Description
Book SynopsisA weekly ''class meeting'' among Methodists in early 19th-century New York formed the basis for growth and unity in the small Christian sect. Author Rev. Dr. Philip F. Hardt describes these meetings as a means to close personal relationships among class members. They also provided a place in which lay leadership could emerge and monitor behavior among members. Hardt connects the decline in Methodist membership over the years with the dissolution of the weekly meeting. This book advocates a return to the meetings as a means to increase church membership. It is Rev. Hardt''s belief that a weekly meeting can revitalize the church''s efforts to initiate people into the faith and assimilate them into the body of Christ.
Trade ReviewHardt's work is a detailed account of the decline of the class meeting in New York City, and provides exacting evidence. . . for what Methodist scholars have long assumed, but few have endeavored to prove. -- James J. Schwenk * Evangelical Journal *
Rather than confining the class to a previous age, Hardt argues that a rediscovery of the strengths of the class (among them mutual accountability and holiness) could have a positive effect to halt the thirty-year decline of American Methodism. He recommends a stricter standard for baptism, a blueprint for spiritual nurture, and the use of the small group as the first building block towards discipleship. -- Rev. Andrew Goodhead, Wesley Historical Society
I found the book quite interesting because of my interest in the ministry of laymen in the church...This book makes a good case for small group discipleship. -- Dr. William P. Wilson, Institute of Christian Growth
The Soul of Methodism provides readers with the dual opportunity to recapture the inspiration generated in the intimate class meeting setting and mourn the significant loss of spiritual momentum that once propelled Methodism as a movement. -- Kwasi Kena, editor * United Methodist Men's Magazine *
The Soul of Methodism is a must read not only to understand the class meeting in early New York, but to rediscover its spiritual power in today's fractured and impersonal world. Small, biblically-focused, prayerful, accountable, lay-led groups are our best form for reaching the unchurched for Christ. -- Bishop Richard B. Wilke, United Methodist Church
Hardt sees the class meeting as the essence of Wesley's method of nurturing disciples, bringing them to conversion and setting them on the road to holiness...Dr. Hardt's local research here is exhaustive and fascinating... -- Rev. John Munsey Turner * Methodist Recorder *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Preface Chapter 3 Acknowledgements Chapter 4 The Class Meeting in Early British Methodism: 1738-1780 Chapter 5 The New York Society: 1768-1800 Chapter 6 The New York Circuit: 1800-1832 Chapter 7 The Rise of Denominationalism and the Decline of the Class Meeting in New York City Methodism: 1832-1870 Chapter 8 The Class Meeting and the Churches Today: Changing the Face of American Piety Again Chapter 9 Appendices Chapter 10 Endnotes Chapter 11 Bibliography Chapter 12 Index Chapter 13 Author Biographical Sketch
