The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England, as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. As such, the church's theological orientation is decidedly Wesleyan. It embraces liturgical worship, holiness, and evangelical elements.
Francis Asbury was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ministry, traveling on horseback and by carriage thousands of miles to those living on the frontier.
West Bromwich is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is 6.4 miles (10.3 km) north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, culture and dialect. West Bromwich had a population of 77,997 in the 2011 Census.
Smethwick is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies 4 miles (6 km) west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before being placed into then West Midlands County.
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. According to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, the borough comprises the six amalgamated towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury, and West Bromwich, although these places consist of numerous smaller settlements and localities.
Rowley Regis is a town and former municipal borough in Sandwell in the county of the West Midlands, England. It encompasses the three Sandwell council wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley. At the 2011 census, the combined population of these wards was 50,257.
Great Barr is now a large and loosely defined area to the north-west of Birmingham, England. The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as Perry Barr, which is still the name of an adjacent Birmingham district. Other areas known as Great Barr are in the Metropolitan Boroughs of Walsall and Sandwell.
Cradley Heath is a town in the Rowley Regis area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England approximately 2 miles (3 km) north-west of Halesowen, 3 miles (5 km) south of Dudley and 8 miles (13 km) west of central Birmingham. Cradley Heath is often confused with the neighbouring Halesowen district of Cradley, although the two places are separated by the River Stour and have long been in separate local authorities, and until 1966 were in separate counties.
David Hallam, is a British Labour Party politician and writer. He is the former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Herefordshire and Shropshire constituency in England, in the 1994–1999 European Parliament.
Richard Whatcoat was the third bishop of the American Methodist Episcopal Church.
Bearwood is the southern part of Smethwick, Sandwell, West Midlands, England, and north of the A456 Hagley Road. Bearwood Hill was the original name of the High Street from Smethwick Council House to Windmill Lane. The border at the Shireland Brook where Portland Road (Edgbaston) becomes Shireland Road (Sandwell) is signed "Bearwood".
Charlemont with Grove Vale is a political ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the English Midlands constituency of West Bromwich East. This Sandwell ward population as taken at the 2011 census was 11,964.
Hamstead is an area straddling the border of Birmingham and Sandwell, England, between Handsworth Wood and Great Barr, and adjacent to the Sandwell Valley area of West Bromwich. Hamstead Colliery was worked from the 19th century to the 1960s, with much housing built for the miners. Today the area is still referred to as Hamstead Village.
Studley is a small village in the county of Wiltshire, England, belonging to the civil parish of Calne Without.
Old Hill is an area of Rowley Regis in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands, England, situated around 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Halesowen and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Dudley. Initially a separate village it is now part of the much larger West Midlands conurbation.
Polstead is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. The village lies 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Nayland, 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Hadleigh and 9 miles (14 km) north of Colchester. It is situated on a small tributary stream of the River Stour.
Dublin is an unincorporated community in Harford County, Maryland, United States. Dublin was founded in the early 19th century by George McCausland and a friend who migrated from Dublin, Ireland.
Commack United Methodist Church and Cemetery is a historic Methodist church meeting house and cemetery located at 486 Townline Road in Commack, Suffolk County, New York. It was built in 1789 and is a relatively large, two story, two bay shingled building with a broad, overhanging gable roof. It is the oldest Methodist church in New York State in continuous operation. The surrounding burial ground has graves dating to the 18th century.
Burnley, in Lancashire, England, has a long history of religious worship, dating from at least before 1122 in the case of the Church of England. The chapel at Towneley Hall was the centre for Roman Catholic worship in Burnley until modern times. Well before the Industrial Revolution, the town saw the emergence of many non-conformist churches and chapels. In 1891 the town was the location of the meeting which saw the creation of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. In the late 19th century a Jewish synagogue was established, and in recent times evangelical and free churches have appeared, as well as a large purpose-built mosque.
The history of Methodism in the United States dates back to the mid-18th century with the ministries of early Methodist preachers such as Laurence Coughlan and Robert Strawbridge. Following the American Revolution most of the Anglican clergy who had been in America came back to England. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, sent Thomas Coke to America where he and Francis Asbury founded the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was to later establish itself as the largest denomination in America during the 19th century.
