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John Wesley, as the father of Methodism, did not intend to start a new denomination, but desired
to promote Holiness as a way of life. His formation of bands, classes, and societies was an
eclectic borrowing from both the Anglicans and the Moravians. Wesley said, “Holy solitaries’ is
a phrase no more consistent with the gospel than holy adulterers. The gospel of Christ knows of
no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness. (Thompson, p.172)” This focus on social
holiness led Wesley to develop this mutually dependent methodology through the incorporation
of bands, classes, and societies. I will examine the historical development, decline, and the need
for Wesley's methods in the world today.
Historical Development of Bands, Classes, and Societies
The origin of Methodist Societies can be traced back to Anthony Horneck in the 1670's.
Horneck and his contemporaries had a desire to meet together to develop a disciplined spiritual
life. From these small beginnings many societies were formed, most notably, the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge. John Wesley's father, Samuel, became active in this society,
and John later became a member. The purpose of the society had evolved to one that endorsed
lives of personal holiness (Heitzenrater, p.21-22). The discipline that John Wesley found in the
early societies was evident by the mark that they have left on Methodism. It is said that the
societies are the bodily composition of Methodism (Watson, p.74).
John Wesley had no aspirations of forming a new denomination. His upbringing set him on the
path of a life long quest for personal spiritual holiness that has created a ripple effect that is felt
throughout the world. John's parents were Samuel and Susanna Wesley. They both came from
families of dissenters of the Church of England, but both had returned to the Church. Susanna
taught all her children to read early and to think critically (Langford, p.19). John's early
development and training came from these home lessons, as well as his father's church. Around
the age of ten, John was sent to Charterhouse for formal education. John later studied at Oxford
University. It was during this time at Oxford that John Wesley observed a sort of spiritual
slackness in the world around him, and that spurred him to pursue personal piety and holiness for
his life (Heitzenrater, p.31).
When John's brother, Charles, began his studies at Oxford, he too noticed the difficulties of
living a holy life in a world that was spiritually slack. Charles sought the advise of his older
brother to help develop spiritual maturity (Heitzenrater, p.38). John visited Charles at Oxford
and as noted above, the birth of Methodism became a reality in the band of committed believers
at Oxford. From these humble beginnings the course of the Methodist movement was set in
motion. John Wesley combined his knowledge, experience, reason, and tradition to form a more
formal method of discipleship for those in earnest pursuit of holiness.
The Moravian bands have roots that travel back to late Medieval Christianity. The remnant of
the fellowship that survived the Medieval period were known as the Unitas Fractum. In the
eighteenth century, Herrnhut became the new center for the Unitas Fractum, with Count
Nikoulaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf the foremost leader (Watson, p. 76). The leadership of von
Zinzendorf resulted in the creation of the Banden, or small fellowship groups of people who
were committed to a disciplined life, striving toward personal holiness (Watson, 2010).
Bands were divided by age, gender, and marital status. Bands were formed from people that had
already accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and had experienced justification through
faith. Bands gave a means for mutual accountability and growth in the Christian faith
(Thompson, 2010). John Wesley had first hand exposure to the Moravian bands and heart
theology on a missionary trip to Georgia. Upon Wesley's return to England, he encountered a
Peter Bohler, a German Lutheran Minister, who furthered Wesley's interest in the teaching of the
Moravians. John Wesley later went to Germany to visit the Moravian communities and deepen
his understanding of what made these people especially holy (Heitzenrater, p.82). Ironically,
Wesley's quest for knowledge about the Moravian bands occurred after he had inadvertently
formed the first Methodist band.
The first Methodist band was formed out of a request to John Wesley, by his brother Charles, to
help Charles in his desire to grow in his faith. Charles was studying at Oxford and realized that
it was difficult for a young man to pursue Godliness in the college environment. At Charles'
request, John came to Charles at Oxford and with Charles' friends, William Morgan and Bob
Kirkham, they soon formed the first Methodist band (Heitzenrater, p.38). They met together
frequently for study, prayer, and general accountability. This small start led to growth beyond
what John Wesley would have ever imagined.
As noted, the bands were segregated by age, gender, and marital status. In 1738 John Wesley
wrote a four page Rules for the Band Societies. In this he states , “The design of our meeting is,
to obey that command of God, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that
ye may be healed." As well Wesley gives a list of suggested questions to search the soul of those
in attendance, but there were five mandatory questions that had to be asked to each person in
attendance:
1. What sin have you committed since our last Meeting?
2. What temptations have you met with?
3. How were you delivered?
4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be Sin or
not?
5. Have you nothing you desire to keep secret?
The mastermind of Wesley's plans for the bands was in his realization that being a disciple of
Christ was the natural response to the sanctifying grace of God (Watson, p.84). Bands were but
once piece of the Wesleyan Societal puzzle.
The Methodist classes were made up of more diverse groups of people (Watson, p.94). The
classes did not have their roots as a meeting, but as a method of reducing the debt that was
incurred by Methodist Societies for meeting houses and charitable works. The leader of the class
was responsible for between eleven and twenty other members of the class, not only for the
financial giving, but for the personal oversight of the class members (Thompson, 2010). Classes
developed from the Methodist Societies, and were divided by neighborhoods. The closeness of
proximity of the class leaders to their class helped develop the class leader position into more of
a pastoral role. In the early, formative development of the classes, the leaders would report
directly to John Wesley about the spiritual state of those in the class (Heitzenrater, p. 118).
Class leaders were entrusted with visiting each member of their class at least once a week, in the
member's home. It was in this manner that the class leader would be able to give an account of
each member of the class to either Wesley or the clergy that was appointed as shepherd of the
society. During a home visit the leader would have first hand knowledge on the state of the souls
of those in their charge, as well as any obstacles to the member in their personal pursuit of
holiness (Atkinson, p.13, 101). There were three primary rules for the classes:
1. Do no harm, and avoid evil in every kind.
2. Do good of every possible sort, and as far as possible to all men.
3. Attend upon all the ordinances of God.
The classes themselves did have fixed agendas, differing from the less formal style of the band
meetings (Watson, p.110). While bands were voluntary groups for the people that desired
spiritual maturity, the classes were mandatory for anyone that belonged to the Methodist
societies.
Membership into a Methodist society simply came from the desire of the person “to flee from the
wrath to come” (Thompson, 2010). As the societies grew in numbers, so did the need for more
accountability for the members of the societies. In his essay, From Sect to Church in British
Methodism, John H. Chamberlayne notes, “It is clear that to 'join the Methodists' meant
withdrawal from much social life and the necessity to find one's pleasures among the faithful
members of the local Society.”
Once a member of a society, a person would be required to become a member of a class. The
class accomplished many purposes including Christian fellowship, spiritual growth, and
outreach, but the primary purpose of these class meetings was to foster a sense of mutual
accountability among the members (Thompson, 2010). The small, close knit bands served those
people who desired to travel further down the road toward Christian perfection. The bands were
a way people who desired, could have a closer union during the process of sanctification. There
were also penitent bands for those people that had backslid, allowing them to repent and begin
the sanctification process anew. The spiritual direction of the societies, classes, and bands was
steered by John Wesley. Wesley did not believe in the lay person having a vote in who would
preach and teach (Dreyer, 1986). After Wesley's death the Methodist societies, classes, and
bands that he had so careful designed began to change.
Wesley's design for the Methodist societies, classes, and bands was little churches within the big
church (ecclesiolae in ecclesia). During the life of John Wesley the “big church” was the
Church of England. The American Methodists desired to break ties with the mother church, and
they formed their own new denomination. As a result of the separation of Methodist Church in
America with the Church of England, the little church within the big church model that Wesley
had patterned was beginning to unravel.
Decline of Methodist Societies, Classes, and Bands
In his day, John Wesley was fighting a spiritual battle. Wesley desired a true Christian revival.
He addresses this in his sermon, The Almost Christian. He believed that people were showing
the outward form of Christianity by not doing anything that was expressly forbidden by the
gospel. His call to change was to get people to make that inward change of the heart through
loving God and neighbor (Outler & Heitzenrater, p. 62-68). The inward change that Wesley so
desired to see in people is the purpose behind the Methodist societies, classes, and bands. After
John Wesley's death the structure of these Methodist groups began to deteriorate.
Andrew Goodhead in the book, A Crown and a Cross, offers some suggestions for the decline of
the class meetings within the Methodist Churches. He asserts that the classes became
regimented, with a repetitive format. Goodhead also attributes the decline to large class sizes
and untrained, inept class leaders (Hardt, 2011). This deterioration of the Methodist classes was
all the more evident in the United States where the shortage of ordained ministers was a painful
reality for a developing nation that needed the sound doctrine of Wesley.
In the 1850's Leonidas Rosser, of Richmond Virginia wrote about the Methodist classes and the
role of the class leaders. Rosser set forth twenty three questions the class leaders should be
asking each person in the class. This was much more rigid than the precedent that had been set
by John Wesley. The unrealistic demands that were placed on the class members led to a decline
in class membership as people felt helpless to live up to these demands (Watson, p.44).
Another factor that contributed to the decline of the Methodist classes was the formation of the
Methodist Sunday School Union in 1827. The purpose of Sunday school was fundamentally
different from that of the class meetings. Sunday school was developed as a means for Biblical
training and instruction, while the class meeting was to provide accountability for the
discipleship of persons. Sunday school became more appealing to the masses because a person
could receive the Biblical knowledge without the spiritual discipline (Watson, p.51).
A contributing factor in the decline of Methodist classes, societies, and bands in the United
States were the divisions within Methodism that were occurring. Splits and schisms were
fracturing the fledgling Methodist Episcopal Church in the late 1700's through the mid 1900's.
Though these splits and schisms led to the the extinction of the Wesleyan designed classes,
societies, and bands, the end result was the emergence of the United Methodist Church
(McEllhenney, p.57).
Leslie Church writes in The Early Methodist People that the most important development from
the Methodist movement is the class meeting. Church notes, “It was only when the idea of the
class-meeting was born, in 1742, that Methodism had its family hearth round which all could
gather, whether they were beginners or veterans, and feel themselves at home, their Father’s
welcome guests. This was the ‘crowning glory’ and it has done more than any other Methodist
organization to inuence the world (Thompson, 2010).” I wonder if John Wesley could even
have imagined what the world would look like today.
Understanding the World Today
Over two hundred years have passed since John Wesley, and since his time many things have
changed. The Methodists, which were considered either a society or sect during the life of John
Wesley, have become a full fledged denomination. The band meetings, love feasts, and watch
nights, have been exchanged for pot lucks, church socials, and mid week dinners. The Methodist
church in America would not look that different than the Reformed, Baptist, or Lutheran
churches in any given town. The spiritual disciplines that were at the heart of Wesley's theology
are no where to be found today (Maddox, p.132).
Today we live in a postmodern world, and to define this in the simplest way would be to say that
we live in a world that rejects or denies absolutes. Even the term postmodern, has been used to
such an extent that it has term 'postmodern' itself being amorphous in meaning. Traditional
moral values are rejected, while people will defend their right to believe what they want with
fervor. People believe that what is true for you does not have to be true for me. The best
description of the world today would be from 2 Timothy 3.1-5:
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be
lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to
their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without
self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its
power. Have nothing to do with such people.”
This is exactly the typology of a postmodern Christian. The postmodern believer will go to
church and have the outward appearance of godliness, but they deny the power of God. People
have separated the two tenants of faith that were designed to compliment each other, religious
experience and religious belief (Harrison, 2010).
In modern American Christianity people will choose what parts of the Bible they like and ignore
or reject the rest, and it is in this that we find the thrust of the problem between Christianity and
the Postmodern world (Veith, p. 209). People will choose aspects of Christianity that they like,
and combine it with other religions and practices such as Buddhism, meditation, yoga, and Tai
Chi to make their customized designed faith. I call it the Burger King mentality, “Have it your
way”. This mentality has reduced Conservative Christianity into a form of apologetics in
attempts to respond to the critics of the Christian faith (Harrison, 2010).
A poll of Americans showed that 94% believe in God, 80% claim to be Christian, and only 10%
of professing Christians have actually read the entire Bible. George Gallup said, “Americans
revere the Bible but, by and large, don’t read it. And because they don't read it, they have
become a nation of biblical illiterates (Mohler, 2004). How did America become a land of Bible
illiterates? The journey to this point is easy to see. When America was first colonized people
were Bible literate. Children were taught early from the New England Primer and learned basic
education in reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion (Prothero, p.74). It was when the Supreme
Court banned prayer and devotional Bible reading in public schools, in the early 1960's, that the
religious literacy of America began to decline (Prothero, p.88). The lack of religious instruction
for the children starting in the 1960's has bred a culture of religious illiteracy in the United
States.
Feeding into the separation of religious experience and religious belief is the focus on
experiential Christianity. People can recognize that they are sinners and will readily ask God for
forgiveness, but stop after that point. Evangelical Christianity has been focusing on the decision
theology and neglecting to make disciples. It has been so busy fighting the postmodern culture
that it has only fed into it by creating a Christian subculture. Christians today have their own
schools, music, book stores, concerts, and even movies (Veith, p.212). It is easy for a Christian
to live in the Christian subculture and never grow in their faith. This is where Christian leaders
have their biggest challenge and biggest opportunity.
These challenges have not gone unnoticed in the Methodist church. In the 1988 Book of
Discipline, the first modern Methodist response to the call for a return to the Wesleyan roots of
mutual accountability. In the 2012 Book of Discipline the topic of accountable discipleship is
again addressed:
“Historically class leaders provided lay pastoral leadership, and classes and class
meetings were the basic structural means of Christian spiritual formation in the
early Methodist societies.Class leaders may be commissioned and classes may be
organized within the local congregation for the purpose of forming persons as
faithful disciples of Jesus Christ through mutual accountability and support for
witnessing to him in the world and for following his teachings through acts of
compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit.”
I would argue that if Christian leaders want to stem the tide of Biblical illiteracy and spiritual
apostasy they must return to the Wesleyan system of bands, classes, and societies.
Societies, Classes, and Bands for Today
The return to tradition reached further back than John Wesley, it reaches back to the Bible. Acts
2.42, 46-47:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer....Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising
God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily
those who were being saved.”
Delving deeper into Biblical history though, the pattern for Christian discipleship was created
when Jesus called the twelve disciples. This pattern for Christian formation was key in the
Wesleyan classes. Today, we have something similar in form in our small groups. However,
while these small groups may resemble discipleship in form, most fall short in the true sense of
Biblical discipleship.
If given the opportunity small groups can play an integral role in the discipleship process. Small
groups provide a forum that people can express their thoughts, feelings, and attitudes and gain
response from other members of the group. This allows a Christian to challenge and be
challenged by others and thus grow in their faith. John Wesley taught about the instant
sanctification when a person repents, this is the decision theology of today. Wesley did not stop
there though, he also taught about that gradual sanctification process that happens in the lives of
believers (Randall) . This gradual sanctification process is best fostered through the intentional
discipling that happens in the small group setting.
An excellent example of the Wesleyan concept of societies, classes, and bands would be the
ministry of Celebrate Recovery. This was the brain child of John Baker from Saddleback
Church in Lake Forest, California. The Celebrate Recovery ministry is best known as a means
for a person to gain help in overcoming the hurts, habits, and hang-ups that plague any person
that lives in the world today. It is a Christ-centered 12 step recovery method that employs large
groups (societies), small groups (classes), and intensive twelve step groups (bands).
This Celebrate Recovery ministry has been in existence for over 20 years. The key to the
success of this program, that has now spread across the United States, is the small group
accountability. A snap shot of a typical Celebrate Recovery model would be coming together
once a week for a large group worship. After the large group, participants would break off into
gender specific, and issue specific groups, and given the opportunity to share. Participants that
desired to go deeper in their recovery would then work through the recovery steps in a step study
group. Along the way participants are urged to find accountability partners and sponsors that
will help them along this healing journey. A person that has been through the twelve steps is
then expected to become a group leader and mentor to those that are beginning the process. The
key idea that is interwoven in the success of Celebrate Recovery is the same ingredient that was
crucial to the Wesleyan classes, accountability.
Looking toward the future of the body of Christ it is crucial that the focus return to discipleship,
and small groups are key. An advantage that small groups have over the modern day Sunday
school lies in the ability of small groups to meet in private homes, offices, or even restaurants.
This provides a freedom of expression that is not found in the Sunday school setting of a church.
As well this allows the conversations to become more personal and meaningful to the
participants as compared to the abstract Biblical teachings found in most Sunday school models
(Rainer, p.293).
Small groups are paramount to the health and vitality of any church. One one hand you have a
small church of about 150 members. In this church the pastor and a small number of lay leaders
do the majority of the work of ministry. They get trapped in a painful cycle of doing ministry
that leads to exhaustion and burnout. Although they have been laboring intensely the church
does not grow numerically (Russell, p.176). They are like a hamster in a cage, spinning the
wheel, and never going anywhere. The other side of the coin would be the mega church of
today. Thousands of people flock to the church every Sunday to participate in the worship
service experience. The worship music looks and feels like any secular concert, and the pastor
comes to the stage and delivers a sermon, that sounds much like any other self-help, feel-good
message, and people attend the service and leave without having been truly affected one way or
the other. The church may grow numerically, but the people remain spiritually dead.
Small groups are the key to bringing the small and the mega churches back together and to help
people find spiritual life and vitality. Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, South Korea, one of
the largest churches in the world owes it's success to small groups. Small groups are not just part
of the church, the church is composed of small groups as the foundation for the church
(Dougherty & Whitehead, 2010). These small groups are holistic in nature and emphasize
Christian discipleship by not just discussing the Bible, but focusing on how it relates to the life of
each individual. Each member plays a part.
Every member is a minister. That statement would probably upset more than a few clergy that
have spent much time, effort, and money in obtaining a theological education. However, if
Christian leaders do not change their mindset and start equipping the saints for service, the
churches are in danger of becoming nothing more than a social club. The pattern for many
churches has been a pyramid, and the person on the top has been the ordained clergy. When that
notion is altered to viewing the church as an encompassing circle,with many circles of members
inside, the model for growth and discipleship is realized (Russell, p.176). A great leader is one
that multiplies his productivity in leadership though using the gifts and talents of others (Stanley,
p.27). The key to growing successful small groups would be in equipping the leaders.
Equipping Christian leaders is a complex matter, but one that is worth the time and effort.
Ephesians 4.11-16, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the
shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the
body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that
we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every
wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking
the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is
equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds
itself up in love.”
Each small group should be structured to be independent, but interdependent upon the church as
a whole. There must be a structure to this interdependence and this structure needs to be
transparent to every small group leader. In this way the each small group can have structure and
support to be more effective. This improvement will in turn strengthen the entire church body.
Preparing for the Future
The importance of class leaders is intricately woven throughout the United Methodist heritage.
We have the opportunity to revive this forgotten office with the advantage of hindsight to correct
the past mistakes (Watson p.64). There must be an emphasis placed on training the small group
or class leaders. Equipping the saints is the task that Christian leaders have been charged with,
and working within the areas that God has gifted leaders is integral, Romans 12.4-8:
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all
have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member
belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of
us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is
serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give
encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is
to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”
For many years now, the primary work of ministry in leadership has been monopolized by the
ordained clergy. The key to success that must be foundational in effective discipling is centered
in equipping lay leadership (Watson, p.30). Ordained clergy need to focus their energy on
working within their core competencies to maximize their time and ministry efforts. Training
and delegating to lay leaders those tasks that fall outside of the core competencies of the clergy
helps to strengthen the body of Christ as a whole.
Consider for a moment what may have happened if the disciples of the Bible did not practice
delegating. In the book of Acts the disciples were being pressed because some of the widows
were not receiving a share of the daily food distribution. What would have happened if the
disciples continued working outside of their call to the ministry of the Word to wait on tables?
However working outside of the core competencies is exactly what has limited the effectiveness
of today's clergy.
It does take an investment of time to train lay leaders, but it is an investment that is necessary if
the churches today want to make fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ for the transformation of
the world, this is the mission of the United Methodist Church. It is the process of creating these
fully devoted followers that will trigger the change that is needed in the churches today to cure
spiritual apostasy and cause a return to Biblical literacy. It is gleaning the knowledge of the past,
and applying the principals to the world today that will prepare Christianity to stand firm in the
future.
It is the radical transformation of lives that will radically change the overwhelming Biblical
illiteracy and spiritual apostasy that is in the world. John Wesley was in the trenches fighting
this same battle, and he demonstrated what can be done with such a humble start as three people
coming to him to seek spiritual guidance (Randall). Leaders are charged to be an example to
others. Hebrews 13.7, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider
the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”
Moving forward Christian leaders must be recognize the great duty and responsibility that has
been placed before them. There is no perfect plan, formula, or method that is the key to
equipping and training disciples. The key is the one word no one likes to hear, discipline. As
Wesley realized though it is not just solitary discipline, it is social as well.
This social accountability principal has been woven into the United Methodist history and must
be intertwined into the future of the United Methodist Church. Leaders in the church are
supposed to be living examples of what it means to live a holy life. St. Francis of Assisi said,
“Preach the gospel, if necessary, use words.” The actions and lives of Christian leaders will
testify wether or not they are true disciples of Jesus Christ or as John Wesley would say, “The
Almost Christian.”
The charge that today's church leaders have is found in 1 Corinthians 11.1, “Follow my example,
as I follow the example of Christ.” It is time to realign the spiritual compass of all believers to
fall on the true North of Jesus Christ. In doing so it will create the radical transformation that is
required to change lives and change the world.
It is my fervent hope and prayer that I will see in my lifetime the reawakening of true
discipleship in Jesus Christ. This is why I feel I am called to ministry, to help facilitate the
discipleship of those whom God entrusts in my care. I have the heartfelt desire to participate in
Wesleyan bands, classes, and societies so that I would have that accountable discipleship that
was the heart of Methodism in Wesley's day. My call into the Methodist denomination is that
draw of the Wesleyan teachings of social discipleship. I want to affect the tide of this
postmodern world by helping to create fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ for the
transformation of the world.
Works Cited
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