John Wesely - Document Study - The Deed of Declaration
'The Deed of Declaration' by John Wesley in 1784, followed by 'The Plan of Pacification' in 1795 after his death, are historically significant documents within the Methodist movement in relation to its separation from the Church of England. This paper will briefly outline how the separation developed, the crucial points of separation, possible misinterpretations of Wesley's intentions and the consequences of separation.The Methodists derive their roots from the work of John and Charles Wesley. The Wesley brothers and associate Whitefield travelled widely preaching to considerable crowds attracting many of the working class. By 1738 they had organised small groups within the Church of England for religious sharing, bible study, prayer and preaching. Their emphasis was 'primarily on practical religion and not dogmatic' (WEBER 1999). This movement had spread throughout England, Ireland, Wales and further abroad.The division between the Church of England and John Wesley heightened in 1738 when Church of England congregations started banning John Wesley from their pulpits. In order to unite the many small groups, in 1743 John and Charles Wesley in 1743
It established an organized leadership "Legal Hundred" and used the terminology "Chapels" as opposed to "Preaching-Houses". He failed to put satisfactory procedures in place, "Despite Wesley's careful planning" (Heitzenrater 1995:311), causing division between the church members. The 'Plan of Pacification' was to resolve political and spiritual issues for certain churches that had many unbaptised children and others who had not taken of the Lord's Supper for years. Since 1878 laymen have been admitted as delegates to the Church CouncilsIn the more recent times, some denominations have tried to amalgamate (Uniting Church). At no time did John Wesley personally break ties with the Church of England, maintaining his ordination and devotion to the Church of England, and he expected the "united societies" to "attend Anglican services and sacraments" (Dowley 1990:453). During this conference standards for doctrine, liturgy and discipline were also adopted. It distinguished itself as a legal identity known as the "Methodist". On July 8, 1969, this reunion was seen to be unacceptable. John Wesley had not intended to break away from the Church of England with this declaration; as he remained an ordained minister with the church and relied on the church for its service and sacraments. Even though John Wesley made no mention of a "relationship to the church of England" (Heitzenrater 1995:284) a respect for the church and its function can be seen in the statement "the conference shall not appoint . The document legally established the organizational structure and the successors of his leadership were to be known as the "Legal Hundred" which consisted of 100 selected "preachers and expounders" (Bettenson 1967:257). Long Term ConsequencesThe Methodists became an established denomination.
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Acceptance Essays
