 | This article needs to beupdated. The reason given is:The denomination is only claiming "over 60" congregations. So there are probably lots of other things outdated too. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2025) |
| Primitive Methodist Church | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Holiness[1] |
| Theology | Methodism |
| Associations | World Federation of Primitive Methodists Christian Holiness Partnership[1] National Association of Evangelicals |
| Region | United States (primarily) |
| Origin | 1807 |
| Separated from | Wesleyan Methodist Church |
| Congregations | 83[2] |
| Members | 8,487[2] |
| Official website | primitivemethodistchurch.org |
ThePrimitive Methodist Church is aMethodist Christian denomination aligned with theholiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as arevivalist movement withinMethodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelistLorenzo Dow (1777–1834), whose visits inspired a return to fervent,open-air preaching.
In the United States, the Primitive Methodist Church had eighty-three parishes and 8,487 members in 1996.[2] In 2025, the PMC in the United States has 60 congregations across 13 eastern states.[3]
In Great Britain and Australia, the Primitive Methodist Church merged with other denominations, to form theMethodist Church of Great Britain in 1932[4] and theMethodist Church of Australasia in 1902.[5] (The latter subsequently merged into theUniting Church in Australia in 1977.)[6]
The leaders who originated Primitive Methodism were attempting to restore a spirit ofrevivalism as they felt was found in the ministry ofJohn Wesley, with no intent of forming a new church. The leaders wereHugh Bourne (1772–1852) andWilliam Clowes (1780–1851), preachers in theWesleyan Methodist Church. Bourne had joined a Methodist society atBurslem, but business taking him at the close of 1800 to the colliery district ofHarriseahead andKidsgrove, he was so impressed by the prevailing ignorance that he began a religious revival of the district, and Clowes joined him in 1805.[7]
The two preachers heard from Lorenzo Dow of the results of American camp meetings, and held a fourteen-hourcamp meeting on 31 May 1807, atMow Cop on the Staffordshire and Cheshire border, which resulted in many converts.[7] But the Wesleyan Church refused to admit these converts to the church, and reprimanded Bourne and Clowes. Refusing to cease holding open-air meetings, they were dismissed from the church. For a while they took separate paths, but after waiting two years for readmittance to the church, they founded the Primitive Methodists in the year of 1810. Clowes's personality drew a number of strong men after him, and a society meeting held in a kitchen and then in a warehouse became the nucleus of a circuit, a chapel being built atTunstall in July 1811,[7] and there in February 1812 they took the nameThe Society of the Primitive Methodists. The name is meant to indicate they were conducting themselves in the way of Wesley and the "original" Methodists, particularly in reference to open-air meetings and allowing female ministry.The last of the women roving preachers died in 1890.[8]
Primitive Methodist workers played an important role in the formative phase of thetrade union movement in England. Primitives were always the mostworking class of the main Methodist bodies in Great Britain.[9][10]
The Primitive Methodist Conference initiated talks in 1894 with theBible Christian Church, a small South West-based Methodist denomination, to explore the possibility of union; however, the proposals were ultimately rejected at the Quarterly Meetings (Circuit meetings). In 1932it united with theWesleyan Methodist Church and theUnited Methodists to form theMethodist Church of Great Britain.[11] The legacy of Hugh Bourne is kept alive atEnglesea Brook, the museum of Primitive Methodism.[12]
The first missionaries to America arrived inBrooklyn, New York, in 1829. The societies founded in the United States were under the control of theBritish Primitive Methodist Conference until 1840, when the "American Primitive Methodist Church" was established on 16 September. A combining of various organizational structures occurred in May 1975, and the current (2004) official name -The Primitive Methodist Church in the United States of America - was chosen.
The denomination holds an annual conference. A president, elected every four years, is the chief leader of the denomination and their headquarters are located in his home. In 2000 the American body had 79 congregations with 4502 members.[citation needed]
Primitive Methodist congregations were also established in Australia. In 1902 the Primitive Methodist Church, Wesleyan Methodist Church, Bible Christians and the United Methodist Free Churches formed theMethodist Church of Australasia. In 1977 the Methodist Church of Australasia joined with theCongregational Union of Australia andPresbyterian Church of Australia to form theUniting Church in Australia.
The Primitive Methodist Church recognizes the dominicalsacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, as well as otherrites, such as Holy Matrimony.[13]
The Primitive Methodist Church in the United States hasmissions inSpain,Guatemala and other countries throughout the world.[1] Its mission work in Africa dates back to 1897 and its mission work in Guatemala was started in 1921.[14]
The Primitive Methodist Church in the United States, with respect toecumenism, is a member of theChristian Holiness Partnership, an organization of churches in theWesleyan-Arminian tradition, and a member of theNational Association of Evangelicals.[1]
In 1932 the British part of the Primitive Methodist Church merged with the British Wesleyan Church and the British United Methodists to form the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
Resolved: That no person holding a Local Preacher's Annual License, shall perform the sacraments, either of baptism, Lord's Supper, or marriage, excepting during the absence of, or by request of, the minister in charge.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Grieve, Alexander James (1911). "Primitive Methodist Church, The". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 338–339. This contains a detailed history of the church up to 1909.| International | |
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