Talk:Methodism

How does the "connectional" model of organization compare with the episcopalian model described in that article? They sound similar; are they the same, or are there some important differences? Wesley

It is important to note that we are not a connectional people because of biblical or theological or even historical mandates. The evolution of our polity has, however, been a natural response to these elements in our background and they continue to inform and direct our efforts. [1] (http://www.umc.org/genconf/PETS/BD92/TEXT/d0112.html)

If I'm interpreting this correctly, the term is adopted in order to express the fact that Methodist episcopalianism does not claim any biblical, theological or historical mandate for this form of government, and adopts that form of polity for practical reasons (although the Bible, theology and history have had a measure of influence on its development). To make a difference between jus divinum (divine law) episcopalianism, and the Methodist aim to construct a maximal network for pragmatic reasons (which happens to be episcopal), the Methodists appear to prefer the term "connectional" to "episcopalian", as introducing less confusion and implying more completely the principle upon which polity has developed (although the latter is still an accurate term, it appears - with the appropriate qualifiers). Mkmcconn

Wouldn't it be better to call this article "Methodism" rather than "Methodist"? -- Mike Hardy

I was just coming here to ask that. -- Zoe

I'd go for that. We'd have to delete the redirect that's there, to move this page. Right? Mkmcconn

Contents

1 Number of adherents 2 Universities 2.1 == 3 Methodists and Catholics 4 Evans ?

Number of adherents

I came to this article wondering how many adherents the Methodist denominations had, and how these adherents were distributed geographically. The article has no such information. Can someone who knows add it? If this is not the right article to answer these questions, at least there should be a crosslink to the right one. I also wondered how the number of Methodists grew between Wesley's time and the present. Thank you.

Universities

Where does "the most famous of these is the prestigious Ohio Wesleyan University" come from? This seems POV, and I replaced it with "...and altogether there are about twenty universities and colleges named after John Wesley still in existance," unless there is a good source (Also see Wikipedia:Avoid peacock terms).
--Asbestos 17:52, 4 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I've reverted an edit by an anonymous user (who can be identified as User:Pnikolov by his IP address) who reverted my edit. The sentence under dispute was originally:

"Numerous originally Methodist institutions of higher education were founded in the United States in the early half of the 19th century. The most famous school among these institutions is the prestigious Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio."

I changed this to

"Numerous originally Methodist institutions of higher education were founded in the United States in the early half of the 19th century, and today altogether there are about twenty universities and colleges named after John Wesley still in existance."

This would seem to me to be more NPOV, but if you wish to discuss, please do so here and not by reverting without signing in.

--Asbestos 15:54, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I feel that the changed sentence is written from a more NPOV standpoint, and is therefore more encyclopedic, and should thus remain in this article. If the anonymous user/Pnikolov, or whatever, does not want his edits changed then maybe he should create a website on this topic, because the nature of Wikipedia is that articles will constantly be updated and improved beyond their original content. Rje 03:28, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

==

I know I am adding my two cents worth almost four months later, but it seems to me that statement "the most famous of these is the prestigious Ohio Wesleyan University" couldn't be qualified in an objective way, and if it could be, who would make that determination As an OWU grad I can tell you that it was a nice place to be, made lifelong friends, met my husband and a received a good solid education. But prestigious? ;-) Jrossman 02:25, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC)

Methodists and Catholics

Can someone please state the big differences between the two religions; United - (Methodist) & Roman Catholic.

Is it necessary for one to convert to the other for marriage ?

In reply: I can't speak authoritatively, but I think the big difference is the Apostolic Succession. I suspect that the Methodists would recognoze a Catholic marriage, but that the Catholics would not recognize a Methodist marriage. I don't think it's neccessary to convert to Catholicism to marry a Catholic. A preacher or priest should be able to tell you for sure, and would probably not be surprised at the questions.

I am a United Methodist pastor who married a Roman Catholic. Married in a United Methodist Church by a United Methodist pastor, our marriage is not recognized as sacramental by the Roman Catholic Church. I don't believe I would have needed to convert in order to have a Roman Catholic wedding, but I probably would have had to agree to raise the children as Roman Catholics. While I certainly have nothing against Roman Catholicism (and my wife has since become a United Methodist), I wasn't going to make that promise, wanting my children to, of course, be a part of my own church family. A Roman Catholic priest might be able to enlighten you a bit more. KHM03 22:27, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Evans ?

I removed Clement A. Evans from the "see also" section; he's not very prominent, but might be better listed on a different page. KHM03 00:19, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)