Session 6 – Wrapping up the reformation In this final session we will be looking at two different topics We will cover one more late reformer in some detail We will also briefly look at the denomination that came about from Protestantism over the next several hundred years

The Wesley family was made famous by the two brothers, John and Charles John (and Charles) Wesley They were among the ten children surviving infancy born to Samuel Wesley ( ) and Susanna Annesley Wesley, daughter of Samuel Annesley John Wesley was born June 28, 1703, died Mar. 2, 1791

His mother had a large impact on his education and him growing up in general (as she should) John Wesley went to Oxford and proved to be a fine scholar Soon after he was ordained into the Anglican church as a ministry

When he was at Oxford, he joined a society that was founded by his brother In this group they would take Communion once a week, pray daily, and visit prisons regularly, they also spent three hours daily studying the Bible and other devotional (Christian) material This group was made fun of by others, calling it the “Holy club”

From that point, Wesley sailed to Georgia to pastor a church While in Savannah he courted a women, but it didn’t go so well and she ended up marrying another man The congregation also didn’t like his rules from the “holy club” he introduced

Discouraged, he returned (1737) to England; he was rescued from this discouragement by the influence of the Moravian preacher Peter Boehler. The Moravian church has it’s roots in the teachings of John Huss On May 24, 1738, he had an experience that changed everything. He described the event in his journal:

"In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

After this spiritual experience and conversion, which was centered on the realization that salvation is by faith alone, he devoted his life to evangelism From there he traveled and preached constantly, and established Methodist societies throughout the country He travelled much around London, Bristol, and Newcastle

He worked with another man named George Whitefield who convinced Wesley to join him despite Wesley's dislike for Whitefield's style (open air / radical) Because of his organizational skills Wesley became the new leader of the movement They had a difference of opinion when it came to free will and predestination (as well as other things) that caused them to part ways eventually

He (Wesley) also travelled to other countries like Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, where he would encounter much opposition and persecution (but that eventually dies down) Wesley did not intend to found a new denomination, but historical circumstances and his organizational genius conspired against his desire to remain in the Church of England.

Initially, Wesley’s followers met in private homes which they called “societies” Once these became too large for members to care for one another, Wesley organized “classes” each with 11 members and a leader These classes met each week, they would pray, read the Bible, and collect offering for charity

The classes were gender segregated, men and women would meet differently (but anyone had the opportunity to become a class leader) About the groups, Wesley said: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

The movement grew fast, as it did the critics also grew in number They would call them “Methodists” (which they were fine with) At times though it went beyond name calling and became physical, they would break up meetings sometimes and there were many threats against John Wesley's life

Wesley tried his best not to interfere and plan times over other church services He never slowed down in his preaching, he would travel around 4,000 miles annually, and he preached around 40,000 sermons in his lifetime As the movement grew so did the structure that it followed

Wesley organized his followers into “connections”, and then a number of societies into a “circuit” which was under the leadership of a superintendent. Meetings between leaders evolved into an annual conference (and those representing different circuits were given 3-year terms The Methodist movement slowly became it’s on denomination, ordaining ministers outside the Church of England

Despite this, Wesley remained an Anglican preacher until his death, and wasn’t intending at first to create a separate denomination Wesley got married to Mary Vazeille (a widow) later in his life He died at age 88, and by that time had given the Methodist societies a legal constitution

Because of the records that we have from John Wesley, we know exactly how many followers Wesley had when he died: 294 preachers, 71,668 British members, 19 missionaries (5 in mission stations), and 43,265 American members with 198 preachers. Today Methodists number about 30 million worldwide. Quotes from Wesley

“Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing!” ― John Wesley “What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.” ― John Wesley

“We should be rigorous in judging ourselves and gracious in judging others.” ― John Wesley “Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.” ― John Wesley “God grant that I may never live to be useless!” ― John Wesley

The core ideas of Protestantism begin to spread with Martin Luther and his 95 thesis Everything else (including Luther’s own branch of Protestantism) will develop out of the ideas that we have been discussing for the past 5 weeks We will briefly look at some of these branches of Protestantism (although we’ve seen much already the past five weeks)

The name "Anglican" means "of England", but the Anglican church exists worldwide. The Anglican church was founded long before the reformation, but around that time it splits off from Rome and embraces Protestant ideas Henry VIII was the one who split the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church around 1534

Some have suggested it was because the Pope refused to grant him a divorce, but his disagreements and problems with Rome were more than that In the 17 th century, Anglicanism was established alongside colonization in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. The second stage began in the 18 th century when missionaries worked to establish Anglican churches in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

As a worldwide family of churches, the Anglican Communion has more than 70 million adherents in 38 Provinces spreading across 161 countries. The Anglican church has many differences with the Roman Catholic Church, although it would be more similar to it than a Baptist or Pentecostal would be

As discussed earlier, the Methodist movement is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their inspiration from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significant leaders in the movement. They have some difference (Infant baptism for example) but are pretty protestant

Pentecostal Movement Pentecostalism is arguably the most important mass religious movement of the twentieth century. Today, this movement is the second largest sub-group of global Christianity. It has over 30 million American adherents and a worldwide following of 430 million. The present day Pentecostal movement originated in the early nineteen hundreds

The most distinctive characteristics of the move is the emphasis on the gifts of the spirit still being for today Some movements and churches have gone over-board and made it something it isn’t, which gives Pentecostalism a bad image to many other denominations in Christianity Much could be said about how the movement started, but we don’t have time

As you can probably tell by the name, Lutheranism has it’s foundations in the teachings of Martin Luther Lutheranism is one of the largest Protestant denominations. According to the Lutheran World Federation, there are nearly 66 million Lutherans worldwide. Of these, 36 million live in Europe, 13 million in Africa, 8.4 million in North America, 7.3 million in Asia, and 1.1 million in Latin America.

Initially Luther was not trying to form a denomination, but it ended up happening anyways (he wanted reform in the RCC) the Book of Concord is regarded as an authority for doctrine and practice by all Lutherans. The there differences between Lutheranism and Evangelical Lutheranism that we don’t have time to delve into

Evangelical Lutherism does not take as strong of doctrinal stances on things like the inspiration and inerrancy of scripture, as well as the issue of homosexuality The Lutheran church is closer to the Roman Catholic Church than most protestants are, which reflects back to the founder, Martin Luther

The reformed and Presbyterianism denominations The reformed movement comes from Calvin's theology, as does much of Presbyterianism (like church government) John Knox (who took over for Calvin) would also have much influence on the Presbyterian movement that would develop from the reformed movement

Anabaptist and beyond Some people don’t count the Anabaptist movement of the 16 th century as being part of the reformation, because they were dramatically different from the others The biggest difference from the Roman Catholic Church (and many protestant movements) was the rejection of infant baptism and the belief only adults who understand should be baptized

It originated in Zurich and move from there around Europe with the reformation To begin with there was no leader to the movement (like Calvin, Luther, Zwingli) Anabaptists were a very persecuted group by both protestants and Catholics, and their leaders in the 16 th century were often executed

However, in northern Germany and the Netherlands, pacifist Anabaptists rallied under the leadership of Menno Simons and survived the persecution. Menno's followers would eventually form the Mennonite tradition and become the only lasting Anabaptist tradition. They are mostly known for their separation from the world, pacifism, radical discipleship, and simplicity of life

The first General Baptist church, led by John Smyth, was founded in Amsterdam, Holland, in 1608/09. Its members were English refugees who had fled England to escape religious persecution. The Baptist church has around 85 millions members worldwide, with the southern Baptist convention being the largest group (15 million)

Baptist have some non-essential belief differences with Pentecostals and other protestant denominations It gave rise eventually to a very questioned group, the Seventh Day Adventist who highly revere the writings of Ellen White There is much more that could be said on protestant denominations, but we will stop for now

Romans 15:5-6 “ Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Memory Verse