The British Methodist Church defines oversight as the means by which churches remain true to their calling. Its presbyters are charged with upholding Constitution, Practice, and Discipline or ‘CPD’. This research employs a combination of Practical Theology methods to examine the challenge of applying CPD to fresh expressions (forms of Church established for the benefit of those who are not yet members of a local church). It offers three original insights in regard to the tension between mission-praxis and ecclesiological discipline. First, it provides empirical evidence to support the anecdotal observation that not all fresh expressions are authentic in that they lack ecclesial intent. A combination of factors inhibited this. New churches can be formed when twelve Methodist members unite. Current legislation allows members of the Church to belong to only one society, meaning that leaders face the conflict of leaving their parent church if they are to form a new church. Second, membership mediated an unequal power balance between fresh expressions and their parent churches, undermining progress towards achieving a ‘mixed economy’. This situation was confounded by the fact that newcomers to fresh expressions viewed Methodist membership as an institutional construct and requirement, rather than an opportunity for spiritual renewal. Third, the Methodist Church policy that encourages presbyters to apply CPD with a ‘light-touch’ in respect of how its disciplines are applied to new work, risks inconsistency. This thesis invites the Church to find a way of identifying which of its fresh expressions have genuine ecclesial intent, reflect on how membership is impacting their ecclesial formation, and widen its existing legislation so that a Methodist member may belong to two local societies at the same time. This, combined with additional District oversight, would remove some significant barriers to ecclesial formation.

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This thesis, which assists our understanding of the interaction between religious belief and political activity, presents a study of the politics of the Primitive Methodist Church and the MPs associated with it between 1886 and 1922. This was the zenith of the Church’s political activism. It traces Primitive Methodism’s evolution from an apolitical body, preaching individual salvation and with a particular mission to the working classes, to one that also promoted social salvation through progressive politics. The Church’s emphasis on individual moral improvement during its early decades receded and it increasingly advocated collectivist solutions to social ills, eventually espousing a balanced and synergetic combination of the two principles. This increasing engagement with progressive national politics manifested itself in the election of December 1885. In the wake of the franchise extension of 1884, 12 working-class MPs were elected, five of whom were closely associated with the Church. Although two working men, including Thomas Burt, the son of a Primitive Methodist local preacher, had preceded them in 1874, this influx of plebeian MPs was an event unprecedented in parliamentary history. The proportion drawn from a minor religious denomination was also notable. All told, my research has identified 44 MPs associated with Primitive Methodism between its foundation in the first decade of the nineteenth century and 1932, when the Church merged with other Methodist denominations. Although it frequently asserted that it was not wedded to any one political party, the reality was different. Initially, the Church and its MPs were firmly Liberal. However, the Liberal allegiance gradually diminished and an increasing number of Primitives supported other political parties, particularly the emergent Labour Party. Historians have often focused on the importance of Primitive Methodists in the foundation and leadership of a number of early trade unions, particularly those for coal miners and agricultural labourers. The historian Eric Hobsbawm deduced from this that the Church experienced a ‘partial transformation … into a labour sect’: mutating from a purely religious organization into one that provided the Labour Movement with leaders. However, he lamented the lack of detailed inquiry into the religious background of the early generation of working-class MPs. This thesis remedies that deficiency in relation to the Primitive MPs, within the context of the Church’s own parliamentary agenda. The core of this study begins in 1886 with the election of the group of Primitive MPs and ends in 1922 as the Church’s leadership began to realise that political activism was no longer a harmonising force for its members. It explores the Church’s official parliamentary aims and priorities as expressed at its Annual Conferences and District Meetings, the spectrum of members’ views articulated in Church publications, and the activities of its MPs in and out of Parliament. These are considered in the context of Primitive Methodism’s social and occupational composition, its geographical distribution, and theological foundations. Although necessary to understanding the Church’s political trajectory, lack of space has restricted discussion of the Church’s political activism from 1923 to 1932 to a brief overview.

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No description available.

This study considers the nature of Methodist allegiance in four south Nottinghamshire parishes from the arrival of the denomination in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century until about 1875. In this area, Methodism became strongly established against an inadequate Anglican church but nevertheless most individuals did not exhibit an exclusive commitment. Using records from the Newark, subsequently Bingham, Wesleyan Methodist circuit, relating to the Societies in three medium-sized villages and one small market town, and looking particularly at Methodist membership and decisions regarding choice of baptismal rite, the research shows the existence of both exogenous growth and continuing fluidity of allegiance from the early period until well beyond the mid-century point of the religious census. It demonstrates a previously unidentified, significant turnover in Methodist membership throughout the period, which occurred irrespective of apparent growth, stability or decline. This lends support to the growing body of evidence about both varying and dual denominational allegiance, in particular between the Wesleyan chapel and the parish church. The research further confirms this phenomenon in relation to baptismal decisions, where some committed Methodist families continued to use the Anglican rite and many varied their choice for different children. In investigating these facets of religious life, the study also establishes the existence of emerging religious competition during the nineteenth century, evidenced additionally in competitive church building, service patterns and the provision of education. Only by the last quarter of the century were denominational boundaries clearly hardening, particularly in the town of Bingham, but this thesis demonstrates that until then allegiance was neither exclusive nor consistent.

This thesis is a contribution to the organisational history of Methodism. It seeks to investigate and record the origins, development and significance of the circuit in the connexional structure of Methodism. This in order to rectify what is an omission in Methodist histories and to inform future reflection on organisation. The field of research is Wesleyan and Primitive Methodism in England from c. 1740 to 1914. Originally the route of an itinerant preacher, the circuit soon became a ‘sub-regional’ unit of oversight, ministry and administration within a connexional structure. Itinerancy however remained an essential element of the connexional system. After addressing circuit origins and the transition, this thesis proceeds to investigate its development, both in the context of the Connexion and internally. The number, size and shape of circuits is explored, together with influencing factors. The main internal elements: the quarterly meeting, the local preachers’ meeting and the role of assistant (later superintendent) receive individual attention, as do the ‘temporal affairs’ of the circuit. Examination of the suitability of the circuit and itinerant system for inner city work in the late nineteenth century shows its limitations in this respect. In addressing the circuit in organisational terms, the implications, benefits and tensions of being part of a Connexion are brought to light. This includes the relationship between the conference and the circuits, and the expectations and understandings of lay people (including local preachers) against those of the itinerants. The significant differences between Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist organisational practice are identified.

This research looks at the emergence of the Primitive Methodist Connexion in the period 1800-1812, from a revival at Harriseahead, Staffordshire. It examines the ‘creation narrative’ the Connexion told about its beginnings, posing two questions: How influential was the first chronicler and founder of the community, Hugh Bourne, on subsequent accounts? Can a fuller story be told which places Primitive Methodist origins and Bourne’s early influences in a wider context? Use is made of contemporaneous material published by Bourne and William Clowes, the Connexion’s other recognised founder, their surviving MSS, extant records of the Burslem Wesleyan Circuit and Chester District, New Connexion, Wesleyan and Independent Methodist connexional records, as well as parish registers and later published accounts. An outline of Primitive Methodist historiography is given in the introductory chapter. Primitive Methodist origins are then re-examined in four phases. In the years 1797-1800, a context is set of division in Burslem Wesleyanism brought about by the emergence of the Methodist New Connexion. The formative years of Lorenzo Dow, John Riles and William Edward Miller are surveyed, and the influences they brought to bear on later events identified. In 1800-1804, when the revival gathered pace, the role of Daniel Shubotham, Bourne’s cousin, is re-assessed. Changes in the Burslem Wesleyan Circuit in 1805-1807 included the arrival of Miller and Riles, and the visit of American maverick evangelist Dow, and the impact on the revival of the resultant changing dynamics are explored. The aftermath of the revivalists holding a camp meeting on 31 May 1807 was a Wesleyan ban and a circuit dispute, causing rifts between Bourne, Shubotham and Clowes. This delicate subject for Primitive Methodist historiography is re-examined, as is the likely role of Superintendent John Riles, and the question of whether in 1808-1812 a linking of the camp meeting Methodists with the New Connexion was ever likely. In conclusion, three key influences upon Hugh Bourne in the emergence of Primitive Methodism are identified. Firstly the Methodist New Connexion gave a context for Bourne’s early ministry in a weakened circuit, and for the emergence later of a separate revivalist community. Secondly, Shubotham’s spirituality was influential for Bourne despite the fissure between them. Lastly, the ‘self-superintending’ ministry of Dow inspired Bourne to continue to hold camp meetings and divided him from Shubotham and Clowes. These second two factors are to be found in Bourne’s writings, but the dominance of his first full-length published account led to the forging of the Primitive Methodist creation narrative at an early stage. Attention to all three factors enables a contextually richer story to emerge.

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Στην παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία μελετάται η εξέλιξη της μετασεισμικής ακολουθίας του σεισμού της 10ης Απριλίου του 2007 στην λίμνη Τριχωνίδα όπως καταγράφηκε από το τοπικό μικροσεισμικό δίκτυο 8 σεισμογράφων οι οποίοι τοποθετήθηκαν γύρω από τη λίμνη (Εικ 1). Σκοπός της εργασίας είναι: 1) ο προσδιορισμός των επικέντρων, του εστιακού βάθους και του μεγέθους των σεισμών, 2) η περιγραφή της σεισμικότητας στην περιοχή κατά το διάστημα 11/04/07-01/05/07 και 3) η εύρεση των μηχανισμών γένεσης για τα καλύτερα προσδιορισμένα γεγονότα. / This study examines the after shocks activity of Trichonis earthquake of 10th April from the recorders of a microseismic network.