margaret Jones
Introduction
Anyone investigating the theology of British Methodism encounters the
Tour Alls', a succinct and memorable summary of Methodist doctrine
formulated in 1903 by the Revd William Fitzgerald. The first three may be
regarded as relatively unproblematic: 'All need to be saved. All can be saved.
All can know that they are saved.' The fourth statement, however - 'All may
be saved to the uttermost' - proves singularly difficult to unpack and under-
stand. It carries a variety of meanings in church life and discipleship - mean-
ings which have changed over time. One meaning has not simply replaced
another: multiple understandings are intertwined and sometimes stand in
tension with one another.
Formal theological writing in British Methodism acknowledged the
doctrine of 'Christian Perfection' fairly straightforwardly until the 1960s:
Eric Baker's The Faith of a Methodist (Baker 1958) may be held to mark the
end of this era. This is not to say that problems were not identified. Then, as
later, John Wesley's teaching on the subject could be characterized as incom-
plete or confusing. His thoughts about the nature of sin caused particular
difficulty. Flew pointed out that sin could surely not be regarded as some-
thing to be removed like a decayed tooth, while Townsend, among others,
argued that the perfected soul should logically be incapable of recognizing its
own perfection (Flew 1934; Townsend 1980). Furthermore, individual and
corporate aspects of holiness were sometimes felt to be in tension with one
another, despite frequent reference to 'social holiness'. There was tension
also between holiness seen both as a gift of grace for this life ('already') and as
something to be fully realized only in heaven ('not yet'). Different views
existed as to whether holiness could be an instantaneous gift of the Spirit or
must be a process of spiritual growth. Despite these tensions, however, theo-
logical and pastoral reflection by Methodist writers during this period was
characterized by strong themes of love, growth, victory over sin, progress,
new possibility, advance, transformation and the work of the Holy Spirit
155
(Hughes 1928, 1929; Perkins 1927; Chapman 1934; Chadwick 1934; Sang-
ster 1943).
From the 1960s a change is observable. The older discourse of inner
transformation seemed to be inadequate. It was too church-centred in a self-
consciously secular age, too traditional in a time of rapid social change.
Writing about 'holiness' came to place more emphasis on the transformation
of society, while retaining the Methodist 'optimism of grace'. But in a world
where accepted values and standards were being challenged, beginning the
journey to today's cultural and ethical pluralism, it was impossible to map
out a programme of social transformation that would be generally acceptable
even within the Church, never mind wider society. Accounts of 'Christian
Perfection' from this period tend to stress the difficulties of the 'now', placing
its realization in the far future of the 'not yet'. It could be argued that the
charismatic movement of the 1970s, with its emphasis on inner transforma-
tion through the gift of the Spirit, came just at the wrong time for Methodism.
The latter's public discourse on holiness in the 1920s and 1930s had empha-
sized individual renewal in a way which the charismatics of the 1970s would
have recognized and welcomed. By the 1970s, however, accounts of Meth-
odist theology tended (though not exclusively) to emphasize social justice
as a model of growth in holiness (Rack 1969; Stacey 1977; Townsend
1980), sometimes ignoring the 'saved to the uttermost' dimension altogether
(Davies 1988).
Nevertheless the wheel may be turning full circle. Recent work on
Methodist spirituality brings postmodern insights together with key themes
of Methodist theology to reaffirm the connection between 'inner' and 'outer',
individual and society. Christian people do not stand outside society, seeking
to reform it: their characters are formed by the social structures they inhabit,
and they therefore play a role in constructing society. Transformed individ-
uals and transformed society go hand in hand (Watson 1987; Wakelin 2001).
This work is strongly informed by 'virtue ethics' (Hauerwas 1981; Maclntyre
1985). This way of describing what it means to live well stresses the role of
community in the creation of moral values. Rather than viewing 'good' and
'evil' behaviour as absolutes, virtue ethicists argue that each community
constructs its own understanding of what it means to live a good life. This
process of construction is not arbitrary: the community draws on its history
and tradition and its shared understanding of the meaning of life. Neither is it
necessarily self-conscious: the construction of moral values takes place by
means of shared narratives, practices and beliefs - the whole 'form of life' of
a particular community. Modern society is criticized for its fragmented indi-
vidualism and its obsession with problem-solving which cause it to fail to
fulfil this role. North American work on John Wesley's practical theology
(e.g. Watson 1987; Maddox 1994; Runyon 1998) has also had an impact on
British reappraisal of Methodism's role as a character-forming community.
156
GROWING IN GRACE AND HOLINESS
Explicitly theological writing only takes us so far, however. This book

looks at Methodist theology in sources beyond the self-consciously theo-
logical. The rest of this chapter thus attempts to trace some of the multiple
influences present in twentieth-century Methodist talk of 'growth in grace
and holiness'. This choice of title acknowledges the difficulties in talking of
'perfection', but is not meant to prejudge the means by which holiness may
be held to be imparted or increased. The use of this traditional phrase
highlights the importance of the concept to Methodism, but reminds us also
that it is not a Methodist monopoly.
Strands and Influences

Many of Christianity's different perspectives on holiness are to be found
in some degree within Methodism. Little room is found, however, for the
view that holiness is entirely conferred by the 'imputed righteousness' of
Christ at the same time as justification. This view implies that the Christian
will continue to sin but is in a sense totally set free from the power of sin
by being regarded as righteous in God's sight. Luther used the phrase
simul Justus et peccator, 'at the same time righteous/justified and a sinner'.
The simultaneous nature of justification and sanctification is at the heart of
this doctrine.
John Wesley, in the aftermath of his so-called 'conversion experience' at
Aldersgate, on the other hand, identified justifying grace and sanctify-
ing grace as two separate works of God in the soul. The believer is set free
from the guilt of sin by the former, and is then to expect to be set free from
the power of sin by the latter. Wesley's exposition of these theological
themes, and the degree of emphasis given to them, varied throughout his
life. Nevertheless he always remained firmly within the Reformation tradi-
tion, interpreting justification as the work of God's grace appropriated by
faith, while emphasizing also a more 'catholic' understanding which looked
for a continuing work of (sanctifying) grace appropriated by use of 'the
means of grace'.
It may be argued that this mixed heritage remains typical of Methodist
theology and spirituality. It creates the attitude characterized by Gordon
Rupp as 'the optimism of grace' and engenders an unease with those kinds of
ethical reflection that emphasize the intractable fallenness of the world (e.g.
Niebuhr 1935; Preston 1987). It also helps to create a theological climate
that is receptive to the insights of virtue ethics emphasizing the role of the
community in constructing and mediating moral awareness (see above).
In considering perspectives that contribute to the Methodist under-
standing of 'growth in grace and holiness' I begin with the two that are the
most polarized and move on to those which offer a synthesis.
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Holiness as the instantaneous gift of the Spirit

This strand of thinking about holiness barely featured in our review of formal
theological writing, and is little in evidence in the sources considered in Part I.
Nevertheless it has always been important. John Wesley sometimes encour-
aged believers to expect the gift of 'perfect love' as the result of a distinct
work of grace in their lives - a 'second blessing' - and this teaching con-
tinued to resonate. It underwent new developments during the nineteenth
century, beginning in the 1830s in the USA with the Holiness Movement
associated with Caughey, Finney, Mahan and the Palmers. Wesley's empha-
sis on the long struggle towards perfect love was discarded. 'Christian
Perfection' or 'sanctification' became solely a gift to be received instanta-
neously: belief in its possibility was all that was needed. A later phase of the
movement came to Britain with Robert Pearsall Smith and Hannah Whitall
Smith and resulted in the founding of the Keswick Convention with its
emphasis on the 'Higher Life' and a spirituality of a deep emotional relation-
ship with God. Methodism was involved in this Holiness revival through the
Southport Convention, founded in 1885. Wesley an theologians stood aloof,
distrusting talk of 'sinlessness' and fearing that the movement downgraded
the role of the Church in salvation. Popular Methodist theology, in all
branches of Methodism, also preserved a more traditional understanding,
according to which total sinlessness was not to be expected. Not only this,
but the constant work and conscious co-operation of the believer ('using the
means' of grace) was also needed so that the grace of God could go on reduc-
ing proneness to sin. These controversies continued into the first half of the
twentieth century as Cliff College, founded in 1903, became the centre of
Wesleyan Methodist Holiness teaching. There was continuing controversy
over the question of whether sin could be totally eradicated, but Samuel
Chadwick's emphasis on the need for self-consecration of Church and nation
was widely welcomed. From the 1930s to the 1970s, however, the expecta-
tion of the 'second blessing' became confined to more world-denying and
fundamentalist circles. When it re-emerged as the 'baptism of the Holy Spirit'
in the charismatic movement, Methodism's old distrust of instantaneous
sanctification also re-emerged. Recent research on Methodist use of the
'Alpha' course seems to confirm this suspicion. This occurs despite a con-
tinuing strong emphasis in all Methodist theology on the work of the Holy
Spirit. Investigation of other sources for Methodist theology, particularly the
use of 'worship songs' (in addition to authorized hymnody) and the oral
history of mission and revival, may throw a different light on this question.
Holiness as the product of work and struggle

This is also an element in John Wesley's teaching on 'perfect love'. The
believer was expected to be filled with longing, to wrestle in prayer, to
158
participate in the other means of grace and to keep the rules of the Society to
the utmost. Classical Puritanism (part of Wesley's complex theological
heritage) emphasized the struggle for holiness in the life of the believer,
supported by grace received through the Word. This remained an important
element in the Reformed tradition. The nineteenth-century Holiness Move-
ment also contained elements (stronger in North America than in Britain)
which demanded the strict observance of rules of conduct as proof of
a sanctified life. These elements were strong in British Methodist spiritual-
ity and are still predominant in the popular 'journalistic' view of its ethos.
Those known as Methodists are usually held to have had a 'strict' back-
ground. The treatment of Margaret Thatcher's Methodist background is
pertinent here. The 'Nonconformist conscience' with its focus on drink,
gambling and Sunday observance epitomizes this world-view.
This tendency is little in evidence in Part I, where the emphasis is on the
world-affirming side of Methodism and on holiness as the result of the open-
ended ongoing work of the Spirit. Humanity is interpreted and interrogated
by the living Word rather than the written Word (Shier-Jones, Chapter 8,
p. 90). Oral evidence might tell a different story. It is also interesting to
note the identification of a theology of struggle in Methodist Missionary
Society reports in the period after 1945 (Clutterbuck, Chapter 6, p. 65).
This may be linked to the secular ethos at the end of a terrible war in which
unimagined evil had been made manifest. It may also reflect the promi-
nence of Reformed theology in ecumenical, and especially missionary,
thinking at this time - this prominence being itself linked with the prevail-
ing culture.
There is however another angle on holiness as the product of work and
struggle - the non-religious emphasis on self-improvement, development
and choice which is such a strong feature of contemporary society. From a
Lutheran perspective, by accepting the possibility of progress Methodism is
in danger of merely buying into a secular myth. Its strong tradition of social
and political activism amounts to adoption of an individualistic moralism
of temperance and hard work in an individualistic age, moving to a more
corporate stance when that became fashionable. If Christian mission is
to be defined as the promotion of 'all that God intends for human whole-
ness' (Clutterbuck, Chapter 6, p. 68) then the sources of one's definition of
'wholeness' become crucially important. Part I's evidence of Methodism's
openness to current trends of thought (e.g. in education) and its tendency
towards pragmatism and 'hidden' theology may be interpreted as showing a
tendency to 'be conformed to this world'. On the other hand, it may be
interpreted as evidence of a creative tension characteristic of Methodism.
A theology which seeks to offer the possibility of holy living to all people
must not speak a language which cuts the godly community off from the
rest of the world. There must be engagement with the thought forms of
159
contemporary society. At the same time, the community of faith must have
its own ways of identifying and describing holy living.
Holiness as a product of grace-bearing activities

This section represents a cluster of themes which are often identified with
the Catholic tradition of spirituality. As with the Puritan motif in Method-
ism, their presence is often attributed to the varied mix of John Wesley's
own spiritual and theological formation. It is questionable whether this is
enough to explain their persistence over 300 years.
In order to understand Methodist ambivalence about the 'means of grace'
(including the sacraments) it is necessary to take into account the impact of
the Oxford Movement (Tractarianism) - the Anglo-Catholic revival within
nineteenth-century Anglicanism. This gave new emphasis to the sacraments
as the means by which the Christian was to grow in grace and holiness.
These divinely appointed channels of grace, the Tractarians taught, were
granted to the Church and offered through its apostolic ministry. This 'high
church' view of holiness, stressing symbolism, mystery and tradition, was far
removed from Methodist spirituality. Tractarian theology of the Church
insisted on the continuity of apostolic ministry being preserved through
episcopal ordination: this led to controversy over Methodism's right to call
itself a Church. Beginning in the 1830s, this was still an issue a hundred
(or even 170!) years later. Given this background, and the continuing
dominance of Anglo-Catholicism within the Church of England at least
until the 1960s, it is hardly surprising to find that the founding of the
Methodist Sacramental Fellowship in 1935 was controversial (Bates and
Smith, Chapter 1, p. 10; Macquiban, Chapter 2, p. 18). Nevertheless there
was within Methodism a continuing emphasis on the sacraments as 'means
of grace' which resonated with the twentieth-century sacramental revival.
The tradition of involving the people, through stewards, in helping to pro-
vide the sacraments has also persisted since the earliest days. Recent work on
Holy Communion suggests that it continues to become more highly valued
(His Presence 2003).
Holy Communion is not, however, the only means of grace known to
Methodism. John Wesley identified 'extraordinary' means in addition to the
Church's traditional diet of the sacraments and worship. These might be
public (love feasts, watch-night and covenant services, class meetings) or
private (bible reading, prayer, devotional reading, self-denial) and also
included 'works of mercy'. All of these were to be gathered into what
Catholic tradition would describe as a 'rule of life' - a regular, ordered
course of living which, faithfully followed, forms habits of holiness in the
believer. John Keble expressed it as 'The daily round, the common task'
which 'Should furnish all we ought to ask: Room to deny ourselves', thus
160
joining hands with the Methodist William Perkins who described obedience
in ordinary life as more valuable than asceticism (Perkins 1927).
The Christian Citizenship Movement of 1935 may be the last example of
the spirituality which held together private commitment to a rule of life and
public engagement with social issues (Clough, Chapter 4, p. 44-5). Since that
date there has been an even greater breakdown of consensus among Chris-
tians at large as to what the content of a rule of life should be. The concept is
supposedly built into Methodist structures, yet (with the exception of the
Methodist Diaconal Order) those structures do not provide real support for
growth in discipleship. Beck comments, 'The doctrine [of sanctification]
remains with us in Charles Wesley's hymns, but the formative framework,
and even, I suspect, the spiritual intention, have largely gone' (Beck 2000:24).
A negative evaluation of 'rule of life' in Methodism today notes the tendency
of small groups to become places merely for friendship and uncritical support
(Marsh 1999) and the failure of the 'Covenant Discipleship' Movement, a
reality in the USA, to take root in the UK.
It is, however, noteworthy that the omission of the responsibilities of
membership from the membership ticket in 2001 provoked a grassroots
outcry which led to their immediate restoration. British Methodism con-
tinues to make it clear that membership involves active response, and offers
the expectation of growth in discipleship. While differing widely on both
ethical and spiritual matters, Methodists persist in wishing to affirm and
share a group identity at the level of disciplined practice.
Holiness as the outworking of responsible grace

The themes in this cluster are not separate from what has already been said in
this chapter, but they are more prominent in Methodism. They emphasize
synergy - the grace of God 'working together' with humanity, producing the
response of faith without which grace remains inoperative. Maddox's phrase
'responsible grace' incorporates the related ideas of response and responsi-
bility which are both essential to the concept (Maddox 1994). Holiness is the
fruit of responsible grace in both the private and public spheres.
Methodism places great emphasis on personal growth by means of inner
transformation brought about by the Holy Spirit. W.B. Pope set a trend for
the next century in concentrating on the 'inner life' in discussing holiness
(Pope 1875). Wesley's vocabulary was preserved to the extent that 'love'
was the defining concept; but by now psychology was describing love in
terms that focused almost exclusively on inner states of feeling. Christian
spirituality thus described growth in holiness as the possession of a greater
sense of joy, peace, forgiveness and so on. This emphasis on psychological
transformation, experienced through introspection and self-knowledge, is
typified by the work of Weatherhead, whose long-lasting popularity clearly
161
showed that he 'spoke the language' for Methodists and non-Methodists

alike (Weatherhead 1934). The problem of agreeing what outward conduct
(through social commitment and relationships) expresses the inner state has
already been noted more than once. During the first half of the twentieth
century adherence to the Nonconformist moral agenda (abstention from
alcohol and gambling, observance of Sunday and traditional sexual morality)
was believed to be the inevitable consequence of the psychological trans-
formation brought about by grace. The breakdown of the traditional moral
order from the 1960s led to the collapse of this synthesis. Methodism con-
tinued to proclaim the possibility of transformation by God's love, but the
absence of generally accepted ethical norms made it difficult to envisage how
that transformation might take shape in actual conduct. Methodism thus
remains open to the historic charge of placing too much reliance on states of
feeling or on the equation of currently culturally acceptable moral behaviour
with the state of grace.
This is not to say that Methodist theology and spirituality are typically
individualistic or introverted; far from it. Clough (Chapter 4) describes
a clear change from an individualistic morality (typically 'temperance') to
engagement with public issues (typically 'social responsibility'). Methodism
has always had a high-profile agenda about what constitutes 'public holi-
ness' - whether temperance, opposing apartheid or campaigning for debt
relief - but commitment to these issues has not been presented explicitly
(since the 1930s at any rate) as the manifestation of 'inward holiness'. But
the attraction of Methodist spirituality may be precisely in its insistence that
a personal experience of God's love should result in socially transformative
action. Clough rightly identifies Arminianism as the main theological force
behind Methodism's social concern: the kingdom of God is for all, and the
Church's mission is to make explicit the working of prevenient grace in
people's varied lives. But the doctrine of sanctification has its part to play too.
Each Christian must go on responding to God's grace in order to become
perfected in love. This response is a matter of action, not just emotion, be-
cause our actions may become to us means of grace. Once again there is a
strong link with virtue ethics: the community identifies and transmits ways of
acting that form in people those habits which the community regards as
virtuous. Our actions in their turn enable others to go on 'growing in grace
and holiness' in all aspects of their lives. It is the doctrine of sanctification
which gives Methodism's mission its characteristically holistic nature: human
flourishing is a matter of body and soul because the pathway to perfect love is
through God's grace encountered in this-worldly, embodied living. All this is
epitomized in the Covenant Service, where contemplation of God's gracious
gift of union in Christ issues in the commitment, 'I am no longer my own, but
yours. Your will, not mine, be done in all things, wherever you may place me,
in all that I do and in all that I may endure' (MWB: 290).
162
The concept of 'stewardship' functions in Methodism as a characteristic

way of describing transformative, responsible grace at work in public action.
It may have become merely a title in terms of church office-holding, but when
the nature of the office is explored its continuing theological basis becomes
clear. Something has been entrusted to an individual or a group which they
are then responsible for using or administering for the benefit of others.
Because this responsibility is seen as a privilege - a gift ultimately from
God - it is not just a task to be done but an opportunity for spiritual growth
for the one who undertakes it. This thinking underlies the Stewardship Move-
ment, in which church members are asked to examine all their talents and
resources and make an explicit commitment to give to the Church. Once
again those who fail to understand the connection between 'inner' and 'outer'
spirituality may misrepresent it as materialistic. The concept of stewardship
may be seen also in attitudes to creation. Methodism's connexional state-
ments and policies respond readily to calls for renewed ecological awareness,
and many individual enthusiasts are numbered among its members.
All the strands of the meaning of 'growth in grace and holiness' that we
have been untangling are in fact woven together in the life of the Church.
Those explored in this section bring together most closely God's grace and
human response. 'Responsible grace' necessitates also the holding together
of the 'outer' and 'inner' aspects of human life. Grace must be both received
and acted upon, individually and corporately, and none of these dimensions
can be omitted. In the early period of Methodism the class meeting func-
tioned as the place where this junction took place. Inner psycho-spiritual
transformation (the desire to 'flee the wrath to come') was affirmed and
supported, brought into contact with norms of belief and behaviour (seeking
salvation and keeping the rules of the Society) and enabled to become the
means of further transformation for others (as seekers and believers of all
degrees of maturity shared their stories).
During the nineteenth century the class meeting lost this function: 'society'
evolved into 'church', with the consequence that there were fewer conver-
sion stories to be told, and there were changes in attitudes to spiritual
discernment. The 'work of the Holy Spirit' came to be understood as taking
place within the individual, in a totally private transaction. The presence of
the Spirit in the Church was to be discerned in the quality of the fellowship
rather than in the process of mutual accountability. The first half of the
twentieth century thus saw a strong emphasis on fellowship for its own sake.
The tendency to view holiness as a matter of 'having the right feelings' led to
the belief that relationship with God and with others should be both sincere
and trouble-free. 'Happiness' became more a definition of 'holiness' than its
consequence (Marsh 1999: 108). This attitude may have lent strength to the
determination for different Methodisms to stay together after Methodist
Union in 1932. It may be seen underlying the ambivalence about controversy
163
in letters to the Methodist Recorder in 1934/5 and even in 1991 (Bates and
Smith, Chapter 1, p. 8-9) as well as the concern for equity, fairness and inclus-
ivity revealed by analysis of Methodist structures (Shier-Jones, Chapter 3,
p. 37). The communal understanding of revelation implicit in Confer-
ence procedures may indicate nothing more than a residual attachment to
'friendliness'; or they may signify something much stronger.
Despite the current fragility of accountability structures, Rupp's 'optimism
of grace' seems to be an enduring strand within Methodism. We might point
to the conviction that genuine change is possible in both the personal and the
social realms, that action can make a difference (Clough, Chapter 4, p. 47),
to the dependence on the Holy Spirit to lead the Conference to right deci-
sions (Shier-Jones, Chapter 8, p. 93) and to the expectation that candidates
for the ministry will rethink and expand their theological horizons (Well-
ings and Wood, Chapter 7, p. 80). All these features have at their root a
conviction that the Holy Spirit works together with human endeavour in a
genuine synergy.
Work To Be Done
We live in a context of variety and pluralism, where individual integrity is
prized above conformity. Methodists describe inner transformation by means
of widely differing narratives: instantaneous, gradual, sustained by rules,
spontaneous. Society at large does not understand the category of 'holiness'
and within the faith community itself there are disagreements as to what may
be reckoned 'good conduct'. In such a context, structures, spiritual prescrip-
tions or rules of conduct will not in themselves provide a way of nurturing
'growth in grace and holiness'. We need to identify a way of speaking that
will enable 'inner' and 'outer' reality to address one another. Methodism has
such a discourse at its heart: a commitment to (trans)formation-in-com-
munity which demands that people remain true both to their own life experi-
ence and to Christian tradition.
The theological foundation for this delicate process is to be found in the
concept of purity of heart. This is far from being a weak moral concept, as in
the damning faint praise of 'She meant well but...'. It is, as 'the love of God',
central to all spiritual formation. The Wesleys used the phrase 'the single eye'
(e.g. H&P: 793) to describe this quality of utter concentration, the indi-
vidual's total focus on God. This true purity of heart or 'right intention' is not
merely a question of thinking the right thoughts. It is the disposition of the
whole person - thoughts, desires, feelings, relationships and social settings
(Sheldrake 1994); a view which stands in apparent contrast to current
popular morality (the latter deeming a person's actions in their 'private life'
to have no influence on their public persona). Purity of heart originates in
allowing oneself to be loved by God: it develops by a synergistic process
164
in which active decision-making and passive receptivity interact to shape the

whole person in life-giving, integrative ways. Methodist tradition, like virtue
ethics, knows that this shaping of knowing, being and doing takes place in
community.
Real-life church communities may not, however, be places where this
easily happens. Rule-following, formulaic spirituality and reliance on struc-
tures provide apparent short cuts which are too readily taken. Genuine
mutual nurture demands attentive listening. Criticism and analysis must, at
least temporarily, be bracketed out, and priority given to honouring the
speaker's good intention and integrity. True desire to love God enables one
person's experience to interact with another's in a non-judgmental way. Only
from this foundation can dialogue with others and with Christian tradi-
tion lead to challenge and change.
Because the practice of attentive listening necessarily involves the sharing
of stories, it can never be separated from action. Purity of heart does not
develop in some 'spiritual' vacuum: it is formed and expressed in the inter-
actions of living. 'Love of neighbour' is not a mere dependent consequence
of 'love of God'; it is the means by which God's love becomes part of human
life: a means of grace, the very stuff of faith. Methodism today, as in the
past, may include varying understandings of 'growth in grace and holiness'.
But the deep conviction remains that it is in the circle of acting, telling,
listening and reflecting - with oneself, with Christian tradition, with com-
panions on the way - that the Spirit works to bring the believer into closer
union with Christ.
Jesus, my single eye

Be fixed on thee alone:
Thy name be praised on earth, on high,
Thy will by all be done.
Spirit of Faith, inspire

My consecrated heart;
Fill me with pure, celestial fire,
With all thou hast and art. (H&P: 793, vv. 4 and 5)
165
Part III
Introduction
This third part of this book is a series of responses to the content of Parts I
and II. All contributors were invited to consider near-to-final drafts of the
earlier chapters and to offer a response from their own particular perspec-
tive. The resulting collection of short essays is a mixture of appreciation and
critique, of challenge and hope.
All fifteen contributors so far are British Methodists writing about their
own tradition. Numerically speaking, though, British Methodism is small
fry when viewed in global terms. There are 15.4 million Methodists in
North America alone, and 37.9 million worldwide. It would be wrong to let
Parts I and II stand without comment from elsewhere. Randy Maddox
writes out of a North American context and brings his extensive knowledge
of John Wesley's theology and the history of Methodism to bear in offering a
response. Currently resident in Britain, but offering a reading of how British
Methodism looks from a West African perspective, Valentin Dedji chal-
lenges the reader to look at the majority white British Methodist Church
through the eyes of Black Christians. His contribution (Chapter 21) reflects
the fact that Black African Methodists in Britain are often puzzled at what
they find.
On the British ecumenical scene, even if relatively strong numerically
(330,000 members, 1,000,000 people linked with Methodism in some way),
the Methodist Church is only the fourth largest Church. Yet the question of
what representatives of other traditions make of Methodism as presented
here, given the Methodism they know, is important. Three voices speak up
in this collection. David Peel asks how much of what he has read he feels
able to own as a member of the United Reformed Church in Britain. The dis-
tinguished British journalist Clifford Longley, a lay Roman Catholic, probes
Methodist concerns with distinctiveness. Writing as an Anglican, Martyn
Percy urges Methodists to think how they can help liven up the Church of
England by rediscovering their dynamism as a movement.
Interspersed throughout these responses are three more, written by British
Methodists: one black, two white; two men, one woman; two lay, one due to
be ordained at the 2004 Conference. How does the account of Methodism
169
presented in Parts I and II look to them? Anthony Reddie reflects as a theo-

logical educator on what the collection as a whole achieves. Susan Howdle
offers a personal response drawing on the deep roots of her family in Primi-
tive Methodism. Jonathan Dean rounds off the collection with a program-
matic response, suggesting what he believes Methodism can achieve. It is
a fitting and hopeful place for the book to end, but perhaps only if the
dynamic from Parts I and II is respected and reworked in many places, and if
the words of caution and critique contained within Part III are heeded.
170
15
Dispelling Myths and Discerning Old Truths
Anthony G. Reddie
Pragmatic and Implicit?

British Methodism is a much misunderstood and mythologized animal. I have
witnessed at first hand the ways in which British Methodists have seemingly
revelled in certain character traits and practices that we feel are inimitably
'us'. There is a sense in which we love our oddness. My first impression upon
reading the chapters in Part I was that a good many Methodist myths have
been exploded.
As a theological educator I found Angela Shier-Jones' chapter 'Being
Methodical' (Chapter 3) of particular interest. She writes: There has tended
to be a myth in Methodism that as a result of its much-vaunted 'pragmatism'
there is little theology underpinning its structure or governance' (p. 29-30).
I must confess to not only having believed and celebrated this myth, but
to having actually taught it to Methodist students. Methodism has made
much, perhaps too much, of its pragmatism. Shier-Jones demonstrates with
great clarity and no little persuasion that as befits its eighteenth-century
name, Methodism is much too methodical to leave something as impor-
tant as theology to accident or opportunism. Yet despite the existence of a
viable and discernible Methodist theology, I think it true to say that British
Methodism has done itself no favours by cloaking its talk about God in the
most implicit and veiled of terms. Two examples substantiate this point.
Shier-Jones says that theology is 'implicit in the structure and governance
of the Methodist Church'. In the section entitled 'Church Polity - A Theol-
ogy of the Priesthood of all Believers?', the author highlights an enduring
tension running through British Methodism. The much-quoted clause 4 of the
Deed of Union - which carries as much emotional resonance as the British
Labour Party's clause 4 - presents us with an inherent problem.1 Many
assert, quite rightly, that an implicit egalitarian levelling down or raising up
of priestly virtue within all people is contained in clause 4; yet this sits in
tension with a clear sense of 'representative selection'. In short, no matter
what quasi-democrats and egalitarians want to believe, British Methodism
171
does not hold to the view that anyone can do everything. As other chapters
in Part I make clear, there exists within our Church an implicit 'Method-
ist fudge'.
This may be seen in the number of memorials to the Conference con-
cerning lay authorizations to preside at Holy Communion. The fact that this
issue refuses to go away is testament to the ongoing divide that permeates
British Methodism, which, it may be argued, is the inevitable legacy of hold-
ing together at Methodist Union at least two seemingly irreconcilable views.
The implicit nature of Methodist theology is not helpful in this respect.
There is an established method within British Methodism, executed largely
through the Conference, for undertaking theology. While this is not simply
one of pragmatism, it is none the less infuriatingly implicit. It is this lack of
clarity about the theological issues that underpin Methodist polity which
lead to the seemingly intractable and perennial concerns that arise at the
Conference through memorials and Notices of Motion.
Disparities Between Theology and Practice

As a consequence, one needs to acknowledge the discrepancy between the
assertion of Methodist theology and contemporary local practice in individ-
ual churches and Circuits. This ongoing tension (perhaps more apparent in
Methodism than in any other mainline denomination) is a recurring theme
in a number of the essays in Part I of this book.2 This may be seen in Maizel-
Long's chapter on Methodist worship and the adherence of mainly post-
colonial black Methodists to the traditional theological emphases of the
Methodist Hymn Book rather than the more contemporary ecumenism of
Hymns and Psalms (Chapter 5, this volume). A market for the MHB contin-
ues to exist in the Caribbean and Africa. Similarly, in Wellings and Wood's
chapter upon the connexionally driven policies for children's Christian
education and nurture, one reads: There is evidence of a gap between
Connexional policy and local practice Just a few hundred of the hundreds
of thousands of teachers undertook formal training' (Chapter 7, p. 71).
The authors describe the creative developments in local preacher training
throughout the course of the twentieth century. They note the disparity
between an oral tradition of preaching and the prescribed courses and text-
books for formation and training. Of particular importance is the continuing
negotiation that exists between a traditional Wesleyan-influenced approach
to theology and a wider appreciation of the themes and concerns that have
emerged beyond the confines of Methodism. The authors note this creative
tension in the official literature of lay training and development.
From my own experience this is nothing as compared to the level of debate
and discussion at Circuit level. My own observations and participation in
172
DISPELLING MYTHS, DISCERNING TRUTHS
local preachers' meetings leave me asking to what extent any of the creative
developments of the twentieth century have brought a measure of change to
the contemporary experience of preaching within Circuit and local church.
I note in passing, within the context of recommended reading for pres-
byters, a marked (but not surprising) absence of post-colonial and black theo-
logians save for the almost obligatory reference to James H. Cone. Given the
impressive and important role black Methodists have made to the devel-
opment of black theology in both the USA and the UK, it is interesting to
note the almost complete absence of black theological material.3 That this
material is reflective, in part, of the growth of black Methodism shows the
disparity that exists between a generic connexional theology and the more
contextual particularity of the African and Caribbean experience in Britain
(cf. Reddie 1998, 2000, 2003).
Bates and Smith's chapter on controversy within Methodism as a (neces-
sary?) means of doing and articulating theology brings the sometimes sharp
divide between theory and practice to our attention. My earlier comments
on clause 4 of the Deed of Union, and how this is often linked to eucharistic
practice, is given sharper consideration in their chapter. Bates and Smith
demonstrate how through the conduit of memorials to the Conference the
inherent and often barely acknowledged theological fault-lines that run
through British Methodism are given expression. The authors write: 'many
memorials have asked for the decision about authorizations to be made some-
where other than Conference such as District Synods or Circuit meetings'
(Chapter 1, p. 14).
The role of the Methodist Recorder in highlighting not only Methodist
ecclesiological disputes but also functioning as a vehicle for the articulation
of matters theological is also demonstrated in this chapter. Writers to the
letters page such as Norman Wallwork, Gerald Gardiner and Kenneth
Carveley (all presbyters) offer differing perspectives on theological issues at
play in the questions surrounding presidency at the eucharist in Methodism.
Without wishing to extrapolate inappropriately, I none the less want to
make a general observation on the material in Part I. My point finds best
expression in Shier-Jones' chapter 'Conferring as Theological Method'
(Chapter 8). The thrust of her argument as I understand it is that Methodism
has placed high importance upon the nature of collective and corporate
discourse. Within a connexional structure - encompassing committees at all
levels, Circuit meetings, and above all the annual Conference itself - the con-
ferencing element of Methodist theology is paramount. This process is both
a method for doing theology and also a guarantor of the veracity of that
theology itself.
The collective over the individual is an important feature of Methodist
ecclesiology. To juxtapose these elemental features of Methodism alongside
the inherent tensions and fault-lines I have indicated hitherto is therefore to
173
ask a difficult question of contemporary Methodists. But to what extent

does the conferring element, particularly in terms of the Conference, remain
nothing more than an empty rhetorical device propped up and supported
solely by rigid traditionalists and historical sentimentalists? To what extent
does the seeming divide between a theology articulated from the 'centre'
or from 'the top' no longer resonate with or reflect the ongoing concerns
of Methodists in local churches? The largely mythologized notion of
British Methodism being wholly egalitarian and non-hierarchical has, in
fact, led many members to struggle with the spatial metaphors of 'centre'
and 'top' and 'bottom'. This, it is alleged, is antithetical to Methodism,
especially given the theological emphasis upon a 'priesthood of all believers'
and the 'ministry of the whole people of God in the world'. I have argued
elsewhere that this is not only spurious; it is an exercise in wishful think-
ing and historical amnesia. I am not sure to what extent the Wesleyan
Legal Hundred could be called either non-hierarchical or egalitarian (Reddie
2003: 132-40).
I am not suggesting that Methodists no longer want to confer. Yet I wonder
whether that element of conferring takes place at the level of the local church
or the Circuit, with the District and particularly the Conference becoming
either an irrelevance or a hindrance. My own admittedly impressionistic views
as a connexional resource person lead me to conclude that a distinctly congre-
gational model of ecclesiology exists across the length and breadth of British
Methodism. I suggest that this issues a very serious challenge to all those who
hold an inherent emotional and theological commitment to Connexionalism.
There is a serious and significant educative task in which we need to engage at
the dawn of the twenty-first century. Can the theology that underpins our
connected, corporate sense of being Church be rediscovered and articulated
as a gift for the present age and not seen as a top-down bureaucratic strait-
jacket that stifles ingenuity and the dynamic work of the Spirit?
Who is Telling the Story?

A number of the chapters in Part II carry within them an inherent narrative
thread which in some ways represents the very heartbeat of the Methodist
movement. This facet of Methodist identity, which provides a methodology
for engaging in theological conversation, is expressed with great clarity
in Dawes', Glasson's and Marsh's chapters. Dawes' and Glasson's pieces in
particular raised a number of fundamental questions in my mind around the
means by which Methodists do their theology. In their different ways, they
critique a number of assumptions pertaining to questions of legitimacy and
recognition.
Stephen Dawes (Chapter 10) rightly identifies the Conference as the key
context in which the Methodist interpretation of God's revealed presence
174
is undertaken. The debate that ensued at the Conference on the Faith and
Order Committee's report on how Methodists read and engage with the
Bible was an ample demonstration of a number of important features on
Methodist theology (Statements 2000:2b. 644-68). First, it illustrated that
the sense of there being a corporate uniform acceptance of how the Bible
should be interpreted within British Methodism is something of an illusion.
Popular Methodism sometimes gives the impression of a greater level of
homogeneity within its ranks than, say, the Church of England. In some
respects this is true; but the liveliness of the debate on this report simply
reminds us that not all Methodist think alike. Furthermore, the Methodist
Quadrilateral still functions as a framework within which to engage with
scripture, even if we cannot agree on which of the four sources, if any,
should hold primacy.
Second, Dawes elucidates the central importance of the collective in terms
of making sense of the Bible in particular and God's revelation in general.
While acknowledging the 'supremacy of Conference' Dawes also highlights
the individualistic way in which vernacular Methodism, often seen as being
in opposition to the collective authority of the annual gathering, actually
operates.
This brings me to questions of legitimacy and recognition. Within con-
temporary Methodist life there are many who want to question the efficacy of
the Methodist Conference in speaking for them, believing the corporate body
to be at best irrelevant and at worst an oppressive, overarching construct.
To what extent does the official, often implicit theologizing of the Confer-
ence represent the articulated theologies of black and marginalized peoples
living in urban priority areas in Britain? A black Methodist theologian living
in Britain once informed me that they had no desire to be a representative
scholar within the Faith and Order Committee which reports directly to the
Conference. This was due to the fact that its seemingly established way of
doing theology and the content of that discourse was light years removed
from the position they held and that of the people they wished to represent.
That feeling has remained an inherent tension within my own development
as a scholar over the past decade or so.
To what extent can the established means by which Methodist theology is
articulated be said to be truly representative of the experience of the most
marginalized and oppressed living within the broad tent that is Methodism
(Vincent 2000; Reddie 2003: 132-40)? In making this point, I am not
wishing to denigrate or question the efficacy of present Methodist ecclesiol-
ogy or the importance of the Conference. Rather, I simply wish to explicate
the inherent difficulties that exist within a structure that was designed for a
period which was significantly less plural and eclectic than our present age.
Thus when the Conference confers, whose voices predominate in guiding
the corporate whole? Similarly, when Methodists articulate their story,
175
whose stories are privileged? Which are the stories that help to define this
corporate beast called Methodism? Glasson commendably seeks to inter-
rogate the whole notion of narrative and how various discourses are com-
municated. She presses the case for searching for lost stories and noting who
is silent.
When Marsh, in his penetrating and incisive chapter on experience
(Chapter 11), asks what we mean when we use this term, I was compelled to
raise an additional query regarding how these questions affect the legitimacy
of particular accounts. When we invoke the term 'experience' are we really
talking about a specific religious experience of God and not necessarily
a reflection of a broader lived reality (as perhaps determined by Stacey)?
In which case, whose voice becomes muted in this analytical and reflective
process? Black and liberation theologians have long argued that the com-
mon everyday lived experience of oppressed human subjects is theology's
prime, if not determining, source material (Grant 1989; Beckford 1998;
Lartey 2003).
I agree with Marsh, however, that Methodists have been apt to invoke
and make recourse to experience in a somewhat careless and imprecise way.
The relationship between God's revelation in human affairs and the human
comprehension of the divine are difficult and complex questions with which
to engage. Thus any form of analysis that assists us to unpack this
philosophical and theological tangle is to be applauded.
Conclusion
Methodism has always struck me as being a somewhat contradictory
animal, akin to the Roman God Janus with his forward- and backward-
looking faces. We are Free Church Nonconformists who have always been
desperate to be accepted as worthy and legitimate in society at large.
We remain socially driven, encompassing a panoramic view of God's agency
and grace, and yet we are deeply parochial and often inherently conserva-
tive. We treasure our corporate, collectivist nature and yet, also in keeping
with our Nonconformist roots, resist control and stricture. So what are we
to make of this thing called Methodist theology? I want briefly to highlight
two important challenges.
First, I want to highlight the need to be more explicit about what drives our
often commendable activism and pragmatism: our improvisatory response to
God's grace. I think Shier-Jones is right in asserting that Methodism is not
purely opportunistic and pragmatic in its theological developments. We are,
however, deeply practical. Methodist theology is very much anchored to
the ongoing need to engage in partnership in God's mission in the world. The
various chapters demonstrate quite clearly the eclectic, fluid nature of
Methodist theology. Methodism is not afraid to change its mind or alter
176
particular emphases in its theological formulations. The weakness within all

this, amply illustrated in a number of essays, is that Methodists are not always
clear about what drives our particular forms of actions or church practice.
This book highlights to my mind the need for more accessible forms of
adult Christian education. This would help local churches, for example, to
be clearer about their particular approach to or position regarding presi-
dency at Holy Communion for example, mainly seen in the desire to have a
lay person administering the elements. Similarly, in respect to the function-
ing of Connexionalism, a more explicit form of theological justification for
inherent 'gut feelings' than are often exhibited in Methodist practice would
make for more informed and clear conversations.
Second, in order better to facilitate the previous point, we need to move
away from a classic form of Methodist functionalism, which believes that
ministers, deacons and local preachers (key theological resources for the
whole Church) are justified solely in terms of the useful and effective job
they do. I am not arguing that the jobs of such key people within the life of
the Church are unimportant; far from it. But it is important to remember
that we are a God-inspired entity whose identity is found in responding to
God's presence and activity in the world created by God (MWB: 287). Given
that the Church continues to channel significant resources into the training
and formation of men and women for various forms of ministry, it is vital
that we resource these people to be the theologians who will enable us to be
a real learning community. It is also vital that the consciousness-raising cur-
rently under way about what it means to be a Methodist people continues
(Craske and Marsh 1999; Called By Name 2002). This book is therefore a
timely and necessary aid in this important missiological task for the twenty-
first century.
Notes
1 The belief that there is no priesthood belonging exclusively to one order or class of
people is often invoked at times of deep emotional debate and controversy as a kind
of 'touchstone' for an authentic Methodism built upon quasi-democratic notions of
assembly. Methodism is perceived as being anti-elitist, pro-democracy and distinctly
egalitarian, and this can be proved, it is believed, by quoting this clause. The extent
to which contemporary British Methodist custom and practice lives out and em-
bodies this clause is open to question.
2 This may perhaps be explained in terms of the quasi-centralizing tendency in
Methodist polity. The Conference attempts to represent the whole of the Church.
Given the central importance of the Conference, there has developed over many
years a sense that one can state clearly and authoritatively that 'Methodists believe
this'. This sense that Methodism has a corporate identity can then lead to a greater
apparent disparity between the representative whole and local expression.
177
3 See my Acting For the Oppressed: Resources for Marginalized People (forth-
coming). In an early section of the book I shall seek to demonstrate that Methodism,
with its deep roots in social justice and activism, has been a natural conduit for the
development of black theology on both sides of the Atlantic.
178
16
'Letter from America5:
A United Methodist Perspective
Randy L. Maddox
It is an honour to be asked to comment upon this set of reflections by British

Methodists about the theological dimensions of their recent heritage and
present challenges. I offer these reflections as a close relative, from my North
American setting within the United Methodist Church, and as one active in
world Methodist discussions over the nature of the Wesleyan theological
tradition.
The Theological Nature of Methodism

On behalf of these larger discussions, my first comment must be a com-
mendation of this work for the evidence that it gathers to counter a common
stereotype that Methodism simply is not a theological tradition. For many
insiders this self-understanding has been embraced as a way of stressing that
Methodists have historically placed more emphasis upon the importance of
proper Christian practice (whether this be in terms of personal behaviour or
of service to those in need) than of conformity to a detailed doctrinal creed.
While this basic point is true, it is a mistake to equate theological con-
cern with enforcing conformity to a creed or to overlook the theological
dimension of judging which practices might be appropriately Christian. The
preceding chapters reveal that theological concern and debate have been
very evident in the life and development of British Methodism in the period
under review, and they suggest that the same would be true if we were to
investigate Methodists of any other period or context.
To be sure, many outsiders who affirm the stereotypical judgment of
Methodism have argued that it is not enough simply to show that the tradi-
tion engages theological issues; the question is whether we have done so
in a 'serious' manner. Two issues are usually emphasized in this connection.
The first is that 'serious' theology is expected to interact with current move-
ments of thought in the theological academy and in culture at large. While
nineteenth-century British Methodists have sometimes been found wanting
179
in this regard, these chapters highlight repeatedly the engagement of recent

British Methodism with contemporary theological emphases, with the ecu-
menical developments of the period, and with broader cultural trends. The
intermixed calls for even greater engagement (e.g. Marsh) only strengthen
the sense of the seriousness of their theological concern in this regard.
The second characteristic usually assumed to be essential to 'serious' theol-
ogy is that it be comprehensive and systematic. From the beginning many
outsiders have judged Methodists as deficient in this regard since Wesley
bequeathed to us a set of sermons and annotations on the Bible, not a sys-
tematic theology. The main response of Methodist theologians from early in
the nineteenth century was to try to compensate for this unfortunate lacuna
by authoring Methodist compendiums and (later) systematic theologies.
However, since the mid-twentieth century there has been a growing number
of voices challenging the primacy given to the academic model of systematic
theology as the only - or the best - expression of serious theological activity.
These voices have called for a model more connected to the life and practice
of the Church in the world (Maddox 1990). One strength of the preceding
essays is their resonance with this call. While they engage the writings of
several theologians, they do not privilege academic textbooks as the standard
form for theological expression. They devote considerable attention to the
broader theological forms embodied in the life and praxis of the Church -
ranging from liturgy and hymns to Conference reports and social pro-
grammes. In the process they help belie the fear that such 'occasional' forms
will inevitably be haphazard, failing to embody a coherent theological vision
for the Christian life. They also challenge explicitly the assumption that such
embodied theology will be driven entirely by the needs of the situation
without attention to normative concerns (i.e. that it will be 'pragmatic' in the
negative sense of that term). Ironically, while they are thereby demonstrating
the seriousness of theological concern in recent British Methodism, they are
also reopening the possibility of re-engaging John (and Charles) Wesley seri-
ously again as mentors in understanding the nature and practice of theology.
The Wesleys as Theological Mentors

In this light, one of the things I find encouraging about the present project is
precisely the degree to which there is interest from several of the participants
to include John Wesley more explicitly among their theological mentors! As
Tim Macquiban points out in Chapter 2, there has been real hesitancy on
this count through much of the recent history of British Methodism. These
chapters suggest two factors that contributed to this hesitancy.
The first factor is the active engagement of British Methodism in ecumen-
ical discussions and in possible reunion plans with the Church of England.
180
A UNITED METHODIST PERSPECTIVE
There was clear concern that focusing attention on Wesley would empha-
size issues that separate Methodists from others in the Christian family.
There were also hints of doubt about the value of the distinctive theological
emphases of Wesley. Similar issues caused hesitancy for some time among
Methodists in the USA as well. But as we have been renewing dialogue with
Wesley, many of us have found that we were actually renewing dialogue
with much of the core of the Christian tradition. Moreover, we became con-
vinced that some of Wesley's distinctive emphases are important gifts that
our tradition has to bring to the table as we seek to commune more fully with
our fellow traditions. Brian Beck (2004: ch. 4) has suggested that heightened
interaction between British and American Methodist theologians in the
context of the Oxford Institute for Methodist Theological Studies helped
renew British interest in explicit engagement with Wesley. If so, we have only
been returning interest on our debt to our founding roots.
The second factor causing hesitancy about focusing attention on Wesley
as a theological mentor is the fear of a type of 'Wesley Fundamentalism',
where his stance on every issue - or at least every issue he addresses in his
Sermons and Notes on the New Testament - is considered to be normative
for contemporary Methodists. The basis for this fear is the status assigned to
these documents for defining Methodist doctrine in the Model Deed, a status
continued in the current constitutions of most Methodist bodies. The prob-
lem is that these documents were not produced originally to be such stan-
dards. They are occasional pieces that articulate not only Wesley's sense of
central Christian doctrines but also his views on a range of more peripheral
matters. Few have wanted to assign normative status to these latter views,
and in the twentieth century many decided that the most convenient way to
avoid this was to ignore Wesley's writings as outdated.
Those who recognized that this was inadequate sought a way of deter-
mining which of Wesley's convictions should be considered constitutive of
Wesleyan identity. The most common answer in earlier Methodist reflection
has been to focus on Wesley's 'distinctive' teachings, the teachings which
served to define his movement over against others. These include his empha-
sis on (1) the universal availability of God's saving grace; (2) the assuring
witness of the Spirit, and (3) the possibility of present holiness of heart and
life. While they must play a role, the problem with defining the Wesleyan
tradition by these themes alone is that they give little sense of whether and
how Wesleyans might share such core Christian convictions as the triune
nature of God and the normative revelation of Christ. An approach that
focused on identifying Wesley's characteristic 'concern' or emphasis regard-
ing such core convictions would be more helpful, and several of the preceding
chapters push in this direction. On these terms the Wesley 'standards' are
seen, not as a catalogue of items to be affirmed, but as a designated locus
within which to discern his concern. It is also easier on these terms to broaden
181
the range of consideration, including Charles Wesley and others more

actively as mentors for contemporary Methodist theological reflection.
The Limits of the 'Wesleyan Quadrilateral*

While on such hermeneutical issues, let me express sympathy with the
questions raised in several of the chapters about the connotations of the term
'the Wesleyan Quadrilateral'. This term was introduced into broader discus-
sion by its incorporation into the United Methodist Discipline as an image
for capturing the dynamics of authentic theological reflection. The goal of
those who coined it was to stress that Wesley recognized the inadequacy of
'scripture alone' as a guide for deciding theological debates. But the geo-
metrical image has proven prone to suggesting that scripture, tradition,
experience and reason are four relatively independent guides in theological
discernment. This raises questions whenever there is apparent lack of agree-
ment among the four, and the tendency in the US setting at least has been to
respond by urging the relative primacy of either the past criteria of scripture
and tradition or the present criteria of experience and reason. Wesley was
faced with a similar polarization in his early Enlightenment setting and con-
sciously refused to join either side (Gunter et al. 1997). We would do well to
do likewise.
Two things grounded Wesley's resistance to any forced option between
the authority of scripture in theology and that of experience, reason or
tradition. One was his commitment to the unity of God's truth. The other
was his mature recognition of the fallibility of our understandings of our
experience, tradition and scripture itself, that these understandings are
human interpretations and should remain open to the possibility of recon-
sideration. Thus, for example, when confronted with an apparent conflict
between scripture and experience, the way Wesley tried to move forward was
not to debate which was more authoritative but to reconsider his inter-
pretations of each of these - and of tradition - seeking an interpretation
that could 'do justice to all'.
This suggests that a better image for capturing the dynamics of theological
reflection on debated issues than that of a four-sided geometrical figure
would be the image of dialogue - or, to put it in good Methodist terms like
Dawes - of 'conferencing'. Indeed, healthy theological reflection most typic-
ally involves overlapping dialogues: ongoing dialogue between scripture,
tradition, experience and reason; all considered in dialogue with other
interpreters. While it takes time, Methodist history witnesses to the emer-
gence of growing agreement on several issues through such 'honoring of the
dialogue' (Maddox 1999).
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A UNITED METHODIST PERSPECTIVE
The Challenge of Reclaiming Holistic Spiritual Formation

Having stressed some areas of resonance, let me conclude by focusing on a
challenge that I believe needs to receive greater attention than is evident in
these chapters. This challenge is to provide the theological frameworks that
can help present Methodist communities to reclaim the kind of holistic
spiritual formation that was at the heart of the early Methodist movement.
I hasten to add that this is not a challenge unique to the British Church; the
need is just as great among United Methodists (Maddox 2002b). Indeed, this
challenge faces the entire Christian family, but it ought to be of particular
concern to Methodists since it was a task that dominated Wesley's theo-
logical interest and efforts in his time.
There are several facets to be addressed in meeting this challenge. One
need is to find winsome ways of articulating the nature of dynamic and
mature Christian life. Wesley's most helpful way of expressing this was in
terms of our sharing in God's life and God's love, to the point that this love
becomes the ruling disposition of our lives. His common distillation of this
broader sense was to speak of 'holiness of heart and life' or 'Christian Per-
fection'. Unfortunately, these phrases have proven prone to moralistic, static
and unrealistic connotations, resulting in the growing uncomfortableness
with and neglect of this aspect of our Wesleyan heritage that several of the
preceding chapters note. But this theme was not just a personal idiosyncracy
for Wesley, it was one of the places where he was in touch with the long
tradition of Christian spirituality. As such, it is vital that we find new ways
of articulating his basic vision that can avoid such connotations.
At the core of any vision of the Christian life are assumptions about what
motivates and enables our choices and actions - i.e. about what scholars
call 'moral psychology'. Why is it hard to make sense of Wesley's (and the
Bible's!) affirmation that through God's grace we can form deepening dis-
positions of love for God and neighbour? I believe that a major reason is the
broad influence in present North Atlantic culture of assumptions in moral
psychology from thinkers such as Kant and Rousseau. Kant is one of the
major voices suggesting to us that habits and emotional dispositions are
mainly obstacles to truly moral action, which should be motivated by ration-
al conviction alone. Rousseau championed an alternative view that portrays
ideal moral action as flowing spontaneously from our innate dispositions -
as long as these dispositions have not been overwritten by societal norms,
which he viewed as inevitably distorted. Both of these suggestions remain
prominent in our culture and call into question the need for, or wisdom of,
careful efforts to form character dispositions in ourselves and our children.
Thus part of our challenge is to renew both in broad intellectual life and at
the level of local communities of faith an appreciation for this formative
183
task. Like Margaret Jones, I see the emphases of Virtue ethics' as very
helpful in this regard (Maddox 2001a).
This leads me to say that I see more at stake in realities like the decline
of the class meeting and the displacement of the General Rules than simply
the transition of Methodism from being a 'society' to becoming a 'church'.
Earliest Methodism was actually a 'society within a church' and its wisdom
was that the combined practices of church life (liturgy, preaching, sacra-
ment) and society life (accountability groups, fellowship gatherings) served
well to form balanced and stable Christian dispositions. The reality for
Methodists in the post-Wesley setting is that we have tended to be either
mainly a society or mainly a church, rarely blending well the strengths of
both aspects of our heritage. While British Methodists have clearly devoted
more attention to formal ecclesiology than have their American counterparts
in recent decades, it is not clear to me that they have managed this balance
any better.
This may be related to the emphasis on social and political activism.
David Clough does a fine job of surveying recent British Methodist debates
and efforts in this area and of tracing connections back to Wesley and early
Methodism. But the focus is entirely on 'What ought to be done?', with no
consideration of' What will incline us to do it?' Put another way, his account
suggests that present calls to social action in British Methodism are formu-
lated the same way that they are in United Methodism - solely as duties or
obligations. There is little hint of Wesley's hard-won insight that works of
mercy are as important for the one who does them as for those who receive,
since these works are another 'means of grace' by which God empowers and
shapes our dispositions.
Hopefully these are enough examples to give some sense of the dimensions
of this important challenge that I see facing Methodist theologians around
the globe. Let me close by giving thanks for the commitment and insight that
it is clear my British colleagues bring to our joint efforts in seeking a way
forward on this and other fronts in Methodist theology.
184
17
'This is my Story, This is my Song':
Confessions of a Cradle Methodist
Susan R. How die
Introduction
A century ago, a young miner and Primitive Methodist local preacher, John
Clennell, sat under the railway arches, teaching two even younger colleagues
the rudiments of English grammar, history and theology. One, Tom Benfold,
became a distinguished Chairman of Durham County Council, the other the
Methodist historian Robert Wearmouth. John's path led him to Hartley
College, to study under the great biblical scholar Peake, and to a lifetime's
ministry of evangelical preaching and social action. To his joy, a generation
later, another protege, a shy young miner called Ralph Lowery, was simi-
larly accepted for ministerial training at Manchester - and married his
daughter Nancy.
I tell this story not simply as a typical example of the genre in Primitive
Methodism, illustrating some key features of that tradition identified in
recent studies (Turner 1994; Lysons 2001; Milburn 2002), but as my story.
True, by the time that I was born to Ralph and Nancy in 1948 Methodist
Union was (legally if not de facto] a welcome reality. But the extent to which
the continuing stories, allusions and assumptions were part of my formation
still surprises me, particularly when I encounter those who regard being TM'
as having been an aberrant rather than an authentic way of being Methodist.
With that 'declaration of interest' then, I offer my thoughts on Parts I and II.
First, I offer reflections as I think of some stages - snapshots - in my personal
story so far: Is this the story that I have told and sung? Second, I present some
thoughts upon Conference decision-making. Finally, I ask: Where next?
The Story So Far

The first snapshot is in the period leading up to 1962, when I was received
into membership - I don't recall being told I was being confirmed! This was
still the period of the liberal evangelical consensus so well described by
185
Martin Wellings in his 2003 Fernley Hartley Lecture, with the commitment
to evangelism taken as read and drip-fed by traditional Methodist hymnody
(Wellings 2003). The vocabulary of conversion was very real. But whatever
Eric Baker might have been saying about Christian Perfection, I was cer-
tainly not hearing it - though I was undoubtedly singing it.
Rereading my Manual of Membership I find one statement which would
have made no more sense to me then than it does now: 'all the Methodist
churches are connected with the Conference (and used to be called [my
emphasis] "the Connexion")'. The sense of 'connexion' ran very deep in my
experience. (As Richard Clutterbuck reminds us (Chapter 6), it was a con-
nexion with a worldwide dimension: in 1962 there were still twenty-four
overseas districts of the British Church; missionaries were constantly coming
and going; my Sunday School's weekly closing hymn was Tar Round the
World'. (Somehow, sadly, it is now the vision, not the world, which seems
so far away.) I do not speak here of Connexionalism in explicitly theological
terms, nor did it extend to the distinctively Wesleyan feature of the pastoral
office (Beck 1991a:54-8). But there was the unspoken assumption that,
with all its faults, this was simply the obvious and natural way of being the
Church (and for me, still is!). That it is an idea still capable of rich meaning
to those younger than I has been fully explored by Jane Craske (Craske and
Marsh 1999:172-4). I simply instance one of the success stories of recent
years: the Methodist Youth Conference, set up as an official body constitu-
tionally relating to the Methodist Conference. It still has some way to go
in reflecting our ethnically diverse Church. But in its conferring together
imaginatively, its theological search within a commitment to remain united,
its mature relationship with the Conference 'proper', I perceive an authentic
sense of Connexion.
I move on next to Oxford in the late 1960s, and daily evensong in the
chapel of my high Anglican women's college. Its liturgy turned me into a
'high Prim', while bringing me harshly up against why 'the open table' mat-
tered. Meanwhile, as Methodists we were committed alike to social action
and theological exploration, with the occasional 'big preacher' to challenge
us: Geoffrey Ainger particularly struck that chord. The John Wesley Society
could still muster a score of groups, though it was often more interested in
the fashionable exercise of group dynamics than content.
What theology did we actually do there? We were very definitely liberal.
To Methodism's loss, its more evangelical offspring were to be found in
Anglican, Christian Union, churches. I recall little that was distinctively
Methodist - most of us were cradle Methodists and we had done all that.
More significantly, there was a sense of provisionality about Methodism
itself, until in 1972, with the Anglican General Synod vote, the 'coming great
Church' incredibly receded - leaving an unanswered question about the
nature of a revelation so seemingly contradictory.
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CONFESSIONS OF A CRADLE METHODIST
My third snapshot is the early 1990s, when I became a local preacher.

What did the Faith and Worship course offer me about the theology by which
I had been living my professional, personal and church life? It provided much
to enrich but little to surprise me. I mention just one point which puzzles me.
Stephen Dawes (Chapter 10) tells us of the relatively recent emergence of 'the
Methodist Quadrilateral'. It may be that the label was new, though pointers
to the approach may be found, for example, in Doing Theology (Stacey
1972). But I wonder why, when I first came across the 'building blocks', it felt
so self-evidently the way that revelation works as hardly to need stating?
Could it be that, by professionally observing and performing the judicial task
of 'finding' the 'right' answer through statutory wording, case-law interpreta-
tion, logic and, yes, gut feeling, I had stumbled on a common hermeneutic?
Or had it happened to me by Methodist osmosis?
This leads me to ponder on those through whom the process happened.
Was it in fact right not to include here a chapter on the theology carried by
the 'big names', and mediated through their writings in a thousand pulpits?
Go to any local preachers' Meeting where a recently deceased preacher's
books are being offered around, and see the Sangster, Weatherhead, Donald
English ideas lodged deep in our corporate mind. More to the point: Who
now mediates what I would (in admiration, not disrespect) call the 'Oxford
Institute theology' of much of this book? It still matters; 'Who's preaching
on Sunday?' is still the form of question we ask.
But the question I ask myself here is: ''What am I preaching on Sunday?'
Does the theology in this book resonate with my attempts to offer an
authentic witness to the Gospel? The fact that my response is 'I would never
have seen (or told) some of it that way' is a testimony more to the creative
thinking of the contributors than to their (or, I trust, my) lack of orthodoxy!
This is, in essence, my story.
Is it also good PM theology? Here I am more cautious. Seventy years on
from Methodist Union, what would a 'PM quality control test' consist of?
'The living Christ is more to us than the dead Wesley' (Turner 1994:13) is
more than just a telling PM sound-bite - and is a strand running through our
post-1932 history, as Macquiban demonstrates. This cautions me against an
inappropriate fundamentalism in my reading not just of Wesley but of my
PM forebears, be it my mother or the great Dr Peake. More to the point,
when I look at that tradition I find little which speaks of a distinctive theology
anyway. I certainly see an emphasis, perhaps best articulated by Turner as
'the priority of the will of Christ in the individual and community' (Turner
1994:13). Its expression, in hymnody and prayer, sermon and story, is not
now easily recognizable, but I believe that, if we dig deep, we can (just!) find
here that the sense of glory at its heart has not departed.
187
'What Shall We Do?'

On from preaching to the lawyer's task: some thoughts as the Conference's
Journal Secretary on the process of the Conference expressing its mind
in resolutions and legislation. Angela Shier-Jones's contributions gave me
much to reflect on. I start, as she did, with the sheer volume of legislation.
What is it about Methodist (including non-Wesleyan) DNA that makes us
want to legislate? Why are we much more zealously systematic here than in
our theology? The Conference may strongly applaud deregulation - but that
perversely provokes a steady stream of motions seeking to reinstate into
Standing Orders particular concerns, demonstrating a touching faith in the
self-fulfilling nature of the word as expressed in CPD.
Shier-Jones also rightly cautions us - perhaps not strongly enough - about
the conclusions we can draw from an overview of the corpus of material
to be found there. It is indeed a collage of the theology and ecclesiology
of succeeding generations. But what are we to conclude from that? The
'current' Standing Order 524 offers an (admittedly extreme) example:
There is urgent need that the main doctrines of the Christian faith
should be more plainly and systematically set forth in public preaching,
so that the Methodist people may be established in the faith and better
defended against error and uncertainty. Ministers, deacons and proba-
tioners are directed at an early date to consider together how this may
be arranged. (CPD 2: S.O. 524)
It substantially dates from a 1939 resolution in the report on Church
membership (Minutes 1939:414; cf. Wellings and Wood, Chapter 7, this
volume). It somehow acquired the status of a Standing Order in 1951, and
has remained unaltered, apart from meticulous amendment to correct the
terminology for probationers and deacons. Is this 'urgent need' an item on
the agenda of a present-day Circuit staff meeting? Was it ever? Are we to
conclude from its survival that it still expresses, albeit in different language,
a proper commitment to apologetics? Or that nobody knows or cares that it
is there?
Then there is the arrangement and rearrangement of the material. We
need to distinguish the legal authority of the Conference and the practical
influence of the drafting advice and work of successive editors. Shier-Jones's
contribution offers a challenge to me as current editor: What does my work
reveal? For instance, would my predecessor have 'downgraded' the standing
orders on membership from a separate Part to a Section under 'General
Provisions', in order to make room for the diaconate?
So we have a collage, with pieces added, (sometimes) removed, and
periodically rearranged. Standing back from it, perhaps we do indeed have
some sense of pattern, of predominant colours, shapes and textures. If so,
188
David Wilkinson might ask of this, as of Conference reports: How does God
actually work through all of this?
Turning to Conference reports and process more generally, I offer just two
brief comments from personal experience, again stimulated by Shier-Jones.
First, the decisions about the diaconate raised - and still raise - big ques-
tions. Despite the Conference decision in 1978 to close recruitment to the
Wesley Deaconess Order there were those who continued to feel called to
diaconal ministry. Who had got it 'right'? Was it right to label the decision
and its aftermath a 'haphazard' development (Agenda 1986:605)? Or was
it - and this is probably the language the Order would now use - in David
Wilkinson's words, that 'God's activity in the Church can be seen both in the
dying and the rising'? But then the 1986 to 1988 decisions for a resurrected
and renamed Order raised other questions: What were the implications of the
resolution that its members be ordained to the diaconate in the Church of
God? Was this simply a reprehensible example of Methodists acting before
thinking; or was there a sense in which we could properly ask: 'How do we
know what we think until we see what we have done'? Yet even after the
major reports of 1993, 1995 and 1997 the Church (not least the religious
order itself in its convocation) is still in the midst of this discernment, and
whether our 'unique and exciting understanding' will be regarded by our
ecumenical partners as a wanted 'gift' is by no means clear.
Then there are reports on the Church's internal structures and resources.
Certainly there seems to be more explicit theology than in earlier days; com-
pare the 1992 report on divisional structure and function (Agenda 1992:
607) with its avowed Trinitarian basis with that in 1969 (Agenda 1969: 539).
I recall serving on the Commission on Connexional Buildings, which in 1988
proposed bringing together the connexional staff 'under one roof in Birming-
ham. 'Where is the theology?' we were asked. No doubt we could have made
explicit what I think actually motivated us: the call to be good stewards.
Other themes could have been invoked: 'under one roof could have been
subsumed under the prevailing Trinitarian emphasis; one might even have
made a case (apologies to Birmingham!) for moving from the centre of power
to the margins. But had we adopted a policy of dispersal, or of remaining
prophetically in Westminster, no doubt theological models could have been
found. I simply sound a note of caution: the impression left now by some of
our reports, that for every question there is a clear theological premise from
which we may confidently deduce the practical outcome, can obscure or
distort the process of discernment.
Back to the Future

Finally, what challenges for the future does this material present? I choose
just two. First, what are we to do about Christian Perfection? Is it simply to
189
be a somewhat embarrassing family member at the ecumenical table? Or is it

capable of being sufficiently 'nuanced', that word (too greatly?) beloved of
ecumenists? Margaret Jones sets before us both a challenge and important
pointers to what I see as the only way forward. For 'growth in grace and
holiness' still means something. We make our annual Covenant promises.
The Conference's lively debate (in 2001) about the form and content of the
membership ticket affirmed that specific individual commitments mattered.
As a long-standing member of a local church, I tell the stories of our local
saints. As we articulate in Our Calling 'to help people to grow and learn as
Christians', this is surely the process of '(trans)formation in community'; we
still sing of that in our distinctive hymns and take it seriously in our local
pastoral committees (Carter 2002:19-23).
But can that growth actually happen in our diverse local churches, so
different from that little group of miners? As Vice-President of Conference,
I sensed the process at work much more in other group settings where people
would come together to share the stories of their distinctive experiences in
an atmosphere of safe reflection (sadly, the story was often one of breach of
confidences shared in the local church). One such area was childlessness:
the sharing of our pain, but also of the various ways in which to see God
at work in this, led into explorations which were most definitely about
providence. The other was where as lawyers we shared our quest for holi-
ness amidst the messiness of working life - real 'workplace spirituality' as
the miners would have known it.
I am not reclaiming this (trans-)formation in community as a distinctively
PM tradition - despite Titcomb's iconic The Primitive Methodists at Prayer
(Milburn 2002) and countless stories, 'transformation of community' is the
more familiar PM image. I simply testify that for me, and for many others, it
is of the essence of what makes Methodism worth living.
The second challenge is this: perhaps the most constantly recurring
phrases in this book are 'the priesthood of all believers' and 'the ministry of
the whole people of God'. The latter is particularly welcomed by people like
me who, as the former does not mean what we thought it did, perhaps
wrongly assume that the latter does not hold quite so many theological
traps! In particular, while the PM tradition may not have offered any
distinctive theology, what it and the other non-Wesleyan traditions brought
to the 1932 Union was an ecclesiology in which the partnership of lay and
ordained was central. It was simply a 'given' in the ministerial household of
my youth. In the wealth of written material here, it is something we seem to
cherish and offer as gift to the wider church. My fear is that those whose
task it is to offer it may have some difficulty in identifying exactly what 'it'
is. Yes, it is certainly a growing plant still dependent upon nurture; I
wonder: Is it yet capable of transplanting to a different environment? The
signs are mixed. I conclude with just three instances.
190
The first is positive: the very significant development of lay involvement in

hearing ministerial discipline cases. In 1983, the proposal to amend the Deed
of Union's 'anachronistic' provision so as to permit this was resoundingly
defeated by the Ministerial Session of Conference, and so was never put to
the Representative Session. But in 1992 the proposal reappeared, the report
(Agenda 1992:695) arguing for this both theologically and from the
practical need to include technical expertise. Whichever of these motivated
the Conference, the result was an acceptance in both sessions - though
regarded as a matter of such significance as to be referred to the Districts for
confirmation. By 1997, the decision (now, interestingly, delegated by the
Ministerial to the Representative Session) that hearings should actually be
chaired by lawyers, rather than by ex-presidents, provoked little debate.
A second example is the Vice-Presidency of Conference (the office, a con-
cession to non-Wesleyan traditions in 1932, held by non-presbyters). A long
succession of vice-presidents can testify to the constant struggle - mostly, be
it said, with strong encouragement by their presidents - to achieve a suffi-
cient degree of 'visibility' to make real this partnership. And still, after all
these years, mutters of dissatisfaction with a particular incumbent mani-
fest themselves in questions about 'the credibility of the Vice-Presidency',
a phrase I have never heard used of the Presidency on the rare occasion of a
less than ideal office-holder. Yet interestingly, when the Conference debated
a motion in 1996 which would permit the Vice-President to share in the
laying-on of hands at presbyteral ordinations, despite the genuinely power-
ful objections put forward about the dangers of symbolism and practice
outstripping the theology, it was defeated by only a dozen votes.
Meanwhile, in local church life we move slowly forward. The 2003
Conference had for consideration a request from a Circuit about amending
the rules to permit the possibility of appointing a lay person to chair the
principal local church meeting, the Church Council. Three connexional
bodies had already considered it (with differing results). It was finally
cautiously decided that 'in principle' it should be possible, with the details to
be carefully worked out for later approval. As the inheritor of a tradition
which could admit to the possibility of a lay President of Conference over
150 years ago, I seem to hear, if not the rejoicing in heaven, at least the
chuckles of John Clennell and Ralph Lowery.
191
18
Uniting in Response:
A United Reformed Church Perspective
David R. Peel
A number of years ago I was asked to write a book about the theology of the
United Reformed Church (URC). It was intended to complement an already
published volume on the history of the URC and the traditions which came
together to form it (Cornick 1998), but it did not take much research for me to
realize that the project as planned was fundamentally flawed. There is no clear
uniform theological perspective within the contemporary URC. Further-
more, the opinions of Congregational and Presbyterian theologians in recent
times actually span the entire spectrum of Western Protestant theology of
the period. The resulting book became an account of the way in which some
of those theologians played their part in a theological discussion much wider
than the one taking place in their own denominations (Peel 2002). Unable,
perhaps, to understand the book's actual nature, a URC colleague chided me
for concentrating on Reformed theology. Along with every wise theologian
in the Reformed heritage, he argued, I should have been writing about
theology per se, i.e. theology arising out of the dialogue between Christians
rather than just Reformed Christians (Norwood 2002). Donald Norwood
is basically correct about the catholic nature of theology, but it is wrong
to believe that there is no value in exploring the contributions of a particular
denomination's theologians or confessions to the wider ecumenical theo-
logical discussion.
What this book presents is just such an exploration. It has produced a
snapshot of the way in which Methodism has been responding to a changing
culture common to all Western Christians. All our mainstream churches have
recently found it difficult to gain a hearing in a post-Christendom world in
which many opposing explanatory narratives, belief systems and ethical
values are on offer. Numerical decline has sapped both morale and resources
as our 'believing without belonging' culture largely ignores the churches.
Meanwhile, many of those who still remain involved with these churches are
profoundly frustrated that, instead of addressing the great issues at the
interface between the Church and the world, the churches often do not seem
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A URC RESPONSE
willing or able to get beyond the domestic issues about which the denomina-
tions seem so eager to argue: episcopacy, lay presidency at Holy Communion
and baptism, to name but three. The reality is not that 'at its best [Methodist]
theology has been pragmatic, attuned to contemporary concerns and ready to
learn' and that 'at its worst it has been an anaemic partner of the spirit of
the age, marked by a progressive attenuation of anything distinctively Meth-
odist' (Wellings and Wood, Chapter 7, p. 81). Rather, it is that Methodist
theology, like all the theologies of the mainstream churches, has largely
failed to provide the churches with an account of the Gospel which their
members can own with such a degree of confidence that it becomes the most
natural thing in the world to want to share it with others. What I missed
most in this book was a robust recognition that the Methodist Church, like
all the other mainline churches, is in crisis: living at a time in which we must
listen for a Word of judgment about our life and witness, but also entering
an age when through God's grace we can relearn what it means to be a
faithful church.
Given that we are all involved in this crisis together, might a member of a
united and uniting church be bold enough to suggest that we should try to
find ways of coming out of it together? At times, this book provided mixed
messages about Methodism's ecumenical commitment. It is very sad that past
approaches to ecumenism have got us to the point whereby the quest for
unity originally generated out of missionary concerns at Edinburgh in 1910
should now be criticized within part of Methodism on the basis of Meth-
odism's 'strong emphasis on mission and kingdom priorities' (Clutterbuck,
Chapter 6, p. 62). That, of course, should warn us about the danger of
treating ecumenism as an end in itself rather than the means to the proper
end, namely our engagement in God's mission. Thankfully, at other points
the book enthusiastically presses the urgency of the ecumenical agenda.
In one chapter, for example, it asks Methodism to hear the silenced voices in
the wider church and thus move away from retrospective denominational
analysis (Glasson, Chapter 9). Then, at another point, via the principle of
'connexion', it creatively extends the notion of ecumenism beyond its usual
narrow focus to encourage networking with 'non-religious agencies and
organizations', so that, '(t)hrough such friendships and alliances, connexion
moves beyond the church and locates itself firmly in public life' (Drake,
Chapter 12, p. 139).
Since the spectre of the Wesleys never seems far away in Methodism, per-
haps it was inevitable that the book spends considerable time either implicitly
or explicitly dealing with 'the legacy Wesley bequeathed to the Methodists'
(Macquiban, Chapter 2). Although Calvin is revered by some extreme
Calvinists, and Luther by some Lutherans, no mainstream Christian tradition
other than Methodism has a tendency to be as deferential to their great
divines. Sometimes this book admits that Methodism has come preciously
193
close to treating John Wesley as authoritative for its thought and practice.
We are told that '[s]ometimes the [Methodist] Church seeks to adhere to
Wesley's thought and practice', while 'at other times it seeks to ignore or set
aside that which it now regards as appropriate for the eighteenth century but
not for our day' (Macquiban, p. 23). Neither of these options, however,
would have impressed Wesley, who, as we are told elsewhere, 'believed that
the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by
tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason' (Book of
Discipline of the United Methodist Church in the USA, quoted by Dawes).
He would have been dismayed about followers of Jesus Christ using his
writings as proof-texts. At times, less than charitable observers of Methodism
may be forgiven for concluding that, alongside scripture, tradition, experi-
ence and reason, the Methodist four-pronged canon of authority sometimes
in practice becomes pentagonal with the addition of 'deference to Wesley'.
Be that as it may, the Wesley an (or Methodist) Quadrilateral was one of
Wesley's great gifts to the Church. Following the sola scriptura battle-cry
of the Reformers, the URC appears on paper to deny the role of tradition,
experience and reason in Christian decision-making. At every ordination and
induction service the following is declared: 'The highest authority for what
we believe and do is God's Word in the Bible alive for his people through the
help of the Spirit', to which the congregation is invited to reply: 'We respond
to this Word, whose servants we are with all God's people through the years.'
While, as in Methodism, there are those who wish to follow a strictly biblicist
line and insist upon 'the primacy' of scripture, the crucial role that tradi-
tion, experience and reason play in biblical interpretation means that, in
practice, the members of the URC are far more Methodist when it comes to
their theological warrants than the overtly Calvinist among them might wish
(Peel 2002:22-5). And whose tradition, whose experience, whose reason is
involved when we come to read the biblical text anyway? As Glasson notes,
many voices are lost, many remain silent. God may now be speaking to us
from beyond the Bible, outside the constraints of our Christian tradition,
through people's experiences different to ours, in ways that challenge the
pattern of Western rationality. Glasson is right to call us to claim a bigger
space. Only then will Methodism and the rest of us break free from the
theological parochialism that grips us.
Timothy Macquiban asserts that 'Methodism was a providential work of
God exhibiting and recovering the marks of a true church' (above, p. 20).
Insofar as that is true, Methodism stands in the Reformed tradition. The Re-
formers, we should remember, were not interested in creating a new church
so much as recovering the true Church from its distortions in medieval Cath-
olicism. Since the nineteenth century, however, it has become fashionable
in Reformed circles to go one step further and highlight the Church's need
for ongoing renewal: ecclesia reformata et semper reformanda (the Church
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A URC RESPONSE
reformed and always reforming). One of the great merits of this book
is that it points out several principles to help the Church reshape itself at
this time.
First, we are pointed to something fundamental to being Christian: the
task which lies ahead of us is never so great as the gracious power which
calls, reforms and empowers us. At the individual and most personal level,
this theological emphasis, of course, encapsulates the Covenant Service, that
jewel in the Methodist liturgical crown which, due to increasing ecumenical
involvement, many beyond Methodism have now come to appreciate: 'I am
no longer my own but yours. Your will, not mine, be done in all things'
(MWB:288). Our self-centred culture, gripped as it is by consumerism and
individualism, may have some difficulty in accepting that genuine liberation
conies from losing one's life to another and for others (Mark 8.35). Mean-
while a society beholden to marketing will tempt the Church to believe that
it can live on the basis of its own resources rather than the costly grace of
God represented definitively for us in the Christ event. But we must never
forget that we live from God through God's gracious gifts to us and for God
in our love of God and our neighbours. As Shier-Jones puts it: 'Once grace
has been received it should result in action for and with others for the sake
of the kingdom' (Chapter 3, p. 30).
Second, Unmasking Methodist Theology helpfully provides a holistic
understanding of our proper response to God's graciousness. Clough claims
that, 'in its mission to the world outside it, the Methodist Church remains
committed to the view that concern for the souls of those it meets cannot be
divorced from concern for their social and economic welfare' (Chapter 4,
p. 46). Thereby, he immediately cuts through the hapless division which lies
just below the surface in debates about mission in most of our churches. The
task of reforming individuals clearly should go hand in hand with our duty
to seek the reformation of society. As Jones notes, this requires us to adopt
an adequate doctrine of sanctification: 'human flourishing is a matter of
body and soul because the pathway to perfect love is through God's grace
encountered in this-worldly, embodied living' (Chapter 14, p. 162). Whether
the destination of that pathway is ever reached in this life will always remain
a bone of contention between some parts of the Methodist and Reformed
worlds - appropriately Jones 'acknowledges the difficulties in talking of
"perfection"' when opening up the theme of 'growth in grace and holiness'.
But she also perceptively recognizes the difficulty of giving credible and co-
herent content to the concept of 'a holy life' in a plural world which reduces
'holiness' to 'happiness'. The ongoing debate about human sexuality within
the United Reformed Church suggests that this difficulty is not confined to
Methodism. Unless we completely marry the spirit of our age, there will be
some kind of distinction between the members of the community of faith and
those outside it. And, if the major threads of the New Testament are to be
195
followed, many (Mr Wesley included) will regard this 'distinction' as of

eternal significance!
Methodism's stress on 'responsible grace' quickly lays the foundation for
an understanding of Christian mission in which every church member has a
part to play. While this book places a healthy emphasis upon the doctrine of
'the priesthood of all believers', the third principle to note involves the
realization that this precious doctrine does not reduce the Church's need for
designated ministers who are called, prepared and set apart for ministries
which equip the Church for mission. In much contemporary Free Church
discussion, however, this doctrine is misunderstood. It does not mean that
every member is a minister, nor is it a licence for anybody to do anything in
the Church; it is an ongoing reminder that our access to God comes through
the corporate body of the Church rather than an ordained elite. Ordained
ministers represent that fact but never constitute it (Peel 2002:239-40).
While in Methodism 'there are certain tasks which lay members of the
Church may not do ... there are none that they cannot do' - a principle
which gladdens my Reformed heart - ecclesiological warning-bells start
ringing for me when I am told that, in CPD, the doctrine of 'the priesthood of
all believers' 'is almost always described in terms of the ministry of the whole
people of God' (Shier-Jones, Chapter 3, p. 33). Within a church scene in
which such phrases as 'every member ministry' slip easily off the tongue, and
in a society suspicious of any sense of authority (yet one in which people
paradoxically cry out for strong leadership), it is useful to reflect upon the
fact that, for Luther and the other Reformers who first formulated this
doctrine, the term 'the ministry of the whole people of God' would have been
rather meaningless. It is actually a recent ecclesiological discovery emanating
from a more egalitarian age.
Perhaps this selfsame age has also influenced our interpretation of Ephe-
sians 4.12, a text which until quite recently was always taken to refer to
'ministers' rather than to 'ministry' (Lincoln 1990; Muddiman 2001; O'Neill
2001). Are we not in grave danger then of making too much of 'the min-
istry of the whole people of God'? What we need is a pattern of ministry
which equips today's church for mission and sets our members free from their
'churchy' captivity to exercise their God-given vocations in society. That
must mean that all our 'ministers' - preachers, presbyters, overseers or what-
ever - need to be carefully selected, adequately prepared and creatively
deployed. Our warrant for the recognition that all are not called to be and
do everything in the Church lies not only in concerns about church order
but also in strategic questions about missionary effectiveness. In the absence
of the traditional influence of the 'class meeting', it is difficult to see how
church membership can 'prepare people of the Church for living as Chris-
tians in the world' (Drake) unless Methodism (along with other churches)
eschews 'the risk of not doing theology' (Marsh) and sets apart people for
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A URC RESPONSE
representative ministries which, like dissenting 'church meetings' and mod-

ern-day base communities, can enable church members to become theo-
logically alert and astute as they exercise their vocations. In our recruitment
processes we are sometimes in danger of robbing the Church of effective lay
leaders since, under the pressure of concerns to meet ministerial deployment
targets, we end up ordaining people who do not possess the range of skills
needed for effective ministry today.
To end where I began, most of the thinking in Unmasking Methodist
Theology could have come out of the United Reformed Church. Among the
many themes, we hear a clear call to all of us to rethink the connection
between ministry within the Church and mission in the world as we reform
the Church to face the needs of the hour. While some of us may have reser-
vations about certain 'treasures' Methodism brings to an ecumenical church
(e.g. does practice match theory in the claims made for the Methodist prin-
ciple of connexion?) this book is an important theological contribution
which needs sharing beyond Methodism.
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19
Methodism: Distinctive, or Just Catholic?
Clifford Longley
The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) marked the official end of the
Counter-Reformation and Ultramontane phases in the history of the Roman
Catholic Church, which made it immensely more accessible to and friendly
towards churches of the non-Roman traditions. Once the blinkers of preju-
dice and suspicion had been removed, Roman Catholics (which I shall, with
apologies all round, abbreviate to 'Catholics' henceforth) were able increas-
ingly to explore the riches of the Protestant and Anglican traditions without
feeling they were being somehow disloyal to their own faith. Open a modern
Catholic hymn book, and see there the hymns of Wesley in all their glory.
And how enriched we are by them. Their language is full-bloodedly sacra-
mental, highly compatible with Catholic spirituality. Someone joked to me
not long ago - why did the Roman and Methodist churches not cut out the
middle man (meaning the Church of England) and do an ecumenical deal
directly? They had so much more in common. Above all they believed in the
struggle for holiness, and in the possibility, with God's grace, of achieving it
(which I sometimes fear Anglicans have given up on). What a pity it was
only a joke!
Vatican II, to use Catholic shorthand, also restored to significance certain
elements in the deposit of faith which, though they had never been repudi-
ated, had come to be overlooked in the Catholic Church. One such insight
was the priesthood of all believers, which in the case of Vatican II was linked
closely with the rediscovery of baptism as the primary Christian sacrament.
Another was the new importance given to the theology of 'the People of
God', which borrowed from the Old Testament the model of a people under
a divine covenant, a New Israel.
Hitherto Catholicism had preferred a theology of the Church which relied
more on the concept of the mystical body of Christ. A 'body' is easily under-
stood in almost military terms as a corps under discipline, ruled from the
head. The Catholic Church thought of itself as a 'perfected society' (societas
perfect^ for did not the creed describe it as Holy?). But a 'people' is more
unruly, less precisely defined. Perfection is its goal, not a present condition.
198
METHODISM: DISTINCTIVE, OR CATHOLIC?
The late Cardinal Basil Hume added brilliantly to this metaphor by imagin-
ing the People of God not as a castle on a hill but as a caravan strung out
across the desert. The eager were at the front, impatient with the slowness of
progress. The cautious were in the middle, weary from the heat of the day;
and the stragglers, hardly able to keep up, were at the back, complaining
with every step. All of this made up the People of God. Whatever happened,
the front had to stay in touch with the back. Somehow someone had to steer
this motley procession towards its destination, himself not quite sure of the
way. One detects here some of the wisdom of the Rule of St Benedict - Basil
Hume was of that Order - in this creative vision of a church fallen and
redeemed.
It is a far more warm, humane, permissive and tolerant image than the
previous one. I fear, however, that Catholicism in its earlier pattern had
somehow managed to mark with its own fault-lines those Christians whose
original raison d'etre was a protest against Catholicism - Protestantism.
Protestants took their idea of church from the body they were busy rejecting.
The Catholic Church, in response to the disaster (to itself) of the Reforma-
tion, drew within its fortress. It refused to acknowledge any who were outside
its walls. And the more it emphasized 'we are church' the more Protestants
cried out in opposition 'no, we are church', and promptly made all the same
mistakes. Methodism took up that cry for itself, not only against Rome - of
whom it had had not much experience - but also against Anglicanism, which
it knew only too well.
The rediscovery of baptism as the primary sacrament of Christian identity
has had an explosive effect on Catholicism, which it has hardly begun to
work through. Ecumenically, it meant that all baptized non-Catholics had
henceforth to be recognized as among the 'us' and not the 'them'. Indeed, to
call them non-Catholics is in a sense no longer appropriate - convenient,
but in future only to be used with a health warning. For the 'us' is a Catholic
'us'. Methodists are our Christian brothers and sisters. In personal terms this
discovery is almost as dramatic as the homecoming of a long-lost child, who
suddenly finds himself in the loving embrace of a family he did not even
know existed. If the sacrament of baptism, furthermore, is the foundation of
the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, then it is logically necessary
for (Roman) Catholics to acknowledge Methodists (dare I write 'Methodist
Catholics?') as also sharing in that priesthood of all believers; and with no
less a share in it.
And is vice versa also true? Where, I asked myself repeatedly while read-
ing Parts I and II of this fascinating collection, is there an equal recognition
among Methodists of the radical force of these ideas? Is Methodism not still
stuck with a frankly Tridentine conception of church? How, for instance,
can Methodists gather themselves into a closed shop and lock the doors and
call themselves a Conference, and then claim to be able to discern the will of
199
God? They have barred ninety-nine out of a hundred baptized Christians

from this process of discernment. They have tacitly repudiated the priest-
hood of all believers except themselves. It is easy to reply that that is what
we have always done, so what is wrong with it, or why is it so different from
what Anglicans do in their synods and Presbyterians in their assemblies;
indeed, why were Methodists excluded from the Second Vatican Council?
(Actually they were not, entirely.) But no number of wrongs can ever make
a right.
Thus Angela Shier-Jones describes how:
Reports and statements are brought to the Conference in the

expectation that the will of God for the Methodist people may be
revealed to them through the processes by which a report is received
and/or adopted or rejected. It is not an obviously 'divinely appointed'
means of discerning God's will, but it is one which is seemingly
recognised by the Methodist people as being open to the power of the
Spirit. (Shier-Jones, Chapter 8, p. 92)
And Stephen Dawes remarks:
we can expect Methodism's official understanding of 'revelation' to be

located in orthodox Protestantism. And that is what we do find, insofar
as we can find anything at all,
though
The Conference shall be the final authority within the Methodist

Church with regard to all questions concerning the interpretation of its
doctrines. ... Among other things, this gives the Conference the role of
discerning what it is about God that is being revealed now in Jesus
Christ and/or in the Bible. It establishes the Conference as the official
interpreter of God's will and ways for the Methodist Church. It makes
the Conference, in effect, Methodism's corporate magisterium, though
Methodists might bridle at the word. (Chapter 10, p. 114-15)
As Angela Shier-Jones puts it: 'It is not surprising therefore that a church
which has chosen to emphasize grace should also (inadvertently - or
perhaps by grace) evolve an order and structure which carries this implicit
emphasis', i.e. on the priesthood of all believers (Chapter 3, p. 40).
Yet that is precisely what it has not done - or only if we insert the
adjective 'Methodist' before the word 'believers': hence, 'the priesthood of
all Methodist believers'. But do Methodists really believe the priesthood
of all believers is confined to themselves? Not modern Methodists, certainly.
200
Is it perhaps because so many of the assumptions behind these structures

of church government are founded on an obsolete ideology of Methodist
exclusiveness - almost another version of a societas perfecta - that those
structures no longer have the confidence of the Methodist people?
One can of course see why it happened that way. It was necessary.
Methodists had to have a story of themselves which justified their separate
being. If the discernment of the will of God was a task the entire body of
Christians worldwide had to embark upon, how was that to be possible?
And naturally in grappling with this question, one was not allowed even a
tiny glance in the direction of the Roman Catholic answer, for Methodism
was for a long time infected with Wesley's rather uncritical adoption of all
sorts of common Protestant prejudices and misconceptions where Rome was
concerned (Butler 1996).
This was the eighteenth century, after all, and the Jacobites were still
waiting in the wings to reintroduce the demonically clever Jesuits, the fires of
the Spanish Inquisition, and licentious nuns drowning their illegitimate
offspring in the fish ponds of the monks who impregnated them, and so on.
And then there were, above all, the horrors of the reign of Bloody Mary.
Every household in the kingdom that was not recusant had a copy of the King
James Bible, Pilgrim's Progress (with its monstrous depiction of Pope and
Pagan), and John Foxe's famous work of propaganda and myth, his Book of
Martyrs (incidentally now out of print in England). How could that wretched
lot possibly have been counted among the priesthood of all believers?
As I read it, Methodism relies for its identity a great deal upon hymnody,
narratives of individual experiences of grace, and an ethos. The ethos is hard
to define, and, as one contributor notes, is almost equivalent to 'we do things
this way because we do things this way'. I would not dream of saying that
the culture generated by a group of people trying to live faithful to God's
will is of no value. It is of tremendous value. But the question of whether
there really is a distinctive Methodist ethos is unavoidable. I am not sure this
collection establishes the point beyond doubt. There may indeed be an ethos
and it may be distinctive, but is it more than accidentally Methodist? I have
to record that reading the collection as a Roman Catholic, I was repeatedly
struck by the question: How much of what is being taken here to be
distinctively Methodist is really so? Take these extracts:
Holiness as the product of work and struggle

This is also an element in John Wesley's teaching on 'perfect love'. The
believer was expected to be filled with longing, to wrestle in prayer, to
participate in the other means of grace and to keep the rules of the
Society to the utmost. Classical Puritanism (part of Wesley's complex
theological heritage) emphasized the struggle for holiness in the life
201
of the believer, supported by grace received through the Word. This

remained an important element in the Reformed tradition. (Margaret
Jones, Chapter 14, pp. 158-9)
Methodism has traditionally adopted an Arminian doctrinal stance,

affirming that God's saving love is for all people and not only for an
elect. As both David Clough and Angela Shier-Jones note, this theo-
logical understanding is the motivation for Methodists to undertake
mission. In this theology of 'all can be saved', church membership
cannot be viewed as membership of a club for the exclusive benefit of
those who belong to it. As has often been said, the Church exists for the
benefit of those who are not its members. (Philip Drake, Chapter 12,
p. 139)
What is there that is distinctively Methodist about any of this? (I could have
quoted a dozen more passages to make the same point). Indeed, what is dis-
tinctively Protestant? I can read similar expositions by Catholic writers any
day. Nor do I believe this is due wholly to the theological changes brought in
by the Second Vatican Council. Although the language of Catholicism fifty
years ago would be quainter and less familiar, it is a safe bet that Methodist
language fifty years ago would have been quainter too.
It is of course excellent to discover that the consensus behind these ideas is
far wider than we thought. But that was not the aim of the writers quoted
above. They were trying to describe Methodist distinctiveness - and, for me,
failing convincingly to do so. Perhaps I am one of nature's Methodists. Or
perhaps there is no such thing.
I am afraid the same objection applies to the role of narrative; also
allegedly distinctive to Methodism. Perhaps narrative is emphasized more
strongly in Methodism than in some other traditions (I do not think Angli-
cans tell each other tales about the spiritual enlightenment of Henry VIII)
but I come from a culture that is richly populated with saints and martyrs -
still in communion with us, we believe - whose stories of grace and sancti-
fication are told over and over again. That is the Christian pattern; indeed it
is prefigured in the Old Testament.
In other words, what surprises me most about this intelligent and inter-
esting romp round the corners of Methodism is how much of Methodism is
common to Christianity, or at least finds its familiar counterpart in that
large portion of Christianity called Roman Catholicism. I was waiting to see
what it was I definitely had to disagree with, and apart from that strange
doctrine of a Methodist magisterium that Stephen Dawes advocates, I found
virtually nothing.
This is an extraordinarily encouraging and exciting discovery, but it also
poses a more negative question. Is it healthy that Methodists should be so
202
narrow in their experience of other varieties of Christianity as to be so mis-

taken about their own distinctiveness? Is it possible that official ecumenical
contacts have been conducted in such a way as to mask the extent of the
genuine and profound overlap present, instead seeking real or imaginary
points of difference? Does this suggest that we need to find a new way of
doing ecumenism? Finally, is it any longer a wonder that Catholics and
Methodists who get to know each other, quickly discover an almost instinc-
tive family resemblance? For it seems we are talking the same language, and
probably have always done so. Except we didn't realize it.
203
20
Back to the Future:
A Search for a Thoroughly
Modern Methodist Ecclesiology
Martyn Percy
A Methodist: a Baptist who has been taught to read. Traditional

Presbyterian proverb
Presbyterian: someone who finds Methodism a bit too racy. Proverbial
Methodist rejoinder
It is a great honour to be invited to contribute to this perceptive and proph-

etic volume. However, I ought to make it clear from the beginning that I am a
stranger in the land of Methodism, and do not presume to know anything
more about the Church than a casual visitor might know of any foreign
country. Moreover, my own contribution to this volume is inevitably fla-
voured by my own ecclesial tradition (Anglican), and a distinctive academic
focus that has, for more than a decade, concentrated on practical theology,
modern ecclesiology and Christianity and contemporary culture. Thus while
I bring common interests to this chapter, I cannot at the same time claim to
have an enormous amount of knowledge of Methodism. But let me begin by
outlining some vignettes that illustrate what I do know.
Some years ago I was invited to address a group of Methodist adult educa-
tors. I wanted to get a feel for the different theological outlooks that might be
present in the group - numbering about twenty-five - so I set them the task
of completing the late James Hopewell's 'Worldview Test' which is pub-
lished posthumously in his ground-breaking book, Congregation: Stories
and Structures (Hopewell 1987). In this exercise, worldviews are assessed
through a series of questions that discern the types of (faith) stories indi-
viduals and groups sense they have the most affinity with. Hopewell adapted
his 'Worldview Test' from Northrop Frye's categorizations of the different
types of literature which exist (Frye 1951). Accordingly, there are four basic
types of faith story: Tragedy (or Canonic), Comedy (or Gnostic), Romantic
(or Charismatic) and Irony (or Empiric). A canonic world view depends
204
BACK TO THE FUTURE
upon an authoritative interpretation of a pattern for the world, often con-

sidered to be God's revealed Word or will. Followers tend to subordinate
themselves to this pattern. A gnostic view of the world intuits what the world
is for and where it is heading. Followers of this path see themselves as moving
beyond canonic patterns as they become more 'at one' with the world. The
charismatic view depends upon evidence of a transcendent spirit personally
encountered. An ordered, calculable world is broken through by irregu-
lar activities of a supernatural kind. Finally, the empiric approach depends
relies upon data objectively verifiable through one's own five senses. Per-
sonal integrity requires a realism about the way things actually work, and
are seen to work.
When I have used this exercise before with other groups, there has always
been a fair amount of variety among the respondents. Typically, evangelicals
will be mostly canonic/tragic in their outlook. Charismatics are heavily dis-
posed towards being charismatic/romantic. Quakers, and those who incline
to Celtic spirituality or to the writings of mystics, will more usually be
gnostic. The more liberal-minded in their theology tend to gravitate towards
the empiric worldview. In any average Anglican congregation or gathering
of clergy, there is usually a considerable mixture of worldviews.
The most surprising thing about the Methodist group was their almost
total homogeneity. In their worldviews, all expressed a marked empiric/
ironic tendency, broadly identifiable with a 'liberal' attitude to theology,
faith and ethics. A few showed some secondary inclination towards gnostic
worldviews; but there were no examples of advocates of the tragic or roman-
tic worldviews to be found at all. I was puzzled. How, I asked, did the group
ever have a disagreement or engage in strong debate? How did they generate
discussion and dialogue if all the members of the group were roughly of the
same mind?
The group members looked at one another, and one eventually spoke: 'We
hardly ever disagree with each other. That's why we like coming away to-
gether. We get on so well, and tend to see things in the same way.' And that
was that. To be fair to the group, most could see that their cosiness with each
other was potentially problematic. With no grit in the oyster, their discus-
sions were of the comfortable and conformist variety. Moreover, there did
not seem to be an obvious potential source of challenge to the worldviews
that were in the ascendancy (indeed, it was a virtual monopoly).
'Monochrome' would be a kind term for the dynamics I have described
above: not so much black and white as several shades of grey, and certainly
no other hint of colour. Indeed, I have many Methodist friends and col-
leagues who speak openly about the state of the Church: 'ageing and passion-
less' is a phrase that features in nearly every narration. Such descriptions are,
of course, caricatures. I regularly encounter Methodists who are passionate.
Some are fierce, earnest and even excitable about ecumenism. Others are
205
ardent and animated about a variety of issues: social justice; equality -

especially racial and sexual; the wickedness of the privilege invested in the
'established' Church; the problem with the Church of England, and so
forth. But as I reflect on the conversations I have with Methodists, I have
begun to realize that I seldom hear individuals celebrating the Methodist
Church itself.
Granted, there may be several reasons for this. Methodism could rightly,
from its very beginnings, profess to be more interested in the world than in
its own interiority. The Wesleyan mantra - 'the world is my parish' - has
firmly fixed Methodist eyes on looking outward for centuries. Equally, the
Wesleyan core experience - 'my heart was strangely warmed' - confirms
that the only major interiority that any self-respecting Methodist should be
concerned with is the transformed self-before-God. The origins of Meth-
odism lie in a link between two affinities: one uniting heart with mind, the
experience of Christ with the grace of God, and the other the implications
and outworkings of that for local and global praxis. Thus, early Methodism
was not marked by the erection of grand buildings, or by the kind of
theological aesthetics which helped shape the Oxford Movement. The Meth-
odist Movement was true to its founders, who engaged in significant counter-
cultural Christian praxis, and became a catalyst for radical social change that
went hand-in-hand with preaching the Gospel in word and deed. Wesley
visited prisons; he worked for the relief of the poor; credit unions were set
up; spiritual enthusiasm was inseparable from significant social witness. Put
another way, the Christian religion of England began to be both a socially
liberating and spiritually motivating force in the lives of ordinary people.
Arguably, the search for a thoroughly modern Methodist ecclesiology
should begin and end at this point. It would begin by recognizing that
Methodism began primarily as a movement, and end by also recognizing
that the movement eventually became a church. (Indeed, Methodism is argu-
ably the largest 'Continuing Anglican Church' in the world.) But rather as
the House Church Movement discovered in the late 1990s, what begins as a
radical movement can end up quickly becoming mired within the process of
bureaucratization and routinization. Attention soon shifts from changing
the world to changing the fabric on the seat coverings; from a radical chal-
lenge to contemporary culture to the challenge posed by the Treasurer at the
AGM - to increase giving by 1 per cent so that the leaking church hall roof
can be fixed.
Of course, no church is immune from these dynamics, but it should not be
forgotten just how deleterious such aspects tend to be upon the morale of
ecclesial communities. And what a powerful disincentive such agendas are to
younger generations contemplating joining their local Methodist congrega-
tion. Who wants to join an organization that is characterized by main-
tenance and struggle? My point is that the Methodist journey - that from
206
BACK TO THE FUTURE
movement to church - is an uncomfortable one to contemplate at the best of

times, and, in the search for a thoroughly modern Methodist ecclesiology, it
merits more attention than it usually gets. True, Methodism has managed
the evolution from movement to church better than most. But I suggest that
in the spiritually competitive, culturally diverse and socially secular society
of the twenty-first century, Methodism probably has a more promising
future as a movement than as a church.
If any evidence of this were needed, one need only turn to the millennium
edition of CPD. As Angela Shier-Jones notes in Chapter 3 of this volume:
Pythagoras' theorem can be stated in twenty-four words. The Lord's

Prayer in its traditional English form has only seventy words . . . . The
Ten Commandments can be listed using 179 words but ... The Con-
stitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church ... required
no less than 225,966 words - to tell us what?
I suspect that Methodism has arrived at this soul-numbing point for a num-
ber of reasons, but there is time to mention just five.
First, and constitutionally, it has quickly positioned itself as a pre-eminent
Protestant Church with a global ministry. So far, so good; but part of the
baggage that goes with that mission is the (inevitable and accompanying)
substantial industry in ecclesial civil service, which must then ensure con-
tinuity of identity and a degree of standardization in the delivery of mission,
liturgy and service. The effect of this is to suffocate diversity (e.g. see my
opening vignette). The movement becomes monochrome - the church a
gathering of the like-minded.
Second, the character and culture of British Methodism at a national and
meta-organizational level appears to closely resemble the morphology of some
sort of proto-retro-socialist organization. By that I mean political parties
or trade unions, with Methodism as its sacred alternative. There seems to be
a great deal of bureaucracy, coupled to an apparent sense of democracy.
However, the all-powerful Conference appears, none the less, to operate in a
classic 'hegemonic working-class' style, replete with ballots, motions and
rulings. Nominations for the President of Conference are carefully choreo-
graphed and almost entirely predictable: democracy has triumphed over
theocracy. In other words, it all seems about as far away from the spirit of
the original Methodist movement as one could possibly be.
Third, Methodist churches locally appear to be struggling with their
identity as never before. There are many reasons why this is so. Temperance
is not the issue it once was: I have yet to meet a Methodist who does not
drink. Furthermore, few people care for the difference between conformity
and nonconformity; today's religious consumers simply want to find a good
local church - assuming they are looking at all. The distinction between a
207
parish church and a congregational church will be mostly lost on the emerg-
ing generations of the twenty-first century. True, there is some residual
awareness of the differences between Catholic and Protestant, and of the
provision offered by an established, national church (Anglican in England);
but a subtle public consciousness of the nuances and differences between
denominations has otherwise dissipated. Ironically, ecumenism has had a
double-edged effect on smaller nonconformist churches: in drawing denomi-
nations together, it has obviated their particularities. The ecclesial menu
now available to the religious consumer is more standardized.
Fourth, Methodism has experienced a relatively recent collapse in its
theological confidence. By this I do not mean that it lacks good, intelligent
professional theologians. It has plenty of them, and their contribution to the
wider theological firmament seems to be as strong and vibrant as ever. The
crisis is more at local level. It is often said that Anglicans carry their theology
in liturgy, and Methodists in their hymns. If that is true, then one would
expect the rapid deterioration of corporate worship in schools and colleges
to have had a deleterious impact on both denominations within a very short
space of time. But strangely, the appetite for traditional liturgy has enjoyed a
renaissance in recent decades, suggesting that 'operant' Anglican theology
can survive quite well in the twenty-first century. Singing hymns, on the
other hand, has enjoyed more mixed fortunes. In one way, through tele-
vision (e.g. the BBC's Songs of Praise) and other large events (e.g. national
memorials), their place in the public affection seems assured. On the other
hand, singing hymns in any other context is now rare. Music for worship has
also diversified immensely in the post-war era. The sheer range of resources
and materials now available has broken the Methodist monopoly of 'sing-
ing theology'.
Fifth, and still at a local level, Methodist churches seem to be struggling to
be particular - especially in their theology. Most of Methodism's public
theological concerns seem to be caught up within a broad social agenda. Such
engagement is, of course, to be applauded. But my question is this: Does the
church define the agenda, or the agenda define the church? Listening to some
prominent Methodists speak recently, I have sometimes felt that I was
hearing little more than a tired and fairly predicable set of socialist assertions,
that are then honed with a fairly thin Christian gloss. Depth and substance in
the argument, and in the character of engagement, have not been easy to
discern. Equally, the places where a passionate Methodist missiology are
expounded are all too few. This is ironic when one considers the totality of
the legacy of the Wesley brothers. Cliff College is one of the few Methodist
training colleges that is devoted to missiology and the study and practice of
evangelism. But I note with interest that its outstanding work is more on the
edge of British Methodism, when it would surely be better for the Church if it
were closer to its centre. As things stand at present, local Methodism clearly
208
BACK TO THE FUTURE
still attempts to embody the radical Christian social teaching of the Wesleys.
But to be fully faithful to its movement identity and spiritual roots, Meth-
odism needs to recover its head, heart and nerve for evangelism as well.
These observations - though very much the musings of a visitor to a for-
eign land - are intended to be offered within the spirit of this volume: a
critical-empathetic meditation on the state of Methodism. However, I want
to end by suggesting that the future of Methodism lies in articulating a
spirituality, theology and ecclesiology that can re-engage with the public
sphere. I therefore offer three further brief points by way of summing up.
1 Methodism began as a movement and religious society that supplemented

the Church. Most of the original Methodists were also Anglicans. Now,
the great advantage of movement identity over ecclesial identity is that the
former can usually afford to be more sharply focused in its teaching and
praxis. It can also venture beyond margins, and take risks that established
institutions cannot normally afford. If Methodism can recover a sense of
itself as a movement, it might begin to shed some of the impedimentary
ecclesial vestiges is has acquired over the centuries. In a postmodern
world it may find that, as a movement, it is able to be reflexive and pro-
active. In a post-associational world, in which fewer and fewer people
are committed to belonging to organizations (and yet demand higher
levels of service for less commitment), a movement rather than a church
might be a much better conveyor of the spirit of Methodism.
2 The core identity of the Methodist Movement lies in its origins. This en-
tailed, first, a commitment to radical, innovative and engaging Christian
social teaching, with an accompanying praxis of corporate and individual
discipline rooted in a committed and rigorous discipleship and centred
on holiness. It involved, second, an understanding that the overwhelm-
ing experience of transforming grace - the heart 'strangely warmed' -
is what drives individuals and congregations to share the love of God
poured out in Jesus Christ, so that others may also be transformed. Put
succinctly, Methodism, as a movement and at its best, is passionate evan-
gelism wedded to a burning zeal for social action. It is the marriage
between the Student Christian Movement (SCM) and the Christian Union
(CU); the fusion of the earnest concerns of the Urban Theology Unit and
the exuberance and academic acuity of Cliff College. But it is the move-
ment that must continually give birth to the Church. The Church must
not presume to parent the movement.
3 If Methodism did not exist, it would have to be invented. The dynamic
combination of Christian social action and intelligent evangelism is
arguably a uniquely concentrated ecclesial embodiment within a single
denomination. Furthermore, in a postmodern age, Methodism would do
well to remember that insofar as its theology is expressed, its medium has
209
always been its message. A movement that expresses its theology in the
reflexive space and responsive arena of song has understood something
fundamental about the work of the Holy Spirit. That, coupled with a
spirituality that connects and transforms, stressing as it does the essential
nature of inner conviction and necessity of outward signs, is arguably a
movement already well suited to the postmodern age. In an era that
increasingly divorces feelings from dogma, and action from inner con-
viction, Methodism has a particular theological contribution to make.
It is my belief that Methodism should focus and reflect on its core strength -
those gifts and charisms that gave it a strong movement identity in the first
place. It has a clear future as a movement. It is also apparent that an explicit
ecclesiology can be developed from its core strength. But this does not neces-
sarily mean that it need continue to be an independent denomination, or
indeed even act as a 'church' per se. Perhaps Methodism is rather like Wales.
It is a distinctive principality rather than a full-blown country: its future is
only secure in a United Kingdom. To follow this analogy through, I see
no reason why Methodism cannot function like Quakerism, with people
either belonging exclusively to such movements, or belonging to a church or
denomination and the movement: carrying, in effect, dual passports. In other
words, we are back to the future. It should be possible to be an Anglican,
and to be a Methodist, with Methodism no longer describing a denomi-
national label, but rather a particular spirituality and form of 'methodical'
discipleship.
Methodism, then, as an intelligible and vibrant movement, is more like
the leaven in the lump than even it may ever have realized. I suspect that the
future of Methodism - at least in Britain - may lie in the Church saving
itself from becoming too 'churchy': a poor cousin of modernity. Habitually,
all churches recover something of their colour when they cease to be
comfortable, and begin to look urgent. So instead of trying to operate like a
modernist meta-organization, Methodism may need to revisit some of its
primary and generative spiritual roots. To return to being a movement, and
in so doing, to renew not only itself, but also those other denominations
around it that undoubtedly need to learn from the fusion of its dynamic
evangelistic heritage and capacious social witness. To be sure, this would be
a costly decision. To journey from being a movement to a church, and then
back to being a movement, is not a development that many in the Confer-
ence or Marylebone Road would welcome. But I wonder what the Wesley
brothers would have had to say about it?
210
21
Methodist Theology - Where is it Heading?:
An African Perspective
Valentin Dedji
Opportune Dialogue
Most of the chapters in this book have succeeded in disentangling the
'reasonable enthusiasm' and the sometimes painstaking historical process
that led the eighteenth-century 'Oxford Movement' to become the Meth-
odist Church of today, with its doctrines, social action and spirituality. This
collection offers an original and most welcome opportunity to overcome
historical and systematic misgivings about what Angela Shier-Jones has
termed 'conferring' as a theological method. Moreover, by bringing to life the
'essential controversy' (Bates and Smith, Chapter 1) behind the major shifts
in Methodist theological thinking, the book makes it possible to go beyond
stereotypical images of 'methodical' Methodism. The intended dialogue is
initiated, significantly, by writers 'from the North' and calls for an appro-
priate response from a 'Southern perspective'. It should be an opportunity
for a fruitful theological discussion between these 'partners' across linguistic
and continental frontiers.
When asked to introduce myself, I occasionally respond like Thabo Mbeki:
I am an African. I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the

mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers,
the seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of my native
land. (Mbeki 1996)
But there is more: I am a French-speaking Methodist minister from Benin,

West Africa. I must confess that deep within me there is a creative tension
between what it means to remain truly African as well as being Chris-
tian. Being Methodist does not solve but epitomizes this dilemma. Thomas
Birch Freeman, a Wesleyan missionary from Twyford, England, introduced
Methodism to my country in 1843. I came to Britain in 1995 to undertake
211
doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge. Although studying in a

reputable British academic institution was one of my life's dreams, my prime
motive was to get to know British Methodism inside out, since its teach-
ings had had a great impact on my upbringing and my extended family.1
I am now in pastoral charge of St Mark's Methodist Church, Tottenham,
North London. While the membership of churches is decreasing alarmingly
across the country, churches across all denominations in North London are
growing. These growing churches share a common characteristic: between
50 and 95 per cent of the make-up of their membership come from African
and Caribbean origins. This is the perspective from which my response to
this book comes.
Crucial Questions
An African Methodist raising critical questions about the British Methodist
Church may seem to be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. However,
as South African theologian Luke Pato rightly says: 'if the church has any
future ... that future lies with Black people' (Pato 1994:16). This echoes
Stephen Plant's view that 'the British Methodist Church has no future unless
it takes to heart the potential and meaning of living with its world church
neighbours' (Plant 1999:119).
To speak of 'British Methodist' and 'African' as terms of identity in such a
way that they represent two different worldviews, referring to two different
realities, is both important and problematic. It is important to be able to
categorize in this way, otherwise our discourses will make little sense and
critical enquiry will be severely impeded. It is, however, equally important to
recognize the danger of constructing such rigid categories that there remains
no connecting point between them. In reality we are hybrids, all of us reflect-
ing many divergent understandings and realities. Salman Rushdie, in a
response to the controversy surrounding his novel Satanic Verses, wrote:
The Satanic Verses celebrates hybridity, impurity, intermingling, the

transformation that comes of new and unexpected combinations of
human beings, cultures, ideas, politics, movies, and songs. It rejoices in
mongrelization and fears of the absolutism of the Pure. Melange,
hotchpotch, a bit of this and a bit of that is how newness enters the
world ... The Satanic Verses ... is a love song to our mongrel selves.
(Sampson 1998:43)
The challenge which faces the future of British Methodism is how to retain
the integrity of its indigenous component as well as its 'world church'
dimension in the newness to which it aspires.
212
METHODISM: AN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
My arguments in this section focus on three crucial topics which arise

throughout the book. First, I observe that there is a deep conflict of interest
between a search for how 'to be church' (the driving force behind Methodist
Conference Agendas since 1932) and 'how to belong to the Church'.2 This is
a matter of vital priority, not only for African Methodists but also for many
indigenous British people. I suggest that if British Methodism is to attract
African Methodists, there needs to be a shift of emphasis from 'the indi-
vidual rule of life' to 'fellowship and mutual support'. Philip Drake's view of
membership as 'connecting the individual and the corporate' is important
here. Second, taking into account Barbara Glasson's chapter on narrative,
I shall point to the challenge to Methodism to move its stories into a bigger
perspective. Third, I argue that there is an ambivalence between a 'theology
of mission' and a 'missionary theology' which remains, even though it is true
that Methodism started as 'a missionary movement' and that 'Methodist
Heritage and Contemporary Mission' is still a crucial topic (Macquiban).
Belonging
One of the saddest tragedies in Christendom has been the building up of
particular ecclesial denominations instead of working for the fulfilment of
God's kingdom as Christ himself wished: 'Your Kingdom come!' By being
obsessed by a search for 'how to be church', Methodism has succeeded only in
aggravating an existing 'ecclesial bias' (Shier-Jones). Although the questions
supporting such a search are not inappropriate, they are one-sided in their
interest (Statements 2000:1.1). In this regard I agree with Shier-Jones that
'there is still more theology needing to be done by the Church' (Chapter 8,
p. 84). Such a hope links with the spiritual longings of so many Method-
ist members who would prefer to be guided in their quest to 'belong' to a
more welcoming church rather than to feel, or be, imposed upon by a set of
ecclesial rules.
As far as African Methodists are concerned, belonging is a matter of vital
participation in life. While the complexity of African anthropology cannot be
fully explored here, it is helpful to note the insight provided by the South
African theologian Setiloane into the African understanding of the essence of
life. He speaks of a 'Force' with its source in the divine, as being present in all
'human and even spiritual life'. This dynamic, he says, is primarily present
in the human person:' "I" (calls) out the human "thou" into relationship and
communion' (Setiloane 1986:13-16).
Setiloane argues further that a person in African society is not a closed
unit but a magnet, interacting with other persons and creating with them a
magnetic field (Setiloane 1986:108-9). The underlying thinking here is that
an individual is never born whole and fully human. The family, the clan, the
community or the nation to which one belongs enables the individual to
213
become a mature human person. A person is socialized and occasionally re-

socialized and, in the process, given an identity, a place of belonging, human
dignity and personhood. Growth to full humanity is essential not only be-
cause it enables one to take one's rightful place and responsibility in society,
but also because one's failure to become a mature human being renders one
vulnerable to forces which diminish one's humanity and the humanity of
others. To be truly human, therefore, is to belong, and to participate posi-
tively in those activities that make self-fulfilment in life by all concerned
possible, a view which echoes Margaret Jones' statement that, 'transformed
individuals and transformed society go hand-in-hand' (Chapter 14, p. 156).
The implications of this kind of understanding of being human are vast.
It has often been claimed that where the French philosopher Descartes said,
'I think, therefore I am' (cogito ergo sum), the African would rather say,
'I am related, therefore, we are' (Pobee 1979:49). This means that the value
of interdependence comes high above that of individualism and personal
independence. Indeed, human effort will not ultimately achieve the goal of a
flourishing community. Therefore, an appeal to participate in that which is
greater, namely God, provides the theological impetus for a quest for belong-
ing and community building.
This is no doubt one of the reasons why the Wesleyan concepts of
'classes', 'bands' and 'societies' have been so appealing to African Meth-
odists. They find in those structures the appropriate channels through which
the individual is socialized in the Church and 'enabled by the Church ... to
fulfil the obligations and responsibilities detailed on the membership ticket'
(Shier-Jones, Chapter 3, p. 32). And belonging is certainly the best way to
'grow in grace and holiness'. During a recent visit to Brazil on behalf of the
British Methodist Church, I learned how fast Methodism is growing there.
There is no concern about 'missing generations' in the Brazilian Methodist
Church. Instead, across genders and all ages Brazilian Methodists explain their
presence in the Church by their feeling of belonging. Conversely, as Shier-
Jones noted, the 'total demise in practical terms' of the 'class' within British
Methodism may indicate a feeling of apathy within British Methodism.
In relating African understanding of belonging to Christianity it may be
argued that the Gospel is about enabling people to realize their full humanity.
John V. Taylor refers to a 'centrifugal selfhood ... inter-permeating other
selves in a relationship in which subject and object are no longer distin-
guishable' (Taylor 1963:25). We would all benefit from rereading St John and
St Paul, both of whom employ (although differently) the notion 'in Christ'
as emphasizing the place of sharing in the Christian life. Located within the
context of an African understanding of belonging, the New Testament
image of being in Christ takes on new dimensions of community-building
(koinonta). To be 'in Christ' requires us to be in fellowship and community
214
with one another (Acts 2.42). In New Testament language, it is the Spirit of
Christ that unites believers.
Philip Drake has been particularly insightful in deciphering the theological
implications of Methodist membership. His presentation of the membership
as 'connecting the individual and the corporate' and his clear explanation
of his understanding of the 'theology of incorporation' are illuminating.
Such an interpretation would gain many followers within African Method-
ism. In African parlance, to be human is to belong to a community. It is to
share in the goodness as well as the suffering of all. An injury to one is an
injury to all. To be estranged from another is to be less than fully human.
Following Athanasius' classic formulation, Christ 'assumed humanity so
that we might be made God' (Athanasius 1982:93). Through the action of
the Son of God we are all invited to become like God through God's grace
and acceptance. Christ thus becomes human to draw us into the life of
God's communion and to embody for us the shape of human communion.
This Christological insight is central to understanding the vibrancy of
African Methodism. By the same token it provides an explanation of the dis-
appointment, if not disillusion, felt by African Methodists when encounter-
ing British Methodism.
Storytelling in a Bigger Perspective

Barbara Glasson's attempt to unravel the process of narrative theology with-
in Methodism deserves particular attention. She categorizes and explores
different kinds of stories that Methodists tell. It is also equally important to
hear the stories that have made Methodism (as both Macquiban and Glasson
note). Storytelling contributes to the process of creating a 'Methodist
identity' or 'a theology of identity'. Jane Bates and Colin Smith's contribution
(Chapter 1) becomes important here. A great tragedy within Methodism is
the self-limitation about not only the stories Methodists should tell, but
also the stories they should hear. When new initiatives are proposed, are
not Methodists prone to whisper or protest that 'that's not Methodist!'?
Although the Methodist emphasis upon personal salvation, assurance, justi-
fication, sanctification and God's love for all is a useful guideline for
Methodists' growth in grace and holiness, this should not be a closed frame-
work. The internal fragmentation that has weakened the Wesleyan movement
and Methodism throughout their history may be due either to the rigidity of
their 'disciplined discipleship' or to the insistence on 'good order' as a way to
the nurture and development of faith. Methodism stands for what Geoffrey
Wainwright has called a 'generous orthodoxy' (Wainwright 1995:231-6).
David Wilkinson tells the following story. Some years ago he took his
family on a trip to Blackpool. The family members were excited by the idea
215
of going on the highest and fastest roller-coaster in Europe. On the sunny

summer day they went, there was hardly anywhere to park. After about
thirty minutes of fruitless searching, a crisis situation developed in the car.
Everyone blamed each other. Eventually, a parking space was found a few
miles away. When they all got on the roller-coaster, of course, things were
much clearer. From the top, they had a better view of the whole area. It was
then that they realized that there were many empty parking spaces all over
the place. As David Wilkinson himself notes when telling this story, when
we are too close to a situation, the perspective of our judgment or appre-
ciation is narrow and may itself be a factor generating crises. But when we
allow ourselves to take a step back or to entertain a bigger perspective,
we have a better view of reality and of God.
Perspective is the capacity to understand our position in its wider context:
to interpret vast distances in order to know where we stand. Without per-
spective we see in two dimensions, and misinterpret the information before
us. With perspective, a confused jumble of lines and shapes begins to make
sense as we separate short-range, middle-range and long-range objects. Per-
spective is a vital key in our connection with the mission of God. Perspective
is a map of the purposes of God on which, for each of us, a huge arrow
declares 'You Are Here' (Kelly 2003:46). This is where Methodism and
Methodist people need to be: in a bigger Christian perspective. Glasson is
right in this regard.
Storytelling, in one form or another, is part of all traditions, cultures and
civilizations. It is especially so in African cultures. Yet it takes time for true
stories to be told. Stories that reveal the sacredness of life, that point to
events which have hurt and healed, given life and death, are not easy stories
to tell. Ellen Kuzwayo once wrote: 'it was not easy for me to write my story.
It was not easy to tell my story to people whom I did not know. Sometimes I
do not fully understand it myself (Kuzwayo 1985:18). National recon-
struction of the inclusive kind that underpins the goals of the present era in
many countries on the world map requires that people transcend their
memories. However, such memories will and must remain; they cannot
simply be expunged from the collective memory. Partisan memories need to
be fitted into the greater story that unites. The exercise involves more than a
careful analysis of what contributed to these different memories, although
analysis is important. It involves sharing our recollections of the past.
It involves telling our stories to one another and listening intently to the
stories we are told - which involves reaching beyond the words and the
'facts' to what lies behind the words. Sometimes it is like a process of what
we may term 'cracking the code' when trying to gain an understanding of a
situation from the perspective of another's lived experience. It is a process
that involves more than empathy. It involves 'hermeneutical relocation'
whereby we see, hear and understand in a different way; we try to interpret
216
from another's point of view. The exercise entails more than the surrender of
one's own perception of truth; it involves what Gadamer called 'a fusion
of horizons'. In his words:
[The fusion of horizons] always involves the attainment of a higher

universality that overcomes, not only our own particularity, but also
that of the other. The concept of the horizon expresses the wide,
superior vision that the person who is seeking to understand must have.
(Gadamer 1988:272)
Similarly, as one of the most famous twentieth-century North American

theologians, Richard Niebuhr, said:
Where common memory is lacking, where men and women do not

share in the same past, there can be no real community, and where com-
munity is to be formed common memory must be created. (Niebuhr
1941:115)
Methodist Theology of Mission and Missionary Theology:

An Ambivalence
John Wesley's famous statement 'you have nothing to do but to save souls'
shaped the ultimate mission to which Methodists were assigned. That
statement needs to be revisited. Having started as a 'missionary movement',
Methodism has been engaged in a constant search for the nature of its
mission and its theology. David Clough gives 'three key insights' about
the developments of Methodist theology. First came 'the engagement of the
Church with the world outside its doors'. From David Clough's perspective
this suggests that 'the Church retains an Arminian view of salvation'.
Second, 'The Methodist Church remains committed to the view that con-
cern for the souls of those it meets cannot be divorced from concern for their
social and economic welfare'. There is a hint of liberation theology here.
Clough's third insight is that 'the social and political activism of the
Methodist Church reveals its optimism about what can be achieved by
human efforts in association with divine grace' (Chapter 4, p. 46). Margaret
Jones' summary is also worth noting: 'it is the doctrine of sanctifica-
tion which gives Methodism's mission its characteristically holistic nature:
human flourishing is a matter of body and soul because the pathway to
perfect love is through God's grace encountered in this-worldly, embodied
living' (Chapter 14, p. 162).
Crucial questions arise: Why is it that on both sides of the Atlantic after
the death of the Wesleys, Methodists lost touch with much of their sacra-
mental tradition and emphasized the evangelical? How do we explain the
217
fact that, after examining the present state of British Methodism, Elizabeth
Carnelley can bluntly state, 'Mission has not been high on the agenda'
(Carnelley 1999:163)? What has gone wrong?
The basic problem was with what mission was understood to be. At the
Mexico City Conference of the CWME (Council of World Mission and
Evangelism) in 1963, Visser't Hooft insightfully described mission as a test
of faith for the Church. One could no longer think of the Church except as
being both called out of the world and sent forth into that world. The world
could no longer be divided into 'missionary' and 'missionizing' territories.
The whole world was and still is a mission field, which means that Meth-
odist theology has still to be practised in a missionary situation. Referring to
the specific case of British Methodism, Elizabeth Carnelley is right in pointing
out that 'a church which is not engaging with those outside is not breath-
ing. .. . Mission is the life-blood of the Church'. She adds: 'I am not talking
about evangelism; but mission in its wider sense: to be involved and engaged
with the local context and the people in your community' (Carnelley 1999:
163). In poetic language Ivan Illich defines missiology as:
The science about the Word of God as the Church in her becoming; the
Word as the Church in her borderline situations; the Church as a
surprise and a puzzle; the Church in her growth; the Church when her
historical appearance is so new that she has to strain herself to recognize
her past in the mirror of the present; the Church where she is pregnant of
new revelations for a people in which she draws ... Missiology studies
the growth of the Church into new peoples, the birth of the Church
beyond its social boundaries; beyond the linguistic barriers within which
she feels at home; beyond the poetic images in which she taught her
children. ... Missiology therefore is the study of the Church as surprise.
(Illich 1974: 6)
My contention is that despite the social and political action to which David
Clough draws attention, the campaigns and activities alongside the poor are
the reserve of some groups of 'determined activists'. Stephen Plant's regret
that 'the integration of "overseas missions" into the Church's life has not
reached into the minds and hearts of most British Methodists' is pertinent
here (Plant 1999:123). I agree, though, with David Clough that 'this is a
picture of the Church grappling with changed times, and recognizing the
necessity of recasting its message in the light of them' (Chapter 4, p. 45).
At issue is how much recasting is needed, and to what end.
Surely we can no longer go back to the earlier position, when mission was
peripheral to the life and being of the Church. It is for the sake of its mission
that the Church has been chosen, and made 'God's own people' (1 Peter
2.9). Mission cannot therefore be defined only in terms of the Church - even
218
though the Church is mission-oriented by its very nature. Mission goes

beyond the Church. Illich is therefore correct when he also calls mission 'the
social continuation of the Incarnation', 'the social dawning of the mystery',
'the social flowering of the Word into an ever changing present' (1974:5).
To say that the Church is essentially missionary does not mean that mission
is church-centred. It is missio Dei (God's mission). It is Trinitarian. It is
mediating the love of God who is the parent of all people, whoever and
wherever they may be. The symbol 'mission' should therefore not be confused
with or confined to the term 'missionary'. The Church's missionary move-
ment is only one form of the outward-oriented nature of the love of God. Mis-
sion means serving, healing and reconciling a divided, wounded humanity.
The crucial question, then, is not simply or only or largely what church is
or what mission is; it is also what theology is about. What British Meth-
odism needs now is a missiological agenda for its theology rather than just a
theological agenda for its vision of mission; for theology, rightly understood,
has no reason to exist other than critically to accompany the missio Dei.
Notes
1 My grandfather was a local preacher, my father a retired Methodist minister; my
younger brother and his wife have been ordained recently as Methodist ministers.
2 Between March and July 2001 I conducted personal research among churchgoers
and non-churchgoers in North London. This quest comes high on the priority list of
the people interviewed.
219
22
Spontaneity, Tradition and Renewal
Jonathan Dean
The composer Benjamin Britten, when interviewed in 1969, expressed his

amazement that his younger contemporaries did not draw on the power of
tradition to learn how to handle the complex problems of writing opera.
Rather than looking at the work of Mozart or Verdi, and discovering how
previous artists had overcome the obstacles facing them in their own time,
they chose to ignore the guidance of the great composers of the past and
plough a distinctive, and, in his view, often inadequate, furrow of their own.
He likened it to attempting to drive to a certain destination without having
consulted a map. Even if one wishes to travel by an alternative route, he
remarked, one must first know the way by which someone else has got
there. Without the inspiration and example of the great creative forces of
the past, he confessed, his own work would be greatly impoverished (Kildea
2003:329).
Contemporary Methodism similarly finds itself in complicated and per-
plexing terrain. In our occasional bewilderment about how we are to nego-
tiate the complexities of the modern world, it is often tempting to assume that
the past has nothing to say, no guidance to give and no route to suggest. The
study of the history, both of the wider Church and of the Methodist move-
ment, can seem irrelevant, offering only retrospective denominational analy-
sis which says nothing to our present condition. What follows is intended
to suggest that there is, in fact, every need for contemporary Methodists to
understand their own past, their theological inheritance and their own
specific place within the catholic church, if they are to meet the daunting
challenges of the future. In particular, it argues that there is every need for
that task of education to be fostered in the Church, mainly (but not exclu-
sively) through the presbyter acting as the local theologian and hander-on of
tradition. It is, in most local church contexts, the presbyter who must be the
catalyst for the whole-church task which Clive Marsh describes as the
'theological interpretation' of the contexts in which people live and seek
redemption. In that task, surprising resources of creative flexibility are still
offered by Methodism's historic doctrines.
220
SPONTANEITY, TRADITION AND RENEWAL
The reason for the hostility of some towards any greater historical
understanding of the Church's development is not hard to understand. The
world in which modern Methodists live, the contexts they inhabit, the places
where they work out their own salvation, are vastly different from those of
Wesley's time. We live in a postmodern, pluralistic age. There is no longer
any consensus on religious belief or affiliation. The prevailing culture of our
time encourages a 'butterfly' approach to spiritual matters, rather than a
rootedness in any one religious commitment. Indeed, firm adherence to one
creed or denomination is often seen as evidence of sectarianism or inflexi-
bility. The impact on Britain of the advent of multiculturalism and the expo-
nential growth of technology and communication similarly continue to pose
enormous new questions to all the churches. Added to this, British Meth-
odism currently faces challenges of ongoing ecumenical dialogue and growth
which Wesley can scarcely have imagined. In a world which appears to
change so quickly, it can be difficult to know what the study of the past
offers, or indeed whether the route which history suggests is now useless:
single-track bridle paths have been superseded and obliterated by motor-
ways, airports and high-speed train services.
The evidence of the chapters in this book suggests that, since Methodist
Union in 1932, there has been a marked discomfort about the usefulness
of Methodism's traditional doctrines and practices, even within the Church
itself. Most particularly, Wellings and Wood have noted with alarm what
they term the 'progressive attenuation of anything distinctively Methodist'
in much of the training offered to the Church's teachers, preachers and local
leaders (Chapter 7, p. 81). Angela Shier-Jones and Margaret Jones, quoting
Brian Beck, similarly draw attention to the loss of the class system and
Methodism's characteristic understanding of the need for 'social' holiness.
Timothy Macquiban describes the twentieth century as one in which the use
of Wesley's theology in shaping modern Methodist theology has been
'diluted'. This gradual loss of confidence in Wesley's theological legacy with-
in British Methodism stands in stark contrast to the vibrant rediscovery and
renewal of it by contemporary American scholars, some of whose work is
quoted in other chapters.
Some of those chapters, however, point towards ways in which Meth-
odism's traditional beliefs and practices, and consequently the theology of
Wesley himself, have more recently been rediscovered and accorded greater
value in the life and continued mission of the British Methodist Church. The
current renewal of Methodist liturgy is a case in point. The Methodist Wor-
ship Book self-consciously articulates many Wesleyan beliefs, understand-
ing the old precept that the language of public worship shapes and fosters
the beliefs of the faithful. In the baptism service, for example, the doctrine
of prevenient grace and of the initiative of God is movingly emphasized
(MWB: 67-8). The new Covenant Service describes the ongoing Christian
221
journey as one towards the goal of 'perfect love' (MWB: 294). Other recent
initiatives similarly demonstrate this rediscovery of Wesleyan resources,
especially Called by Name, a guide to membership, which, through art and
poetry, describes far more explicitly than its predecessors the fundamental
Wesleyan tenets of Arminianism, prevenient grace, the importance of social
holiness and the call to perfection (Called By Name 2002). These are the
most obvious examples of the reversing of the trend described elsewhere in
this book, and the realization that Wesley's own road map offers more to
contemporary Methodism than its twentieth century predecessor often
seemed willing to accept.
So, how are these theological resources useful in the modern age, and how
might they be transmitted and interpreted? Angela Shier-Jones, discussing
the Methodist Conference, quotes a Faith and Order report to the effect that
'it has been the Church's experience that the Spirit works through both
tradition and spontaneity' (Chapter 8, p. 93). It might be possible to go
further, and see that Methodist theological tradition itself offers the very
spontaneity the Church currently seeks and desires in relating to and acting
within a complex world. Rather than being a strait jacket, the legacy of our
history could become a liberating force, the rediscovery of which proves to
be the impetus for new ways of working and new avenues for mission. All
reformations are built, in fact, on the rediscovery of historical resources, and
all renewal is based on the willingness to allow tradition to convict and cor-
rect. The English Reformation proceeded along the understanding that it was
a rescuing of pure, ancient Christianity; Bishop John Jewel, defending the
Protestant Church of England under Elizabeth I in 1562, described its guiding
motto as: 'hold still the old customs' (Booty 1963:122). Wesley too saw
many of his own theological emphases, particularly those concerned with
sanctification and perfection, as having their roots in scriptural and early
patristic Christianity and as needing to be rediscovered (Cracknell 1998:52).
The effect of the work and witness of the Oxford Movement has been sum-
med up as one of 'tradition renewed' (Rowell 1986).
As for Methodism and its struggles to engage with the complexities of
the modern world, a number of elements from the legacy of John Wesley
stand out as offering the materials for future exploration and growth, or as a
route map towards contemporary mission. Fundamentally, as already noted,
Methodism's Arminian theology lends a distinctive character to its Christian
faith and its outworking in the world. So much of Methodism's dialogue and
engagement with the wider world, so much of its historic commitment to
the needs of the poor and to issues of justice, springs from this imperative:
that the love and grace of God, supremely seen in Christ, are for the world,
without discrimination, qualification or condition. Perhaps this is the sine
qua non of Methodist theology, as it was of Wesley's own ministry and mis-
sion. There is, further, every need for this fundamental belief about the
222
character of God to be articulated and expounded in contemporary Meth-

odism, and for it to be a belief close to every Methodist's heart. For it remains
Wesley's greatest insight, one which seems attractive these days to Christians
of all kinds but which, within Protestantism at least, finds its clearest
expression in Methodism. It is the centrifugal force which drives believers out
into the world in mission and evangelism, and is undoubtedly something
which Methodists 'bring' to the table of dialogue with their ecumenical
partners. It proves also that theology matters: what Christians believe about
God affects and even effects the way they live out their faith.
That whole task of dialogue, too, is given purpose, structure and shape
because of the inherent spontaneity of Wesley's legacy. To Wesley, a multi-
cultural Britain was unimaginable; yet, in his late sermon On Faith and in
his writings and preaching on the Catholic Spirit, he outlined theological
approaches which have been of great encouragement to those engaged in
dialogue in all its various forms today. Rebekah Miles, for instance, has
examined Wesley's legacy to those engaged in interfaith dialogue, and found
surprising resources contained in his writings and theology (Miles 2000).
Because Methodist theology teaches us to see God's grace as already at work
in all human life, because it does not compel Christians to 'take' God
anywhere, but rather to seek him already going ahead of them, it provides for
the possibility of free, creative and open-minded engagement with the world.
This does not entail the abandonment of belief, but rather an openness to the
beliefs of others often lacking in Christian mission. To a modern world
suspicious of organized religion and often hostile to overt evangelism of any
kind, this suggests a range of imaginative new responses to engaging with the
'other', as well as the possibility of the forming of new alliances between
people of all kinds in the cause of the wider mission of the Church, concerned
with justice and peace.
Nor is such engagement a fatal watering-down of the Church's mission.
John Wesley rediscovered and renewed an older theological concept, of the
missio Dei^ the understanding that God is a 'sending' God, whose essential
movement is outwards, towards the world. Wesley's understanding of how
this must affect the character of the Church led to some of his sharpest
divisions with other Christians, especially in his conviction that mission, the
advancement of the kingdom, took priority over church order and structures
(Cracknell 1998: 81-3). Yet today all churches alike are keen to investigate
what in theological jargon has become dubbed 'new ways of being church'.
The crises of declining membership and the creeping secularization of society
have forced upon all denominations the need to examine whether church
structures actually hinder mission, and how the problem may be addressed.
Methodism, often entrenched itself within two centuries of institutional-
ization, has as much need as its ecumenical partners to work out how to
return to its tradition, and to find ways of breaking free of its self-imposed
223
boundaries, that the kingdom might come. In doing so, it would be finding
renewal in the example of its founder. Wesley's open-air preaching, itinerant
ministry and establishing of social provision were often undertaken against
all his own preferences and instincts. But they were the working-out of his
growing conviction that the world was his parish, and that participating in
God's offering of salvation through Christ might require a certain suppleness
and openness in his own belief and practice.
In all of this, Wesley undertook his ministry imbued with what is often
described as 'salvation optimism'. David Wilkinson's emphasis on recent
American work on Wesley's doctrine of the new creation is timely in this
respect. Methodists find in their theology the confidence to seize oppor-
tunities to make a difference in the world in God's name, in the assurance
that they are thus playing their part in the defeat of evil and the re-creation of
the cosmos begun by the death and resurrection of Christ. The class meeting
too, in a revivified form, might offer the forum within which Christians could
begin to make the shift Wilkinson describes from the personal to the cosmic
level of God's redemptive activity. As the arena for the sharing of stories, it
could lead to greater commitment to personal and corporate holiness, and
provide the impetus towards what Clive Marsh vividly describes as 'taking
this Christian thing seriously'.
This sketch of the potential power of Methodist theological tradition for
contemporary belief is not meant to be exhaustive; nor, crucially, does it
attempt to put much flesh on some rather bare bones. That would be a much
larger task, and would involve interesting discussion. But it is intended to
suggest the truth of the earlier statement that, in Christian history, renewal
comes through such a reappropriation of theological tradition. The earlier
chapters of this book have suggested that twentieth-century Methodism was
frequently uncertain of its own inheritance, and often unwilling to claim it.
Yet there have been glimpses too, both of the rediscovery of that tradition's
implications for contemporary mission, and of the ways in which Metho-
dists still innately live and act upon them. Letters to the Methodist Recorder
and memorials to the Conference offer one glimpse of what Methodists
actually believe and feel passionate about: it would be fascinating to have
to hand research which offers a fuller view. What seems clear is that the
ongoing education of 'the people called Methodists' in their own tradition
and inheritance might actually release surprising resources and channel the
Church's mission in new and dynamic ways.
Clive Marsh comments upon the resistance which is felt in some parts of
the Methodist Church to the theological articulation of its position. He goes
on to note that even presbyters often distance themselves from any notion
that they might be theologians, and that theological education often proves
unpopular, perhaps because of Methodism's social origins. This mind-set
224
needs challenging at every level of the Church's life. Theological reflection and
interpretation is a vital task for the whole Church, and within the wider church
there is considerable expertise, lay and ordained, for its encouragement.
In the local church, however, it remains one of the roles of the presbyter
to be the local connexional representative, a theological resource for the
shaping of Methodist belief within and interaction with the local context.
The presbyter is required to play an enabling role in the whole process
of reflection on and interpretation of the work and mission of the local
church. In that task, the presbyter must know the tradition, must understand
something of Methodism's unique articulation of the missio Dei and of its
fundamental insights into the nature and character of God in Christ. The
questions and reflections of local Methodists, about where God is to be
found in their situation and what their missiological priorities should be,
require encounter and dialogue with such knowledge in order to find dis-
tinctive local expression.
This is not, however, to claim that the answer lies solely or exclusively
with presbyters or deacons, nor that the laity in local contexts have nothing
to bring to such an enquiry. It is to suggest that, in their local ministry
contexts, presbyters must be enabled to overcome their discomfort with
theology, so that an increasingly questioning Methodist people in turn may
be encouraged to do the same, and find the renewal they seek. Theology
(and particularly historical theology) is not a matter remote from getting on
with living out one's faith; it is inseparable from it. Theological education,
similarly, does not mean in this context the acquisition of qualifications, but
the process of understanding why a particular ministry or mission is per-
formed at all, and how it should be performed.
Rediscovering our Methodist theological tradition, and finding resources
within it of spontaneity and renewal, is a huge task. It will also, inevitably,
involve the kinds of fuzzy edges and messy bits of thinking so characteristic
of that tradition. The process, though, enables Methodists to know what
they 'offer' to the rich ecumenical co-operation of the present day and also
to press ahead with new and dynamic forms of mission and engagement.
Central to the task must be the renewal of theology, and the enabling of
theological education and reflection in local churches. In this, presbyters will
need themselves to have learned and understood something of the paths
mapped out by the tradition in which they serve. David Wilkinson quotes
Donald English, reflecting on the 'creative tension' of the elements of
Wesley's theology, a combination which nevertheless proved 'life-giving'.
Such might be the kind of renewal modern Methodism could find in re-
immersing itself in its own theological tradition, not in the Wesley of wig,
tricorn hat and horse, and not just in attention to historic sites and key
events and experiences, but rather in the fostering of a new understanding of
225
the dynamics and imperatives of Wesley's own theology, an understanding

which could remedy the 'dilution' and 'attenuation' of the past seventy years
and offer routes into future mission.
The priest and poet George Herbert, encouraging his seventeenth-century
contemporaries to be well versed in the Christian tradition and in the life
and thought of previous generations, described the creative possibilities of
such an education:
So [the parson] doth assure himself that God in all ages hath had his
servants to whom he hath revealed his truth, as well as to him; and that
as one country doth not bear all things that there may be a commerce,
so neither hath God opened or will open all to one, that there may be a
traffic in knowledge between the servants of God for the planting both
of love and humility. (Herbert 1991:205)
226
Glossary
Agenda/Conference Agenda: programme for a meeting; specifically, as a

publication, the large book containing all relevant documents for repre-
sentatives at the Methodist Conference each year.
anamnesis: a Greek word, literally meaning 'memorial'; on the basis of the
word's appearance in the Last/Lord's Supper narratives in the New Testa-
ment it has come to have great significance in ecumenical discussion about
what happens in Holy Communion.
Arminianism: school of thought initiated by the Dutch Reformed theologian
Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609) in response to Calvin's views on predestina-
tion; stressed the reality of human free will, opposing the view that only an
'elect' could ultimately receive salvation.
authorization: technical term referring to the permission granted annually
by the Methodist Conference to lay people or deacons who may preside at
Holy Communion in areas where Methodist members would otherwise be
deprived of the opportunity to participate.
Calvinism: school of thought tracing its origins to the French reformer and
theologian Jean/John Calvin (1509-64); lays great stress upon the sover-
eignty of God and the authority of the Bible.
catechism: resource for teaching faith, taking the form of questions and
answers.
catholic/catholicity: although this word may be used in a variety of senses,
its main use in this book is as 'universal', 'comprehensive' or 'inclusive of a
wide diversity', rather than 'Roman Catholic' or 'orthodox'.
chaos (theory): the recognition that seemingly random behaviour can occur
within an ordered system and have a huge impact (e.g. the so-called
'butterfly effect' - a butterfly flapping its wings in Walsall may cause a
hurricane in Hawaii).
Christology: branch of Christian theology dealing with understandings of
(the) Christ, especially in relation to the figure of Jesus.
227
Circuit: a number of local Methodist churches (sometimes including LEPs),

though sometimes just one local church, in the charge of one or more min-
isters (presbyters). Several Circuits make up a District.
collegial: in the context of discussions about ministry and oversight, refers to
the oversight (episkope) exercised by ministerial colleagues (diaconal or
presbyteral) acting jointly.
communal: in the context of discussions about ministry and oversight, refers
to the oversight (episkope) shared between lay and ordained members, at
many levels in the structures of churches, where the authority lies with the
group as such, not with its individual members.
connexion/connexional/connexionalism: term used to describe the way in
which Circuits and Districts of the Methodist Church in Britain are linked
together.
contextual theology: a theology which recognizes the importance of, and is
usually firmly rooted in, a defined, concrete setting (e.g. locality, or among a
specific group of people).
Counter-Reformation: The revival of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe,
prompted by the events early in the sixteenth century known as the Refor-
mation. See also 'Reformation' and Tridentine'.
deacon: person ordained to the diaconal order; in British Methodism,
deacons are permanent and also members of a religious order (the Methodist
Diaconal Order).
Deed of Union: one of the basic constitutional documents of the Methodist
Church; adopted when different Methodist denominations united in 1932
and revised regularly since then.
District: a collection of Circuits; there are currently thirty-three Districts in
the Methodist Church in Great Britain.
District Chair/man: a presbyter appointed to exercise oversight over the
work of a District, focusing especially upon the care of presbyters, deacons
and probationers.
ecclesiology: the branch of Christian theology dealing with understandings
of the Church.
ecumenical/ecumenism: movement of thought and action relating to the
search for unity between different Christian denominations.
epistemology: the discipline which studies human knowing (also known as
'theory of knowledge').
228
GLOSSARY
eschatology: the branch of Christian theology dealing with understandings of

the 'end' including, traditionally, death, judgement, heaven, hell (often known
as 'the four last things'), but more generally also of all aspects of 'ultimacy'
including the Kingdom of God.
[The] 'Four Alls': a fourfold way of summarizing Methodist beliefs, devised
by A.B. Fitzgerald (1856-1931) in 1903: 'All need to be saved; all can be
saved; all can know themselves to be saved; and all can be saved to the
uttermost.' (Also known as the 'Epworth Quadrilateral'.)
Free Churches: a general, collective term for all non-established churches in
the Protestant tradition, i.e. 'nonconformist'.
General Rules: 'The Nature, Design and General Rules of the United
Societies' 1743 (published as 'The Wesleys' "Rules of the Society'": CPD
1:73-5).
hermeneutic/hermeneutics/hermeneutical: the art or science of interpreta-
tion; pertaining to interpretation. A 'hermeneutic' is a particular means of
interpreting, or a framework for interpreting, as in the phrase 'Methodist
hermeneutic', meaning 'a Methodist way/means of interpreting'.
immanence: God's presence throughout the created order; balanced by
transcendence.
Jesuits: members of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order of
missionaries founded by Ignatius Loyola in the sixteenth century.
kenosis: from the Greek, meaning 'self-emptying'; refers to the self-empty ing
of God in incarnation (cf. Philippians 2.7).
kerygma: from the Greek, meaning 'preaching'.
koinonia: from the Greek, meaning 'being (in) common' or '(in) commu-
nion'; has come to have great significance in ecumenical discussion as a term
for 'fellowship'.
Legal Hundred: the hundred preachers to whom John Wesley passed on
legal authority for the Methodist movement, via the Deed of Declaration of
1784.
Liturgical Movement: a twentieth-century movement of liturgical reform,
encouraging greater lay participation in worship and creative rediscovery of
earlier forms of liturgy.
Local Ecumenical Partnership (LEP): a formal arrangement between con-

gregations of different Christian traditions, which together function as a
single church.
229
local preacher: a lay person authorized by the Methodist Church after a

period of training to preach and lead worship.
Magisterium: term for official teaching of a bishop or of the Pope in the
Roman Catholic Church.
memorials: the submissions (usually in the form of questions or proposals)
which may be made to the annual Methodist Conference by any Circuit or
District Synod.
Methodist Council: the body that acts on behalf of the Methodist Confer-
ence between meetings of the Conference, and initiates and makes policy
recommendations to the Conference.
Methodist Diaconal Order (MDO): the religious order of which all deacons
in the Methodist Church in Great Britain are members.
Model Deed: a pattern of the deed commended for use by trustees of Meth-
odist preaching-houses (later churches), first drawn up in 1763.
omniscience: knowing all things; normally used with reference to God.
Our Calling: a programme of strategic action undertaken across the Meth-
odist Church in Great Britain since 2000; focuses on worship, learning and
caring, service and evangelism.
Oxford Institute: the Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies,
an international body formed in 1958, affiliated to the World Methodist
Council. Exists to promote the study of Methodist theology throughout the
world. Meets every five years.
pneumatology: branch of Christian theology dealing with understandings of
the Holy Spirit.
praxis: from the Greek, meaning 'action'. Although often used simply as an
alternative to 'practice', it has come to take on a quasi-technical meaning to
denote action undertaken within a particular socio-political, philosophical
or theological worldview, with a transformative intention.
presbyter: person ordained as a minister of the Word and Sacraments in
the Methodist Church (known as 'elder' in some Methodist traditions, and
'pastor' or 'priest' in some other traditions).
probationer: deacon or presbyter in their first few years of service, prior to
ordination.
Process Theology: twentieth-century school of theological thought which
emphasizes the evolutionary development of the created order, and God's
interaction and development within it.
230
GLOSSARY
Quadrilateral (also 'Methodist' or 'Wesleyan' Quadrilateral): term referring

to the interplay between the Bible/scripture, tradition, reason and experi-
ence, particularly with respect to the combined authority of these four
sources of theology. Not to be confused with the 'Epworth Quadrilateral'
(see Tour Alls') or the 'Lambeth Quadrilateral' (a commitment in the
Anglican tradition to the Bible, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, the two
sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion and the historic episcopate).
quantum theory: developed early in the twentieth century by physicists such
as Max Planck and Nils Bohr, it describes the interaction of matter and
radiation at the atomic level. Key components of this theory are the quan-
tization of energy, the uncertainty principle in momentum, position, energy
and time of particles and light photons, and wave/particle duality.
Reformation: term given to a number of movements across Europe in
the sixteenth century which sought to reform the Church; key reformers
included Luther, Calvin and Zwingli.
sacralization: a process by which a religious significance is ascribed to, or
imposed on, aspects of life not hitherto regarded in that light.
sacrament: term for practices through which the presence of Christ is cele-
brated by the Church; Protestant traditions usually celebrate two (Baptism
and Holy Communion); Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions cele-
brate seven.
secularization: the process by which religion (in the West, especially Chris-
tianity) loses its public prominence and influence, many of its former
functions being taken over by state bodies.
Standing Order (S.O.): term used for the rules in Volume 2 of The
Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church (CPD),
adopted by the annual British Methodist Conference, regulating the life of
the Church.
Superintendent: presbyter responsible, in the context of the Circuit Meeting,

for the co-ordination of work in a Circuit.
transcendence: term denoting the way in which God is beyond creation;
balanced by immanence.
Tridentine: referring to the Council of Trent (1545-63), the main
embodiment of the ideas of the Counter-Reformation.
ultramontane: the view which seeks centralization of ecclesiastical power in
Papal authority.
231
virtue ethics: term for a way of exploring moral behaviour which stresses the
cultivation of virtues within a communal context.
World Council of Churches (WCC): Geneva-based organization bringing
together most mainstream churches from around the world, except the
Roman Catholic Church; founded in 1948.
232
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Index
Agenda (of the Methodist Conference) assurance 18, 20, 25, 35, 55, 57-8, 77,
1933 44 181
1934 23 Athanasius 215
1935 17, 44 atonement 79, 125
1936 9,21 Augustine, St (of Hippo) 56-7
1937 17
1938 21, 25, 72 Baillie, D. M. 79
1945 18 Baillie, J. 78, 80
1949 18 Baker, E. 26, 135, 155, 186
1950 18 baptism 21, 32, 54-5, 84, 88, 132-3,
1966 80 158, 193, 199
1969 189 Barbour, I. 144
1972 26 Barth, K. 79
1974 66 Bartholomew, D. J. 153
1975 36 Batty, M. 9, 75
1978 67 Bauckham, R. 150
1983 14 Beck, B. E. 19, 161, 181, 186
1985 19 Beckford, R. 176
1986 189 Bett, H. 20, 118-19, 122
1988 19, 25 Bhogal, I. 103, 105-6
1990 101 Bible 5-6, 20-4, 51, 53, 57, 73-4, 92,
1992 189, 191 105, 109-15 passim, 142, 148-9,
1993 14 153, 160, 175, 182-3, 194
1995 14 bishops, see episcopacy
1996 14, 25, 80 Blyton, E. 71
1999 85 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) 49,
2002 84 51-3, 56-7
alcohol 41-5, 47, 162,207 Book of Offices (BoO) 49, 51-6, 73,
Aldersgate 17, 19 87
Alternative Service Book (ASB) 54 Booty, J. 222
Anglican-Methodist relations 9, 11, Boyd, G. A. 151
12-13, 62, 63 Brake, G. T. 10, 38, 121
Arch,J. 104 Bray, G. 143
Arminianism 18, 24, 46, 55, 57, 63, Brunner, E. 79
108, 145, 151, 162, 202, 222 Buchanan, C. 136
243
INDEX
Bultmann, R. 143, 149 Croft, S. 134

Butler, D. 201 Cross, T. L. 145
Called By Name 25, 74, 140, 177, Davies, R. E. 156

222 deacons, diaconate 6, 15, 21-2, 32, 48,
Called to Love and Praise 61, 63, 136 83, 161, 189, 225
Calvin, Calvinism 46, 145, 193 Deed of Union 20, 22, 26, 29, 31-2,
Caribbean 59 34-5, 37-8,109-11,114,138,171,
Carnelley, E. 218 173, 191
Carson, D. A. 143 Descartes, R. 214
Carter, D. 128, 190 Dillistone, F. W. 79,80
Carter, H. 23 discipleship 5, 45, 74, 155, 161
catechism/s 22, 26,73-5, 77, 88, District Chair 33
109-11 Duchars, L. 73
Chadwick, S. 156, 158
Chapman, J.A. 156 ecclesiology 16, 20, 22, 30, 35, 47, 50,
Christ, Christology, see Jesus Christ 56-7, 59, 61-2, 65, 70, 76-7, 85-6,
church, doctrine of, see ecclesiology 93, 128, 142, 154, 173, 175, 184,
Church of England 62, 66, 98, 132, 190, 196
160, 175, 206 ecumenical, ecumenism 28, 52, 59-69
Church of Scotland 54 passim, 77, 80, 81, 84-5, 98, 190,
Church of South India (CSI) 62, 64 193,199
circuit/s 11, 34, 75, 115, 172-3 Edwards, M. 18
circuit meeting/s 6, 8, 14, 32, 116, 173 Ellis,]. 20
class meeting/s 6, 24, 35, 45, 196, 214 English, D. 25, 112, 148, 187, 225
Clayton, P. 144 episcopacy 13, 22, 62, 77, 84, 193
Cliff College 158, 208-9 Epworth 17
Cobb, J. B. 144, 149, 152 eucharist, see Holy Communion
Common Worship 54 evangelism 18, 25, 27, 32-3, 49, 51,
Cone, J. 79, 173 57, 65, 68, 223
Conference (Annual Methodist) 3, 6, experience 61, 71, 74, 79, 99, 106,
9-12,15-6, 22, 31, 34, 36-9,42-3, 111, 113,116, 118-29 passim, 149,
60, 65-6, 70, 72-3, 76-7, 82-94 153, 176, 182, 201
passim, 110-16, 135, 172-5, 186,
188-9, 191, 199-200, 210, 222 Fackre, G. 143
connexion/alism 16, 20, 22, 31, 33, 38, Farley, F. A. 77
83, 102, 131-41 passim, 172, 174, Farrar, D. 18
177, 186, 193, 197 Farrer, A. 147
Constitutional Practice and Discipline of fellowship 18, 20-1, 25, 30-2, 35-6,
the Methodist Church (CPD) 3, 38, 72, 85, 88, 102, 120, 123-4,
29-31, 33-5, 38, 188, 207 129, 134, 163, 184,214
covenant service 26-7, 160, 162, 195, Fiorenza, E. S. 79, 106
221 Fisher, Archbishop G. 13, 62
Cracknell, K. 222 Fitzgerald, W. 155
Cranmer, T. 57 Flew, R. N. 20, 22, 61-2, 79, 155
Craske, J. 136, 177, 186 Francis, L. 101, 107
creation 86, 89, 94,142,150-1,153-4 Freeman, T. B. 211
244
INDEX
Frost, R. 149 humanity, human being 90-1, 97

Frye, N. 204 Hume, Archbishop B. 199
hymn book/s 18, 26, 48-51
Gadamer, H-G. 217 Hymns and Psalms 26, 49-50, 52, 54,
George, R. 19, 49 87, 164-5, 172
Gleick, J. 147
God 24, 36, 55, 61, 73, 76, 85-7, 94, inter-faith dialogue, other faiths 24, 68,
100-3, 105, 109, 111-2, 115, 118, 77, 223
120-3, 126, 129, 142-54 passim, Illich, I. 218
157, 162, 164, 177, 223
see also Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and Jantzen, G. 145-6
Trinity Jennings, T. 23
Gospel 41, 61, 67, 193 Jesus Christ 21, 30-1, 54, 56-7, 61,
grace 21, 24, 30-2, 40, 46-7, 57-8, 65-6, 68, 73-4, 76-7, 80-1, 85,
81, 85-6, 88, 90-3, 105-6, 108, 87-9, 94, 97, 100, 109-10, 113,
133, 151-5, 157, 161-3, 176, 181, 115, 120, 125-7, 129, 133, 137-8,
183, 190, 195-6, 201 142, 152, 181, 187, 209
Grant,]. 176 Jones, C. 51
Griffin, D. R. 144, 149 justification 18, 30, 157
Gunter, W. S. 149
Gunton, C. E. 50, 151 Kant, I. 183
Kaufman, G. D. 149
Hall, W. 102 Keble,J. 160
Hauerwas, S. 156 Keeble, S. 23
Hawkin, D. 149 Kelly, G. 216
Hawkin, E. 149 Kildea, P. 220
Heitzenrater, R. 19 Kimbrough, S. T. 56
Helm, P. 143, 153 King, Lord P. 22
Herbert, G. 226 kingdom of God 32, 40, 46-7, 56,
Hick, J. 79 61-2, 77, 105, 115, 123, 162, 195,
Holiness 20, 24, 31, 35, 45, 103, 213
155-65 passim, 181, 183, 190, 195 Kissack, R. 63
see also social holiness koinonia 20, 64, 115,214
Holy Communion 11, 13-15, 20-1, Koyama, K. 79
31-2, 52, 55-6, 83-4, 88, 134, 160, Kiing, H. 79-80
172-3, 177, 193-4 Kuzwayo, E. 216
Holy Spirit 18, 22, 38-9, 49-50, 52,
55-6, 61, 68, 76, 80, 85-8, 91-3, laity, lay people, lay ministry 6, 9,
105, 109, 111, 113-16, 120, 126-9, 13-15, 21-2, 25, 37, 191, 196
142, 152, 155, 156, 158, 163-5, Langford, T. 78, 125
174, 200, 210 Lartey, E. 176
Hopewell, J. 204 Lewis, G. P. 77
Houghton, J. T. 147 liberation theology 25, 46, 103-4, 106
Hughes, H. P. 43 Lidden,J. H. 102
Hughes, Maldwyn 76-7, 79, 127, 156 Lidgett, J. S. 37
Hughes, Michael 9 liturgy 20, 48-9, 51-9 passim, 118,
Hulme, F. 20 180, 184, 208
245
INDEX
Local Ecumenical Partnership Milburn, G. 9, 75, 185, 190

(LEP) 59,67 Miles, R. 223
local preachers 9-10, 13-14, 19, 25, mission 25, 31-3, 40, 46-7, 50, 57, 61,
48, 70, 75-8, 119, 172, 187 64-9,107,138-9,158-9,193,196,
Lord's Supper, see Holy Communion 218-9, 223, 225
love 18, 20, 162, 164-5, 183, 209 Mission Alongside the Poor 25
love feasts 32, 160 Moltmann, J. 50, 145, 151
Luscombe, P. 149 Morris, C. 62, 66
Luther, M. 57, 157, 193 Mott, J. R. 60
Lysons, K. 185 Moule, C. F. D. 80
Maclntyre, A. 156 Neill, S. 66

MacKay, D. 147 New Room (Bristol) 17
Mackintosh, H. R. 79 New Testament 20-1, 61, 195
Macquiban, T. 24 see also Bible
Maddox, R. 30, 150, 152-3, 156, 161, Niebuhr, H. R. 217
180, 182-4 Niebuhr, R. 157
Marsh, C. 129, 136, 161, 163, 177, Norwood, D. 192
186 Nygren, A. 79
MAYC, see Methodist Association of
Youth Clubs
Mbeki, T. 211 O'Brien, P. 136
membership 72-4, 84-5, 131-41 Ogden, S. M. 149
passim, 215 Oman, J. 79
membership ticket 10, 32 Oord, T. J. 145
memorial/s (to the Methodist ordination 22, 32, 85, 90-1, 92
Conference) 6, 11, 15, 38, 172-3 other faiths, see inter-faith dialogue
Methodist Association of Youth Clubs Otto, R. 121
(MAYC) 10, 19 Our Calling 19, 140
Methodist Conference, see 'Conference' Outler, A. C. 149-50, 153-4
Methodist Council 19 overseas mission/s 19, 59-69 passim
Methodist Hymn Book (MHB) 49, 87, Oxford Institute of Methodist
172 Theological Studies 18-19, 181
Methodist Recorder 3, 5-7, 10-11,
13-16, 70, 106, 112, 164, 173, pacifism 5, 8
224 Pailin, D. 144
Methodist Sacramental Fellowship Pannenberg, W. 152
(MSF) 10, 18, 21, 160 Partners in Learning 71-2
Methodist School Hymnal 72 Pato, L. L. 212
Methodist Service Book (MSB) 49, peace 45, 93
51-6, 67, 132 Peacocke, A. 146
Methodist Union, see Union (of British Peake, A. S. 187
Methodist Churches, 1932) Peel, D. 192, 196
Methodist Worship Book (MWB) 26, perfection 20, 25-6, 35, 46, 155, 158,
49, 52-3, 55-7, 67, 87, 125, 132, 186, 189
134-5, 138, 163, 177, 195, 221 see also sanctification
Migliore, D. L. 79 Perkins, H. W. 156, 161
246
INDEX
Pinnock, C. H. 143, 145, 148-9, 151 Sampson, C. 212

Plant, S. 212 sanctification 18, 30, 35, 47, 57,
Pobee, J. 214 157-8, 161-2
Polkinghorne, J. C. 146 see also perfection
Pollard, W. G. 146 Sanders, J. 143
the poor, poverty 23-4, 41, 43-4, 61, Sangster, W. E. 18, 156, 187
103-4, 106 Selby, P. 139
Pope, W. B. 161 Setiloane, G. 213
postmodern/ity 115, 221 sexuality, sexual ethics 9, 24, 41, 43-4,
Potter, P. 65 90-2
prayer 20-1, 30, 68, 143, 147, 160 Shannahan, C. 136
presbyters, presbyteral ministry 6, 14, Sheldon, B. F. 34, 36
21, 32-3, 48, 70, 124, 225 Sheldrake, P. 144
Preston, R. 157 sin/s, sinners 18, 24, 30, 55-7, 126,
Primitive Methodism 49, 185-91 153, 155
passim Skinner, M. 74
Puritanism 159-60 social holiness 45, 47, 134, 155, 221
Soper, D. 18
Quadrilateral (Methodist, Wesleyan) South Africa 10, 11,43-5
112-14, 116, 119, 149-50, 175, Stacey, J. 19, 77, 119-20, 122, 156,
187, 194 176, 187
Stephenson, T. B. 102
Stillingfleet, Bishop E. 22
Rack, H. 19, 156 Stone, B. P. 145
Rattenbury, J. E. 21 story, storytelling 27, 68, 99-108
Reddie. A. 173-5 passim, 174-6
redemption, see salvation Sunday School/s 6, 8, 70-2
Reformation 51, 57, 88-9, 109, 122, superintendency 22, 34
157, 199, 222 Swift, W. F. 34, 36
repentance 24
revelation 109-17 passim, 176 Tabraham, B. 55, 139
Richardson, N. 79 Taylor, J. V. 79-80, 214
Richter, P. 101, 107 temperance, see alcohol
Roberts, W. J. 73 Thatcher, M. 159
Robinson, H. W. 80 theology (general) 5, 8, 16, 19, 23-4,
Roman Catholic Church 198-203 27, 29-30, 37, 59, 66-8, 72-3,
passim 75_8, 80-1, 86,107,118,124,140,
Rousseau, J. J. 183 148-9,156,162,179-80,189,209,
Rowell, G. 222 210, 225
Runyon, T. 23, 30, 150, 156 Thompson, D. 65
Rupp, G. 157 Thorson, D. 149
Rushdie, S. 212 Time for Action 101
Russell, R. J. 143 Townsend, M. 55, 155-6
Trickett, K. 26
salvation 18, 30, 40, 50, 58, 67, 76-7, Trinity 20, 26, 50, 54-5, 57-8, 75,
97, 103, 120-1, 124-6, 128-30, 80-1, 85-8, 94, 97, 151-2, 154,
155, 158, 163, 224 159, 189, 219
247
INDEX
Turner. J. M. 49, 53, 55, 62, 70, 104, Wesley, J. 3, 17-29, 31, 33, 35-7,
138-9, 185, 187 46, 48, 51, 57, 59, 64, 76-9, 82,
88, 97, 103, 110, 113, 116, 128,
Union (of British Methodist Churches, 134, 145, 148, 151-3, 155-60,
1932) 9, 41, 49, 59, 61-2, 76, 180-1, 183-4, 187, 193-4, 196,
139, 163, 172, 190, 221 201, 206, 209-10, 217, 221-3,
United Reformed Church (URC) 54, 225-6
132, 192, 197 West Africa 59,211
Urwin, E. C. 23 White, V. 144
Wicken, J. S. 152
Vanstone, W. H. 145 Wiles, M. 144, 149
Vincent, J. 62, 104, 175 Wilkinson, D. 143, 149-150, 215-6
Williams, C 26
Wainwright, G. 50, 56, 63, 79, 215 Williams, H. 79
Wakelin, M. 156 Witvliet, T. 79
Ward, K. 80, 145 Wollen, D. 23
Ward, M. 64 Wood, C. 151-2
Warren, M. 66 World Council of Churches (WCC) 10,
Watson, D. L. 156 53, 60, 63, 65, 67
Watson, R. 26 World Methodist Conference 18
Watts, H. J. 72-3 World Methodist Council (WMC) 19
Wearmouth, R. F. 43 worship 18, 20-1, 30-1, 33, 45, 48-59
Weatherhead, L. 161-2, 187 passim, 67, 118
Webb, P. 54 Wren, B. 79
Wellings, M. 186
Wesley, C. 17, 21, 25-7, 29, 52, 56-7, Young, F. 79
77-9, 97, 161, 180, 182, 198,
209-10
248

Unmasking Methodist Theology by Marsh, Clive

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Unmasking Methodist Theology

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First published 2004

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

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11 Appealing to 'Experience': What Does it Mean? 118

Jane Bates is the Formation in Ministry Office Co-ordinator within the

Brian Beck is a Supernumerary minister, was Tutor and Principal of Wesley

Richard Clutterbuck was born in 1952. He has served as a theological edu-

Stephen Dawes is a 'been-around' Methodist minister, currently on the staff of

Jonathan Dean is a Methodist minister serving in the Milton Keynes Circuit.

Valentin Dedji is a Methodist minister from Benin (West Africa), currently

Barbara Glasson is a Methodist minister working in Liverpool city centre

Margaret Jones is a Methodist minister who has been involved in both

Tim Macquiban is a Methodist minister, presently Principal of Sarum Col-

Randy L. Maddox is the Paul T. Walls Professor of Wesleyan Theology at

Judith Maizel-Long is Co-ordinating Secretary for Church Life at Churches

David Peel served United Reformed Churches in Northamptonshire and

Martyn Percy is Director of the Lincoln Theological Institute, within the

Anthony Reddie is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Queen's

Angela Shier-Jones is a Methodist minister in the Bromley Circuit (London).

Colin Smith is Superintendent Minister of the Barnet Circuit and Deputy

David Wilkinson is Fellow in Christian Apologetics and Associate Director

Andrew Wood is a Methodist minister working in the Eastleigh Circuit, near

What is so special about Methodism? That question may be easy to answer:

the text. Readers are encountering an introduction to Methodist practice

Clive Marsh, Brian Beck, Angela Shier-Jones, Helen Wareing

Methodist theology is 'carried' in all sorts of ways. Historically speaking,

respond) in order to see what 'ordinary Methodists' think. Although ordin-

Every issue of the Methodist Recorder should have a great deal of

In June 1940, shortly before the commencement of the Battle of Britain,

At one of the greatest moments of national crisis, Methodists were

non-pacifists could reach a compromise position satisfactory to both, but a

Table 1.1 Letters published in the Methodist Recorder, by theme

Public Private Doctrine/ Methodist Other

Memorials sent to the Conference, by theme

Presbyters Deacons Lay Men Women

Note ' Number of letters published affected by industrial dispute.

It is not possible to know the percentage of memorials initiated by women

A year later, at the Ipswich Conference of 2001, the possible introduction

Two Hot Topics

Relationship between the Church of England and

the 1970s seeing the first state-sponsored referenda on membership of the

Lay and diaconal authorizations to preside at the Lord's Supper

against the difficulties of local politics and is an example of remaining true

the theological justification for a pragmatic solution to a particular issue has

• A sense of the responsibility of the Christian within God's world -

Methodist Identity: Telling the Story of the Wesleys

liturgical year made the emphasis on the evangelistic roots of Methodism

Prominent in the programme was preparatory study of the Wesleys' experi-

Methodist Theology: What Should we Preach?

the heart of Methodism in its origins as a 'praying fellowship' (Agenda

work on the doctrine of the Church undertaken by Newton Flew. It

In all these different areas of discussion about doctrine, a set of double

Methodist Practice: What Should we Do?

Yet nowhere in the subsequent application of Methodist emphases, in

demonstrate how its theological conclusions were rooted in Wesley himself.

Church, definitions are offered of distinctive features which spring from

Methodist Texts: Holy Writ or Occasional Guidelines?

By 1972 the Book Room report frankly admitted that 'contributions to

• as doctrinal standards to be taken seriously or to be afforded lip-service;

While the presence of so many texts or hymns in collections and liturgies is a