Such was the origin of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the first with an Episcopal form of government to attain an independent existence in the new Republic. While its polity and administrative rules have from time to time been modified to meet changing conditions and opportunities, it remains unchanged in doctrine and in ministerial offices. Coeval with the Republic, it has expanded with it, and ministered to its moral and religious life. At this date (1908) its ministers and communicants, not including adherents, number more than three millions. Other Methodist Churches, derived from the original root, flourish by its side. Obviously its founders were wise and godly men, fulfilling the purpose of the great Head of the Church. It has always believed that the only infallible proof of the legitimacy of any branch of the Christian Church is in its ability to seek and to save the lost, and to disseminate the Pentecostal spirit and life. Its chief stress has ever been laid, not upon the forms but upon the essentials of religion. It holds that true Churches of Christ may differ widely in ceremonies, ministerial orders, and government. Its members are allowed freedom of choice among the debated modes of Baptism. If any member has scruples against receiving the Lord's Supper kneeling, he is permitted to receive it standing or sitting. In ordinary worship its people are invited to unite in extemporary prayer, but for the Administration of the Sacraments, Ordinations, the Solemnization of Matrimony, the Burial of the Dead, and other special services, a Liturgy is appointed, much of which has been sanctioned by the Universal Church from most ancient times. The sole object of the rules, regulations, and usages of the Methodist Episcopal Church is that it may fulfill to the end of time its original divine vocation as a leader in evangelization, in all true reforms, and in the promotion of fraternal relations among all branches of the one Church of Jesus Christ, with whom it is a coworker in the spiritual conquest of the world for the Son of God. |