The Methodist Family Tree

I have posted a print-out of the family tree. It can be found here.

The Methodist Movement began in England under John Wesley. It was officially birthed in America in 1784 under the name The Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church. In 1816 and 1820, two African-American congregations (African Methodist Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal Zion) split off from The M.E. Today, they remain "separated" in what is referred to as Pan-Methodist churches. These denominations were formed over disputes that arose from issues related to race within particular churches.

In 1830, The Methodist Protestant (M.P.) Church split from The M.E. out of a debate over the power of bishops to make decisions, and the lack of power for lay people.

In 1844, The M.E. further split into The Methodist Episcopal Church and The Methodist Episcopal Church, South. This was a split over the issues concerning slavery and was sparked at the General Conference when concern was brought forth because of a slave-owning Bishop. in 1870, the M.E. South held a meeting to help its own black members establish a separate denomination. It was called the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (C.M.E.) later to be renamed The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (C.M.E.) that it remains today. The C.M.E. joins the A.M.E. and A.M.E.Z. in the Pan-Methodist church category.

In 1939, The Methodist Protestant Church, The Methodist Episcopal Church and The Methodist Episcopal Church South all reunited (remember, these were all "united" up until 1830) to form The Methodist Church.

NOW, let's back up with another denomination in our country's history. In 1800, the German-speaking followers of Philip William Otterbein and Martin Boehm organized as the United Brethren in Christ. In many ways, the United Brethren shared a heritage and a kinship with John Wesley and his Methodist Movement. In 1803, Jacob Albright (with a background in a Methodist Class Meeting) formed the Evangelical Association, also in kinship with the Methodist Movement, and also formed to minister to German-speaking Americans. In 1946, these two denominations merged to form the Evangelical United Brethren (E.U.B.) Church.

FINALLY, in 1968, The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to form the modern-day denomination, The United Methodist Church.

In a non-family tree representation, but a chronological timeline of important dates (there is more than just these):

1784 - Methodist Episcopal Church Formation (Christmas Conference)
1800 - United Brethren Church Formation
1803 - Evangelical Association Formation
1816 - African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Split
1820 - African Methodist Episcopal Zion (A.M.E.Z.) Church Split
1830 - Methodist Protestant Church Split
1844 - Methodist Episcopal Church, South Split
1870 - Christian (formerly "Colored") Methodist Episcopal Church Split
1939 - The Methodist Church Reuniting
1946 - Evangelical United Brethren Church Merge
1968 - The United Methodist Church Merge

For much more on The United Methodist Church, I highly recommend visiting our many resources on the web.