THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
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this day Wesleyan Methodist lay preachers, before being “‘ put on the plan,” have to pass an examination in Wesley’s Notes on the New Testament and his Fifty-three Standard Sermons, in addition to examination on the leading doctrines of Christianity, and giving an account of their conversion, their Christian experience, and their vocation. When the Methodist Quarterly Meeting—the circuit governing body, and the unit of the denominational or-
ganization—was constituted, the local preachers.
“ on the plan ”’ were made members of it ex officio. The Methodist lay preachers were the means by which Methodism spread so rapidly not only over Great Britain, but also over the United States and throughout the English-speaking world. They were the advance guard of Methodism; cottage meetings and open-air meetings, supplied by lay preachers, prepared the way for chapels, which 7. The were the permanent garrisons of the Primitive districts occupied. The “ traveling Methodist preacher”? might have ten to thirty Connection. chapels and mission-stations under his oversight, and, with thirty to fifty lay preachers “‘on the plan,’”’ he arranged quarterly for all the pulpits to be filled, while “ mission bands ” of lay preachers carried on aggressive evangelistic campaigns in towns and villages as yet unoccupied. The lay preachers were drawn from all classes— university graduates, country gentlemen, business men, artizans, and agricultural laborers being on the same “plan.” This promoted fellowship, and saved the Methodist Church from being divided into class cliques to the extent that has happened in some other churches. After the Wesleys had passed away, the connection underwent a cooling-period, for its own success tended toward a satisfied settling down. “Field preaching ” lost favor, and the lay preachers were subjected to restrictions that became irksome to the more enthusiastic spirits. In many circuits “ field preaching ”’ was classed among irregular exercises which were better left alone. These restrictions were the cause of the origin (1807-11) of the Primitive Methodist Connection (see Mrruopists, I., 4) which, next to the mother Church, has made the greatest use of lay preaching. Two lay preachers on the Tunstall (Staffordshire) plan, Hugh Bourne and William Clowes, organized an “ All Day of Prayer,” on Mow Cop, a prominent hill. This drew a vast crowd, and there were many conversions, but it had not received official sanction, and Bourne and Clowes were refused their class tickets, which meant exclusion from the “ plan.” They accordingly formed independent “ classes,”’ which united in the Primitive Methodist Connection, which has in 1911 completed its centenary celebration by raising a thanksgiving fund of £300,000. In its early years this church depended almost entirely on lay preachers, men and sometimes women, who revived the evangelistic fervor and audacity of the first Methodists, and invaded every part of the country, establishing themselves in special strength in the colliery and rural districts, and in such fishery-centers as Hull and Grimsby. Scotland, early in the nineteenth century, saw a very remarkable revival movement in which the principal part was played by Presbyterian laymen.
The movement was led by the brothers James and Robert Haldane (qq.v.). In 1800 the General Assembly prohibited field preaching, whereupon there was a secession by Robert Haldane, who trained 300 young
Presby- men. These went out stirring up re-
terian and vival feeling everywhere, and the
Anglican Church of Scotland, the United Free
Churches. Church, and the United Church alike
‘shared in the raising of the spiritual temperature. Recognizing the value of lay evangelism, the Anglican Church, in the middle of the nineteenth century, instituted lay readers, or laymen who, after examination, receive the bishop’s license to preach under strictly prescribed conditions. The commission entitles the holder ‘‘ to conduct, in any parish to which he may be licensed, services in school and other rooms and in the open air, and also such extra services in consecrated buildings as the incumbent may wish and as the bishop may approve; and, further, to perform occasionally similar duties in any other parish in the diocese at the request of the incumbent.”’ There are now between 2,500 and 3,000 Anglican lay readers, among them being peers, judges, knights, members of parliament, and eminent professional men.
The marvel of the nineteenth century, so far as lay preaching is concerned, was the founding by General William Booth (q.v.) of the Salvation Army (q.v.). Booth was a United Methodist Free Church minister, but he left that church to start an independent “‘ Christian Mission ” in East London.
He conceived the idea of an evangel-
9. The istic movement with a military organ-
Salvation ization, and his wife, Catharine Booth
Army. (q.v.), rivaled him in organizing-ability and driving-power. The Salvation Army, now working in nearly every country of the world, has something like 16,000 “ officers,” all evangelists, men and women, and all laics. They receive training from three to nine months, with an extension in special cases, and are then sent out with authority to preach. At first General Booth disliked the idea of women preachers, but his objection was overcome by a friend taking him to hear a woman preacher at a chapel in Fetter Lane, London. The Anglican Church founded the Church Army (q.v.) on the model of the Salvation Army, but it has been clerically directed, and women preachers are not admitted. The Salvation Army has worked in the lowest stratum of society, the “ submerged tenth,’ and its lay preaching has not suffered from the exiguity of its training, as it would have done if it had ministered to more critical classes. It has had countless conversions, and its social salvage operations have won for it the support of many governments.
Lay preaching has been a valuable auxiliary to missionary evangelism. The Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Missionaries have introduced the circuit system, with its “‘ plan ”’ of local preachers, and when native converts have given evidence of Christian character and spiritual experience,with the gift of speaking, and have undergone an examination in Biblical and theological knowledge, they have been sent out to the mission-stations and have largely
8. In the Scotch