THE
METHODISTS: "THINK AND LET THINK"
There
are five Methodist churches in Denton and I have visited all of them. Three
of them are mainline United Methodist, one is an independent Methodist,
having separated from the large First United Methodist Church years ago over
liberalism and polity. It is governed by a local board and not by a bishop.
Then, there is the St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church (black),
which is a separate denomination dating back to Colonial America.
The
A. M. E. Church, as it calls itself, was organized in 1787, after Richard
Allen and five other blacks were pulled off their knees while praying at the
St. George Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in an area reserved
for whites. Allen was born a slave in 1760, but at 23 he was able to
purchase his freedom. Once he walked out of the white Methodist Church, he
started the Free African Society, which in 1816 became the A. M. E., the
first independent black church in the world, and it is today the second
largest Methodist denomination.
The
Denton A. M. E. is one of the oldest churches in our city (1875), and it has
a woman pastor. Her service is far more emotionally restrained than is the
case with most black churches, especially the Pentecostals who are often
uncontrollably expressive. She had somewhat to say in deference of blackness
and of women preachers. She claimed that it was a black man, Simon Niger,
who first carried the Cross, but she had her Simons confused. Simon, father
of Rufus and Alexander (Mk. 15:21) was forced to carry Jesus' cross, but he
was almost certainly not black, while Simon Niger, a black man, is referred
to as a prophet or teacher in the church at Antioch (Acts 13:1). But it
might be better anyway to be a willing teacher in the church, as was Simon
Niger, than an unwilling bearer of the Cross, as was the other Simon.
As
for the charge that women preachers exercise authority over men, she said
she had done that all her life in her family and still does it, referring to
her five sons. Those who are aware of the matriarchal nature of the black
family can appreciate the truthfulness of her remark. It is understandable
that there is nothing in black theology that keeps women from running the
church.
To
her barely integrated audience (only one white couple beside myself) she
said, "You black folk that don't like white folk, and you white folk
that don't like black folk, if you don't get it together here, you're not
going to mess up heaven!"
The
afternoon I attended the A. M. E., Feb.14, 1988, was their Founder's Day
celebration, so the pastor made several references to black history. She
said that the Methodist have always been a singing people, and she recounted
the origin of "Steal Away," which was the password among the slave
cabins, calling them to worship in a nearby grove of trees. They often refer
to themselves as the "Sons of Allen," in reference to their
founder. A state historical marker graces the yard of this church in
recognition of its significance to Denton and Texas history.
The
special speaker for the occasion was a man who grew up in that church,
"one of our boys," as the pastor described him, who now sits as a
district judge in Fort Worth. He expressed confidence that Jesse Jackson
could be elected President. He was strongly anti-Reagan.
The
virtually all-white First United Methodist Church (Denton churches are
almost totally segregated) was having high school graduation day when I
visited on May 24, 1987. Of the 43 graduating seniors 16 of them conducted
the worship, which consisted of praise, prayers, and readings, as well as
"witness of the Word" in which six students spoke briefly on
"Reflections of love." One of these was the daughter of a local
attorney whom I taught at the same high school 25 years ago. It reminded me
how long I've been in this city and how wide-ranging my experiences have
been.
One
of the Methodist churches is growing substantially, which is unusual these
days for any mainline church. Most are declining at an alarming rate. The
United Methodist and United Presbyterians, for example, have lost about 20%
of their members in the last 20 years. This congregation is growing, the
pastor tells me, because of its emphasis on family ministry and because it
is in a growing community.
Church
growth can be deceiving, for usually the growing church draws its members
from other churches and not from the unchurched world. An amazing statistic
I picked up at Princeton is that 60% of the children of the United States
never attend Sunday School. That is how P. H. Welshimer built one of the
largest Christian Churches in the history of the Stone-Campbell movement, in
Canton, Ohio, and mostly from the unchurched. He went after the kids.
The
Methodist church is unique in that it did not begin as a protest against the
church to which its founders belonged. It began as a missionary effort to
bring sinners into their Mother church, the Church of England from which it
eventually separated. "Methodist" was a nickname given the
followers of John and Charles Wesley. Their "Holy Clubs," through
which they evangelized functioned so methodically that they were dubbed
"Methodists." The Methodist clubs functioned for years within
the Anglican church, and the Wesleys insisted all along that they simply
preached "the good old Church of England doctrine."
The
Wesleys intended that their societies, which were "to help each other
work out their salvation," always remain within the Mother church , and
John Wesley never considered him self having left, choosing to be buried in
his Anglican clerical attire. But in time, when the Anglicans did not accept
the "call to holy living" promoted by the Wesleyans, the Methodist
societies became churches. That was 250 years ago.
The
Methodist movement has some interesting likenesses to the Stone-Campbell
movement: one being that both intended to remain within the existing church
and not start another denominati6n. Both were renewal efforts, one stressing
missions, the other unity. Both sought to reject creeds and base fellowship
on faith in and obedience to Jesus. The Wesleys had but one condition for
acceptance into their societies, "a desire to flee from the wrath to
come and to be saved from their sins."
John
Wesley had a slogan for fellowship much like those in our own movement:
Freedom
is therefore at the heart of the Methodist heritage, which has made them
vulnerable to the criticism of not believing anything much. But they have
always been orthodox Protestants, believing in the fundamentals of the
Christian faith. In terms of liberty of opinion they have an enviable
heritage. Near the end of his life John Wesley noted that other churches
will not accept anybody "unless you hold the same opinion with them,
and adhere to the same mode of worship." He added: