Synopsis
History Of The Discipline Of The Methodist Episcopal Church, Revised And Brought Down To 1856 By W.P. Strickland by Robert Emory presents a historical compilation tracing the origin and evolution of the Methodist Discipline in America. It centers on the transition from British Methodism, via the Large Minutes and Annual Minutes, to an American episcopal structure, beginning with the first American church organization in 1784 and continuing through late eighteenth?century revisions and into the early nineteenth century. The work documents the 1784 Christmas Conference and the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, including a Form of Discipline adapted for American use, and details governance—bishops (superintendents), elders, deacons, traveling preachers, local preachers, stewards, and class meetings—along with ordination, trials, and discipline procedures. It integrates doctrinal material (Articles of Religion and Doctrinal Tracts) and Wesleyan doctrines on election, perseverance, and Christian perfection. The narrative engages social issues such as slavery and emancipation, and outlines the development of church funds, education, publishing, and mission support. It also surveys changes in the Discipline’s material form and the Bishops’ Address, and the shift toward headed, chaptered editions after 1787, with Coke and Asbury notes framing episcopal– itinerant governance.
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