Epworth Leaguers will be more especially interested in the progress of their own Methodist Episcopal Church, which is the oldest daughter, as well as the largest branch, of Wesleyan Methodism. From The Methodist Year Book, 1901, we learn that our "lay membership—total of full members and probationers (on partial returns only)—is 2,907,877." Dr. H. K. Carroll in The Christian Advocate, January 3, 1901, tells the story of progress so well that we insert the entire article:
Only living things grow. The abundant life of American Methodism, beginning under favorable conditions, made growth natural, luxuriant, and easy. The soil and the sun, the air and the rains, were all that the fresh, vigorous plant needed for a development which has been truly amazing.
Time, 1766; place, New York; a godly woman calling a few backslidden Methodists to their duty; a local preacher; meetings in a sail loft; a new church costing $3,000. Such was the beginning.
The soil was fallow. It produced rank weeds. There were few husbandmen. Other churches insisted on well-trained men from European schools. Methodism, having no such resources, organized training classes on the field and taught its men at the plow. Such were the conditions.
Time, 1784; place, Baltimore; a plain meetinghouse with stiff benches; 60 preachers in Conference; an independent Church, with a name, an episcopacy, a ministry, the sacraments, a practical system, a doctrinal standard, a ritual. Such was the organization. What has been the growth?
A growth of 2,900,000 in 134 years and of 2,835,000 in the past century. The 65,000 has added to itself nearly 44 times. The average annual gain has been 28,350.
The percentage of increase is 4,362. If the population of the country had increased in this period at the same rate, it would now be 232,000,000 instead of 76,300,000.
But the gains of the Methodist Episcopal Church have been only a part of the gains of Methodism. Include all branches since 1834, and we have:
The 65,000 has repeated itself about 91 times, or once every 13 months during the last century. The percentage of gain is 8,977. If the population had increased at the same rate it would now be 476,000,000 instead of 76,300,000. The average annual gain has been 58,350.
The gain in preachers in the Methodist Episcopal Church is indicated as follows: