Reformed Methodist Church, an American
offspring of the Methodist Episcopal Church, had its origin in 1814, and was started by a bod}- of local preach- ers and exhorters, the most prominent and influential of whom was the Rev. Elijah Bailey, an ordained local preacher in the Vermont Conference. They had be- come dissatisfied with the polity (if the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and especially that part of it which re- lates to the powers and prerogatives of the episcopacy. They asserted that a leaning towards prelacy as it ex- ists in the Roman Catholic hierarchy was developing in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and, their fears not receiving that general guard for which they prayed, they at length concluded to separate themselves from the old Church and found a new and reformed body. For the purpose of gaining a large number of ready, active la- borers for their new organization, they resorted to the formation of a community of goods on a farm which they purchased at Bennington, Vt., and sustained for about two years. But the attempt to maintain them- selves as a community proved abortive, and the mem- bers of it soon scattered to different parts of the states of Vermont and New York, and to Upper Canada. In the British territory they succeeded in raising up a number of Reformed societies. In the States, however, their success was small. The dispersion of the commu- nity above alluded to operated favorably to the interests of the Church as a whole, as, after that period, they were favored from time to time with gracious revivals of re- ligion. Thousands, no doubt, in following years have been converted to God through the instrumentality of the preachers of this Church. As a denomination, how- ever, they did not prosper like other organized ortho- dox churches. They suffered much from dissensions in their own ranks and important secessions from their numbers. About half of their ministers and many of their most flourishing societies left them and joined the Protestant Methodists; and at one time an entire con- ference of Reformed preachers went over to that denom- ination. At the time of their greatest prosperity they had five annual conferences and about seventy-five min- isters and preachers, and from three to four thousand members. After the organization of another Methodist- ic branch in the United States (the Wesleyan), most of the ministers and members of the Reformed Church be- came identified with that branch, and finally the body was merged into the so-called Afethodist Church.
Doctrines. — In all matters of theology the " Reform- ers" are, or were, Methodistic, if we except their belief in the gift of healing, by which physical maladies might be removed through the power of faith. This belief had gained for the Keformers the names of fanat- ics and enthusiasts; but they have returned the com- pliment by accusing their calumniators of scepticism and infidelity.
Church Government. — The form of Church govern- ment selected by the Reformers was strictly congrega- tional, admitting of lay representation in their general and annual conferences; the former body not meeting periodically, but only at the call of the latter bodies. Their general rules are similar to those of the parent
body, with the addition of some forbidding war, slavery, etc.
The only periodical published under the auspices of this Church at any time was the Luminary and Reform- er, edited by Mr. Bailey, a son of the founder of the Church. The paper, however, has for years been dis- continued. See Methodism (20).
Reformed Presbyterian Church. This body, like many others, is known by different names: its members have been designated as Mountain Men, Old Dissenters, Cameronians, and Society People ; but their most common designation is Covenanters. The name of "Mountain Men" was given them because they are a remnant of those who were driven to hills, moors, and other uninhabited places by persecution in the reign of the Stuarts in Scotland. They are called " Cameroni- ans" from Richard Cameron, one of their leaders during that persecution. They were called " Society People" because they were often confined to prayer-meetings in private as their only means of social worship when their ministers were killed or banished. For the name " Cov- enanters," see that article in vol. ii of this work. The history of these people has been given well, though briefly, under articles Cameron; Covenanters; Pres- byterian (Reformed) Church; Scotland, Church of. This article is intended to present their peculiar characteristics, the leading points in which they differ from other Presbyterian bodies.
1. A prominent feature is their separation from the State. In this country, as well as in the British isles, they withhold an oath to the government, whether in naturalization, in taking office, or anything which im- plies full allegiance ; nor do they vote for any officer so qualified, whether the office be legislative, judicial, or executive; neither do they sit on juries under oath. This position they occupy, not as the Quakers, who ob- ject to an oath entirely as well as to the forcible ex- ecution of law. Covenanters in this country approve of the representative system, and of a definite constitu- tion reduced to writing as a righteous measure, and one which should be adopted by every nation under heaven. From the beginning they gave their sanction and en- couragement to the cause of American independence; and they would gladly enjoy the full privileges of citi- zenship were it not for the evils connected with the government. However they may fail in particular in- stances, their design and desire are to promota the influ- ence of all the good regulations and laws of the coun- try, and to live quiet and peaceable lives in all godli- ness and honesty.