2015 UM History Series #11: Methodism, Slavery, and the Civil War

Thomas Jefferson once said that slavery was like “holding a wolf by the ear.  We can neither hold him nor safely let him go.”  Slavery and the conflicts and issues surrounding it have been the darkest part of the American story, and these issues and conflicts have included American Methodism.

Methodism from its very beginning in England was anti-slavery.  In a letter of encouragement to the famous English abolitionist William Wilberforce John Wesley wrote, “Go on, in the name of God and in the power of his might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it.”

Early American Methodism had a mixed history with race and slavery.  From the very beginning members of the Methodist Episcopal Church were forbidden to own slaves.  However, this rule was largely ignored in the south where many members and clergy were slave owners.

Meanwhile, particularly in the north, there were black Methodist preachers, including Harry Hosier and Richard Allen.  However, they were not treated as equals.  This led Allen to form the Africa Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church which became independent of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816.  Another black Methodist denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church Zion, was formed in 1821. Blacks who remained in the Methodist Episcopal Church, north and south, often worshiped in segregated churches and were not treated as equals.

The issue of slavery caused a great deal of tension for the church.  Northerners continued to tolerate slaveholding southerners’ violation of church law for the sake of keeping the church together.  Some anti-slavery Methodists, including those who went on to form the Wesleyan Church, left the church due to the church’s unwillingness to take a principled stand.

Both sides were convinced they were right and both sides attempted to tolerate each other for the sake of an uneasy unity.  This is very similar to our current situation with regard to human sexuality and many feel that we are heading for a church split over this issue.  As we will see tolerance over what both sides believe to be a core moral issue cannot last long. 

All of this came to a head in 1844 when a southern bishop named James O. Andrew acquired slaves through marriage.  Northerners would not tolerate a slave owning bishop and refused to acknowledge Bishop Andrew as long as he continued to hold slaves.  Bishop Andrew and the southern delegates walked out of General Conference and began the process of separating from the church.  A Plan of Separation was approved by both northern and southern delegates and the church separated into the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

This north-south spilt in the church continued throughout and well beyond the Civil War.  During the war southern slaves worshiped in segregated churches of the MECS.  After the war the MECS formed its segregated church into a new denomination called the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (CME) now call the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
            In 1939 the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Methodist Protestant Church (a small group that broke off in 1828 over the authority of bishops) united to form the Methodist Church.  However, one of the compromises that were made between the north and the south was the segregation of black churches and annual conferences into a separate structure known as the Central Conference. (Not to be confused with the current practice of calling regions outside of the United States Central Conferences.)  This practice of official segregation continued until 1968 when the Methodist Church united with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.  In fact, Iowa had one of the first African American bishops to serve a predominantly white annual conference in Bishop Thomas.

As you can see Methodists have been part of the unfortunate history of America.  We have come a long way and have a long way yet to go to be the people God calls us to be.