¶1. The doctrine and spirit of pure Bible Christianity have existed at different times and in different degrees in all branches of the church of Christ.

¶2. "In 1729 two young men in England, reading the Bible, saw that 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 up a holy people."

¶3. This was the rise of Methodism as described in the words of its founders, John and Charles Wesley. The name "Methodist" was applied to a group of students led by the Wesleys and George Whitefield in the University of Oxford, England, who came together for intellectual and spiritual improvement. Their systematic way of living merited the name which was given them by fellow students.

¶4. On the evening of May 24, 1738, John Wesley had undergone his "heart warming" experience at a meeting of a religious society on Aldersgate Street, in London; an experience which his brother, Charles, had previously found. About a quarter of nine, while listening to Luther's description of the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, he says:

"I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation; an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

¶5. The original associations formed by Mr. Wesley and his preachers were called societies. They were voluntary associations of persons for mutual improvement in experimental and vital piety. They were still members of the Church of England; they attended its regular services and received the sacraments at its altars. A great revival began to spread over the British realm. It was a work of great depth and duration. To the Methodists God committed the precious work of awakening the British Kingdom to a sense of God and duty, and by them He wrought a reformation which stands alone as a spiritual revival without admixture of statecraft or patronage, or parliament or king.

¶6. The first Methodist Society was organized in 1739 when eight or ten persons, who appeared to be deeply convinced of sin and earnestly groaning for redemption, came to John Wesley. They desired, as did two or three more the next day, that he would spend some time with them in prayer and advise them how to flee from the wrath to come. That they might have more time for this great work, he appointed a day when they might all come together, which from thence forward they did every week, namely, on Thursday in the evening. Their number increased daily. To all these he gave advice which he judged most needful for them, and they always concluded their meetings with prayer suited to their several necessities.

¶7. After this rise of the United Societies in Europe, the spiritual movement fostered by them spread to America. In 1766 Philip Embury, a local preacher from Ireland, began to preach in New York City and formed a Society in the John Street Church. Another local preacher, Thomas Webb, a captain in the British Army, soon joined him and began preaching. About the same time, Robert Strawbridge, from Ireland, settled in Frederick County, Maryland, preaching there and forming societies.

¶8. In 1769 Wesley sent Richard Broadman and Joseph Pilmore to America and two years later Francis Asbury, who was to become the most memorable and influential man in

American Methodism. Wesley ordained Thomas Coke and gave him authority to exercise the office of a bishop, calling him a superintendent, which is only another name for the same thing. Dr. Coke was sent to America with authority to ordain Asbury to the same episcopal office. These two were to give general superintendency of all the Methodist societies in America.

¶9. The first Annual Conference of American Methodism was held in Philadelphia in 1773. The business was simple and brief. It consisted mainly in the agreement of the preachers to abide by the doctrines and Discipline of Mr. Wesley. There were ten traveling preachers, six circuits, and one thousand, one hundred and sixty members. The first circuit was organized in North Carolina and was called the "Carolina Circuit." During a one year period, in 1777 and 1778, eighteen hundred souls were added to the societies. The work was signally owned of God; at the close of the War of the Revolution the number of traveling preachers was about eighty, and the members in the societies were about fifteen thousand.

¶10. When the independence of the United States was acknowledged by the Treaty of 1783, the American Methodists, most of whom had been members of the Church of England, were, according to the declaration of Mr. Wesley, "totally disentangled both from the state and the English hierarchy." He added: "They are now at full liberty to follow the Scriptures and the primitive church, and we judge it best that they should stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has so strangely made them free."

¶11. With a firm conviction that the gulf that separates conservative and liberal thought in the church is an ever-widening chasm which can never be healed, the Evangelical Methodist Church came into being to preserve the distinctive doctrines of primitive Methodism, founded upon the inspiration and authenticity of the Bible and upon the Articles of Religion as set forth by John Wesley.

On May 9, 1946, in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, a small group of preachers and laymen met together for consultation and prayer, endeavoring to cope with the growing apostasy of the church. After long hours of waiting before God in prayer, they felt definitely led of God to organize the Evangelical Methodist Church.

¶12. Dr. J. H. Hamblen, of Abilene, Texas, was elected chairman of the group meeting in Memphis, and was elected the first General Superintendent of the Evangelical Methodist Church the following November at the first Annual Conference at Kansas City, Missouri. In praying for the new movement, Dr. Hamblen prayed:

"Oh, Lord, if this movement be of Thy will, bless and prosper it; but, Lord, if not of Thy will, then let it die here and now."

At the first conference session Dr. Ezequiel B. Vargas, Superintendent of the Mexican Evangelistic Mission, founded in 1926, was present and proposed that this work become a part of the Evangelical Methodist Church. At this time the Mexican Evangelistic Mission was made a part of the church. In 1954 the work was designated as the Mexico District. In 1957 the Mexican Evangelistic Conference, including all of the territory of Mexico, was established as the first Mission Conference. Dr. E. B. Vargas was elected by the General Conference to preside as General Superintendent over it.

¶13. On June 4, 1960, the Evangel Church, Inc. in session at its Annual Conference voted to unite with the Evangelical Methodist Church and thus become a part of the California District. Formerly known as the Evangelistic Tabernacles and founded by Dr. William Kirby and Dr. Cornelius P. Haggard, the group dates back to March 27, 1933. At the time of merger there were 8 churches and about 675 enrolled in Sunday school, with Rev. R. Lloyd Wilson serving as president of the organization. This merger was approved by the Western Annual Conference of the Evangelical Methodist Church on June 22, 1960.

¶14. On July 3, 1962, the General Conference of the Evangelical Methodist Church voted to merge with the People's Methodist Church, formerly known as the People's Christian Movement, which came into being on January 1, 1938, with Rev. Jim H. Green as the first General Superintendent. The merger was finalized by vote of the People's Methodist Church at a subsequent conference in the summer of 1962. Rev. J. Neal Anderson, General Superintendent at the time of the merger, was elected Superintendent of the Virginia-North Carolina District.

¶15. The rise and spread of the movement has been evidence of divine approval. The Evangelical Methodist Church in belief and practice knows that the only infallible proof of any genuine church of Christ is its ability to seek and save the lost, to disseminate the Christian spirit and life, to spread scriptural holiness as taught by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Word of God, over all lands, and to transform all people through the Gospel of Christ.

¶16. The sole object of the rules, regulations, and usages of the Evangelical Methodist Church is that it may fulfill in all places and years its original, divine commission as a leader in the evangelistic proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, in moral reforms by being true to the Bible, and seeking the salvation of all men from all sin through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.