Historians like to distinguish between churches, sects, and cults. Churches are established organizations that have been accepted into the mainstream of society as valid expressions of the Christian faith. One might refer to Presbyterians, Methodists, and Lutherans as valid denominations or churches.

Sects are break-away believers who consider their “mother” church as having strayed from the truth to a degree that requires separation and the creation of a more purified expression of Christian faith. Cults, on the other hand, are groups, whose leaders have received some revelation that deviates from what has been acceptable Christian teaching. These organizations, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) combine the non-biblical teachings of their leader with elements of orthodox Christianity to create a “new gospel.”

Both the Wesleyan Methodist and the Pilgrim Holiness Church began as sects. They maintained the basic doctrines of the Christian faith but felt it necessary to part company with other believers, whom they thought had departed from Biblical teaching. For the Wesleyan Methodists, the issue was the enslavement of other human beings. For the Pilgrims, it was the loss of a commitment to holiness, attained through an experience of Spirit baptism.

Since the merger of these two bodies in 1968, The Wesleyan Church has surrendered much of its sectarian mindset and evolved into an established denomination that might rightfully claim to be a Protestant church. We explore elements of that transition in our final module on the history of The Wesleyan Church.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

1. Describe the beginnings of The Wesleyan Church.
2. Describe some of the trends of the last fifty years in the church.
3. Articulate three or four current emphases of the denomination.