Methodists: Forever Beginning

• Share

In 1766 Philip Embury and a handful of John Wesley's disciples organized the first New World preaching societies of Methodism, which then was merely a dissident Anglican sect. Last week more than 2,300 modern Methodists, including 40 bishops, were on hand in Baltimore to celebrate their church's entry into its third century. Confidently, the delegates buried a stainless-steel time capsule in Mount Olivet Cemetery, to be opened by tricentennial-celebrating Methodists in 2066.

The theme of the anniversary gathering was "Forever Beginning"—a reminder that there is no room for complacency or conservatism in the richest and second-largest (10,331,574 members*) U.S. Protestant church. Speaker after speaker urged the Methodist delegates to gear up for the new challenges facing the church—ecumenism, equality, urban changes.

Hope & Confidence. "Methodist theology," said Bishop Gerald Kennedy of Los Angeles (TIME cover, May 8, 1964) in his keynote address, "has always been shot through and through with hope and confidence." At the convention, the official mood was traditional Methodist meliorism. But in the corridors, and around the nation, young Methodist clergymen are peering into the future with some concern, in the belief that their church may not be flexible enough to conquer its forthcoming challenges.

One such problem is ecumenism—particularly, Methodism's willingness to commit itself to the Blake proposal for one big Protestant superchurch. While the leaders speak favorably about ecumenism, Methodists do not have "a compelling feeling that we must unite churches to overcome the scandal of division," says the Rev. James Wall, editor of the biweekly Christian Advocate.

Between Liver & Gall. Another issue is Methodism's approach to ethics—whether to hold fast to the belief that the business of the church is solely with individual piety or face up to the problem of man in society. "People don't see that making human life human is part of salvation," says Methodist Minister Tex Sample of the Massachusetts Council of Churches. "They've got the idea that salvation is a kind of good feeling between your liver and your gall bladder." Long Beach Pastor Paul Woudenberg hoots that the typical renewal preacher "heads into a social program as an excuse for not doing his real job, which is preaching and taking care of his congregation."

Complaints about sluggishness come mostly from younger pastors and laymen, reflecting dissatisfaction with veteran leadership. Pastor Robert Thornburg of Peoria fears that the result of this break with the old guard is not creative tension between two views of the church but mutual incomprehension. "We just choose up sides and hate each other," he says. Bishop Richard Raines of Indianapolis, who at a youthful-spirited 67 is the new president of the Methodist Council of Bishops, believes that the age of 50 is the usual dividing line. Many older members "want the church to be what it was and a reminder to them of their secure childhoods. They don't want disturbing questions raised on Sunday mornings."