Methodist Church on the Prairies, 1896-1914The Methodist Church met the challenge with a centralized polity and a cross-class, gender-variegated, evolving religious culture. It relied on wealthy laymen to raise special funds, while small gifts fed its regular funds. Young bachelors from Ontario and Britain filled the pastorate, although low pay, inexperience, and poor supervision caused many to quit. Membership growth was slow due to low population density and church-resistant elements in the Methodist population (bachelors, immigrant co-religionists, and transients), and missions to non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants in Winnipeg, Edmonton, and rural Alberta spread Methodist values but gained few members. In The Methodist Church on the Prairies, 1896-1914, the first scholarly study of church history in the prairie region, George Emery uses quantitative methods and social interpretation to show that the Methodist Church was a cross-class institution with a dynamic evangelical culture, not a middle-class institution whose culture was undergoing secularization. He demonstrates that the Methodist's achievement on the prairies was impressive and compared favourably with what Presbyterians and Anglicans achieved. |
Contents
The Methodist Polity and the Social Profile | 20 |
Methodist Traditions | 36 |
Money | 56 |
Clergy | 78 |
Laity | 104 |
Methodists and NonAngloSaxon Immigrants | 126 |
All Peoples Mission Winnipeg | 140 |
The Ukrainian Missions in Alberta | 157 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Alberta conference Allen Papers Anglican Anglo-Canadian Annual attended August became British Buchanan Canada Canadian Carman Catholic census central Christian Guardian church members circuits clergy College committee communities compared congregations converts Country Darwin December denominational developed district editor Edmonton English ethnic example families February field foreign four fund gave gospel grants Greek groups held helped hospital immigrants included influence James January John July June Lawford less living Manitoba March meeting membership Methodism Methodist Church ministers Minutes Missionary Society missions movement native non-Anglo-Saxon North October Ontario opened organized pastor People’s percent percentage places population prairie region preaching Presbyterian president priests probationers problem protestant religion religious Reverend Roman salary Saskatchewan September settlement settlers social stations Sunday school superintendent supplies Toronto tradition Ukrainian union United West western Winnipeg women Woodsworth young