RSS 1.0Methodist and Wesleyan Studies
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The Methodist and Wesleyan Studies collection provides access to resources on Methodist and Wesleyan theology and studies as a resource for teaching, learning and research. The Methodist and Wesleyan Studies Collection is a joint project of the GlobeTheoLib and the Methodist e-Academy with the support of the World Methodist Council to develop an online library of Methodist studies resources that will be available to scholars and students free of charge throughout the world.
Recent Submissions
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The influence of migrations on the ethnic/national and religious identities: The case of the united Methodist Church in BanatThis research focuses on the correlation between migrations and ethnic and religious identities on the example of the United Methodist Church (UMC)2 in Banat. This paper observes a complex network of social, political and cultural factors which induced the changing of the number of members of the UMC local congregations, and their ethnic structure. Ever since the founding of the first UMC congregations on the territory of Serbia (mostly in Vojvodina) at the beginning of the 20th century until the end of World War II, the greatest number of their members were German. After they had immigrated, there was a sharp membership decline and many UMC congregations were extinguished. Today there are four UMC congregations in Banat, the largest one being the Macedonian Roma congregation in Jabuka, which is called the ’’Roma church’’ by the local people. Protestant congregations in Serbia are minority denominations and the UMC in Banat does not have many members. In the UMC in Jabuka the pastor is a woman, which is also very rare. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 177027: Multiethnicity, Multiculturalism, migrations: Contemporary process]
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An Apologetic to Sun Hwan Pyun's Dialogue Theology as a Liberation Theology of ReligionsSun Hwan Pyun was a professor at Methodist Theological University. As a theologian, he grappled with two important theological questions: "Is Christianity an exclusive religion?" and "Is Christianity only a religion for the upper class?" Regarding the exclusivism of Christianity, Pyun searched for an answer in ecumenical-religious pluralism. As an answer for "is Christianity for the poor", he accepts Minjung liberation theology. Pyun wanted to combine these two theologies and, subsequently, referred to his dialogue theology as a liberation theology of religions. The purpose of this thesis is to search for the theological and biblical answers to these theological questions by giving an apologetic to Pyun's theology.
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Missionary atlas showing the foreign mission fields of the Methodist Episcopal Church.Mode of access: Internet.
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Missionary tendencies in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, 1980 to 2000: a critical historyThe problem that will be investigated in this research project may be formulated in the following way: Which tendencies may be identified in the mission programmes of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa during the period from 1980 to 2000? This thesis will provide a critical historical overview of missionary tendencies in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa from 1980 to 2000 with particular emphasis on the Journey to a New Land Convocation held in 1995. From 2000, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa had begun to reconsider the changes implemented following the Journey to a New Land Convocation. It will investigate such tendencies in the light of the emerging ecumenical paradigm of Christian mission as postulated by David Bosch. I will argue that three phases may be identified in the focus of the mission of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa during this period, namely 1) a period of ecumenical involvement from 1980-1993, 2) the introduction of the process called a “Journey to a New Land” from 1993 to 1995 and 3) the impact of this process on the mission of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa from 1995 to 2000. The thesis will provide an overview and critical analysis of these phases in order to assess whether the emerging ecumenical paradigm of Christian mission as postulated by David Bosch is reflected in each of these phases. A literary review indicates that the missionary focus of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa does not reflect the emerging postmodern paradigm of working towards togetherness. Nor does it proclaim a vision of unity but shows a tendency towards denominational needs. It does not embrace a diversity thereby enriching its missionary focus to give substance to the emerging ecumenical paradigm but shows more divergence than integration. There is also clear evidence that it opted for a holistic rather than a pluralistic approach to defining its missionary focus.
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Raicakacaka : 'walking the road' from colonial to post-colonial mission : the life, work and thought of the Reverend Dr. Alan Richard Tippett, Methodist missionary in Fiji, anthropologist and missiologist, 1911-1988This thesis contributes to the literature on the history of the transition from colonial to post-colonial in the Pacific. It explores the contribution of an individual to this transition, Rev. Dr. Alan Richard Tippett, as a focus for illuminating the struggles in the transitions and the development of post-colonial theory for mission. Alan Richard Tippet sailed to Fiji as an ordained Methodist missionary in 1941. He was a product of a Methodist parsonage and heir to the evangelical and revival tendencies of the Cornish Methodism of his family. He began his missionary career steeped in the colonial visions of the mission enterprise fostered by the Board of Missions of his church. He was eager to study anthropology but was given no chance to do so before he left Australia. He pursued his study of anthropology and history in Fiji and began to question the paternalism of colonial theory. Early in his time in Fiji he made the decision to join with those who sought change and the death of colonial mission. In his work as a circuit minister, theological educator, writer and administrator he worked to this end. He developed his talent for writing and research, encouraging the Fijian church to take pride in its past achievements. He became alienated from the administrators of the Australasian Methodist Board of Missions and could find no place in the Australian church. In 1961 he left Fiji and began a course of study at the newly formed Institute of Church Growth in Eugene, Oregon. This led him into the orbit of Donald McGavran and the newly emerging church growth theory of Christian mission. Although his desire was to enhance the study of post-colonial mission in Australia he could not find a position to support him even after he gained a PhD in anthropology from the University of Oregon. After research in the Solomon Islands he returned to the USA to assist Donald McGavran in the formation of the now famous School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena. While at Fuller he exercised considerable influence in the development of missiological theory and especially the application of anthropological studies in post-colonial mission. Although he contributed to both the ecumenical and evangelical debates on mission, he found himself caught up in the bitter debates of the 1960s and 1970s between them and, despite all efforts to maintain links, lost contact with the ecumenical wing. Retiring to Australia in 1977 he found that his world reputation was not recognised in his native land. He continued his work apace, although he was deeply saddened by the ignorance he found in Australia and by his continued rejection. He finally donated his library to St. Mark’s National Theological Centre. He died in 1988 in Canberra.
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World Growth of the United Methodist Church in Comparative Perspective: A Brief Statistical AnalysisThis study compares the worldwide growth of The United Methodist Church to that of its “sister” denominations such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church, and the Church of the Nazarene. Among the key findings of the study is the fact that since 2000, on a country-by-country basis, United Methodism generally has been growing more slowly than its sister denominations. The authors explore the significance of their findings, and identify the need for a robust missiological research agenda to understand the reasons behind the relatively low growth rates of United Methodism worldwide. They suggest several avenues for this future research and speculate about possible sociological, structural, ecclesiological, and cultural explanations for the phenomenon.
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Annual report of the Northwestern Branch of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.Description based on: 33rd (1903).
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Official minutes of the ... session of the Nevada Mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church.Title varies slightly.
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Mission as hospitality : the ministry of the Free Methodist church to orphaned and vulnerable children in Kawama township in Ndola, ZambiaThis study focusses on the missiological response of the Pamodzi Free Methodist Church to the plight of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), specifically girl children in the Kawama Township in the Republic of Zambia. The major question to answer was “How can the cultural and biblical heritage of hospitality help the church particularly the Pamodzi Free Methodist Church to respond to the problems of OVCs, particularly girl children as victims of urban problems?” The study discovered that forces such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, child abuse, family breakdown, cultural beliefs and practices as well as a lack of care from the extended family have contributed to the vulnerability of OVCs. It recommends that the members of God’s household should have a mandate to restore the dignity and identity of OVCs in a holistic manner by linking the biblical and traditional values of hospitality as well as to develop intervention measures in order to meet the felt needs of OVCs.
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Missions, Republicanism, and Anti-Catholicism: the Ideological Origins of the Methodist Church’s Support for the Mexican-American WarThe Methodist Church’s support of the Mexican-American War arose from its commitment to the missionary endeavor and spreading the gospel. The self-imposed mission of the Methodists to evangelize the nations and their commitment to the United States war with Mexico cannot be understood without taking into account two other developments. Of first importance was the Church’s adoption of republicanism. By the 1840s, the Methodist Church accepted republicanism as the best form of human government and inextricably linked it to Protestant Christianity. Protestant (or biblical) Christianity was now not only necessary for salvation but was also a necessary component for political freedom, virtue, and economic prosperity. In effect, Christianity was the key to happiness in both this life and the next. The adoption of republicanism was joined by the second important factor—anti-Catholicism. Methodists portrayed Catholicism as hardly better than paganism and saw it as especially detrimental to human beings. The Catholic Church was portrayed as unbiblical and thus unable to produce the virtue needed to sustain a republican government. In addition, they claimed that Catholicism was inherently tyrannical and that its commitment to the union of church and state made it an especially powerful and dangerous enemy of biblical Christianity and political freedom. The Methodist Church came to see war as the only possible way to extend both the temporal and eternal benefits of Protestantism to the Mexican people.
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The development of methodism in Natal with particular reference to the Ìndian mission'.Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1993.
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African ministers and the emergence of resistance to colonial domination : the development of indigenous clergy in the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Zimbabwe from 1891 to 1980.Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.
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The history of the Rhenish Mission Society in Namibia with particular reference to the African Methodist Episcopal Church schism (1946- 1990).Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2003.
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The history of the Rhenish mission society in Namibia with particular reference to the African Methodist episcopal church schism (1946-1990)Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2003.
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Around and across South America : viewing the mission of the Methodist Episcopal ChurchCover title: South America mission : Methodist Episcopal Church