Transatlantic Methodists: British Wesleyanism and the Formation of an Evangelical Culture in Nineteenth-Century Ontario and Quebec (Volume 2)

by Todd Webb

Methodists in nineteenth-century Ontario and Quebec, like all British subjects, existed as satellites of an influential empire. Transatlantic Methodists uncovers how the Methodist ministry and laity in these colonies, whether they were British, American, or native-born, came to define themselves as transplanted Britons and Wesleyans, in response to their changing, often contentious relationship with the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Britain. Revising the nationalist framework that has dominated much of the scholarship on Methodism in central Canada, Todd Webb argues that a transatlantic perspective is necessary to understand the process of cultural formation among nineteenth-century Methodists. He shows that the Wesleyan Methodists in Britain played a key role in determining the identities of their colonial counterparts through disputes over the meaning of political loyalty, how Methodism should be governed, who should control church finances, and the nature and value of religious revivalism. At the same time, Methodists in Ontario and Quebec threatened to disrupt the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Britain and helped to trigger the largest division in its history. Methodists on both sides of the Atlantic shaped - and were shaped by - the larger British world in which they lived. Drawing on insights from new research in British, Atlantic, and imperial history, Transatlantic Methodists is a comprehensive study of how the nineteenth-century British world operated and of Methodism's place within it.

260 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[James Pedlar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Webb, who teaches at Laurentian University, offers an account of 19th century Canadian Methodism that stresses its connections to British Methodism.

Against prevailing accounts, which downplayed the contributions of British missionaries to Methodism’s growth in favour of arguing for a distinctive Canadian Methodist identity, Webb argues that Canadian Methodism between 1814 and 1874 must be understood in terms of its relationship with British Methodism. Canadian Methodists came to see themselves as transplanted Britons, and formed a British identity in a time when there we competing understandings of what it meant to be truly British. It is not simply that the British Methodists exerted influence on Canadians, but developments in Canadian Methodism also affected the history of the home church during this time.

Webb’s excellent account not only narrates the history of the developments, which can be quite confusing, given the multiple mergers and schisms which took place on both sides of the Atlantic, but he also notes how particular issues, such as finances (chapter 4) and revivalism (chapter 5) can help to illuminate the complex relationship that existed between the various Methodist bodies.

Highly recommended.

[This review is copied from my blog]

[Ted Dettweiler · Rating 2 out of 5]

All of the books that I currently have out from the library treat 19th century history. This is no doubt the dryest read of the 4 books. It is an academic treatment of the 3 or 4 Methodist denominations or 'connexions' that set up in Canada West (Ontario) and Canada East (Quebec) starting from 1785 with British loyalists bringing their Methodist ways to Upper Canada from the United States. Then, in 1814, the British Methodists also began work in Upper Canada and soon after in Lower Canada. This is not a book to read for its interesting anecdotes as it is quite focused like a good thesis should be on the relations between the various Methodists connexions operating in the Canadas (British connexions / American connexions / Canadian connexions) but it does give us a good look at the behind-the-scenes of the Methodist / Evangelical world of the 19th century. Treats revivalism, which was interesting for me as my own evangelical background was born out of Methodist-influenced revival meetings.

What becomes obvious because of my other reading from the same era is how the busy work of churches and denomination connexions can turn a blind eye to justice issues happening at the same time. "Steal Away Home" one of my other readings is a personal history of several fugitive slaves. In Toronto, the fugitive slaves from United States worship at a British Methodist Episcopalian church. Searching for "fugitive slaves", "underground railroad" or "British Methodist Episcopalian" or "African Methodist Episcopalian" in Transatlantic Methodists yields 0 results. Sadly, it seems like my church-folk ancestors were too busy doing church to have any kind of relationship with their coloured brethren. At least, we might say from this book that it had no part in forming the evangelical culture in the Canadas in the Nineteenth century.