A Guild Prayer

From Ron Marsh, a member of the Wesley Guild at Tilehust Methodist Church, Reading

Heavenly Father, as we close our eyes and clasp our hands together bonding with you, Lord we ask;

Give us the necessary skills and humility to serve you in all we do,

Use these skills seen and unseen to help us spread the good news of your heavenly power

Instil in us the necessity of reaching out to to others, who do not know you,

Lead us through the pitfalls of our present world

Drawing us ever nearer to your heavenly kingdom as we travel along the special highway helped by the Holy Spirit. We offer this prayer through and with the power of your Son and our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Amen

THE FOUR ALLs METHODISM

John Wesley did not pen the 4 Alls. Rather early in the 20th century William Fitzgerald summarised the core emphases looking back on the first Methodists. (William Fitzgerald, The Roots of Methodism(Epworth, 1903). These are expressed:

• All need to be saved
• All can be saved
• All can know they are saved
• All can be saved to the uttermost

All need to be saved means that everyone is in need of God’s saving love and no one can save themselves. As Paul puts it writing to the Romans ‘There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside …’ (Romans 3.10-12)

All can be saved is Methodism’s Arminian emphasis. Unlike some Calvinists who believed that only a chosen number are to be saved and that others cannot be, John Wesley was convinced that God invited everyone, though we might chose not to go to it. Again Paul’s words seem to convey that idea when he says ‘For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. It is also implicit in many of the parables of Jesus about the banquet feast to which the poor and the outcast are invited to take their place (Matthew 22.2-14). Charles Wesley’s hymn put it like this:

O for a trumpet voice
On all the world to call
To bid their hearts rejoice
In him who died for all!
For all, my Lord was crucified,
For all, for all my saviour died

All can know they are saved is the conviction that every person can know the love of God in their own hearts and minds. John Wesley referred to Paul’s words in Romans 8 to support his belief that God’s Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8. 14-17).

This is sometimes called the doctrine of assurance.

All can be saved to the uttermost expresses well the holiness to which all Christians are called. God is at work in and through to draw us into his life and to be us complete in Christ. This is sometimes called ‘sanctification’.

Another ‘All’ was added by George Eayrs in 1909. He suggested that the early Methodist also believed that ‘All must be witnesses to their salvation’, meaning that Christians are called to share the good news with others.

Brief History of Methodism -John Wesley

A Brief History of Methodism John Wesley (1703 - 1791) is known as the founder of "Methodism". While students at Oxford in 1729, John Wesley and his brother Charles (1707 - 1788; wrote hymns, many of which appear in the United Methodist Hymnal such as 240, Hark the Herald Angels Sing) began a Holiness Club. They were such a serious group and did everything in such a methodical way that people began to call them "Methodists".

Methodism began as a holiness movement within the Church of England. Wesley did not plan on starting a new church and he never left the priesthood in the Church of England. Wesley appointed the first preachers to America on August 4, 1769. As a result of the Revolutionary War the Anglican State Church of Britain was no longer in America. On December 24, 1784, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore, Maryland. Francis Asbury (1745 - 1816) was ordained by Thomas Coke(1747 - 1814) as a General Superintendent, by 1788 Asbury was referring to himself as Bishop. The Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1784. In 1828 the Methodist Protestant Church split away. In 1844, the Methodist Episcopal South Church split away. In 1939 these three bodies merged.

In 1800 the Church of the United Brethren in Christ was organized with the early founders being Phillip Otterbein (1726- 1813), Martin Boehm (1725 - 1812) and George Adam Geeting. (1741 - 1808). (The first United Brethren Church was the Geeting Meeting House in Keedysville, Maryland with George as its pastor, 1800. The first Methodist church was the Robert Strawbridge House in Maryland, 1766). This tradition came from the German Reformed Church of the Presbyterian Reformed Church. The Evangelical Association was founded in 1803, with Jacob Albright (1759 - 1808) being the key figure. The roots of the Evangelical Association are in the German Lutheran Church, which came from the Lutheran Church resulting from the Reformation of 1517. In 1946, the Evangelical United Brethren Church was created by the merger of the two churches. In 1968, the decision was made that the religious and theological beliefs were so close that the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church should merge and become the United Methodist Church.

John Wesley's Teachings, Requirements & Beliefs Wesley told his preachers that they should preach simply, freely, fervently and believingly. He also told them they had to own a horse. There were four main things that Wesley felt should be preached:

• All people need to be saved
• All people can be saved
• All people can know they are saved
• All people can be saved to the uttermost (Christian Perfection *).
• God is already at work in the hearts of the people.

* "Christian Perfection" means a perfection of motive and maturity. It means to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. If everything we do and say is motivated by love of God and love for others, then we have attained Christian Perfection.

These four terms were extremely important to Wesley:

1. "Justification" (pardon)
2. "Sanctification" (gift of being just and righteous)
3. "Faith" (belief)
4. "Good Works" since our faith calls us to be in service to one another. Salvation comes from our belief in Jesus Christ. We can be assured that our sins have been forgiven and that we have eternal life.

Wesley viewed Jesus as three things:

• Prophet -- revealing God's will
• Priest -- giving himself as a sacrifice for us all
• King -- reigning in the heart of all and ruler of the universe.

Wesley also had four criteria which he used for making the best decisions:

1. Scripture -- What does the Bible tell us? (and all things are based on Scripture)
2. Tradition -- What has the tradition of the church been?
3. Reason -- What do I perceive through logical thinking?
4. Experience -- What has been my experience of God through the Spirit? These four guides have come to be known as "Wesley's Quadrilateral" although Wesley never used the term himself.

Interesting Facts

John Wesley rode over 250,000 miles by horseback and preached over 40,000 sermons during his ministry. His brother Charles wrote over 6,500 hymns.

The reason that Wesley required his preachers to have a horse was so that they could reach the people. The Methodist church's ordained preachers were known as Circuit Riders. Each preacher had a number of churches that he was responsible for and due to the distance between some of them a horse was necessary. The Methodist Church also had people called Lay Ministers which were qualified to meet the needs of the congregation in the absence of the preacher. Lay Ministers still exist today and like the one's in Wesley's time they are able to meet the needs of the congregation in the preacher's absence. As for Circuit Riders they still exist in a few rural areas.

STRUCTURES OF THE METHODIST CHURCH

STRUCTURES OF THE METHODIST CHURCH

The Methodist Church comprises about 5 000 local churches in approximately 640 Circuits in 12 Districts comprising South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Namibia and Lesotho. We have developing relationships with Methodist communities in Malawi, Tanzania and Angola.

The Class / Cell Group

The class is the basic pastoral unit of the Methodist Church. Members ought to be allocated to a class, cell or group under the care of a pastoral leader. The classes were, and in some cases still are, the principal meetings in the local church for fellowship and mutual encouragement and growth in the faith.

The Society

A Society (local church) is the whole body of members of the Methodist Church linked with one particular place of worship.

The Society exists to exercise the whole ministry of Christ. Worship, evangelism, learning and caring, and service are essential features of that ministry. The Leaders Meeting has responsibility for the co-ordination of that ministry. The Local Trust Committees are appointed to manage the local church buildings on behalf of the Presiding Bishop, in whom all Methodist property is vested.

Church members belong to the Leaders Meeting, some because they have been elected by the members at an Annual Society Meeting and some because they hold one of a number of offices within the Society.

For people who wish to become members of the Methodist Church, there is a period of training and, once the leaders meeting is satisfied with the person's sincere acceptance of the basis of membership of the Methodist Church, a service of confirmation and reception into membership is held. If they have not previously been baptised, the service will include baptism.

The Laws and Discipline expresses it in these words: "All persons are welcome into membership who sincerely desire to be saved from their sins through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and show the same in life and conduct, and who seek to have communion with Christ Himself and His people by taking up the duties and privileges of the Methodist Church.

The Circuit

The Circuit is the primary unit for the administration of local Methodists and serves as a network in which Societies express and experience their inter-connexion for the purposes of mission, mutual encouragement and help. It is formed from Societies in a defined area. A number of Circuits make up a District.

The responsibilities of the Circuit are exercised through the Circuit Quarterly Meeting. Its task is to combine spiritual leadership with administrative efficiency to help the Circuit fulfill its purpose.

Church members belong to the Circuit Quarterly Meeting, some because they have been appointed by the Leader's Meetings in the Circuit, and some because they hold one of a number of offices within the Circuit or in its Societies.

The purpose of the Circuit is to use effectively the resources of ministry, which include people, property and finance. It acts as the focal point for the fellowship of the Societies, looking after their pastoral care, training and evangelistic work.

The District

Circuits are grouped together to form Districts. For each of the 12 Districts there is a Bishop whose task is to lead the ministers, deacons and lay people in the work of preaching and worship, evangelism, pastoral care, teaching and administration. Each District has a Synod. Its purpose is to decide policy for the District and to be the link between the Conference and Connexional offices of the Church on the one hand and the Circuits and Societies on the other. The Synod includes all ministers, deacons and probationer ministers and deacons in the District, together with church members, some because they are Circuit Stewards, some elected by the Circuit Quarterly Meetings, and some because they hold office in the District.

The Conference

The Conference, which meets annually, is the Church's governing authority and supreme legislative body. It is the sole and final authority in respect of the doctrines of the Church and their interpretation.

The Connexion

This is the term used to describe the Methodist Church linked together through Societies, Circuits and Districts. These form the Connexion.

The Connexional Executive

The Connexional Executive meets annually to administer the connexion, under the direction and delegated authority of Conference, attending to matters such as budgets, financial reports, stationing of ministers and personnel matters. It is mandated to ensure that the church is properly managed in terms of the operational requirements that any organization must deal with in order to be faithful and fruitful.

Committees

In every part of the Church there are committees, appointed in different ways, with the task to help develop and implement policy both nationally and locally.

Units

The Church has a number of connexional agencies that have been established to co-ordinate work in a number of areas that relate to the whole church. Each is led by a Unit Director appointed by the Connexional Executive.

WHO ARE WE

WESLEY GUILD

Wesley Guild is an organisation in the Methodist church that brings the youth and the young at heart together to understand each other, discuss issues and also to grow spiritually and help others.

WESLEY GUILD HAS FOUR C's 

CONCECRATION

Learning to dedicate our lives to Christ and commit ourselves to His services.
This would be done by : --Music (praise and worship, etc)--Prayer (public & private prayer, praying for people, etc)--Reading the Bible and relevant books --Evangelism (spreading the Word, preaching…) --Living a devotional life Silence before God (Obeying God’s will)--Fasting ( alone or as a group but its vital for Guilders)

CREATIVITY

NB: The C was changed to creativity because the Guilders tended to concentrate on cultural issues only. The aim is to liberate our intellect, giving and sharing new ideas and learning to understand ourselves in this planet. This gives us an opportunity be creative and also explore things about ourselves and our religion. This is done through debates workshops, special events so on. It’s about creative ideas keeping in mind our faith.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Committing ourselves to the well being of others at all levels of need. Developing our communities starting with the church community in any way spiritually, academically so on. These can be done by :-- projects, visits ---talks--- teaching sharing--- feeding the hungry--- help the needy.

COMRADESHIP

It encourages fellowship amongst the Guilders themselves first and the youth inside or outside the church. Young people are flexible, so we play games, watch movies, have talkshows. Guild is a family, its aim is to build relationships with everyone, committing ourselves to one another and our spiritual growth. Games, movies, camps, talkshows etc are just means not the end so Guilders must move beyond them.