Home—What does being a Methodist mean to you?

Jonanthan Huang was a CAC Youth Worker who was vital in the early stages of conceptualising 1HSMS. He is currently completing his MDiv at Trinity Theological College.

What does being a Methodist mean to you?

ww

For me, being a Methodist connects me to the rich heritage since the founding of Methodism. I suspect many people in the Methodist church could only quote that “strangely warmed” Aldersgate experience of Wesley as Methodist’s distinctive. However, Barbeau reminds us that Wesley’s Aldersgate experience is not the ethos of a Methodist. Wesley himself did not return to that experience incessantly as though it signifies the singular measure of Christians.1 That experience sparked a revival in Wesley and he subsequently went on to establish the practices of small groups, sacramentality, self-discipline, mutual accountability, holiness in social action and much more that shaped Methodism in the subsequent decades.2

Today, Methodists are blessed with many good resources that have been handed down to us since the time of Wesley,3 as well as the works of Wesleyan scholars in our midst. I have learnt a lot from these resources, and they have challenged my understanding about being a Methodist—and more importantly, being a Christian.

Sadly, these resources are often buried by the popular teachings of various cults of personalities. In writing this, I hope to encourage Methodists to make the effort to read and study some of these resources. As John Wesley himself put it, “I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist…I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power.”5

For me, being a Methodist is to carry the flame and continue with the good works of Christ in the spirit of Methodism.

1 Jeffrey W. Barbeau, The Spirit of Methodism: From the Wesleys to a Global Communion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2019), 14. 2Ibid, 10. 3Such as Wesley’s sermons. http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley1872-edition/an-introduction/ 4 John Wesley, “Thoughts upon Methodism,” §1, 527.