Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama.
The USA South Athletic Conference is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolina and Virginia.
The Wesleyan Church, also known as the Wesleyan Methodist Church and Wesleyan Holiness Church depending on the region, is a Methodist Christian denomination in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Indonesia, and Australia. The church is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement and has roots in the teachings of John Wesley. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian doctrine and is a member of the World Methodist Council.
The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a 130-acre (0.5 km2) campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. The four cities compose a metropolitan area with a combined population of 140,000 people.
Centenary College of Louisiana is a private liberal arts college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
James Webster Rachels was an American philosopher who specialized in ethics and animal rights.
William Bryant Oden (1935–2018) was an American bishop of the United Methodist Church, elected in 1988. He was born 3 August 1935 in McAllen, Texas. He was married to Marilyn Brown Oden, the author of over eight books. They have four children and four grandchildren.
The Congregational Methodist Church is a Methodist denomination located primarily in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It is aligned with the Holiness movement and adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology. As of 1995, the denomination reported 14,738 members in 187 churches.
Wesleyan Hall, constructed in 1856, is one of the oldest structures on the University of North Alabama campus, located in Florence, Alabama.
A comprehensive regional university today, the University of North Alabama traces its beginnings to the first half of the 19th century, when the Methodist Episcopal Church sought to bring learning and culture to an obscure mountain in Alabama.
Joseph Cummings was an American academic who served as the 5th president of Wesleyan University from 1857 to 1875, the 5th president of Northwestern University from 1881 to 1890, and the president of Genesee College from 1854 to 1857.
The Mystical Seven was a society founded in 1837 at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Members were called Mystics. The society died in 1890, with its surviving temples merging into other national fraternities. Restarted as a local honorary at Wesleyan, the society apparently continues as two rival groups.
Centenary Institute was a school in Summerfield, Alabama operated by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, from 1829 until the 1880s. The Centenary Institute was founded in 1829 as Valley Creek Academy, a local school, but was turned over to the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1838. In celebration of the centennial of Methodism, the school was renamed the "Centenary Institute". A. H. Mitchell served as president of the institute from 1843 until 1856. In 1845, the school was conferred the power to grant degrees, and graduated its first class that same year. For the next two decades, the school was the largest in central Alabama, enrolling approximately 500 students. J. N. Montgomery was president from 1856 until the Civil War; he was followed by Richard H. Rivers, William J. Vaughn, and R. K. Hargrove. The Institute saw its fortunes decline precipitously during the war; by 1865 buildings were in need of repair, and in 1867 the school saw but three graduates. The Panic of 1873 impacted the school further, driving enrollment to fifty by 1874–75. In 1880, the Methodists ceased supporting the school, and the Institute began to act solely as a local school. The institute was abandoned by 1885, and its buildings were used as an orphan asylum.
Augustus William Smith was an American educator, astronomer and mathematician in the mid-19th century.
The Methodist Church of Sri Lanka is a Protestant Christian denomination in Sri Lanka. Its headquarters is in Colombo and was established on 29 June 1814. It is a member of the World Council of Churches, the Christian Conference of Asia, the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka and the World Methodist Council.
John Berry McFerrin (1807–1887) was an American Methodist preacher and editor. He served as a chaplain in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.
Noah Knowles Davis (1830–1910) was an American educator. He served as president of Bethel College in Kentucky. He taught at Delaware College, Howard College and the University of Virginia.
Eugene Allen Noble was an American academic and Methodist minister. He served as president of three institutions: Centenary University from 1902 to 1908, Goucher College from 1908 to 1911, and Dickinson College from 1911 to 1914. He was also an administrator at the Juilliard School.
Thomas Jackson (1783–1873), was an English Wesleyan minister and writer who acted as chair of divinity of the Richmond Theological College and president of the Methodist Conference during the mid-nineteenth century.