Misplaced Pages

The National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals is a Methodist network of churches and ministers aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. It is based in the Southern United States and was organized by W. Laurens Hudson, a Methodist preacher who was educated at Asbury Theological Seminary.

The association claims seven member congregations and a handful of individual members, affiliated house churches, and ministries—most of which were formerly part of the Evangelical Methodist Church's now-dissolved Southern District. (It is not an association of denominations like the similarly named National Association of Evangelicals.) It has been headquartered in Carrollton, Georgia, since 2010, and officially formed in 2011 at its first annual meeting.

History

Part of a series on
Methodism
John Wesley
Background History (in the United States) Anglicanism Arminianism First Great Awakening Moravianism Nonconformism Pietism Wesleyan theology
Doctrine Doctrinal standards Bible Old Testament New Testament Creeds Nicene Creed Apostles' Creed Articles of Religion Sermons on Several Occasions Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament Distinctive beliefs and practices Assurance of faith Conditional preservation of the saints Priesthood of all believers Sainthood Four sources of theological authority Covenant theology Substitutionary atonement Imparted righteousness Moral law New birth Free will Outward holiness Prevenient grace Real presence Sanctification (growth in grace) Sunday Sabbatarianism Christian perfection Second work of grace Baptism with the Holy Spirit Views on sin Works of piety Works of mercy
Worship The Sunday Service of the Methodists Covenant Renewal Service Revival service Altar call Mourner's bench Camp meeting Tabernacle Tent revival Brush arbour revival Lovefeast Watchnight service
People John Wesley Charles Wesley Richard Allen Francis Asbury Thomas Coke John William Fletcher Orange Scott William Williams Pantycelyn Benjamin Titus Roberts Walter Ashbel Sellew Howell Harris Albert Outler James Varick Countess of Huntingdon Phoebe Palmer George Whitefield Bishops Theologians
Groups Churches Methodist Church of Great Britain Free Methodist Church United Methodist Church World Methodist Council Global Methodist Church Other Methodist denominations
Organization Connexionalism General Conference Methodist Circuit Pastoral charge Class meeting Penitent band
Related groups Holiness movement Conservative holiness movement Holiness Pentecostalism Evangelicalism
Other relevant topics Saints in Methodism Methodist views on alcohol Methodist local preacher Itinerant preacher Circuit rider Steward Homosexuality and Methodism Ordination of women in Methodism Bishops in Methodism
Christianity • Protestantism Christianity portal
v t e

The National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals (NAWE) was formed in the wake of longstanding disagreements regarding congregationalism in its parent body, the Evangelical Methodist Church (EMC).

Evangelical Methodism began in 1946 as "a double protest against what were considered autocratic and undemocratic government on the one hand and a tendency toward modernism on the other in the Methodist Church." The predominant body which grew out of this movement was the EMC denomination, founded in 1946 and led by Dr. J. H. Hamblen, who had previously faced mainline Methodist church-law charges after forming an independent house-based congregation during a sabbatical.

The EMC was founded as a "congregational-connectional" association of churches with a goal of restoring American Methodism to its Wesleyan and Holiness roots, as well as subsequent revivalist practices.

Disagreements over congregational power and denominational control have led to many disputes and fractures, starting with the exodus of the congregationalist Evangelical Methodist Church of America in 1952. This disagreement reached a fever pitch in 2007 when plans were announced to centralize the U.S. districts of the EMC into a single entity, and expand the powers of the General Superintendent into a bishop-like role, complete with introducing this title as an alternative term for superintendent. The Southern District of the EMC disapproved of the changes at a 2008 conference.

The EMC's General Conference entered into legal action, and then court-ordered arbitration, with dissenting churches who wished to disaffiliate with the EMC because of these changes. Most of the Southern District churches which formed the NAWE simply dropped "Evangelical Methodist" from their name while retaining their property following the conclusion of the arbitration.

NAWE advertises itself as "an association, not a denomination" to "come alongside pastors and their congregations to help them better serve their communities." The small network has developed a six-step course of study for lay certification and ordination, youth missions outings, and an annual pastors and wives retreat.

The association maintains a standard evangelical Methodist theological stance, with the Wesleyan-Holiness teaching on sanctification: "We believe that there is a sanctifying experience available to all believers that is received by grace through faith on the condition of the believer’s total surrender to God and His will."

The Association of Independent Methodists shares a close working relationship with the NAWE.

References

1. ^ "Obituaries". Asbury Theological Seminary. 6 April 2021. Reverend W. Laurens Hudson, MDiv '65, aged 82, of Kennesaw, died Tuesday, March 2, at home, surrounded by his wife and children, just two days before his eighty-second birthday, of liver cancer. A graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary, he was a Methodist preacher and co-founder of the National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals.
2. ^ "An Open Letter to Our United Methodist Brothers and Sisters". National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 7 November 2024. the NAWE offers an alternative for churches that: ... Wish to keep their Methodist and Wesleyan heritage (perhaps even keep "Methodist" in their church name, which we fully allow) but are ready for a new connectional direction. The National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals upholds the Bible as the standard for Christian living and belief, standing on the shoulders of its Wesleyan, Methodist, Holiness, and Evangelical forerunners.
3. "National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals Incorportate - GuideStar Profile".
4. https://archive.org/stream/handbookofdenomi009472mbp/handbookofdenomi009472mbp_djvu.txt Mead, Frank S., "Handbook of Denominations in the United States," Abingdon Press, 1961, pg. 159
5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2014-11-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Gen. Conference of the Evangelical Methodist Church v. Evangelical Methodist Church of Dalton, 807 F. Supp. 2d 1291 | Casetext Search + Citator".
7. "Home". thenawe.com.
8. "Statement-of-Faith". www.thenawe.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-02.

External links

• National Association of Wesleyan Evangelicals web site

• Christian organizations established in 2011
• Methodist denominations in North America
• Holiness denominations
• 2011 establishments in the United States