Rise and Progress
OF THE
CHAPEL HILL,
IE2ET7\ H. MOOEE,
AUGUST A. D. 1876.
— :o:
PUBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE CONFERENCE.
D. \V. WHITAKER, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, DURHAM, N. C„
1 8 7 6.
Rise and Progress
OF THE
M. 1, OHIEOH SOllH,
a centennial address
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
-IN—
CHAPEL HILL,
IBy EEV. "W\ ZEE- MOOBE,
AUG-UST A. D. 1876.
:o:
PUBLISHED BY BEQUEST OF THE CONFEEENCE.
D. W. WHITAKER, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, DURHAM, N. C.,
1 8 7 6.
RISE AND PROGRESS
OF THE
M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH.
There are seasons in which special themes are both pleas¬
ant and profitable. We delight to dwell upon the past, trace
the path we have trod, mark the strokes by which we have
achieved success, where the success has been a signal one;
or scan the causes of defeat if we have failed in our high
endeavor.
As a religious movement Methodism is the greatest success
of the past century. No Church since the days of the Apos¬
tles, has in so short a time, and against such odds, won so
much of power over men as she; and it is peculiarly appro¬
priate on this Centennial Anniversary that we should review
the past, and standing amid the grand achievements of the
century gone, while we look on and admire her granduer and
beauty, adore the wisdom and glorify the grace of Him who
hath "crowned us with his loving kindness and tender
mercies."
"THE M. E., CHURCH SOUTH; ITS RISE AND PROGRESS.''
is our theme—a theme with which every Methodist should
be familiar, and, to which familiarity, we cordially invite and
affectionately urge our brethren of other denominations
throughout the land. We have nothing to loose, but every¬
thing to gain, froin an acquaintance with our history. An
address on the subject announced necessitates a reference to
the origin of that form of Christianity which has been denom-
4
inated Methodism, and by which it is distinguished from those
churches which existed at its birth, or have arisen since, for
the history of the M. E., Church South, must ever be incom¬
plete—fragmentary—when considered in isolation from
Methodism in general.
Methodism was not born in a cellar, garrett, or hovel; but
breathed her infant life within the walls of Oxford College.
Those who introduced her to the world were not ignorant
enthusiasts, but men of cultivated minds, and consecrated
souls, burning with a holy zeal for the glory of God and the
salvation of men. The brief account of the rise of Method¬
ism prefixed to some of our older Disciplines says : " In 1729,
two young men in England, reading the Bible, saw they could
not be saved without holiness ; followed after it, and incited
others so to do. In 1737, they saw, likewise, that men are
justified before they are sanctified, but still holiness was
their object. God then thrust them out to raise a holy peo¬
ple." The churches were shut against them, and they entered
the open fields. No dangers could daunt, or perils intimi¬
date these men, who went forth realizing that they had a
Divine commission to preach Christ crucified to a perishing
world. God " confirmed their word by signs following." Sin¬
ners were awakened, penitents were converted, and believers
were sanctified. Slumbering churches were, at length, awaked
to life and activity. In 1766, about 29 years after John and
Charles Wesley were thrust out to preach the gospel, Philip
Embury, a local Preacher from Ireland, began to preach in
the city of New York, and formed a society of his own coun¬
trymen and the citizens ; and the same year Thomas Webb
preached in a hired room near the barracks. The first Meth¬
odist church built in America was erected in 1768, and '69,
which site is to-day covered by the John Street, M. E. Church.
The first regular Methodist preachers on this continent were
Bichard Boardman and Joseph Pilmore, who came to New
York in 1769, and were followed by Francis Asbury and
Bichard Wright, in 1771. By their zealous labors the socie¬
ties multiplied continously, notwithstanding the war in which
the colonies were involved with the mother country. The
5
termination of the war was favorable to the colonies. Eng¬
land acknowledged them independent of the crown, and when
she withdrew her armies they were followed by most of the
Ministers of the Church of England in this country—they be¬
ing Englishmen and in sympathy with the Royal cause. The
Methodist Societies had depended on these Ministers for the
sacraments, and were now left as sheep without a shepherd.
In many localities there were none to baptize their children,
or give to those of riper years, the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper. Wesley had long rejected the claim set up by his
church for Bishops as a third order of the ministry; he said
he knew the apostolic succession to be "a rope of sand," and
that he believed himself a scriptual Episcopos, or Bishop, as
much so as any man in England. But, notwithstanding these
convictions, he had steadily refused to ordain any for his so¬
cieties, either in England or America, because by an act of
Parliament, Presbyters in the Established Church were for¬
bidden to exercise the right of ordination. However, when
the colonies became independent of the British crown, Wes¬
ley's scruples were at an end. The civil law no longer stood
in his way, and after he had endeavored in vain to get the
Bishop of London to ordain even one man to meet the wants
of his societies here, he ordained Dr. Coke to be a Superin¬
tendent, and Thos. Vassey and R. Whatcoate to be Elders, or
Presbyters, with instructions to consecrate Francis Asbury
to be a joint Superintendent with Dr. Coke.
Dr. Coke sailed for America soon after his ordination to be
a Bishop in the Methodist church. A Conference of Preach¬
ers was held in the city of Baltimore in December 1784.
That Conference ratified Mr. Wesley's action and erected
themselves into an ecclesiastical organization, separate and
distinct from all existing ones, under the title of
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN AMERICA.
Those who adhered to the Established Church, as it existed
before the Revolution, being, by an act of Parliament, crea¬
ted into a separate church under the title of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, about six years later, that is 1790.
6
The status of Methodism was now changed. . From merely
religious societies in connection with the Established Church
tliey now become a church themselves. The action of Mr.
Wesley, and of the Conference in Baltimore, was severely
criticized by the adherents of the Established Church.
Methodist ordinations were declared invalid, and the church
denounced as a schism in the body of Christ. The storm
thus raised, for a time, threatened to engulf the bark which
had been lauched on the ecclesiastical sea, but she weathered
the gale and became the favorite transport of those seeking
a :) i i.-sage from earth to heaven. God's blessing rested on the
church thus founded, and she marched onward to a success
uuparalelled in the annals of ecclesiastical history.
But, she had scarcely escaped the lions from without, ere
she was beset by vultures from within,- Wilberforce and
others, at this time, were agitating with untiring zeal the
abolition of slavery tlirougfhout the British dominions. The
institution existed in several of the States, forming the United
States of America, and through English influence, the ques¬
tion was mooted here. In this country, as *n England, t!;e
question became a moral as well as a, political one, and the
Methodists here following the lead of those in £he mother
country began to legislate on the subject. Slavery was de¬
clared to be an evil, and ministers and official members pro¬
hibited from becoming slave owners on pain of forfeiting their
position in the church. In all the legislation on( this subject
the North and West were the aggressors ; the South occupy¬
ing the position of remonstrants. The Southern portion of
the church declared slavery to be a civil institution, and there¬
fore, beyond the;ltjurisdiction of ecclesiastical courts; ,tliaf
slavery was recognized in the Bible, and directions given tp
both master and slave for the government, of their conduct.
But the tide of fanaticism had set' in upon the country, and
it c Diitinued to rise with a steady pace. Petitions for. the aboli¬
tion of the institution were poured in upon Congress, whilo
Wendell Philips, Garretson, Charles Sumner, and.-others,
through whom these petitions were circulated, denounced the
constitution under which slavery was recognized and the slave
7
owner protected in his riglrt of property, as " a league with
hell and a covenant with death." The conflict between the
slave, and non-slaveholding sections of the country, grew
fiercer each succeeding year, and a rupture in the govern¬
ment—a dismemberment of the Ufiion, seemingly inevitable;
but mainly through the influence and eloquence of Henry
Clay, of Kentucky, a compromise measure was at length
agreed to, which was known as the Missouri Compromise.—
A compromise which was purely a measure for peace and
which confined slavery to the teritory south of Mason's and
Dixon's line. The peace, however, was only transient—"as
the morning cloud and the' early dew which goeth away."
The controversy was revived with greater bitteineS than ever,
and finally terminated in the election of A. Lincoln to the
Presidency of the United States, and the feedfessidn of the
slaveholding States from the Union, with the exception of
Maryland and Dehware, Missouri and Kentucky.
The church in this matter kept in advance Of the State;
the moral aspect of the question took preceedence of the po¬
litical ; and the Methodist church, by reason of its conven¬
tional character was the first to feel the shock, and be dis¬
membered by it. In the State it was a question of politics,
in the church a question of morals, and the conflict in the lat¬
ter, if not so bristrous and violent, was more determined than
in the former. As early as 1815 the question had assured
such proportions in the Annual and General Conferences as
to call for the enacting by the General Conference of that
year of a Compromise-law, which law declared slaveholders
ineligible to any offiicial station in the church, where the laws
of the State in which they lived would admit emancipation, and
permit the liberated slave to enjoy f reedom. From 1816 tq 1844
that law gave satisfaction to the phurch North and South,
and with a few exceptional cases! an /undisturbed peace and
quietness reigned throughout the churches limits,- Indeed
the church had pot enjoyed ,mqre. prosperity at, any period
than that between the General Conference of 1840, and 1844,
The only trouble now experienced was caused by a., few tur¬
bulent men along the dividing line, between the slave and
8
non-slaveholding Scates, and that was merely local in its
character; but the General Conference of 1840, it would seem
from its action in regard to the case of some Local Preachers
from Westmoreland county, Ya., was determined to put the mat¬
ter at rest in every community throughout its jurisdiction.
These Local Preachers, though living in Virginia, were in the
jurisdiction of the Baltimore Conference, and desired to be
ordained to the ministry of the church. The Baltimore Con¬
ference refused to elect them to orders saying: "We will
not ordain you, because you hold slaves." The Preachers
appealed to the General Conference, held in Baltimore in
1840, and asked that their rights under the law of the church,
(the compromise-law of 1816J should be vindicated and the
issue settled between them and the Baltimore Conference.
An able committee was appointed with Dr. (afterwards Bish¬
op) Bascom as chairman to whom the matter was referred.
The committee reported in favor of the Local Preachers and
presented the following resolution for adoption which was
passed :
" Resolved, That under the provisional exception of the gen¬
eral rule of the church on the subject of slavery, the simple
holding of slaves, or mere ownership of slave property, in
States or Territories where the laws do not admit of
emancipation, and permit the liberated slave to enjoy free¬
dom, constitutes no legal barrier to the election or ordina¬
tion of ministers to the various grades of office known in the
ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and cannot,
therefore, be considered as operating any forfeiture of right
in view of such election or ordination."
Notwithstanding this action of the General Conference,
which plainly declared that, the holding of slaves in those
States where they^ould not be legally manumitted, was no
bar to official, or ministerial position, the Baltimore Annual
Conference suspended from the exercise of his ministeral of¬
fice the Rev. Francis A. Harding, a member of that body,
who by marriage had become connected with slavery, his
wife being the owner of several slaves at the time of their
marriage. Mr. Harding plead in his defence that his case
was covered by the law of the church, the law of 1816, be-
9
cause by tlie laws of the State of Maryland a legal deed of
manumission for his slaves could not be effected. The legal
opinion of einminent jurists was adduced to show the correct¬
ness of his position, but all in vain.. Urged on by a spirit
of religious frenzy, the Conference 'ignored the law of the
church, over-rode the. declaration of the General Conference,
made by solemn resolution four years previous, and. presumed
to fix the, conditions on which ministerial functions should
be exercised in its bounds : a presumption as bold as it was
unauthorized, and which set at defiance both the law of the
church, and the autliortoative construction put upon that law
by the General Conference of 1840. Harding appealed f om
the action of the Baltimore Conference to the General Con¬
ference, held in Hew York, in May 1844. The appeal was
heard; but the spirit of abolition fananticism had increased
so largely in the Northern and Western States, that it was
apparent, as the case was proceeded with, that a majorhy of
the delegates were in full sympathy with the abolition cause,
and that the decision of the Baltimore Conference would be
sustained by adliereing, not to the law of the church, but " a
higher law," which was now, for the first time, proclaimed
in her council chambers. The action of the Baltimore
Conference was confirmed, and Harding suspended from the
ministry.
The flood gates had been opened. The Southern delega¬
tions stood and looked aghast on the wildly rushing tide.
To them no star of hope appeared, the ecclesiastical sky was
covered with a blackness, their eyes could not pierce. On
the other hand the fanatical majority, exulting in the triumph
they had won, resolved to press the m^ter to the wall.—
Bishop Andrew, like Harding, had become connected with
slavery by marriage. The committee on Episcopacy were in¬
structed to enquire into the matter and report back to the
Conference. They reported by submitting the Bishop's writ¬
ten statement. A long and painful debate followed, and wTas
only ended, after a weeks discussion, by the adoption of the
following resolution:
10
" Resolved, That it is the sense of this General Conference
that he desist from the exercise of this office so long as this
impediment remains."
The vote stood 111 for, and 69 against the resolution, being
a majority of 42 in its favor. That resolution forever buried
whatever of hope the South had indulged that an amicable
adjustment of the existing difficulties might be reached, and
the disruption of the church be prevented. No law was
claimed by the majority for this action, it was based on the
ground of expediency. But if it were expedient'for the North to
take this action, it was more inexpedient for the South to
submit to the action had. It threatened the life of the
church in all of the slaveholding States ; for if they submit¬
ted to the extra judicial proceedings in these cases, then the
ministry of the church would be regarded with jealousy and
suspicion at home, a suspicion which would have closed
againt them the effectual doors opened by their previous
labors and sufferings to preach the Gospel of Christ in all
these parts where the institution of slavery existed. To sub¬
mit was to go beyond the declaration of the church which
affirmed slavery to be a moral evil, and to pronounce it, under
any circumstances, a sin, it was to violate their conciences,
and abandon the fruits of the victories already won. Tor
this they were no I prepared, and separation was inevitable.
Fortunately at this juncture two men of commanding influ¬
ence came forward to cool the fever heat of the majority, and
render peaceable at least, the separation about to occur—
Stephen Olive and J. P. Durbin. By their influence mainly
a committee of nine was raised, composed of men from both
sections, to see if the body could be harmonized, and, if not,
to devise a plan by which the South might be freed from her
embarrassment. A plan of separation was devised, and agreed
to. By the terms of that plan the Southern Conferences
were, if they choosed so to do, to erect themselves into a
separate jurisdiction; the churches along the border were not
to be disturbed by emisaries from either side, and the South
was to share pro rata in the accumulated church funds.
Under this plan for a peacable separation, the Southern
11
division of the church, composed of thirteen Annual Confer¬
ences, did decide on a separation from the Northern portion
and erected themselves into a separate jurisdiction with the
title of
THE M. E. CHUECH SOUTH.
They adopted the same Articles of Religion, and the same
Book of Discipline as that formerly set forth, and, freed from
the dominant majority, who had brought on the trouble in
which the South had been involved, they set forth with fresh
zeal to prosecute the mission to which they believed themselves
called of God, and on which tliey had first started—"to
spread Scriptural holiness over these lands." Peace was now
secured, and unusual harmony prevailed throughout the sec¬
tion represented by the Southern Annual Conferences.
In the North, however, the case was different. Slavery
was the absorbing topic of the political world. Newspapers,
magazines, and every other form of literature was burdened
with it. Demagogues rode into office upon it as an issue,
and the action of the General Conference which agreed to a
plan of separation was denounced as an unworthy concession
to Southern principles. Those who had the manliness to stand
by their action were stigmatized as " Southern sympathizers,"
and upholders of slavery. Fanaticism had the public ear,
and sober reason could not be heard, and it is not to be won¬
dered atthat the General Conference of 1848, composed largely
of the same men who had made expedience a rule of action to
the dismemberment of the church four years previous, should
now find it expedient to denounce the solemn agreement con¬
tained in the plan of separation, and compel the church South
to enter the civil courts for the enforcement of that plan and
the recovery of her equitable shares of the churches funds.
Nor is it to be wondered at that the fraternal overtures of the
Chi'ch South were rejectel and she pronomcad a sshism—a
secession, and themselves the only true M. E. Church in the
United States. The furor raised at the time, and the speci¬
ous arguments employed to defend themselves, deceived many
12
into tlie belief, and raised no little prejudice against us both
at home and abroad. These arguments were used against us
during the late civil war by scheming demagogues and parti-
zan churchmen. The M. E. Church South was charged with
having by its actions in 1811, opened the way, and set in motion
the forces which in 1861 culminated in the secession of the
States, wasting the nations treasures, and drenching the soil
with her ohildrens blood; but no one acquainted) with the
facts of history could hesitate to pronounce, without a breach
of christian charity, any one who should make such an asser¬
tion either a knave, or a fool, either wanting in intelligence, or
else full of wickedness and deceit. The division of the church,
according to the plan of separation, was a measure of peace
devised by the unfanatical for the general good, and that in¬
strument shows with the force of a demonstration that the
South did no more secede from the North than did the North
from the South. Indeed, Bishop Morris who adhered to the
Northern wing of the church at its disruption, more than con-
ceeds this point in his communication to the Bishops of the
Church South, dated April 23d, 1869. The letter refered to
had reference to the reunion of the churches, and as an apology
for opening a correspondence on the subject he says : " It is
fitting that the Methodist Church, (North) which began the dis¬
union, should not be the last to achieve the re-union." Tes¬
timony from so high a source and so emphatic in its charac¬
ter, must carry conviction to every unprejudiced mind, and
forever free the Southern church from the charge of schism
and secession.
The dismemberment of the church did not give the high
results for which some had hoped. Under the plan of sepa¬
ration, as a legal instrument, the South had rest for a season.
The strong arm of the civil law was stretched out for the pro¬
tection of her rights; but while she sat under her own vine
and fig tree enjoying the protection given, the fanatics of the
North were lashing the political sea into a malestrom which
should paralyze the arm of civil power, or else engulf the na¬
tion. How well they succeeded, let the wasted treasure, des-
solate homes, and bloody fields of the late civil war declare.
13
The war ended disasterously to the Southern cause. Might
overcame right, and the protection of the law no longer shield¬
ed us from-fanatical vengeance. 'Many of our churches were
seized by Agents of the M. E. Church, and are held to this
day without the shadow of a claim, save that contained mil¬
itary orders and the detestable motto : " To the victors be¬
long the spoils." An army of Missionaries were enlisted for
our religious conquest now t iat our political body lay bleed¬
ing at their feet. Backed by Northern gold and abolition
hate this army came with " Disintegration and Absorption"
blazoned on their colors, and the magic word, Union as their
ultimatum of peace. Southern men who refused to barter
their conciences for gold, and valued the smiles of God more
than they dreaded abolition hate, were pronounced, rebels,
disloyal, and "enemies to the Government." Harrassed and
persecuted, even unto death in some instances, god did not
forsake us; but plead our cause, and multiplied us to the glory
of his grace, and the astonishment of men. Her country im¬
poverished—yea, desolated by the armies which for four years
had pillaged it; her children reduced from affluence to want;
the M. E. Church South, had nevertheless the prestige of
garments unsoiled, and was loved with intenser affection by
her children.
When the separation occured, the church South mustered
only 450,000 members, officered by thirteen hundred preach¬
ers. To-day she marshals 750,000 among the sacramental hosts
of God, officered by 8,841 preaches, after loosing the entire col¬
ored membership in the church. "What has God wrought ?"
And where is he who has labored, or suffered, to bring about
so glorious a result, and does not feel a satisfaction in his
toils and privations akin to that of Jesus, when on the cross,
he saw of the travail of his soul and-was satisfied. He who
could wish a higher honor must wait for God to crown him,
ere he can receive it ?
14
THE M. E. CHURCH SOUTH; IN NORTH CAROLINA.
Having said thus much of the general history of the church,
I now return to trace its spiritual triumphs and progress.
The first Methodist Societies formed in America were formed
in 1766, one in New York, the other in Fredrick county,
Maryland. In March, 1776, the Carolina circut was formed,
and Francis Poythress, Edward Drumgold, and Isham Latem
were appointed thereto. Robert Williams, and prehaps
others, had preached previously as Missionaries in the region
of the Roanoke; but no regular [appointment was made for
North Carolina until the period just mentioned, at which
time the " Carolina Circuit" appeard for the first time on the
Conference Minutes, with 683 members reported. The very
name Carolina Circuit is suggestive. A soverign State for a
parish, and that parish to be served by three men with none
of the model-n conveniences for travel! Broad rivers, deep
creeks, and almost interminable forests were to be encounter¬
ed, through winter cold and summer heat. A horse and sad¬
dle each was their equipage, a change of linen their ward¬
robe, the Bible, Hymn book and Discipline their library.
There they stand on the border of their parish, looking across
the line upon the towering mountains Ivhich stretch away be¬
yond them, till the wild range itself is lost in the dim dis¬
tance. Indentations here and there upon the earths surface
mark the river beds where wild torrents rush toward the sea,
and whose sources have never yet been fully traced. The
dark forests are before them covering hill and valley still with
their primeval growth, and whose intense solitudes are never
stirred save by the growl of the bear, the bark of the wolf, or
the still more fearful yell and war-hoop of the Savage. Be¬
yond all these lie the feeble settlements scattered throughout
the vast domain of a Soverign State, and it is to these they
have been sent to publish the glad tidings of salvation. They
draw the reins upon their faithful steeds, stand in their stir¬
rups, and from the elevation they have gained survey the scene.
Each man sits his horse with a grace that would have done
honor to the Knights of Chivalry. Home and kindred are far
is
behind tliemj and they are here alone upon their Masters
business. Their faces glow, their hearts swell with holy emo¬
tion. The voice of Christ rings afresh in their ears : " Go
ye into all the world." Go, and "Lo I am with you always!"
They know him to be faithful who hath promised; they catch
the spirit of their Master and press on repeating as they go:
"Neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I may
finish my cause with joy, and this ministry which I have re¬
ceived of the Lord Jesus." The friends of all, and everything
but sin, in the strength of Christ -they came. There were no
churches made ready to their hand. The Societies were but
few, and these unorganized for active christian effort; but
stimulated by their zeal, ahd directed by their wisdom, the
church came forth from the wilderness " leaning on the arm
of her Beloved, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, and ter¬
rible as an army with banners."
In 1781 the work had developed into 10 circuits with 17
preachers and 3,718 members.
Previous to February 1837 the church in North Carolina was
subject to the jurisdiction of three annual Conferences,
Virginia, South Carolina, and Holston. In 1837 the North
Carolina Conference was set off from the Virginia, and con¬
tained in its bounds 19,000 members. All the territory in
North Carolina held by the ^Viriginia Conference
was not set off with the North Carolina Conference.
The Virginia Conference still holds all lying North
of the Roanoke river from the State line to the ocean.
The South Carolina Conference held the country along, and
south, and west, of the Deep and Cape Fear rivers, from the
sea to the State line ; the Holston Conference holding all the
counties west of the Blue Ridge. The North Carolina Con¬
ference at the time of its creation in 1837 was confined there¬
fore to a little more than half of the State with about 16,000
white and 3,000 colored members. At the Conference held in
Warrenton in 1850, this membership had increased to 27,589.
In 1851, a part of the North Carolina territory held by the
South Carolina Conference was transferred to us with about
8,000 members, the whole number, aggregating at the Con-
16
ference of this year 36,111. The next decade, from 1851 to
1861, showed an increase of but 4,000. In 1856^ it rose to a
total of 41,285 ; falling in 1858 to 39,76:7,, rising again sin 1861
to 40,996, and falling in 1862 to 39,750. From 1860 to 1865,
the church numerically about held her own, reporting in I860,
28,958 white members, and in 1865, 28,168. This period cov¬
ered that of the civil war, a war which for its magnitude and
length is unparalelled in modern times. While, there¬
fore, there is a small decrease in numbers, and on that account
a seeming loss of aggressive power, if we consider the circum¬
stances by which the church was surrounded, the difficulties
with which she had to contend, we shall have cause for de¬
vout thankfulness to God that her ranks were not depleted
more than they were, and that the church came forth from
the terrible conflict as strong as she went in.
At the Conference of 1870, there was an increase reported
of 13,000, 10,000 or more, of this number being added by the
transfer of the Charlotte and Shelby Districts from the South
Carolina Conference. This addition brought up our member¬
ship in this Conference from 33,310, to 46,252. Since that
date we have had annual net increase of over 2,000 a year, the
figures now standing at 54,392.
Large as these figures are it must be borne in mind that this
estimate does not include the membership of the Methodist
Church in twenty-five counties of the State. Ten of these
counties, viz : Northampton, Bertie, Hertford, Chowan, Gates,
Perquimans, Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck and Davie are
in the jurisdiction of the Virginia Conference; and, Ashe,
Watauga, Yancey, Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, Haywood,
Jackson,Macon, Cherakee,Clay, Transylvania, Swain, Mitchell,
Alleghany and Graham, in the Holston Conference. Leaving
out these twenty-five counties, which are under the control
of other Conferences, we have in the North Carolina Confer¬
ence alone, 129 pastoral charges, served by 142 ministers of
the traveling connection, and 221 local preachers. We have
708 church edifices valued at $700,000, and 54 parsonages
valued at $76,100. We have one male and;!wo female colleges
under the Conference control, and belonging to the church.
17
By tlie usual mode of computation more than half the while
population of the State oyer ten years old attend our services,
and if we add to the figures already given, as we might legiti¬
mately do, the colored Methodists of the State who are the
fruits of our labors, the whole number would not fall far short
of 125,000 souls!
The prosperity of our beloved church will appear more
conspiciously to ourselves, and others, if we compare ourselves
with the three Denominations which have labored in the
same field with us during the century just gone. The P. E.
Church as the Established Church of England was here, with
all the prestige of the State to support it, long years before
the establishment of a Methodist Society in its limits. The
Presbyterian and^ Baptist Churches were operating here a
century before us, and the nearest approximation that can
now be made gives to the P. E. Church 4,000 communicants,
the Presbyterian 15,000, and the Baptists 80,000. With pro¬
found humility and devout thanksgiving to God, the giver of
all spiritual success, we may be permitted to say that we have
not onty distanced, but left entirely out of sight, all but one
who have run in the race with us for enlargement and spirit¬
ual power in the earth; and we have done this while feeding
from year to year these Denominations which have competed
with us.
Standing here to-day and looking bg,ck through the century
just closed we may well exclaim in pious joy : See. what God
hath wrought! A hundred years ago North Carolina was one
pastoral charge, with three preachers to supply the work,
bounded only by the limits of a Sovereign State whose terri¬
tory was nearly as great as that of all England. To-day the
spires of our churches rise from every, county of the State;
our pastoral charges are more numerous by half than the
counties in her limits, and in our Conference alone there are
ministers enough to offer sacrifice at our alter each day
throughout the year, if none officiated more than once within
the time. The membership of our church in this State is
more than double that of the entire M. E. Church one hun¬
dred years ago, and notwithstanding the heavy draft upon us
18
bj emigrations to the "West and South, we have kept pace
with the foremost Conferences of our connection. Edward
Wadsworth, A. S. Andrews, C. F. Deems, and J. E. Edwards,
are names, among the living, familiar as household words
throughout the Southern Church, and these are North Caro¬
lina's gift to the world and church of God. Among the dead
the names of H. G. Lee, Moses Brock, Peter Doub, Wm.
Barringer and N. F. Reid shine as stars of the first magni¬
tude in a sky litterally studded with orbs of the greatest bril¬
liancy. God has buried his workmen here as well as else¬
where, but in his mercy he has supplied the places of those he
has taken. The holy flame of evangelism never burned with
a steadier flame or brighter glow than now upon our alters,
and God is setting the seal of heaven on the commissions of
our ministers as chosen of him to sound the honors of his
name, and "spread scriptural holiness over all these lands."
At the present rate of increase, in North Carolina alone, the
army of God mustered under the banners of Methodism in
1976, will number more than 250,000 souls, which is more
than one-fourth of the entire membership of the M. E.
Church, South, at the present time. Indeed, we have cause
for joy and thanksgiving!
But, what is the cause of this remarkable prosperity ? Why
has Methodism outstripped the churches which were here
before her, and have labored side by side with her since her
coming ?
This prosperity is not attributable to any one, but to a
number of causes, prominent among which are the following :
1. Clear and concise statement of Scripture Doctrine. Method¬
ism appeared in the religious world with no new revelation
from God to support her claims and establish her authority.
She came among men with an open Bible in her hand and a
rich experience of its blessed promises in her heart. If her
doctrines were strange, they wrere pointedly—sharply defined,
and to the only acknowledged and infallible rule of faith,
she confidently appealed for their niaintainance. Justifica¬
tion by faith without the deeds of the law, the regeneration
of the soul by power of the Holy Ghost, by which we are born
19
into a new life of faith and love ; the witness of the Spirit to
the fact of the forgiveness of sinners and our adoption as
members of the Divine family, and sanctification here as in¬
dispensable to heaven hereafter, these were the themes of her
preachers who went every where crying: "Repent or you'll
perish; believe or you'll be damned." To be sure these
great doctrines of the Bible were taught in the standards of
churches already existing, but they had slept till their exist-
ance was scarely known, and religion had become a matter of
form instead of life—a body without a soul to animate it. It
was the mission of Methodism to inspire this dead body with
spiritual life, and bring to a world blind in unbelief, a revela¬
tion of their awful state and glorious privileges. Heaven
and hell, in her theology were no mythological worlds, whose „
existence were matters for doubt or speculation, but real ver¬
ities to be speadily realized by the children of men. She had
a divine conviction of the things unseen, and came to impress
that conviction on the world, and right nobly did she do it!
Infidels listenning to her burning appeals were startled from
their fancied security, Lords were made to feel their obliga¬
tion to the Lord of all, and the poor colliers of Kingswood
washed the coal dust from their faces with the penetential
tears they shed, while she enforced the doctrines of righteous¬
ness and a judgment to come. In her experience Christiani¬
ty was a blessed and living fact. It wafe not only a system of
truths to be believed but a new, conscious, and joyous life, to
be realized by those who embraced it, and therefore while
others were employed in discoursing of "mint, anise, and
cumin," she gave herself to the weighter matters of the
law. To her testimony concerning the religious duty and
privileges of men the Holy Ghost gave witness comprising
it by signs following.
2- A universal atonement, and the possibility of its immediate
application to meet the wants of every penitent sinner, ivas a car¬
dinal point in her faith, and prominent in her teachings. The
theory of redemption held by Augustine, afterwards
embraced and defended by Calvin at the Reformation, was
the faith of the church, as that faith found expression in her
20
creeds and confessions. This theory was that of a limited
atonement, the saving efficacy of Christ's sacrifice being limi¬
ted to a part of the human race, and the remnant left, with¬
out a" possibility of salvation, to perish in rheir sins.
Methodism adopted the American theory, and proclaimed
a possible salvation for all inen." The Bible affirmed that
" Christ is the propitiation fol"' the sins of the whole world;"
that "God sent his Son into the world, that the world
through him might be savedthat "where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound, that as ein hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign, through ^righteousness, unto eter¬
nal life, by Jesus Christ our Lordand that " whosoever
will, may come and take the water of life freely." Believe-
ing Christ to be " the light which enlighteneth every man
that cometh into the world," and that a sufficiency of this
light was given to every man to find his way to the cross, she
commanded all men, everywhere to repent, and had the sat¬
isfaction of seeing "the pleasure of the Lord prospering in
her hands." Multitudes everywhere turning to God, and
like the Phillipian jailor receiving the remission of their sins
in the hour they were awakened.
3. Her polity. She adopted a flexible system of church
government. Discarding the iron bands of ecclesiasticism,
which had trameled existing churches, she arrayed herself in
a habit, which, if not tldpiired by those who were incapable
of appreciating anything which did not look antiquated,
nevertheless had the merit of convenience, and left its wearer
a freedom of action which more than compensated for what¬
ever she lost by the departure she made. Planting herself on
the broad principle of liberty in all the non-essentials of
Christianity she has been ready to adopt any costume, which
promised more of ease, or grace, to herself, or to make her
more attractive to those for whose benefit she labors. Time
has not wrinkled our mothers cheeks, nor has weakness and
lassitude ensued from the tight lacings of ecclesiasticism;
but, while others from these causes, have languished in the
spiritual parlors as confined invalids, only able to receive and
entertain those who have sought their society. Methodism
21
in her neat and simple attire has gone forth with blooming
cheek and elastic step, to captivate the hearts of men, and,
through her communion lead them to the cross, and onward
to an eternal salvation.
CONCLUSION.
A mustard seed was droped in the earth by the hand of
Wesley. Small, indeed, was its beginnings, so small that the
larger trees dispised its growth as its tiny stem broke its way
through the earth to tafte its place in the garden of the Lord,
and as a tree of His planting.
One hundred years ago the handful of heavenly corn drop¬
ed here by Methodistic influence required only three laborers
for its cultivation ; but how has the acreage of God's farm
increased ! Field after field has been added until the borders
of our Zion are as extensive as the boundaries of the State.
Not only the fertile valleys, but the mountain tops are under
tillage, and every year an increasing harvest makes heaven
and earth sing together for joy. The wilderness and the soli¬
tary places have been made glad for them, and the desert has
rejoiced and blossomed as the rose. In thousands of places
where only noxious weeds and pestilential vapors sprang, now
the fair flowers of virture grow and spread their fragrance
round. jjjt
The acorn has developed into a giant oak : the mustard
seed into a mighty tree. From North to South, from East to
West its arms are stretched touching the Northern lakes and
the towers of Montazuma's palace in the one dicrection, and
sporting with the waves of the Atlantic or catching the spray
of the Pacific in the other.
In China, Brazil and Mexico our missionaries are intrench¬
ed, battling heroically for the salvation of souls in. those dis¬
tant lands ; and in every direction the churches chords are
lengthening.
Taking the success of the past as the surest data on which
to predicate hope for the future, may we not justly anticipate
a success, which because of its glorious achievements, shall
22
make Methodism even a greater marvel to coming genera¬
tions than she is to the present. Indeed, standing as we do
to-day on the eminence piled by a century of years, it needs
no gift of prophetic ken to see much of the glory which is to
follow. We may not see her Dragon-like, swallowing up the
denominations about her, feeding her own veins with the
blood drawn from others, but what is better we see her re¬
cruiting their ranks with thousands of consecrated souls,
keeping alive the fire of God in their midst, sustaining herself
while strengthening them, and at last " through scorn of men
and rage of hell," planting the banner of the ci'oss on the last
entrenchment of hell, while angels and saints together shout
over a world redeemed, "The tabernacle of God is with men,
and He shall reign among them !"
ERRATA.
Page 10. line 28, for Stephen Olive, read Stephen Olin,
" 15, " 8, for cause, read course,
u 10, " 27, for Davie, read Dare,
" 19, " 81, for comprising, read confirming,
" 20, " 5, for American, read Arminian,
" " " 37, for confined, read confirmed.