Offering Christ by Jackson Jack;

Author:Jackson, Jack;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2017-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5

SOCIETY MEETINGS

We had a heaven amongst us; a paradise within us! The Lord poured

such peace and joy into our hearts, and we were often so happy,

that we did not know how to part. We lived as brethren,

and strove together for “the hope of the gospel.” We were

of one heart and of one mind, in the presence of God.

And is this not the communion of saints?1

By 1745 the Methodist movement was growing fast in parts of England. Tens of thousands attended field-preaching events annually. Many responded to the preaching abroad with the awakening Wesley desired, and a few even came to repentance and faith after hearing the gospel proclaimed. Of those who awakened, many wanted to hear more about the Christian faith they heard proclaimed in the fields. They wanted to talk about the call of Christ in their lives and perhaps grow in their faith. So many responded that Wesley had trouble staffing the follow-up ministry that helped nurture those who responded with awakening. This follow-up ministry, which is the focus of this chapter, was what Wesley came to call “Methodist societies.”

Methodist societies were a gathering of people in a geographic area who committed to follow Christ, or at least to consider following Christ, within the framework of discipleship laid out by John Wesley and the other leaders. Societies tended to range in size from as small as twenty or so to as large as a few hundred. Members met together for mutual support through prayer, worship, fellowship, and spiritual direction.

The importance of Methodist societies in Wesley’s method and structure of ministry has been well known since the beginning of the movement. The society became the foundation of Methodist identity. Only after Methodism became an official church in the colonies, and then later in Great Britain, did congregations displace societies as the primary community. What is less emphasized in contemporary conversations, but which was clear in the beginning, is the continuity of proclamation from the fields to societies and ultimately to classes and visitation. Proclamation in the society meetings helped cultivate people awakened in field preaching so they could experience both initial and subsequent times of faith and repentance, resulting in justification and sanctification. Societies became the primary community of Methodists, out of which flowed classes and band meetings.

Their importance, however, was not immediately obvious to Wesley. By the mid–1740s there was tremendous need for both field preachers and society leaders. Wesley had to make a decision: would he continue sending field preachers only to the places where he could also start societies or would he begin to offer field preaching even when he knew he could not launch a society at the same place? So Wesley decided to do an experiment. He records in the Minutes of 1745, “May we not make a trial, especially in Wales and Cornwall, or preaching without settling any societies? It might be well: and by this means we may preach in every large town where a door is open.”2 In 1747 Wesley

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