Methodist

In 1738, Reverend John Wesley started the Methodist movement to infuse pietist enthusiasm into Church of England formalism. In 1773, the first Methodist conference in the United States was held.  It was not until 1968, however, that the United Methodist church was formed with the union of the major Methodist church and the 1946 union of Evangelical and United Brethren churches.

The first Protestant service in the Philippines was held in 1898.  Chaplain Geirge Stull, a member of the Methodist  Episcopal Church, came with the occupying forces.  He recorded in his diary the  first service held in an old Spanish dungeon on August 28, 1898 which was attended  by both the Spaniards and the Filipinos.

The first Protestant work in the Philippines was begun in March 1899 by one of the missionary societies in the  United States.  Bishop James M. Thouburn, missionary bishop of the Methodist  Episcopal Church which became the  Methodist Church in 1939 when the three  major branches of American Methodism were united, was asked by the Missionary Society of his church to prave the way for the sending of the regularly-appointed missionaries to the Philippines. On March 2, he begun a series of messages at Teatro Filipino on Calle Echague.

The faith of the Methodist is based on the Scripture, as interpreted by tradition, reason, and personal insight.  For the Methodists, the style of worship may vary.  Usually their worship is staid, although it may sometimes be evangelistic.  Their special rites are infant baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Methodists were originally pietist and perfectionism in their ethics with a tendency to withdraw from secular affairs.  Today, however, their ethics have strong social activist elements.

The organization of the Methodist Church has a slightly different element.  The bishops, elected by the Church, are not a priestly order, but more of an office.  These bishops appoint district superintendents and local minister.

Source:

The Story of Methodism in the Philippines, Richard L. Deats