The Strength of Methodism

From its earliest days Methodism has been a spiritual movement not bound by the dictates of the institutional church.  From its beginning it has been a spiritual movement that centered among the ordinary people rather than the ordained clergy.   John Wesley was an ordained Anglican priest and was trained to observe its high church practices.   He often found himself outside the boundaries of a church which he perceived as one that had lost contact with the masses of people.   

When the Anglican pulpits were closed to him, he went into the fields to preach.  When there were not enough clergy to provide spiritual leadership to a growing movement, he approved local unordained preachers to preach and do pastoral work.  When ecclesiastical propriety got in the way of taking care of the needs of the people being entrusted to him, he would not allow the proper way to stand in the way.  He put lay men and women to preaching and entrusted them in places of leadership.  Methodism may have flourished because of the leadership of John Wesley, but it also flourished because of the work of the lay people who were a part of it.    

Sometimes it seems that the church of our day has forgotten that its strength does not just lie in the witness of the ordained, but also in the faithful service of those who have not been touched by the ordaining hands of a Bishop.  The growth of Methodism in this country is certainly in part due to the tireless and faithful ministry of the circuit riding preacher, but it is equally as true that it has been sustained by the many who have served the church and the Christ without any certifying credentials.  The real strength of the church is with the saints who served it over a life time and if we stop for a moment to think, we can soon begin to call their names.