Pursuing Social Holiness: The Band Meeting in Wesley's Thought and Popular Methodist Practice

by Kevin M. Watson

Overview

Kevin M. Watson offers the first in-depth examination of an essential early Methodist tradition: the band meeting, a small group of five to seven people who focused on the confession of sin in order to grow in holiness. Watson shows how the band meeting, which figured significantly in John Wesley's theology of discipleship, united Wesley's emphasis on the importance of holiness with his conviction that Christians are most likely to make progress in the Christian life together, rather than in isolation.

Demonstrating that neither John Wesley's theology nor popular Methodism can be understood independent of each other, Watson explores how Wesley synthesized important aspects of Anglican piety (an emphasis on a disciplined practice of the means of grace) and Moravian piety (an emphasis on an experience of justification by faith and the witness of the Spirit) in his own version of the band meeting. Pursuing Social Holiness is an essential contribution to understanding the critical role of the band meeting in the development of British Methodism and shifting concepts of community in eighteenth-century British society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190270957
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/01/2015
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Kevin M. Watson is Assistant Professor of Historical Theology and Wesleyan Studies at Seattle Pacific University. He completed his PhD at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX) in the History of the Christian Tradition. An ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, Watson lives with his wife and three children in Seattle, WA.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations

Introduction
1. Forerunners of the Early Methodist Band Meeting
2. John Wesley's Structure and Theology of Discipleship
3. The Bands as a Key to the Distinctive Wesleyan Synthesis of Anglican and Moravian Piety
4. ''The Band Was of Great Service to Me'': Early Popular Methodist Experience of the Band Meeting (ca. 1739 - ca. 1765)
5. ''We Had a Heaven among Us'': Transition in the Popular Practice of the Bands (ca. 1766 - ca. 1801)
Conclusion

Appendices
A. Fetter Lane Rules (I) (1738)
B. Fetter Lane Rules (II) (1738)
C. ''Rules of the Band Societies'' (1738)
D. ''Directions Given to the Band Societies' (1744)
E. ''A Method of Confession drawn up by Mr Whitefield, for the Use of the Women belonging to the Religious Societies - Taken from the Original, under Mr Whitefield's own Hand'' (1739)
F. Excerpt from William Seward's Manuscript Diary on the Importance and Method of Band Meetings (1740)
G. ''The Method of Mr. Westlay Band Meetings,'' Samuel Roberts Excerpt from Manuscript Volume
H. Of the Right Method of Meeting Classes and Bands, in the Methodist-Societies by the Late Mr. Charles Perronet

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This is a brilliant study of one of the foundational institutions of eighteenth-century Methodism. Early Methodism was at its heart a community event. The bands, along with the class meetings, were what bound Methodist societies together. Anyone who wants to understand the rise of Methodism should give this account careful consideration. This is a book we have long needed." —John Wigger, Professor, Department of History, University of Missouri

"Watson's work on the band meeting is the definitive history of this practice of small-group confession within eighteenth-century English evangelicalism. Watson not only demonstrates the importance of this practice for the revival and the Wesleyan notion of 'social holiness' in the eighteenth century, but also outlines the reasons for its decline in the nineteenth century. This is a must-have for scholars of Methodism and eighteenth-century religious history." —Scott Kisker, Professor of Church History, United Theological Seminary

"This groundbreaking study offers the most detailed account to date of band meetings in early Wesleyan Methodism. Watson first demonstrates the distinctive synthesis of Anglican and Moravian precedents in John Wesley's mature model for the bands. He then engages a range of primary sources to provide a richly textured account of the practice of bands through the eighteenth century. Highly recommended." —Randy L. Maddox, William Kellon Quick Professor of Wesleyan Methodist Studies, Duke Divinity School

From the Publisher