At age 17, Thomas Welch joined the
Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, founded the same year (1843). From its beginning, the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion strongly opposed the "manufacturing, buying, selling, or using intoxicating liquors", and "slaveholding, buying, or selling" of slaves. With the first edition of their
Discipline, the Wesleyan Methodists
expressly required for the
Eucharist (Communion) that "unfermented wine only should be used at the
sacrament." This requirement was about 25 years before Welch used pasteurization, so it is evident that pasteurization was not the only method used to prepare it unfermented. There were traditional methods to prepare unfermented wine (juice) for use at any time during the year, e.g. to reconstitute concentrated grape juice, or to boil raisins, or to add preservatives that prevent juice from fermenting and souring. Throughout his late teens, Welch was active in the
Underground Railroad that transported escaped slaves from the south into Canada. By age 19, he had graduated from
Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary, and become an ordained Wesleyan Methodist minister. He ministered first in
Poundridge, in
Westchester County, New York, then in
Herkimer County, New York. Welch continued in the work of ministry until his voice failed him, and he was obliged to direct his attention to other pursuits. ==Post-church career==