Lexicon
Methodist Church

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Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother Charles was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. George Whitefield, another significant leader in the movement, was known for his unorthodox ministry of itinerant open-air preaching. Wesley, along with his brother founded a holy club while they were at Oxford, where John was a professor. The holy club met weekly and they systematically set about living a holy life. They were branded as "Methodist" by students at Oxford who derided the methodical way they ordered their lives. Wesley took the attempted mockery and turned it into a title of honor.

Initially Whitefield and the Wesleys merely sought reform, by way of a return to the gospel, within the Church of England, but the movement spread with revival and soon a significant number of Anglican clergy became known as Methodists in the mid-18th century.

[Wikipedia]

Southern African Methodism

Methodism arrived in South Africa with British soldiers in 1806 but the mission was launched by Barnabas Shaw who reached the Cape in 1816 and William Shaw (unrelated) who accompanied the British settlers of 1820. Barnabas Shaw established a mission among the Khoi at Leliefontein in Namaqualand and colleagues ventured across the Orange River into present-day Namibia and what are now the northern provinces of South Africa. William Shaw established Methodism throughout the British settlement in Albany and rapidly planted a chain of mission stations between the Cape Colony and Natal. In the late nineteenth century mission work was extended into the gold-mining area in Gauteng and north through modern Limpopo into Zimbabwe. Six missionary districts of the Wesleyan Methodist church became an affiliated Conference in 1883. An independent Conference was constituted in 1927 and enlarged in 1931 to include the Transvaal Missionary District of the British Conference and the small Primitive Methodist Mission. The Connexion operates today in six countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Mocambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. Khoi and African helpers worked with the missionaries from early days but an indigenous ordained ministry only came into being in the late 1860's.

The work and witness of indigenous ministers, evangelists and laity established Methodism firmly in many parts of South Africa, but leadership remained firmly in white hands. This was an important factor in a number of schisms which resulted in such bodies as the Ethiopian Church and the South African branch of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The last major schism took place in 1978 when the Methodist Church of Southern Africa was banned in the Transkei homeland and replaced by the United Methodist Church of S A. Most ministers and members returned to the MCSA when the ban was lifted in 1988.

[Methodist Church of South Africa]

As building type

A building designed for public worship by members of the Methodist community.



Methodist Church buildings on this website

Addington Methodist Church: 1939. Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
African Methodist Episcopal Church: 1950. Atteridgeville, Gauteng
African Methodist Episcopal Church: 1933. Alexandra, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Centenary Methodist Church: 1969. Richmond Hill, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Eastern Cape
Central Methodist Church: 1925. Benoni, Gauteng
Central Methodist Mission: 1967. Johannesburg, Gauteng
Church of the Good Shepherd: 1949. Muizenberg, Western Cape
Clifton Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1897. Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Clumber Methodist Church: 1867. Bathurst, Eastern Cape
Clumber Methodist Church School: 1900s. Bathurst, Eastern Cape
Commemoration Methodist Church: 1845. Makhanda (Grahamstown), Eastern Cape
Dutch Wesleyan Church: pre-1908. Cape Town, Western Cape
Germiston Central Methodist Church: 1951. Germiston, Gauteng
Hill Organ - Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1832. Makhanda (Grahamstown), Eastern Cape
Hilton Methodist Church: 1903. Hilton Farm, Whittlesea, Eastern Cape
Holy Trinity Methodist Church: 1871-1875 : 1894. Graaff-Reinet, Eastern Cape
Igreja Metodista Wesleyana: 1967. Maputo, Mozambique
Independent Methodist Church of Africa: 1930. Mpukane Circuit, Nqamakwe, Butterworth, Eastern Cape
Independent Methodist Church of Africa: 2007. Mpukane Circuit, Nqamakwe, Butterworth, Eastern Cape
Kidwell Memorial Church - Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1914. Jamestown, Eastern Cape
Melville Methodist Church: n.d.. Melville, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Methodist Church: 1861. Somerset West, Western Cape
Methodist Church: c1955. Volksrust, Mpumalanga
Methodist Church: 1955. Standerton, Mpumalanga
Methodist Church: n.d.. KwaMaqoma (Fort Beaufort), Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: 1891. Steytlerville, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: n.d.. uMlazi, KwaZulu-Natal
Methodist Church: 1883. Molteno, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: 1910. Kloof, KwaZulu-Natal
Methodist Church: n.d.. Willowmore, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: 1895. Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal
Methodist Church: 1895 : 1903. Heidelberg, Gauteng
Methodist Church: 1930. Stutterheim, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: 1904. Wesley, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: 1971. Mbombela (Nelspruit), Mpumalanga
Methodist Church: 1850-1851. Wynberg, Western Cape
Methodist Church: 1897. Sea Point, Cape Town, Western Cape
Methodist Church: 1913. Mashishing (Lydenburg), Mpumalanga
Methodist Church: 1885. Barkly East, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: n.d.. Worcester, Western Cape
Methodist Church: 1879. Dordrecht, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: n.d.. Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Methodist Church: n.d.. Leliefontein, Northern Cape
Methodist Church: n.d.. Velddrif, Western Cape
Methodist Church: 1906. Mossel Bay, Western Cape
Methodist Church: 1904. Woodstock, Western Cape
Methodist Church: n.d.. eNtokozweni (Machadodorp), Mpumalanga
Methodist Church: late 1890s. Middelburg, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: n.d.. Aliwal North, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: 1892-1893. Knysna, Western Cape
Methodist Church: c1870. McGregor, Western Cape
Methodist Church: c1900. Engcobo, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: 1847; 1930. Sir Lowry's Pass Village, Western Cape
Methodist Church: 1906. Plumstead, Cape Town, Western Cape
Methodist Church: n.d.. Rosebank, Cape Town, Western Cape
Methodist Church: 1850. Salem, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church: 1877. Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Methodist Church - AGS: 1889. Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal
Methodist Church, cemetery and ringwall: 1832. Bathurst, Eastern Cape
Methodist Church, Metropolitan: 1876. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape
Metropolitan Methodist Church: 1876. Central, Cape Town, Western Cape
Pretoria West Methodist Church: 1935. Tshwane (Pretoria), Gauteng
Rokeby Park Methodist Church: 1884. Bathurst, Eastern Cape
Rosebank Methodist Church: n.d.. Rosebank, Cape Town, Western Cape
Settler Church - Methodist: 1823. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape
Settler Church - Methodist: 1827 : 1939. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape
Shaw Methodist Church: 1905. Makhanda (Grahamstown), Eastern Cape
Shaw Park Methodist Church: 1864. Bathurst, Eastern Cape
Shrewsbury Methodist Church: c1860. Benton, Eastern Cape
St John's Methodist Church: 1894 : 2011. Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Eastern Cape
St John's Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1902. Kroonstad, Free State
St Saviour Methodist Church: 1892 : 1913. Oudtshoorn, Western Cape
Trinity Methodist Church: 1880s. Colesberg, Northern Cape
Trinity Methodist Church: 1906. Kimberley, Northern Cape
Trinity Methodist Church: 1904. East London, Eastern Cape
Trinity Wesleyan Church: 1927. Bloemfontein, Free State
Valley Methodist: pre 1993. Villieria, Tshwane (Pretoria), Gauteng
Waterloo Methodist Church: 1875. East London, Eastern Cape
Wesleyan Church: pre-1905. Mahikeng, North West
Wesleyan Church: 1905. Potchefstroom, North West
Wesleyan Church: 1800s : 1894. District Six, Cape Town, Western Cape
Wesleyan Church: 1903. Jeppestown, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Wesleyan Church: 1904. Claremont, Cape Town, Western Cape
Wesleyan Church: c1901. Kearsney, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Church: 1894. Fordsburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Wesleyan Church: pre-1909. Boksburg, Gauteng
Wesleyan Church: 1876. Stellenbosch, Western Cape
Wesleyan Church: 1867. Robertson, Western Cape
Wesleyan Church: pre-1910. Pretoria West, Tshwane (Pretoria), Gauteng
Wesleyan Church: 1882. Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Church: 1896. Greyville, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Church: 1899. Rosebank, Cape Town, Western Cape
Wesleyan Church: 1898. Muizenberg, Western Cape
Wesleyan Church: c1907. Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Church: 1875. Bloemfontein, Free State
Wesleyan Church: 1850-1851. Wynberg, Western Cape
Wesleyan Church: 1897. Sea Point, Cape Town, Western Cape
Wesleyan Church: 1922. Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Church: 1868. Bloemfontein, Free State
Wesleyan Church: 1880. Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Church: 1920. Bellair, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Church, Bellair: 1919. Bellair, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Church, modified design: 1909. Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Church, South End: 1882. Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Eastern Cape
Wesleyan Church, Swartruggens: 1882. Swartruggens, North West
Wesleyan Church, Umbilo Rd, modifying STOTT & KIRKBY's plan: 1909. Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Methodist Church: n.d.. Central, Tshwane (Pretoria), Gauteng
Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1893. Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1913-1914. Makhanda (Grahamstown), Eastern Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1900 [?]. Maitland, Cape Town, Western Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1882. Heilbron, Free State
Wesleyan Methodist Church: n.d.. Cathcart, Eastern Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1904 : 1968. Beaconsfield, Kimberley, Northern Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1904. Klipplaat, Eastern Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1932. Langa, Western Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church: 1882. Aberdeen, Eastern Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church - Kidwell Memorial Church: 1914. Jamestown, Eastern Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church - Second: pre-1901. Central, Tshwane (Pretoria), Gauteng
Wesleyan Methodist Church and Hall: n.d. : 1893 : 1901 : 1905. Observatory, Cape Town, Western Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church Hall: 1935. Newton Park, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), Eastern Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church hall: 1930. Woodstock, Western Cape
Wesleyan Methodist Church, parsonage: 1926. uMkomaas, KwaZulu-Natal
Wesleyan Methodist Mission Church: n.d.. Lesseyton, Eastern Cape