The first official Methodist organization in the United States occurred in
Baltimore, Maryland, in 1784, with the formation of the
Methodist Episcopal Church at the
Christmas Conference with
Francis Asbury and
Thomas Coke as the leaders. of Bishop
Francis Asbury by Bishop
Thomas Coke at the Christmas Conference establishing the
Methodist Episcopal Church, 1784. Though John Wesley originally wanted the Methodists to stay within the Church of England, the
American Revolution decisively separated the Methodists in the
American colonies from the life and sacraments of the Anglican Church. In 1784, after unsuccessful attempts to have the Church of England send a bishop to start a new Church in the colonies, Wesley decisively appointed fellow priest Thomas Coke as superintendent (bishop) to organize a separate Methodist Society. Together with Coke, Wesley sent
The Sunday Service of the Methodists, the first Methodist liturgical text, as well as the
Articles of Religion, which were received and adopted by the Baltimore Christmas Conference of 1784, officially establishing the Methodist Episcopal Church. The conference was held at the
Lovely Lane Methodist Church, considered the Mother Church of American Methodism. The new Church grew rapidly in the young country as it employed
circuit riders, many of whom were
laymen, to travel the mostly rural nation by horseback to preach the
Gospel and to establish churches until there was scarcely any village in the United States without a Methodist presence. With 4,000 circuit riders by 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church rapidly became the largest Protestant denomination in the country. The Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection specifically traces its origin to the
Wesleyan Methodist Church which was a
Methodist denomination in the United States organized on May 13, 1841. The congregations that withdrew from the
Methodist Episcopal Church did so because they strongly advocated
abolitionism and disagreed with the
church polity held by the M.E. Church. The first secessions in 1841 took place in Michigan although the new church group was formalized in Utica, New York. In November 1842,
Orange Scott,
La Roy Sunderland and
Jotham Horton seceded from the M. E. Church for reasons given in their publication of the
True Wesleyan (which was later renamed the
Wesleyan Methodist), with opposition to slavery being a key issue. The Wesleyan Methodist Church emphasized the preservation and promotion of experimental and practical godliness, stressing the Methodist doctrines of the
New Birth and
entire sanctification (holiness). While it officially operates under the name "Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (Original Allegheny Conference)" due to an agreement during the merger between the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1968, most of the churches continue to be called Wesleyan Methodist. == Campgrounds ==