Conflict and crisis in American Methodism: slavery and homosexuality, 1784-2022

The following thesis, Conflict and Crisis in American Methodism: Slavery and Homosexuality, 1784-2022 , asks the central question: Can the reasons why the Methodist Episcopal Church experienced schism in 1844 over slavery illuminate the reasons why the United Methodist Church will experience schism in 2022 over homosexuality? Then, the thesis uses the long view methodological framework to investigate its central question. This thesis, as a work of church history, analyses a past event, the Methodist Episcopal Church’s schism in 1844, to investigate a current event, the United Methodist Church’s schism in 2022. Thus, this thesis utilises its research to search for patterns of commonality and points of intersectionality between two distinct events and time periods within American Methodism and American socio-political culture.

First, the thesis describes and exegetes the events leading to the Methodist Episcopal Church’s 1844 schism. Then, the thesis analyses the socio-political context and cultural trends of antebellum America, thereby drawing conclusions about the ways in which antebellum American culture affected American Methodism’s theology and polity regarding slavery.
Also, this thesis describes and exegetes the events leading to the United Methodist Church’s 2022 schism. Then, it analyses the socio-political context and cultural trends of late twentieth century and early twenty-first century America, thereby drawing conclusions about the ways in which late twentieth and early twenty-first century culture affected American Methodism’s theology and polity regarding homosexuality. Therefore, from the above analysis, this thesis will demonstrate that both slavery and homosexuality are presenting issues for much larger cultural conflicts within the intersection of American Methodism and American society.