The Father of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of England The Reverend John Wesley At Age 63

Born June 17, 1703 at Epworth, EnglandDied March 2, 1791 at London, England Last Statement on eve of March 1, 1791 “The best of all is, God is With us”

“In 1729 returning from Epworth to fill his college duties as a Fellow, Wesley found a small society formed for study and the cultivation of religion. Wesley joined this society quickly. Wesley did not originate the group known as the Holy Club or Methodists, but it was his skill as an organizer which made them effective. The influence of the Holy Club on the religious life of the University rapidly increased, but the most important result was seen in the development of John Wesley himself. John himself referred to it as “ as a light into which he himself is slowly passing.” . In our history the effect of “ Rules for Holy Living “, which the Holy Club operated under, is Methodism’s noblest period.

Top-Lincoln College , Oxford Christ’s Church College,

Photo to the left and this quote were taken from the December 1878 issue of Harper’s Monthly. “I presently stood before an old oaken pulpit in an entrance hall at Lincoln College of Oxford. In that pulpit John Wesley preached his first sermon. Passing up the stairway, I entered rooms where resided the first Methodist-”some-time fellow of Lincoln College.” Lincoln College was founded expressly to wage war against the ideas of Wycliffe. The heart of Wesley took root and climbed upward at Lincoln. My belief is that Oxford never had a truer son than Wesleyanism’s founder.“

The Annual Conference as a unit of organization arose very early in thehistory of Methodism. In 1744, five years after the first meeting societywas formed by John Wesley in London, he invited some of his leading helpers to meet and confer with him. (excerpts taken from "One Hundred and Twenty-Five Years For Christ”) ( 1843-1968) Introduction ( 1 )

The history of the Champlain Conference spans one hundredand fifty-seven years come May 2000AD, more than twice as long as anyof us will live. No one living today was an eye witness to the beginningsof our church. Is there anyone living now who knew the founding fathers? Yet their spirit lives on with us. Because of the faithfulness of these heroic men and women our church is here today, well able to serve thepresent age. Many changes have come through the years, each one for thebetter, we trust, yet the first generation of Wesleyan Methodists wouldfeel much at home in the church of this day.A history book is not neededto glamorize the past. Our history as a conference deserves to be knownby the contemporary church. Humbly and with great love we serve in the

Introduction (2) church of our choice. We cannot say that next to Christ we love our church, for to us, Christ and our church are inseparable. At her altarswe were saved, sanctified, married, ordained, and there we baptized ourchildren to whom has been given a wonderful heritage. It is pleasant to think that when God calls us to enter into the joy of our Lord, we will goto the life beyond from the altar of a Wesleyan Church. For two years members of the (1968) Historical Committee have delved into all of the Annual Minutes of the Conference. This has been most rewarding. Hardly a debate, decision, declaration, or action but what appeals to the researcher as worthy of inclusion in theprinted history. There were many conversations and much correspondence,from which the most interesting data was gained. The size and expense of our historical publication has ruled out some of this material. Additional items of historical interest may be published from time to time through our Conference Challenger. In the articles submitted by the pastors on the history of the churches somesmall items of information at hand have been added, or items of but

Introduction (3)local interest or which have been included elsewhere, have been omitted. Aldis M. Lamos, Glen Falls-- March 5. 1968

ORANGE SCOTT (1)We have now the name of Rev. Orange Scott be-fore us, and we pause to tell in brief the story of his life thus far. He was born February 13, 1800 in Vermont, the oldest of a family of eight. His father worked as a day laborer for farmers and as a woodsman, was always poor, never a landowner, moved frequently, and as a result his children had very meager educational and religious advantages. Orange Scott and his younger brothers were put to labor as soon as they were old enough to labor to any profit, and he reckoned in later life that his school days only totaled thirteen months, scattered throughout the years until he was twenty-one. In his ability to acquire knowledge from such books as cameinto his hands, and in the eagerness and the perseverance that marked his development as a

Rev Orange Scott The Founder Of Wesleyan Methodist Connection Born Feb. 13,1800 Died July 31, 1847

Orange Scott (2)

as a minister and reformer, one is reminded of Abraham Lincoln who was born in 1809 and lived in the same period of national life. Orange was powerfully awakened to his need of salvation on his twenty first birthday as he was at work in a field. Under the power of this awakening produced by the Holy Spirit he came, as he said “ to the decided and determined resolution to seek God until I found Him precious to my soul .” This awakening took place in August 1820 and in the following month he was converted in a camp meeting held by the Methodists in Barre , Vermont. He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church immediately and entered the work of the itinerant ministry by the usual process of advancement. His ministry was very fruitful and his advancement was rapid. In the twenty two years he was a member of that body he served effectively as a “circuit rider”, was a presiding elder for six years and was elected as a delegate to three of the General Conferences of his church. He said “ Being wholly devoted to the one idea of saving souls I omitted to examine, as I should, the condition of the country in respect to great moral evils. Indeed I scarcely knew slavery existed at all.”

Orange Scott (3) His biographer said later of Orange Scott “He read the burning rebukes of John Wesley declaring the slave trade ‘the sum of all villanies,’ and expressing as his opinion that ‘ all slave-holders were exactly on a level with men-stealers.’ He heard the voice of Frances Asbury in earnest ejaculation, saying ‘ Oh Lord, banish the infernal spirit of slavery from Thy dear Zion!’ Orange Scott’s spirit was aroused within him.” Over the years he worked hard for abolition of slavery to the point of ruining his own health. In 1834 he wrote his first article against slavery and quickly gained prominence amongst the abolitionists. On November 8, 1842 Rev. Scott, Rev. Jotham Horton and the Rev. Roy Sutherland withdrew from from the Methodist Episcopal Church and shortly after published their reasons in the first issue of ‘The True Wesleyan’, a periodical published in Boston by Scott and Horton. This periodical is really the fore-runner of our ‘Wesleyan Advocate’. The actual organization of Wesleyan Methodist Connection took place at the Utica Convention held in Utica, NY on May 31 - June 7, 1843 at which Scott served as president of that convention. The preceding taken ‘History of Wesleyan Methodist Church--- 1934’

THE BEGINNINGS (1)

As the name "Wesleyan" indicates, this church owesits existence to the Revival in England under the Wesleys, whichbegan about May, 1738, around the time of John Wesley's heartwarming experience in Aldersgate Street Chapel in London. The firstMethodist Conference was called by John Wesley in London on June 25,1744, to consolidate the societies. The five points of Methodism wereset forth at this Conference, which were namely: Repentance, Faith,Justification, Sanctification, and the Witness of the Spirit.

The Revival soon took root in the American Colonies under theleadership of Francis Asbury. In 1784 at the famous Christmas Conference in Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore, the societies in America took the name Methodist Episcopal Church commonly called the M.E.Church . From this beginning the new denomination grew rapidly. The issue of slavery was a vexing issue in the church at the time."Leading Ministers, chiefly in New England at first, pronouncedslavery to be a crime in God's sight, and immediate, unconditional

The Beginnings (2)emancipation a duty, advocating these views in the pulpits, at campmeetings, in conventions and through the press." The slavery subject was introduced into Quarterly and AnnualConferences, and ultimately became involved with questions ofConference rights, Episcopal perogatives, and the rights of the laity.The General Conference of 1836 passed a vote of censure upon two ofits members who had attended and spoken at an antislavery meeting in Cincinnati where the General Conference was held. The GeneralConference of 1840 having found it ‘inexpedient to express any opinion,or to adopt any measures additional to that already in the Discipline’, somany began to abandon hopes of seeing the church purged of slavery, andto regard withdrawal as necessary to free themselves from the guilt ofconnection with it. On February 1, 1843 nine ministers and forty-threelaymen gathered in the Methodist Episcopal Church in the little town ofAndover. Massachusetts. The host pastor was the Reverend Luther Lee. These men met in Andover in a Wesleyan Anti-slavery convention to effect the organization of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America.

The Beginnings (3)Others preferred to fight the battle within the Church. But Orange Scott ofVermont, Jotham Horton, Luther Lee, and others, felt impelled by theirconsciences to withdraw. At a convention held at Utica, New York, in1843, they organized the Wesleyan Methodist Connection. This was butthe beginning of a struggle in which churches were rent in twainthrough most of the Northern states. The organization thus formednumbered at one period a considerable number of preachers and members.

On May 31, 1843, thirty-five ministers and one hundred andseventeen laymen from nine states and Ireland met in Utica, New York.The opening prayer of the Utica convention was offered by the presidentof the Champlain Conference, the Reverend Cyrus Prindle. The officialcall which declared the purpose of the Utica Convention reads " to forma Wesleyan Methodist Church...free from episcopacy and slavery, andembracing a system of itinerancy under proper limitations and restrictions, with such disciplinary regulations as are necessary topreserve and promote experimental and practical holiness." The presidingofficer of the Convention, elected by that Convention the first president

The Beginnings (4)of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America, was the Reverend Orange Scott. They organized the Wesleyan Methodist Connection ofAmerica consisting of six conferences: New England, Champlain, NewYork, Allegheny, Miami (in the state of Ohio), and Michigan. Adiscipline prepared by a committee appointed at the Andover Conventionwas adopted . It differed from the Methodist Episcopal Church Disciplinein the form of government and in its attitudes toward certain moralquestions. Sometime in May, 1843, between the Andover and UticaConventions, the Champlain Conference was organized with theReverend Cyrus Prindle, then pastor of the Ferrisburg and Vergenneschurches in Vermont, elected the first president. The first churches withtheir pastors’ names and number of members were:

Forrisburg and Vergennes, Vt. Cyrus Prindle 111Bridport, Vt. and Crown Point, N. Y. Calvin Goodwin 30Hadley, N. Y. Salmon Foster 80Morristown, Albany, Greensboro, Vt. Jonas Scott 81Keene and Jay, N. Y. Henry Stewart 8

The Beginnings (5) Champlain and Chazy, N. Y. Miles Fisk 18Pierpoint, N. Y. William Stericker 80

Rossie, N. Y. John Thompson 33 Lisbon, N. Y. Lyndon King 185 Granville, N. Y. Lyman Prindle 57 Bucksbridge, N. Y. Edward Gould 40

These congregations; for the most part, did not worship in churchbuildings at first because they were "come outers", and in most cases thechurch buildings came some years later. The Morley church building maybe the oldest in continuous use since the year of its founding, although ithas been remodeled three times. The brick church in Ferrisburg, Vermont,believed to be the one pastored by the Reverend Cyrus Prindle in 1843,is in a good state of repair and now (1968) used by another church group,the Wesleyans long since having discontinued work there. Hadley andLisbon, the two oldest organizations in our conference, worshiped at thebeginning in meeting houses in the vicinity of the present villages.

The Beginnings (6) The opening sentences in the first volume of our Champlain ConferenceAnnual Minutes read: "The Champlain Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection, convened pursuant to appointment at West Chazy, N. Y., on the 5th day of October, 1843. Conference was opened in due form by Cyrus Prindle, President." A committee was appointed to prepare a roll of members. A committee was appointed to confer with the Methodist Protestant brethren present to consummate a union between them and this Connection. Incidentally, the Methodist Protestant Conference in which these churches had their membership was also called the Champlain Conference. The churches of the Methodist Protestant Church joining the Champlain Conference of the WesleyanMethodist Connection at this first session, with their pastors’ names andthe number of members were: Chateaugay, N. Y. Hiram McKee 50 Weybridge and Middlebury, Vt. John Crocker 72 Stockholm, N. Y. John Adams 52 Peru, N. Y. Nathan Crary 50

The Beginnings (7) West Chazy, N. Y. John Lowry 120 Beekmantown, N. Y. Alexander Lamberton 30 Edwards, N. Y. Hiram Wing 11The Champlain Conference, at its first session after organization,included eighteen churches with one thousand and fifty-eight members.The growth (to 1968) of the Conference has been slow. There are manyreasons for this, the main one being insufficient interest in numericalgrowth. In the 1844 session of the Champlain Conference the churchesin the Western District withdrew to form the St. Lawrence Conference.In 1853 the St. Lawrence Conference dissolved, with the northernchurches rejoining the Champlain Conference and the southern churchesjoining the Syracuse Conference. In 1939 the Methodist Protestant Church, a split from the M.E. church in 1828, joined with the MethodistEpiscopal Church to form a single church called the Methodist Church.On July 3, 1947, a new start was made by the Wesleyan Methodists inNew England with the organization of the church in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where the Reverend Orange Scott is buried.

Champlain Conference Growth 1843-1999 ( Ten Year Intervals )Year Number of Churches Number of Members===== ================ =============1853 18 14861863 18 11961873 23 16071883 24 12601893 24 13601903 26 11521913 30 10351923 25 7701933 24 7391943 27 9021953 36 11001963 43 11191967 45 1161(1967 included because The Source Book was published in 1968)

Champlain Conference Growth 1843-1999 ( Ten Year Intervals )Year Number of Churches Number of Members===== ================ =============1973 52 15321983 50 17881993 47 17431999 48 1704================================================== Year of Highest Number of Churches 1973 ( 52 churches ) Year of Lowest Number of Churches 1853 ( 18 churches )

Year of Highest Number of Members 1983 ( 1788 members ) Year of Lowest Number of Members 1933 ( 739 members ) Average Number of Churches ( 33 churches ) Average Number of Members ( 1274 members)

Conference Presidents(District Superintendents) (1) Name Years Served=========== ================Cyrus Prindle 1843-1844,1846-1847,1849-1851Hiram Mckee and John Crocker (both served) 1845Asa Hand 1848,1851-1853Lyman Prindle 1854S. W. Foster 1854-1857James Dayon 1858-1859Dyar Willis 1860,1862Natham Warner 1861,1873-1874,1897-1898S. H Foster 1863,1864John Crocker 1865R. E. Johnson 1866-1869,1883-1887S. H. Foster 1870L. C. Partridge 1871-1872George Ellis 1875N. E. Jenkins 1876-1877,1888-1896

Conference Presidents(District Superintendents) (2) Name Years Served=========== ================ O. D. Putnam 1899-1902E. D. Carpenter 1902-1920A. J. Allen 1920-1929,1935-Oct. 5,1936C. Lawrence Hill 1929-1932H. N. Robinson 1932-1935George D. Jock 1936-1939L. C Matoon 1939-1942Price Stark 1942-1946Charles Dayton 1946-1952,1960(still serving1968)Reginald Hewitt 1952-1960Charles Dayton 1960-1976Everett Elliott 1976-1985John Lamos 1985-1988 Lloyd W. Stuart 1998-1993Daniel A. Berry 1993-present