The duties of a Methodist minister were thus defined by Mr. Wesley, and they have since remained substan- tially in all branches of the denomination (see Disci- pline, etc., § 138 sq.) : " Q. What is the ofHce of a Chris- tian minister ? A . To watch over souls, as he that must give an account. To feed and guide the tlock. Q. How shall he be fully <iualified for his great work? A. By walking closely with God, and having his work greatly at heart; by understanding and loving every branch of our discipline, and by carefully and constantly observ- ing the twelve rules of a helper, viz.: 1. Be diligent; never be unemployed; never be trifiingly employed; never while away time, nor spend more time at any place than is strictly necessary. 2. Be serious ; let your motto be, Holiness to the Lord; avoid all light- ness, jesting, and foolish talking. 3. Converse sparingly and cautiously with women, particularly with young women. 4. Take no step towards marriage without solemn prayer to God, and consulting with your breth- ren. 5. Believe evil of no one; unless fully proved, take heed how you credit it : put the best construction you can on everything — you know the judge is always supposed to be on the prisoner's side. 6. Speak evil of no one, else your word especially would eat as doth a canker; keep your thoughts within your own breast till you come to the person concerned. 7. Tell every one what you think wrong in him, lovingly and plainly, and as soon as may be, else it will fester in your own heart ; make all haste to cast the fire out of your bosom. 8. Do not aifect the gentleman ; a preacher of the Gos- pel is the servant of all. 9. Be ashamed of nothing but sin ; no, not of cleaning your own shoes when necessarj-. 10. Be punctual; do everything exactlj^ at the time; and do not mend our rules, but keep them, and that for conscience' sake. 11. You have nothing to do but to save souls, and therefore spend and be spent in this work ; and go always, not only to those who want you, but to those who want you most. 12. Act in all things, not according to your own will, but as a son in the Gos- pel, and in union with your brethren. As such, it is your part to employ your time as our rules direct; partly in preaching and visiting from house to house ; partly in reading, meditation, and prayer. Above all, if you labor with us in" our Lord's vineyard, it is needful that you should do that part of the work which the Conference shall advise, at those times and places which they shall judge most for his glory. Observe : It is not
your business to preach so many times, and to take care merely of this and that society, but to save as many souls as you can; to bring as manj^ sinners as you pos- sibly can to repentance ; and with all your power to build them up in that holiness without which they can- not see the Lord; and, remember, a ]\fethodist preacher is to mind every point, great and small, in the Methodist' discijjline ; therefore you will need all the grace and all the sense you have, and to have all your wits about you." See Itinerancy.
The latest writer on INIethodism (the Eev. L. Tyer- man, Life and Times of John Wesley) who dares to hold that it is " the greatest fact in the history of the Church of Christ," thus comments upon the present condition of the parent body of IMethodism, the Weskyan Meth- odist Church (q.v.) : "The 'Methodist,' or parent 'Con- ference,' employs in Great Britain and Ireland 1782 reg- ular ministers. Besides these, there were, in 18G4, in England only, 11,80-4 lay preacliers, preaching 8754 ser- mons every Sabbath-day. In the same year, the num- ber of preaching-places in England only was 071 8, and the number of sermons preached weekly, by ministers and lay preachers combined, was 13,852. To these must be added the lay preachers, preaching-places, etc., in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Shetland, and the Channel Isl- ands. The number of Church members in Great Britain and Ireland is 305,285, with 21,223 on trial; and, calcu- lating that the hearers are three times as numerous as the Church members, there are considerably more than a million persons in the United Kingdom who are attend- ants upon the religious services ofthepare?it Conference of ' the people called Methodists.' Some idea of their chapel and school property may be formed from the fact that, during the last seven years, there has been expend- ed, in Great Britain only, in new erections and in reducing debts on existing buildings, £1,672,541 ; and towards that amount of expenditure there has been actually raised and paid (exclusive of all connectional collections, loans, and drafts) the sum of £1,284,498. During the ten years from 1859 to 1868, inclusive, there was raised for the sup- port of the foreign missions of the connection £1,408.235; and if to this there be added the amount of the Jul)ilee Fund, we find more than a million and a half sterling contributed during the decade for the sustenance and extension of the JNIethodist work in foreign lands. The missions now referred to are carried on in Ireland, France, Switzerland, German}', Italy, Gibraltar, India, Ceylon, China, South and West Africa, the West Indies, Canada, Eastern British America, Australia, and Poly- nesia. In these distant places the committee having the management of the missions emploj' 3798 paid agents, including 994 who are regularly ordained, and are wholly engaged in the work of the Christian minis- trj'. Besides these, there are about 20,000 agents of the society (as lay preachers, etc.) who are rendering im- portant service gratuitously, while the number of Church members is 154,187, and the number of attendants upon the religious services more than half a million. Space prevents a reference to the other institutions and funds of British Methodism, except to add that, besides 174,721 children in the mission schools, the parent connection 1 has in Great Britain 698 day-schools, efficiently con- j ducted bj' 1532 certificated, assistant, and pupil leach- ers, and containing 119,070 scholars; also 5328 Sunday- schools, containing 601,801 scholars, taught by 103,441 persons who render their services gratuitously ; and that the total number of publications printed and issued by the English Book Committee only, during tlie year end- ing June, 1866, was four millions one hundred and twen- tj'-two thousand eight hundred, of which nearly two millions were periodicals, and more than a quarter of a million were hymn-books."