Calvinistic Methodism
A movement
established in Wales by Griffith Jones (1684-1761), Howell Harris (1714-73),
and Daniel Rowlands (1713-90), revivalists who had significant contacts with
the English Methodists. First meeting as an association in 1743, the group
ended its loosely knit organization under the influence of George Whitefield.
It harbored no desire to break away from the Church of England at its
inception, and not until 1795 did separation from the Establishment occur.
However, the church did not ordain its own pastors until 1811. By 1823 a
Confession of Faith patterned after the Westminster Confession was adopted.
The
Calvinistic Methodist or Presbyterian Church of Wales had to wait to secure its
autonomy in spiritual affairs until 1933. Active in educational, missionary,
social, and political activities, the church's constituency of some 1,350
congregations is heavily Welsh speaking. Its Constitutional Deed (adopted 1823)
organizes the church into presbyteries that are united with associations, which
in turn comprise a General Assembly. Similar to the Wesleyan Methodist movement
in its populist and social appeal, the church remains Calvinistic
in its theology and polity. So don't
expect much in the way of revival, or Godliness!