Breaking Up Is (Not So) Hard To Do

Today, September 2, is the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Schism. Not the one currently going on in the United Methodist Church, but the one that started it all. At least for us Methodists. It was on this day in 1784 that John Wesley, an Anglican minister, consecrated Thomas Coke as a bishop, then sent him, to America to join Francis Asbury in leading the Methodists in this newly formed country.

The problem was- and is- John Wesley was not authorized to consecrate another person bishop. Only bishops could do that. And the bishop of London would not consecrate or authorize someone to go to America to lead the Methodist societies.

So John went ahead and did it. (An Anglican minister friend told me years ago that Methodists were not truly ordained because there was no ‘apostolic succession.’ Coming from a guy whose church was started just so a king could get a divorce, this really meant something to me.)

His brother, Charles, the great hymn writer, was livid. How could John do that? Even worse, this newly and wrongly ordained bishop later ordained Francis Asbury and then, after the Methodists elected him as General Superintendent at the Christmas Conference in 1784 consecrated him bishop. Charles wrote a little ditty about it. (He abbreviates Coke with just the letter C.)

“On C. consecrating Asbury

A Roman Emperor, tis said
His favrite (sic) horse a consort made:
But C. brings stranger things to pass,
And makes a Bishop of his – Ass!”

The Methodist Episcopal Church in America (the name of the new denomination in 1784) was born out of a schism. And it has been in our DNA ever since.

And the people on both sides of the schisms have always claimed that Scripture was on their side.

John Wesley took a hard stand against slavery. He urged boycotting businesses that benefited from slavery, and in the Book of Discipline always included a ban on Methodists owning slaves.

That was pretty much ignored by Methodists in the southern part of the US. In 1804 Asbury edited a version of the Discipline for South Carolina that omitted the ban on slave owning. Eventually, in 1844, the denomination split. The Methodist Episcopal Church (the northern branch) and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In some older church buildings you can still see on cornerstones “M.E. Church, S.”

In 1828 a group that wanted to have congregational governance and lay representation at the church Conferences (it was only clergy at the time) broke off to form the Methodist Protestant Church.

Along the way other schisms occurred that formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church (and from it the AME Zion Church), and the CME (Christian Methodist Episcopal – originally Colored Methodist Church) Church. These were based on the treatment of formerly enslaved peoples. Some groups broke off due to theology- mostly dealing with the understanding of sanctification (does it happen over time or is it instantaneous?). Regardless, divorce seems to run in our family. And everyone is sure God is on their side.

In 1939 the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant Church united to form the Methodist Church. However, a small group of Methodist Protestants and a larger group of ME Church, S churches did not join in. Most of those churches did not want to unite with the north, and especially did not want to see any integration of blacks and whites in their churches. The ME Church, S churches that did not join formed the Southern Methodist Church. As of 2008 there were 42 Methodist Protestant Churches left, and as of 2017 the Southern Methodist Church had 72 churches (with a total membership of 3,200- most of the churches being in South Carolina).

In 1968 the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren united to form the UMC.

As you can see, we have had a long history of dividing up, and occasional times of getting back together. Every time we have split up, both sides claimed biblical authority. And both sides eventually came out weaker. With the current move of some churches to “disaffiliate” (a strange term since we never said we were affiliated before), we are just living out our history. Some believe that the break-off denomination, the Global Methodist Church, will have a majority of the churches disaffiliating join it. I am not so sure. The largest UMC churches moving towards disaffiliation have said they do not want to join another denomination, and are forming a network, The Foundry, where each church is independent. And the smaller churches that are talking about disaffiliation basically want to be independent, responsible only to themselves. Like the Methodist Protestant and Southern Methodist denominations, the GMC may have a grand start, but end up sidelined.

On a final, personal note- I keep hearing in the back of my mind the only prayer in the Bible specifically for followers of Jesus today. It was prayed by Jesus, and since it is the only one specifically for us today, we should pay attention. In John 17 Jesus first prays for himself, that God would glorify him in what he is about to do (the cross). Then he prays for his disciples, that they are not taken from this world but protected from the evil one. Then he says “I pray for those who will believe in me because of their word…” (That’s us! Pay attention!) He prays that we will all be one, even as he and the Father are one. And he gives us this promise, “if they are one, the world will be convinced that you (God) sent me.” I hear that in my mind, feel it in my heart, and think, is it any wonder we aren’t convincing people Jesus is from God?