4.8 Church

Historical/Theological Studies

Carter, David. Love Bade Me Welcome: A British Methodist Perspective on the Church. Peterborough, UK: Epworth, 2002.

Collins, Paul M., and Barry A. Ensign-George. Denomination: Assessing an Ecclesiological Category. London and New York: T & T Clark, 2011.

Ermakov, Arseny, and Glen O’Brien, editors. “A Curious Machine”: Wesleyan Reflections on the Posthuman Future. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2023.

Heyduck, Richard. The Recovery of Doctrine in the Contemporary Church: An Essay in Philosophical Ecclesiology. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2002.

Kimbrough, Jr., S T. Orthodox and Wesleyan Ecclesiology. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007.

Kirkpatrick, Dow, ed. The Doctrine of the Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1964.

Lawrence, William B. A Methodist Requiem: Words of Hope and Resurrection for the Church. Nashville: Wesley’s Foundery Books, 2018.

Marsh, Clive. Methodist Theology Today. London: Continuum, 2006.

Called To Love and Praise: A Methodist Conference Statement on the Church. Peterborough, UK: Methodist Publishing House, 1999.  https://www.methodist.org.uk/media/1993/fo-statement-called-to-love-and-praise-1999.pdf

Statements and Reports of the Church on Faith and Order. https://www.methodist.org.uk/for-churches/governance/faith-and-order/faith-and-order-statements/

Oh, Gwang Seok. John Wesley’s Ecclesiology: A Study in its Sources and Development. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008.

Outler, Albert C. “Do Methodists Have a Doctrine of the Church?” in his The Wesleyan Theological Heritage, edited by Thomas C. Oden and Leicester R. Longden. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991, 211-226.

Richey, Russell E., Dennis M. Campbell, and William B. Lawrence. Marks of Methodism: Theology in Ecclesiastical Practice. Nashville: Abingdon, 2005.

Richey, Russell E., and Rex D. Matthews. The Renewal of United Methodism: Mission, Ministry, and Connectionalism: Essays in Honor of Russell E. Richey. Nashville: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 2012.

Richey, Russell E. Connectionalism: Ecclesiology, Mission, and Identity. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997.

_____. Doctrine in Experience: A Methodist Theology of the Church and Ministry. Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2009.

_____. Methodist Connectionalism: Historical Perspectives. Nashville: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, The United Methodist Church, 2009.

Snyder, Howard A. Models of the Kingdom. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991.

–––––. The Radical Wesley and Patterns for Church Renewal. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980.

–––––. Signs of the Spirit: How God Reshapes the Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Academie Books, 1989.

Sykes, Richard. Methodism Across the Pond: Perspectives Past and Present on the Church in Britain and America. Oxford: Applied Theology Press, 2005.

Tipton, Steven M. Public Pulpits: Methodists and Mainline Churches in the Moral Argument of Public Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Vickers, Jason E. Minding the Good Ground: A Theology for Church Renewal. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2011.

Basic Wesley Texts

Sermons:

“Of the Church” (1785). Sermon 74 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 3:45-57.

“On Schism” (1786). Sermon 75 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 3:58-69.

“Catholic Spirit” (1750). Sermon 39 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 2:79-95.

“On Laying the Foundation of the New Chapel, near the City Road, London” (1777). Sermon 112 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 3:557-592.

“On Attending the Church Service” (1787). Sermon 104 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 3:464-478.

Tracts and Treatises:

The Methodist Societies: History, Nature and Design, edited by Rupert E. Davies. The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), Vol. 9 (1989).

Letters:

“To Samuel Walker, September 24, 1755.” In The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 26:592-596. Also in John Wesley, edited by Albert C. Outler, 73-76.

“To The Earl of Dartmouth, April 10, 1761.” In The Letters of John Wesley, edited by John Telford, 4:146-152.

“To Charles Wesley, August 18, 1785.” In The Letters of John Wesley, edited by John Telford, 7:284-285.

“To James Clark, July 3, 1756.” In The Letters of John Wesley, edited by John Telford, 3:180-183.

The Ministry of All Christians

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2012, Part IV: “The Ministry of All Christians,” 91-101.

Carder, Kenneth L. Living Our Beliefs: The United Methodist Way. Revised Edition. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2009.

Carter, William. Each One a Minister: Using God’s Gift for Ministry. Revised and Expanded Edition. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2002.

Chilcote, Paul W. Wesley Speaks on Christian Vocation. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2001. Originally published in 1988 by Discipleship Resources.

Edwards, Maldwyn. Laymen and Methodist Beginnings Throughout the World. Nashville: Methodist Evangelistic Materials, 1963.

Harkness, Georgia. The Church and its Laity. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962.

Kerr, Ronn. Membership in the United Methodist Church. Nashville: Kerr Resources, 1995.

Koehler, George E. The United Methodist Member’s Handbook. Revised and expanded edition. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1997. Leader’s guide, member’s handbook, and filmstrip.

Nichols, Roy C. Doing the Gospel: Local Congregations in Ministry. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990.

Norwood, Frederick A. Church Membership in the Methodist Tradition. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1958.

Rowe, Kenneth E., “Members” in The Methodists, by James E. Kirby, Russell E. Richey and Kenneth E. Rowe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996, Part III, 165-254.

Thurston, Branson L. The United Methodist Way. Revised and expanded edition. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2001. For new and prospective church members or in church membership training classes.

Trueblood, Roy W., and Jackie B. Trueblood. Partners in Ministry: Clergy and Laity. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999.

The Ministry of Lay/Local Preachers

Bowmer, John C. “The Local Preacher in Early Methodism.” In The Preacher’s Handbook, edited by David N. Francis. London: Epworth Press, 1963, 1-14.

Carlson, Roger D., and James W. Lane. A History of the Office of Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church. S.l.: s.n., 2004.

Custer, Chester Eugene. Lay Speakers Interpret to Others Our United Methodist Heritage. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2001.

Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation, 2017-2020: Lay Leader/Lay Member: Connect Your Congregation and Your Annual Conference. Cokesbury, 2016.

Milburn, Geoffrey and Margaret Batty, eds. Workaday Preachers: The Story of Methodist Local Preaching. Peterborough, UK: Methodist Publishing House, 1995.

Sugrue, Rosalie. Lay Preaching Basics: A Practical Guide to Leading Worship. Wellington, New Zealand: Philip Garside Publishing, Ltd., 2018.

The Ministry of Deacons

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2012. “The Ministry of the Ordained: The Ordained Deacon in Full Connection,” 246-256.

Clark, David. The Diaconal Church: Beyond the Mould of Christendom. Peterborough, UK: Epworth, 2008.

_____. Gift of a Renewed Diaconate and the Contribution of British Methodism. Peterborough, England: FastPrint Publshing, 2018.

Crain, Margaret Ann, et al. A Deacon’s Heart: The New United Methodist Diaconate. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001.

Crain, Margaret Ann. The United Methodist Deacon: Ordained to Word, Service, Compassion and Justice. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2014.

Hartley, Benjamin L., and Paul E. Van Buren. The Deacon: Ministry through Words of Faith and Acts of Love. Nashville: United Methodist Church, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, Division of Ordained Ministry, Section of Deacons and Diaconal Ministries, 1999.

Keller, Rosemary Skinner, et al. Called to Serve: The United Methodist Diaconate. Nashville: United Methodist General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 1987.

Nessen, Craig L., and Darryl W. Stephens, eds. Diaconal Studies: Lived Theology for the Church in North America. Oxford: Regnum Books International, 2024.

Orton, Andrew, and Todd Stockdale. Making Connections: Exploring Methodist Deacons’ Perspectives on Contemporary Diaconal Ministry. Durham, UK: Sacristy, 2014.

Westerfield Tucker, Karen B. “The Liturgical Ministries of the United Methodist Deacon: Continuity and Change.” Methodist History 39 (January 2001): 82-98.

The Ministry of Elders

Basic Statements and Current Handbooks

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2012: “Ministry of the Ordained Ministry: The Ordained Elder in Full Connection,” 256-263.

Campbell, Dennis M. Who Will Go For Us? An Invitation to Ordained Ministry. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994.

General Board of Discipleship. Guidelines for Leading Your Congregation, 2025-2028. Cokesbury, 2024.

Hunt, Richard A., et al. The Christian as Minister. 2004 edition. Nashville: Division of Ordained Ministry, Board of Higher Education and Ministry, UMC, 2000. Examines the meaning of servant ministry and leadership and outlines the steps into ordained ministry.

Joyner, F. Belton. The Unofficial United Methodist Handbook for Pastors. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.

Kohler, Robert F. The Ministry Inquiry Process. Nashville: Division of Ordained Ministry, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, UMC, 2004. Workbook for persons exploring their call to ordained ministry.

UMC. Council of Bishops. “The Study of the Ministry of The United Methodist Church: A Report to the 1996 General conference,” Daily Christian Advocate 1996 I:969-981.

UMC. General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. United Methodist Handbook on Ministry Interpretation. Nashville: GBHEM, Division of Ordained Ministry, 2002.

Historical Studies

Bassford, Virginia O. “Perspectives of Strength: Female Elders in United Methodist Ministry,” Diss., Texas Woman’s University, 2008.

Bennett, Judith FaGalde. “Thin Thread of Conversation: A Study of the Experience of Ordained Women in the United Methodist Church.” Diss., Drew University, 1993.

Bowmer, John C. Pastor and People: A Study of Church and Ministry in Wesleyan Methodism. London: Epworth Press, 1975.

Burdon, Adrian. Authority and Order: John Wesley and His Preachers. New York: Routledge, 2021.

Cafferata, Gail. The Last Pastor: Faithfully Steering a Closing Church. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2020.

Dunlap, E. Dale. “The United Methodist System of Itinerant Ministry,” reprinted in Perspectives on American Methodism, chapter 28, 415-430.

Grabner, John D. A Commentary on the Rites of an Ordinal, The United Methodist Church. Diss., University of Notre Dame, 1983. See Part I, “Episcopal Methodist Ordinal Revision, 1784-1964,” 1-158.

Harnish, John E. The Orders of Ministry in the United Methodist Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000.

Heitzenrater, Richard P. “A Critical Analysis of the Ministry Studies since 1944.” Perspectives on American Methodism, chapter 29, 431-447.

Holifield, E. Brooks. A History of Pastoral Care in America: From Salvation to Self-Realization. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1983.

The Holy Seed of Calling: Korean-American Clergywoman’s Journey toward Ordination. National Association of Korean-American United Methodist Clergy Women, 2010.

Lyght, Ernest S., Glory E. Dharmaraj, and Jacob S. Dharmaraj. Many Faces, One Church: A Manual for Cross-racial and Cross-cultural Ministry. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006.

McCulloh, Gerald O., ed. The Ministry in the Methodist Heritage. Nashville: Department of Ministerial Education, Board of Education, The Methodist Church, 1960.

Matthews, Rex D. Ministerial Orders and Sacramental Authority in the United Methodist Church and Its Antecedents, 1784-2016. Nashville: Wesley’s Foundery Books, 2018.

Mickle, Jeffrey P. “A Comparison of the Doctrines of Ministry of Francis Asbury and Philip William Otterbein.” Perspectives on American Methodism, chapter 6, 93-107.

Norwood, Frederick A. “The Shaping of Methodist Ministry.” Religion in Life 43 (Autumn 1974): 337-351.

Outler, Albert C. “The Ordinal.” In Companion to the Book of Worship (1966), 103-144. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1970.

–––––. “Pastoral Care in the Wesleyan Spirit.” In The Wesleyan Theological Heritage: Essays of Albert C. Outler, edited by Leicester R. Longden and Thomas C. Oden, 175-88. Grand Rapids, MI: Francis Asbury Press of Zondervan Publishing House, 1991.

Park, HiRho, and M. Kathryn Armistead. Nevertheless She Leads: Postcolonial Women’s Leadership in the Church. Nashville: Higher Education & Ministry, General Board of Education and Ministry, The United Methodist Church, 2020.

Pieterse, Hendrik R., et al. The Orders of Ministry: Problems and Prospects. Nashville: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, United Methodist Church, 2007.

Richey, Russell E. Extension Ministers: Mr. Wesley’s True Heirs. Nashville: United Methodist Church, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 2008.

Shreeve, Esther, and Philip Luscombe. What is a Minister? London: Epworth, 2002.

Steinmetz, David C. “Asbury’s Doctrine of Ministry.” In his Memory and Mission, Theological Reflections on the Christian Past. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1988, 82-95.

Williams, J. Dennis. “From Presiding Elder to District Superintendent: The Development of an Office in Episcopal Methodism from 1792 to 1908.” Methodist History 40 (July 2002): 255-265.

Theological Studies

Campbell, Dennis M. The Yoke of Obedience: The Meaning of Ordination in Methodism. Revised edition. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.

Joyner, Kristin, et al. Filling the Void: Voices from the None Zone. Knoxville: Market Square Books, 2019.

Lawrence, William B. Ordained Ministry in The United Methodist Church. Nashville: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 2011.

Messer, Donald E. Contemporary Images of Christian Ministry. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989.

–––––, ed. Send Me? The Itinerancy in Crisis. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991. From their respective perspectives laypersons, clergy spouses, clergy couples and bishops explore the issues connected with itinerancy, e.g. guaranteed appointments, freedom of the pulpit, open itinerancy, etc.

Oden, Thomas C. Ministry Through Word and Sacrament. New York: Crossroad, 1988.

–––––. Pastoral Theology: Essentials of Ministry. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983.

Oh, Gwang Seok. John Wesley’s Ecclesiology: A Study in its Sources and Development. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008.

Rubey, Sharon G. The Christian as Minister: An Exploration in the Meaning of God’s Call to Ministry and the Ways The United Methodist Church Offers to Live Out that Call. Eighth edition. Nashville: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 2013.

Willimon, William H. Pastor: A Reader for Ordained Ministry. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002.

–––––. Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2002.

Basic Wesley Texts

Sermons:

“On Obedience to Pastors” (1785). Sermon 97 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 3:373-383.

“On the Death of John Fletcher” (1785). Sermon 114 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 3:610-629.

“On Visiting the Sick” (1786). Sermon 98 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 3:387-397.

“Prophets and Priests” [“The Ministerial Office”] (1789). Sermon 121 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 4:72-84.

Letters:

“To James Hervey, March 20, 1739.” In The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 24:609-610. Also in John Wesley, edited by Albert C. Outler, 70-73.

“To Samuel Walker, September 24, 1755.” In The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 25:592-596. Also in John Wesley, edited by Albert C. Outler, 73-76.

“To Thomas Adam, October 31, 1755.” In The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 25:609-611.

Essays:

“Address to the Clergy” (1756). In The Works of John Wesley, ed. Thomas Jackson, 10:480-500.

“Of Preaching Christ” (1751). In The Works of John Wesley, ed. Thomas Jackson, 11:486-492.

“Thoughts Concerning Gospel Ministers” (1784). In The Works of John Wesley, ed. Thomas Jackson, 10:455-456.

Classic Texts

Asbury, Francis. “A Valedictory Address to William McKendree, 1813” and “Address to the General Conference of 1816.” In The Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury, edited by J. Manning Potts, 3:475-492; 3:531-542.

Clarke, Adam. Preacher’s Manual, including Clavis Biblica; or, A Compendium of Scriptural Knowledge, and his Letter to a Methodist Preacher on his Entrance into the Work of the Ministry; and also, Dr. Coke’s Four Discourses on the Duties of a Minister of the Gospel. New York: Bangs and Mason for the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1821. A classic text kept in print by American Methodists until 1897.

Coke, Thomas. Four Discourses on the Duties of a Minister of the Gospel. London: G. Whitfield; Philadelphia: John Dickins, 1798.

Fletcher, John W. Portrait of St. Paul; or, The True Model for Christians and Pastors. London: T. Longman, 1790. First American Methodist printing, 1804; kept in print until 1896. Reprint Salem, OH: Schmul Publishers, 1986.

Wythe, J. H. An Essay on the Pastoral Office as Exemplified in the Economy of the Methodist Episcopal Church. New York: Carlton & Phillips, 1853.

The Ministry of Bishops and District Superintendents

Ammons, Edsel A., Ernest S. Lyght, and Jonathan D. Keaton. The Confessions of Three Ebony Bishops. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008.

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2012. “The Superintendency,” 315-349.

Craig, Judith. The Leading Women: Stories of the First Women Bishops of the United Methodist Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2004.

Ives, Jane P. They Also Serve: Methodist and United Methodist Bishop Spouses, 1940-2018. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2020.

Kirby, James E. The Episcopacy in American Methodism. Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2000.

Kirby, James E., Russell E. Richey, and Kenneth E. Rowe. The Methodists. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. See Chapter 2 regarding Bishops.

Koontz, Paul Rhodes, and Walter Edwin Roush. The Bishops: Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Two Volumes. Dayton, OH: The Otterbein Press, 1950.

Leiffer, Murray Howard. The District Superintendent in the United Methodist Church. Evanston, IL: Garrett Theological Seminary, 1971.

Mathews, James K., and William B. Oden, eds. Vision and Supervision: A Sourcebook of Significant Documents of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church, 1968-2002. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.

Mathews, James K. Set Apart to Serve: The Meaning and Role of Episcopacy in the Wesleyan Tradition. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1985.

Millhouse, Paul W. Nineteen Bishops of the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Nashville: The Parthenon Press, 1974.

Mitchell, Joseph. There is an Election!: Episcopal Elections in the Southeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. Troy, AL: Leader Press, 1980.

Moede, Gerald F. The Office of Bishop in Methodism: Its History and Development. New York: Abingdon Press, 1964.

Nelson, John R. “Methodism and the Papacy.” In A Pope for All Christians, edited by Peter J. McCord, 148-175. New York: Paulist Press, 1975.

Position Papers and Documents, Council of Bishops, The Methodist Church 1965-1968, The United Methodist Church 1968-1984: A Bibliography. Louisville, KY: Office of the Secretary of The Council of Bishops, UMC, 1986.

Rader, Sharon Zimmerman, and Margaret Ann Crain. Women Bishops of The United Methodist Church: Extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2019.

Richey, Russell E., and Thomas Edward Frank. Episcopacy in the Methodist Tradition: Perspectives and Proposals. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2004.

Rowe, Kenneth E. Episcopacy and District Superintendency in the United Methodist Tradition: A Chronological Bibliography. Madison, NJ: Drew University, Theological School, 1974.

Short, Roy H. The Episcopal Leadership Role in United Methodism. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1985.

–––––. History of The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church, 1939-1979. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1980.

United Methodist Church, Council of Bishops. Messages of the Council of Bishops of The Methodist Church and The United Methodist Church during its First Forty Years, 1939-1979. Washington, DC: Office of the Secretary of the Council of Bishops, 1979.

Veh, Raymond M., ed. Thumbnail Sketches of Evangelical Bishops. Harrisburg, PA: The Evangelical Publishing House, 1939.

Willimon, William H. Bishop: The Art of Questioning Authority by an Authority in Question. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2012.

Baptism

By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism. Nashville: General Board of Discipleship, 1996. Text of statement adopted by General Conference 1996; also in Book of Resolutions 2020/2024.

Benedict, Daniel T., Jr. Come To The Waters: Baptism and Our Ministry of Welcoming Seekers and Making Disciples. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1996.

Benedict, Daniel T., Jr., and Mark Trotter. Celebrating New Life: The Pastor’s Practical Guide to Baptism. Nashville: Cokesbury, 1998.

Borgen, Ole E. “Baptism, Confirmation and Church Membership in the Methodist Church before the Union of 1968: A Historical and Theological Study.” Methodist History 27 (1989): 89-109, 163-181.

–––––. This Gift of Water: The Theology and Practice of Baptism among Methodists in America. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992.

Felton, Gayle Carlton, and Dwight Vogel. By Water and the Spirit: Making Connections for Identity and Ministry. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2002.

Grant, Sharon J. Rebaptism Calmly Considered: Christian Initiation and Resistance in the Early A.M.E. Church of Jamaica. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2019.

Hohenstein, Charles. The Revisions of the Rites of Baptism in the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1784-1939. Diss., University of Notre Dame, 1990.

Holland, Bernard G. Baptism in Early Methodism. London: Epworth Press, 1970.

Knight, Henry H., III. “The Significance of Baptism for the Christian Life: Wesley’s Pattern of Christian Initiation.” Worship 63/2 (March 1989): 133-142.

“Lutheran-United Methodist Papers on Baptism.” Perkins Journal 34 (Winter 1981): 1-56.

“A Lutheran-United Methodist Statement on Baptism.” Quarterly Review 1 (Fall 1980): 59-68. See also Lutheran and Methodist comment, 69-79. Statement and brief study guide available from Service Center, General Board of Global Ministries, UMC, Cincinnati, OH.

Methodist Church in Britain. All This for You: The Meaning of Baptism in the Methodist Church. Peterborough, UK: Methodist Publishing House, 2011.

Naglee, David I. From Font to Faith: John Wesley on Infant Baptism and the Nurture of Children. New York: Peter Lang, 1987.

Oh, Gwang Seok. John Wesley’s Ecclesiology: A Study in its Sources and Development. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008.

Powers, Jonathan A., editor. New Life in the Risen Christ: A Wesleyan Theology of Baptism. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2023.

Ruth, Lester W. Accompanying the Journey: A Handbook for Sponsors. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1997.

Tanner, Carolyn K. I Belong to God!: An Intergenerational Study Guide for By Water and the Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism. Akron, OH: OSL Publications, 2007.

Vogel, Dwight. By Water & The Spirit: A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1996.

Wesley, John. “The Marks of the New Birth” (1748). Sermon 18 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 1:415-430.

–––––. “The Great Privilege of those that are Born of God” (1748). Sermon 19 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 1:431-443.

_____. “The New Birth” (1760). Sermon 45 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 2:186-201.

–––––. “Serious Thoughts Concerning Godfathers and Godmothers” (1752). In The Works of John Wesley, ed. Thomas Jackson, 10:506-509.

–––––. “Treatise on Baptism” (1758). In The Works of John Wesley, ed. Thomas Jackson, 10:188-201. Also in John Wesley, edited by Albert C. Outler, 318-332.

Willimon, William H. Remember Who You Are: Baptism, a Model for Christian Life. Nashville: The Upper Room, 1980.

Holy Communion

Anderson, E. Byron. The Meaning of Holy Communion in the United Methodist Church. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2007. Available in Spanish.

Bowmer, John C. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in Early Methodism. Nashville: Parthenon Press, 1996. Reprint of the 1951 edition.

Cocksworth, Christopher J. Evangelical Eucharistic Thought in the Church of England. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Includes section on John Wesley.

Durn, Pippa, Anne Montefiore, and Andy Jackson, eds. Share this Feast: Reflecting on Holy Communion. London: The Methodist Church, 2018.

Elliott, Daryl M. “The Lord’s Supper and the United Brethren in Christ.” Methodist History 27 (July 1989): 211-229.

Felton, Gayle Carlton. This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion. Nashville: Discipleship, 2005.

_____. United Methodists and the Sacraments. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.

Kimbrough, ST, Dean B. McIntyre, and C. Michael Hawn, eds. A Theology of the Sacraments Interpreted by John and Charles Wesley; including Hymns for Baptism and Holy Communion with Commentary and New Musical Settings. Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2021.

Kirkwood, Colleen. Let the Children Come: Children at Holy Communion. Cape Town, South Africa: The Church, 1993.

Kriewald, Diedra, and Barbara P. Garcia. Communion Book for Children. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1985. Available in Spanish and English.

Matthews, Rex D. Ministerial Orders and Sacramental Authority in the United Methodist Church and Its Antecedents, 1784-2016. Nashville: Wesley’s Foundery Books, 2018.

Methodist Church in Britain. At the Breaking of the Bread: The Methodist Worship Book Communion Services. Peterborough, UK: Methodist Publishing House, 2001.

Methodist Church in Britain. His Presences Makes the Feast: Holy Communion in the Methodist Church. Peterborough, UK: Methodist Publishing House, 2003.

Pieterse, Hendrik R., ed. The Eucharist in a United Methodist Perspective. Nashville, TN: Board of Higher Education and Ministry, United Methodist Church, 2008.

Rattenbury, John E. The Eucharistic Hymns of John and Charles Wesley. Cleveland, OH: OSL Publications, 1990. A reprint of Rattenbury’s 1948 edition rewritten in inclusive language. The Hymns on the Lord’s Supper, an important appendix, remains unedited.

Ruth, Lester W., and Craig A. Satterlee. Creative Preaching on the Sacraments. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2001.

Ruth, Lester W. “A Reconsideration of the Frequency of the Eucharist in Early American Methodism.” Methodist History 34 (October 1995): 47-58.

Sanders, Paul S. “Wesley’s Eucharistic Faith and Practice.” Anglican Theological Review 148 (February 1966): 154-174. Reprinted in Doxology 5 (1988): 21-34.

Sours, Stephen B., and Edgardo Antonio Colón-Emeric. Whose Sacrifice is the Eucharist?: The Offering of Christ and His Church in Catholic and Methodist Theology. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2024.

Stallings, W. Joseph. Unleashing the Work of God: The Necessity of Constant Word and Sacrament in Methodism. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2019.

Stamm, Mark Wesley. Let Every Soul Be Jesus’ Guest: A Theology of the Open Table. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006.

Stookey, Laurence H. Eucharist: Christ’s Feast with The Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993.

Tanner, Carolyn K., and Gayle Carlton Felton. This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion: A Study Guide for Children and Youth. Akron, OH: OSL Publications, 2006.

Tovey, Phillip. The Theory and Practice of Extended Communion. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2009.

Vickers, Jason E. A Wesleyan Theology of the Eucharist: The Presences of God for Christian Life and Ministry. Nashville, TN: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 2016.

Wainwright, Geoffrey. Eucharist and Eschatology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. Reprint of 1971 edition.

Wesley, John. “The Duty of Constant Communion” (1732, reissued 1787). Sermon 101 in The Works of John Wesley (Bicentennial Edition), 3:427-439. Also in John Wesley, edited by Albert C. Outler, 332-344.

–––––, and Charles Wesley. Hymns on the Lord’s Supper. Madison, NJ: Charles Wesley Society, 1995. Facsimile reprint of first, 1745 edition. 166 hymns plus a digest of Brevint’s Christian Sacrament and Sacrifice (1673), with introduction by Geoffrey Wainwright.

West, Stephen P., and Don E. Saliers. Something Happens Here: Reclaiming the Distinctiveness of Wesley’s Communion Spirituality in Times of Divisiveness. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2022.

Woodruff Tait, Jennifer L. The Poisoned Chalice: Eucharistic Grape Juice and Common-sense Realism in Victorian Methodism. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2011.

Theological Ethics

Beach, Waldo, and H. Richard Niebuhr, eds. Christian Ethics. New York: Roland Press, 1955. See “John Wesley,” 353-365.

Birch, Bruce C., and Larry L. Rasmussen. Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life. Revised and expanded edition. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1989.

Bredlinger, Irv A. Social Justice through the Eyes of Wesley: John Wesley’s Theological Challenge to Slavery. [Guelph, Ontario]: Joshua Press, 2006.

Browder, Michael Heath. Heart Ethics: Pursuing Christian Love according to the Theology of John Wesley. Nicholasville, KY: Emeth Press, 2020.

Chilcote, Paul Wesley. Active Faith: Resisting 4 Dangerous Ideologies with the Wesleyan Way. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2019.

Cracknell, Kenneth, and Susan J. White, eds. An Introduction to World Methodism. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. See chapter “Methodist Social Ethics.”

Eli, R. George. Social Holiness: John Wesley’s Thinking on Christian Community and its Relationship to the Social Order. New York: Peter Lang, 1993.

Gonzales, Justo, et al. Poverty and Ecclesiology: Nineteenth-Century Evangelicals in the Light of Liberation Theology. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992.

Hauerwas, Stanley. After Christendom: How the Church is to behave if Freedom, Justice and a Christian Nation are Bad Ideas. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991.

Hauerwas, Stanley, and Samuel Wells. The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

Hulley, Leonard D. To Be and To Do: Exploring Wesley’s Thought on Ethical Behaviour. Pretoria: University of South Africa, 1988.

Hynson, Leon T. To Reform the Nation: The Theological Foundations of Wesley’s Ethics. Grand Rapids, MI: Francis Asbury Press of Zondervan Publishing House, 1985.

Jennings, Theodore W., Jr. Good News to the Poor: John Wesley’s Evangelical Economics. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990.

Jones, Major J. Christian Ethics for Black Theology. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1974.

Long, D. Stephen. John Wesley’s Moral Theology: The Quest for God and Goodness. Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2005.

Lovin, Robin W. An Introduction to Christian Ethics: Goals, Duties, Virtues. Abingdon Press, 2011.

Lowery, Kevin Twain. Salvaging Wesley’s Agenda: A New Paradigm for Wesleyan Virtue Ethics. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2008.

Marquardt, Manfred. John Wesley’s Social Ethics: Praxis and Principles. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2000. Originally published in 1992 by Abingdon Press.

Meeks, M. Douglas. God the Economist: The Doctrine of God and Political Economy. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989.

Mussman, Robert Byron. The Candle of the Lord: The Ethical Teachings of John Wesley. Salem, OH: Schmul Publishing Co., Inc., 1992.

Oden, Thomas C. John Wesley’s Teachings. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012. See volume IV on Ethics and Society.

Park, John Sungmin, and Lane A. Scott. Holiness as a Root of Morality: Essays on Wesleyan Ethics, Essays in Honor of Lane A. Scott. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2006.

Seifert, Harvey. What on Earth? Making Personal Decisions on Controversial Issues. Nashville: Discipleship Resources for Church and Society, 1991.

Stone, Ronald H. John Wesley’s Life and Ethics. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2001.

Weber, Theodore R. Politics in the Order of Salvation: New Directions in Wesleyan Political Ethics. Nashville: Kingswood Books, 2001.

Wogaman, J. Philip. Christian Moral Judgment. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1989.

–––––. Making Moral Decisions. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990.

–––––. Christian Ethics: A Historical Introduction. Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2011