A United Methodist Pastor's Theological Reflections

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory (nikos) through our Lord Jesus Christ." - I Corinthians 15:57


Thursday, September 16, 2010

A Paragraph Every United Methodist Should Read


A big thanks to Wesylan scholar, Kevin M. Watson for this paragraph that every United Methodist should read from his recent sermon in Perkins Chapel, Southern Methdodist University. Thank you, Kevin.

“Becoming”
Revelation 2:1-5
Perkins Chapel
September 15, 2010
Kevin M. Watson

A study of denominations in the United States found that in 1776 American Methodism was a tiny, little-known, and insignificant sect. By 1850 American Methodism had become the largest denomination in the country, by far! One way of glimpsing the dramatic growth of Methodism during this period is that in terms of the overall percentage of religious adherents in this period, the largest percentage increase among groups other than Methodists during this period was Catholics, who increased by 77% from 1776 to 1850. During this same shift Methodism increased by 1,368%! The growth of American Methodism during this period was explosive! One of the reasons for this growth was that every single Methodist met in a weekly small group to check in with one another, to give an account of how they were doing spiritually. In fact, one historian of American Methodism has called the class meeting “the building blocks of Methodism.”
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