Story courtesy of the
Centennial Committee of the
Wesleyan Holiness Church
The Wesleyan Church finds its roots in the church of the New Testament, sharing with the primitive church its saving faith in Jesus Christ. Some major events in the history of the Christian faith have led to the Wesleyan Church’s existence. Early church history reveals a church that was severely persecuted until about AD 313 when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of his empire. Christianity was organized mainly around large churches in influential cities, such as Rome in Italy and Byzantium in what is now Turkey. In A.D 1054 the churches of Western Europe and eastern Europe divided into what have become the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
From A.D. 1054 to 1517 A.D., western Christianity was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. However, during the time of the Renaissance (a time of great learning and new appreciation for the arts and sciences) in the 1400s, powerful new nations began emerging in Europe with a desire for less political control by the Pope. The year 1517 marked the beginning of a period called the Protestant Reformation. This was a time when men like Martin Luther and John Calvin, among others, formed their own churches having failed in their attempts to reform the Catholic church of their day.
Many “state churches” emerged during the Reformation. One of the newly independent churches formed in this way was the Church of England, established in 1534 by King Henry VIII. This was the church in which John Wesley spent his entire life as an ordained priest and minister. In 1738, Wesley experienced a personal spiritual transformation or conversion. His powerful preaching that grew out of this experience resulted in a nation-wide revival. Wesley’s labours led to the birth of Methodism in England. Later, in 1766, Methodism took root in the American colonies under the leadership of Francis Asbury and later Thomas Coke. Within fifty years, the Methodists were one of the largest religious groups in the United States.
By the 1830s and 1840s slavery had become a crucial social issue. The bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church (as the American Methodists were called), wanted to avoid divisive debates about the subject during the church’s General Conferences. In protest, many congregations pulled out of the denomination and formed an association of independent local churches called the Wesleyan Methodist Connection in 1843. The new organization had no bishops, opposed slavery, opposed war, supported women’s rights, encouraged child labour reform, supported the emerging labour movement, and battled an assortment of social and political reform issues.
After the American Civil War, some of these independent churches reunited with the Methodist Church. Others, however, continued to network with one another and developed a stronger affiliation. They were joined by other churches and organizations interested in promoting the teaching of Christian holiness. In 1947 these churches adopted as their name The Wesleyan Methodist Church of America.
During the late 1800s, the teachings of holiness became widespread in many denominations besides the Methodist groups in America. This led to the formation of holiness unions, camp-meeting associations, and independent churches many of which eventually merged to form what became known as the Pilgrim Holiness Church in 1922.
Some of the denominations that merged included Holiness Christian Church (1882), International Holiness Union and Prayer League (1897), Pentecostal Rescue Mission (1897), and the Pilgrim Church (1917).
In 1968 the Wesleyan Church was created by the uniting of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Pilgrim Holiness Church. This merger came about because both groups had similar teachings and governments, and saw the advantages of combining their resources and efforts to make Christ known around the world. It was at a specially called field conference in 1970 that the merger name for the Caribbean ‘The Wesleyan Holiness Church’ was adopted. Today the Wesleyan Church claims over 411, 000 worshippers and is active in about one hundred nations including North America, England, the Caribbean, the Philippines, Latin America, Japan, Australia, and regions of Africa.
(The St Kitts District comprises churches in the following islands: St. Kitts, Nevis, Saba and Anguilla).
