Pioneering of Sunday
School in Methodism
Sunday School in England,
USA, Japan, Caribbean, Holland and Brazil
Odilon Massolar Chaves
Copyright
© 2024, Odilon Massolar Chaves
All
rights reserved to the author.
It is
allowed to read, copy and share for free
Article
184 of the Penal Code and Law 96710 of February 19, 1998.
Author
of the text: João Wesley
Editor
of this text: Odilon Massolar Chaves
Books
published in the Wesleyan Digital Library: 253
Books
published by the author: 371
Booklets:
3
Address: https://www.blogger.com/blog/stats/week/2777667065980939692
All glory to God!
Odilon Massolar Chaves is a
retired Methodist pastor, with a doctorate in Theology and History from the
Methodist University of São Paulo.
His thesis dealt with the
Methodist revival in England in the eighteenth century and its contribution as
a paradigm for our days.
He was editor of the
official Methodist newspaper and coordinator of the Theology Course.
Copyright Statement: These files are in the
public domain and are derived from an electronic edition that is available on
the Ethereal Library of Christian Classics website.[1]
Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
Table of Contents
Introduction
Wesley and
teaching children
Hannah Ball founder of the first Sunday School
Sunday School in the Missions in the Channel Islands
Sunday School, one of the legacies of black
Methodist women in the Caribbean
First Sunday School in Brazil
The founder of
the National Union of Allies and Farm Workers and his Sunday School learning
Apples and the Sunday
School by John Ing
Dedication in the publication of Sunday
School periodicals
Inventor of the "Akron
Plan" for Sunday Schools
First studies for
Sunday School in Pará
Sunday School in the Beginning of Methodism
in the Netherlands
Home of the Sunday School magazine in Brazil
The Mother's Day Inspirational Woman was a
Sunday School teacher
The First Sunday School in Piracicaba
College and Sunday School
Creator of the magazines Bem-Te-Vi and Voz Missionário
Introduction
"Pioneering of Sunday School in Methodism" is a book that addresses the beginning of Sunday School in Methodism in some countries, especially in England, USA, the Caribbean, Holland and Brazil.
The highlights are England with Wesley and Brazilian Methodism with missionaries.
Hanna Ball was the first to organize a Sunday School in 1769.
Methodism was pioneered in several places and some characters who became famous attended Sunday School, such as Nelson Mandela.
Anna Jarvis, who inspired the creation of Mother's Day, was a Sunday School teacher for 25 years.
Wesley saw children as capable of experiencing God's full grace and possessing the ability to grow in grace.
Before the first Sunday School child created
by Methodist Hanna Ball, Wesley created classes for children's Bible learning.
Then he created the Kinkswood School.
Stories that inspire us and
show the value of Sunday School.
The Author
Wesley and teaching
children
I have known between nine hundred and
one thousand of the children belonging to our Sunday schools. I have never seen
such a sight before. They were all exactly clean, as well as simple, in their
clothes. They were all serious and well behaved."
"Wesley saw children as capable of experiencing the full grace of God and possessing the ability to grow in grace. Wesley also realized that a child's natural tendency was to seek his own way and please himself. Wesley urged parents and ministers to break the child's will and move him from pursuing selfish desires to obedience. He suggested that obedience to parents must first be achieved before a child can learn obedience to God and called for Christian education that resulted in obedience to be consistent, personal, gentle, loving, and guided by the Spirit."[2]
In his sermon "On the Education of Children,"[3] Wesley addresses this issue. He desired the salvation of children.
In 1740, he said, "I preached Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, to a thousand little children at Kingswood."[4]
For him, children were "capable of
experiencing the full grace of God and possessing the ability to grow in
grace."[5]
He was also concerned with giving the best
intellectual content to the children by researching the books of the best
authors of the time. He also wrote the lessons for Kingswood School.
Boys and girls class
John Wesley saw the need to
put the boys and girls of society in classes. There was still no formal Sunday
School in the evangelical churches of England.
On November 23, 1760, he
said, "In the afternoon I assigned the children to meet at Bristol, whose
parents were of the society. Thirty of them came today, and more than fifty on
Sunday and Thursday following. About half of them I divided into four classes,
two of boys and two of girls; and I appointed suitable leaders to meet them
separately."[6]
Wesley made a point of
meeting with them in a meeting.
"I met them all
together, twice a week; and it wasn't long before God began to touch some of
their hearts. On Tuesday and Wednesday I visited some of the societies in the
country."[7]
Creating schools for the people
"In 1715 there were
only 1,193 primary schools in the whole of the United Kingdom, attended by
26,920 pupils."[8]
"The less fortunate
were not so educated because they could not have their children in school.
Girls were less likely to go to school than boys."[9]
Practically, only the rich
studied. This was even felt among the Methodist preachers themselves. That is
why Wesley was concerned with creating schools for the children of Methodist
preachers, a group of sixty-three preachers.
"There were in America
at that time only eighty-three Methodist preachers. None of them, with the
exception of Dr. Thomas Coke, had been in a college, or even in what would now
be called, a rudimentary high school. All were desperately poor financially."[10]
Faced with this situation,
what were Wesley's attitudes?
Wesley created schools for
the poor and for the children of Methodist preachers. Among these schools are
"The London Foundation School", "The Orphans' Home in
Bristol" and the "Kingswood School" which the Methodists opened
for the children of the Kingswood miners.[11]
Wesley "admitted girls to his schools at Kingswood, and provided
money for the education of his preachers' daughters. His decision to appoint
several women preachers may have been influenced by the attitude of his mother
Susanna Wesley in the education of her daughters."[12]
George Whitefield, in
addition to being a revivalist and a great preacher of early Methodism, was
also concerned with social work. It was he who founded the Kingswood School and
an orphanage in Georgia.[13]
When he encountered trouble
in the schools, Wesley showed concern. In 1781, he said of Kingswood School:
"How much trouble this school has given me for these thirty years! I make
plans, but who is going to carry them out! I do not know; the Lord will help
me!"[14]
And when Wesley observed
the progress at Kingswood School, he said in 1786: "I found everything as
I wished: the rules are being observed, and the behaviour of the children shows
that they are being governed with wisdom."[15]
Wesley observed that there
were flaws in the educational system in England, thus showing that he had a
critical attitude towards the world in which he lived. Here is a summary of the
flaws he found:
1) The schools were poorly
located,
2) The worst children
corrupted the best,
3) Religious instruction
was flawed,
4) The subjects were poorly
chosen,
5) There were defects in pedagogy.[16]
About a thousand Sunday School children
"I have known between nine hundred and one
thousand of the children belonging to our Sunday schools. I have never seen
such a sight before. They were all exactly clean, as well as simple, in their
clothes. They were all serious and well behaved."
On Sunday, March 20, 1786, Wesley was in the evening in a house in Bolton, which was completely full.
"About three of the three I met between nine hundred and one thousand of the children belonging to our Sunday schools. I never saw such a sight before. They were all exactly clean, as well as simple, in their clothes. They were all serious and well behaved. Many, boys and girls, had faces as beautiful as, I believe, England or Europe can afford. When they all sang together, and not one of them out of tune, the melody was beyond that of any theatre; and, best of all, many of them really fear God, and some rejoice in His salvation. These are a pattern for the whole town. Their usual amusement is to visit the poor who are sick (sometimes six, or eight, or ten together), to exhort, comfort, and pray with them. Often ten or more of them come together to sing and pray alone; sometimes thirty or forty; and they are so earnestly engaged, alternately singing, praying, and weeping, that they do not know how to separate. You children, who hear this, why should you not go and do the same? Is not God here and in Bolton? May God arise and keep up His own cause, even "from the mouths of infants and suckling women!" [17] Wesley said.
Classes for children
On November 23, 1760, he said, "In the afternoon I assigned the children to meet at Bristol, whose parents were of the society. Thirty of them came today, and more than fifty on Sunday and Thursday following. About half of them I divided into four classes, two of boys and two of girls; and I appointed suitable leaders to meet them separately." [18]
Hannah Ball founder of the
first Sunday School
Hanna Ball was the daughter of a farmer. She
was born on 13 March 1733 and spent most of her life in High Wycombe. She never
married, but lived with several relatives and cared for her brother's children.
Hannah read Thomas Walsh's sermons and heard
John Wesley preach in January 1765, after which she began a correspondence with
him and they became friends. They exchanged dozens of letters over the years.
Hannah became an important member of the
Methodist society in High Wycombe and was tireless in visiting the poor and the
sick. In 1769, she started a "class" for children who worked at the
local inns. They met before Sunday worship for religious instruction and on
Mondays to learn to read and write. As this is believed to be the first
institution of its kind, Hannah is now considered the founder of the Sunday
School movement."[19]
Hannah Ball was a member of
the Methodist Society in High Wycombe.[20]
The
first Sunday School was established in 1769 by the Methodist Hannah Ball
(1734-1792) at Wycombe. She wrote to Wesley and reported her work to John
Wesley in 1770: "The children meet twice a week, on Sundays and Mondays.
It is a somewhat wild company, but it seems receptive to instruction. I work
among them with the eagerness to promote the interests of Christ."[21]
Hannah was a consecrated person and was
concerned with the spiritual welfare of adults; She was responsible for the
various conversions, including a Charles Dean, a "very wicked" man on
his deathbed, as well as his wife and sister. [22]
"She was greatly encouraged in her work
by John Wesley. He also asked her to monitor the work of preachers in her area
and told her about the new circuit preachers and how to support them. For
example, in April 1774, he wrote about Joseph Bradford;
"Gently warn him not
to speak too fast or too loudly, and tell him if he does not preach strongly
and explicitly about perfection."
On Wesley's advice, Hannah broke off the
engagement to marry a man he considered "ungodly." Wesley, however,
encouraged Hannah and a group of other Methodist women to correspond, give
mutual aid, and visit each other's societies." [23]
Sunday School in the Missions in the Channel Islands
The first chapel was
opened in Rue Le Marchant, St. Peter Port, in 1789; Ebenezer Chapel, in 1816.
The first Sunday
School was opened in 1808."[24]
Wesley visited and established Methodism in several
Channel Islands and in Great Britain.
It was so in 1783, in
Jersey. "Methodist soldiers stationed with the English-speaking Regiment
at Jersey, joined with these new converts and their families to form the first
Society. John Wesley sent Robert Carr Brackenbury, squire of Raithby, Lincolnshire
to them in 1783 as the first Methodist missionary to the Channel Islands. The Rev. Dr. Thomas Coke soon followed."[25]
First Sunday School
in Guernsey
Pierre Arrivé lived
in Guernsey and in 1885 "converted and invited R.C.
Brackenbury to visit Guernsey. Brackenbury did so and then
wrote to Thomas
Coke, asking that another preacher be sent." [26]
"He convinced
the young bilingual preacher Jean deQuettevilleto go from Jersey to the Guernsey
mission"
"Thomas Coke
wasted no time in visiting theChannel
Islandsand convinced the young bilingual preacher Jean deQuettevilleto go from Jersey to
the Guernsey mission. He arrived early in 1786 and the island was included
among the places named in Thomas Coke's missionary appeal that year. In the
autumn, Quetteville was joined by Adam
Clarke, who spent three years on the island. John Wesley
himself paid a visit in August 1787. The first chapel was opened in Rue Le
Marchant, St. Peter Port, in 1789; Ebenezer Chapel, in 1816. The firstSunday
Schoolwas inaugurated in 1808".[27]
Sunday School,
one of the legacies of black Methodist women in the Caribbean
"In 1809,
they opened the first Sunday School in the Caribbean for boys and girls,
regardless of race.[28] "Anne held her meetings in the dark so that no
one would be ashamed of her tattered clothes" [29]
Several women had an immense importance in the
implantation and development of Methodism in the Caribbean. More than that,
they impacted society at the time and left a legacy. Among them are the Hart
sisters, Mary Wilkinson and
Sarah Ann Gill.
Challenging the patriarchal and slavery situation
in Antigua
Elizabeth Hart Thwaites (1772-1833) and Anne Hart
Gilbert (1773-1833) were born in Antigua, the Caribbean, at the time a
plantation site, slaves, and a British naval post ruled by "rough and
mercenary" whites. They were the daughters of Anne and Barry, a free black
family.[30]
Elizabeth and Anne caused a scandal in Antigua
when they decided to marry lay and white Methodist leaders. Anne married John
Gilbert in 1798, and Elizabeth married Charles around 1805.
"The sisters wore simple clothes, renounced
music and other worldly pursuits, educated their father's enslaved laborers,
and publicly expressed their abolitionist beliefs."[31]
Another scandal was their being baptized at a
young age in the Methodist Church in 1786 by Thomas Coke.[32] They actively worked to spread Methodism among
the blacks of Antigua. In 1797, there were 2,379 black people and 25 white
people in the Methodist Church in Antigua.
The so-called "Hart sisters"
"defended a Christianity that challenged the prevailing patriarchal and
slavery situation. They insisted that in God's work women had the right to seek
holy work and not just men. They defended political equality by proposing that
blacks and slaves be equal to whites."[33] They used writing to challenge the patriarchal order.
They were the first Afro-Caribbean writers.[34]
In 1804, Anne and Elizabeth wrote a brief history
of Methodism in Antigua. Elizabeth also wrote poetry, hymns, letters, and an
anti-slavery treatise.
In 1801, Elizabeth founded a private school in
St. John's. In 1809, they opened the first Sunday School in the Caribbean for
boys and girls, regardless of race.[35] "Anne held her meetings in the dark so that no
one would be ashamed of her tattered clothes." [36]
In 1815, they founded the "Women's Refuge
Society" for orphans and women. They condemned prostitution.[37] "Most
Afro-descendant women, free or slave, engaged in concubinage in intimate
partnerships with black or white men and had limited educational and
professional opportunities."[38]
The Hart sisters are considered the first
Afro-Caribbean writers.[39] Anne and Elizabeth were pioneers in the fight against
slavery in Antigua.[40]
First Sunday School in Brazil
On September 1, 1836, he says: "(...) We managed to organize a Sunday school, called the South American Missionary Sunday School, auxiliary to the Union of Sunday Schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church... More than 40 children and young people became interested in it (...).
Methodist missionary Justin Spaulding (1802-1865) arrived in Brazil in 1835. He organized a Sunday School in Rio de Janeiro, which had 40 people. There was a weekly prayer meeting and a Sunday School. "More than 40 children were interested."[41]
And there is the first reference to the Methodist Church's welcome to
blacks. Spaulding said: "We have two classes of blacks, one speaks
English, the other Portuguese. Currently they seem very interested and eager to
learn."[42]
How it went
Rev. Spaulding, who arrived
in Rio de Janeiro with his wife, little son and a maid on April 29, 1836.[43]
Rev. Spaulding rented a
building in Largo da Glória where he began to hold services. He learned
Portuguese, organized a Sunday School, assisted sailors and the sick of the
Santa Casa.[44] Later, Rev. Spaulding settled in Rua do Catete.
In a report to the
corresponding secretary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, on September 1,
1836, he says: "(...) We managed to organize a Sunday school, called the
South American Missionary Sunday School, auxiliary to the Union of Sunday
Schools of the Methodist Episcopal Church... More than 40 children and young
people became interested in it (...). It is divided into eight classes with
four teachers and four teachers. We meet at 4:30 pm on Sundays. We have two
classes of blacks, one speaks English, the other Portuguese. Currently they
seem very interested and eager to learn (...)."[45]
In 1841, Rev. Spauding returned to
North America, leaving a congregation with 40 members in Rio de Janeiro. He
asked the Methodist Church to send someone to find out in the country where to
install schools and evangelization points. Being sent, then, Rev. Daniel
Kidder:
The founder of the National Union of Allies and Farm Workers and his
Sunday School learning
"George
said that Sunday School was the only schooling he had. He was soon recognized
as a local preacher. His Christian faith led him to fight to improve the social
and economic conditions of the people"
George Edwards (1850-1933) founded
the National Union of Allies and Agricultural Workers.
He was born in Marsham, Norfolk,
England. He was the son of Thomas, a poor former soldier who worked as a farm
laborer. Thomas stole some turnips from a field and was sentenced to 14 days of
hard labor. With no income for his family, he was taken with his brothers to
Aylsham reformatory, where he was separated from his mother.
At the age of six, he went to work
scaring crows in the fields. "Due to the need to work, he never went to
school." He entered an Early Methodist Church and was converted. [46]
He married Charlotte Corke at the
age of 22 and they had no children. He memorized several Bible passages and
learned to read under Charlotte's instruction.
George said that Sunday School was
the only schooling he had. He was soon recognized as a local preacher. His
Christian faith led him to fight to improve the social and economic conditions
of the people.
In Norfolk, he joined the
Agricultural Workers' Union. In 1906, he founded the National Union of Allies
and Agricultural Workers, with more than 3,000 members, and was the general
secretary. He succeeded in raising the wages of agricultural workers.
He was a bedsman for Norfolk County Council in 1914 and became a magistrate. In 1918 he became an
alderman. He was elected in 1920 to Parliament and returned to the House of Commons in 1923. He was knighted in 1930.
He moved to the town of Fakenham,
where he attended the Buckenham Memorial Methodist Church. When he died, the
streets were filled, shops were closed, a band played his anthems, schools were
present, as well as trade unions, politicians and clergy.[47]
Apples and the Sunday
School by John Ing
They started Sunday School
classes, and in 1875 a church was organized that grew to 2,000 members
John Ing (1840–1920) was a
Methodist missionary in China and Japan. John and his wife Lucy, who was ill,
went to Hirosaki to teach at Tsugaru Clan School, To-O-Gijuku.
They started Sunday School
classes, and in 1875 a church was organized, which grew to 2,000 members.
In the mid-1870s, John Ing
introduced apples to Japan using Western cultivation techniques, which were
larger and sweet. Apples in Japan were small, bitter, and little eaten.
Today the Aomori region,
where John planted the seeds, is the largest apple-producing region in Japan.
John Ing is known as the "Johnny Appleseed of Japan" for his
contribution to the apple industry. He also taught peasants how to grow
cabbage, tomatoes, etc. John is remembered as the man who brought economic and
spiritual salvation to northern Japan.[48]
"In 1884, the Missions Committee of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church organized the work in Japan into an annual conference. The conference had 32 clergy members—13 missionaries and 19 Japanese ministers—along with 1,148 church members, 241 probationary members, and 1,203 people enrolled in Sunday schools.
By 1895,
the Japan Conference had nine districts, 68 clergy—18 American missionaries and
51 Japanese clergy. There were 3,371 members and 668 interns."[49]
Dedication in the
publication of Sunday School periodicals
He dedicated himself to the
publication of the Sunday School periodicals "The Sunday School" and
"Our Little People"
It was John James Ransom (1853-1934) who wrote the hymn "For My Misdeeds."
He was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee, USA. He was the son of Richard Portice Ransom and Frances T. Bass. Ransom arrived in Brazil in 1876 as Superintendent of the Brazilian Mission sent by the Methodist Episcopal Church of the South.
Soon he came into contact with the Methodist missionary Junius Newman, in Brazil since 1867. He tried to study Portuguese in Campinas, learning easily. During this period, he taught English and Greek at the International College in Campinas. A year later he looked for the best places to establish the Church.
In 1877, Ransom visited Rio Grande do Sul, but settled in Rio de Janeiro, renting a house for two years, on Rua do Catete.
In this house, on January 13, 1878, he began to conduct services in English and, on the 27th, in Portuguese. The "Ransom Mission" (1876-1886) comprised three lines of action: Preaching, Educational Work and Literature.
Persecuted by the Catholic newspaper "Apostle", Ransom invited the priests to attend the services to verify that the Methodists were not atheists, nor despisers of the laws of Brazil.
On March 9, 1879, he received the first two members. At Christmas of that year, 1879, he married Annie Newman, daughter of Rev. Newman. The following year she died of yellow fever. That same year, he returned to the United States.
John Ransom was the only Methodist who could preach in Portuguese. He inaugurated an evangelical service in the Botafogo neighborhood. In 1881, they began to meet in a house on the hill of Santa Tereza, which served as a residence and house of worship.
In 1884, Ransom married Sarah, in the USA, and returned to continue the work in Brazil. He dedicated himself to the publication of the Sunday School periodicals "The Sunday School" and "Our Little People". In 1884 a work was opened in Juiz de Fora where Ransom lived until 1886.
On January 1, 1886 he created the newspaper "Methodista Catholico" which became the official organ of the Church. The following year the name was changed to "Expositor Cristo", being the oldest evangelical newspaper in Brazil.
In 1886, he left his work in Brazil and returned to the USA.[50]
He is considered the founder of Methodism among Brazilians.
Inventor of the "Akron Plan" for Sunday Schools
He was also the inventor of the "Akron
Plan" for Sunday Schools, a building layout with a central assembly hall
surrounded by small classrooms. He created a system to encourage Sunday School
work. A committee was created to provide the Sunday School curriculum in a
uniform manner, also known as the "Uniform Lesson Plan."
Lewis Miller
(1829-1899) was born in Greentown, Ohio, USA. He was a businessman and
philanthropist who made his fortune in the late 19th century as the inventor of
the first machine for harvesting and harvesting grain. His patent was filed on
May 4, 1858 and marked an era in the history of cutters.
His invention of a
grim reaper with a movable cutterbar and other agricultural machinery earned
him a fortune and helped revolutionize agriculture. A machine for cutting ripe
fruits, such as corn, had already been invented, but Miller's nine-room machine
had finally gathered the essential elements for an efficient cutter. The blade
was mounted in front of the driver to the side of the horse, rather than being
pulled back.
Miller was a
philanthropist and devoted much of his wealth to public service and charitable
causes, such as the Methodist Episcopal Church. In the 1870s, he co-founded the
Chautauqua Movement of adult education, which included music, exercise,
spiritual discussions, and scientific lectures. He was also the inventor of the
"Akron Plan" for Sunday Schools, a building layout with a central
assembly aisle surrounded by small classrooms. He created a system to encourage
Sunday School work. A committee was created to provide the Sunday School
curriculum in a uniform manner, also known as the "uniform Lesson
Plan."
Miller was the father-in-law of inventor Thomas Edison. His daughter Mina Miller (1865-1947) studied music in New Jersey, where she met Thomas Edison. They married at the Miller family home in Akron in 1886.[51]
First studies for Sunday School in Pará
His motto was:
"Let us know and practice the truth at all costs." The publication
included Sunday School lessons, religious articles, etc. Justus fought against
idolatry, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, etc.
It was the Methodist
missionary Justus Henry Nelson (1850-1937) who translated the hymn into
Portuguese.
With Bishop William
Taylor, on June 19, 1880, Justus landed in the port of Belém do Pará as a
self-supporting missionary. They established a school for boys, which was later
burned down.
On July 1, 1883, he
established the first Protestant Church in the Amazon Basin - Methodist
Episcopal Church of Pará.
He created the
newspaper "Apologista Cristã", which defended democracy, republic and
the separation of Church and State. His boldness provoked persecutions. He was
tried and imprisoned for four months. They had five children in Belém, one of
whom died of malaria.
They were the first studies for Sunday School in
Pará.
He was a missionary
for almost 50 years in Pará and translated other hymns such as "The
Exile", "God will provide" and "I found a good
friend".
Sunday
School in the Beginning of Methodism in the Netherlands
In 1989,
Leona and Gloria Gumbs started a Sunday School
Since 1868, the Free
Methodist Church has been organized and active in the Netherlands, in Europe.
"The vision of the
founders of the Free Methodist Church was to "maintain the biblical
pattern of Christianity, and preach the gospel to the poor." That vision
carries on to the present day, as we stand for biblical truth and strive to follow
Christ's example of service to others.[117]
The Holland Mission, by the
Methodist Church, was officially established on July 18, 2004 in the
Netherlands. It is a Circuit of the Leeward Islands District Conference of the
MCCA.
The pioneers were Ramon and
Leona. Ramon Hodge, a local preacher of the Methodist Church in the Leeward
Islands District in the Caribbean, and Leona Hodge were the pioneers in opening
the Methodist Church in the Netherlands.
It all started during a
Bible study and prayer, around the eighties, when the idea of a Methodist
mission in Holland was raised. Ramon Hodge raised family names, relatives, and
acquaintances in the Netherlands. In light of this, the Aruba Circuit made a proposal
to the Annual Synod of the District of the Leeward Islands to start
English-speaking Methodism in the Netherlands. Ramon was appointed to be in the
Netherlands for a period of six months to verify this possibility.
In May 1989, Ramon and his
wife Leona arrived in the Netherlands and contacted about two hundred people
who were interested in attending the Church. The first service was held in
Grote Kerkplein, Rotterdam. The services were held twice a month, in Rotterdam
and Amsterdam. Caribbean Methodists living in the Netherlands rejoiced to be
able to attend the church. In 1989, Leona and Gloria Gumbs started a Sunday
School.
After the Hodges returned
to Aruba, Alfred Glasgow, a Methodist from Aruba living in the Netherlands,
took over as Coordinator of the Methodist Mission in the Netherlands.
Subsequently, Ramon and Leona returned to the Netherlands on numerous
occasions. In 1990, Rev. Al Loades was the first minister to visit the
Netherlands to continue the ministries. In 1991 and 1992, other ministers were
appointed.
In 1989, Ramon Hodge
established contact with Doreen Hazel, who lived in the Netherlands. In 1994,
the Methodist Women's League was created through her. Alfred Glasgow was
appointed Lay Pastor in the Netherlands. In 1994, the Annual Congregational
Conference of the MCCA accepted the Holland Mission as a Circuit. In 1997, Rev.
Dr. Wilfred Hodge started a third congregation in Zoetermeer, in 2000.
The Holland Mission was
officially established on July 18, 2004. It is a Circuit of the Leeward Islands
District Conference of the MCCA. Congregations are in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and
Zoetermeer.[52]
The Methodist Church of the
Netherlands is a Circuit of the Leeward Islands District Conference of the MCCA
– Methodist Church in the Caribbean and the Americas.[53]
Home of the Sunday School magazine in Brazil
J.L. Kennedy continued to write Sunday School
literature, "the Sunday School Magazine being started by him in October
1899 and the "Juvenile" in January of that year.
In the Minutes of the Brazilian
Annual Conference, it was recorded that J.L. Kennedy continued in the writing of Sunday School
literature, "the Sunday School Magazine being started by him in October
1899 and the "Juvenile" in January of that year.
It seemed, in the judgment of the Conference, that
these two periodicals were filling a very sensitive gap." [54]
But who was J.L.Kennedy?
James Lillbourne Kennedy (1857-1942) was born in Strawberry Plains, Jefferson, Tennessee, USA. [55] He was the son of a Methodist minister.
He arrived in Brazil as a missionary in 1881. On March 26, 1881, at the age of 36, Martha Watts and two other missionaries left New York, via Europe, bound for Brazil. The missionaries were: Rev. J.W. Koger, wife, little son and Rev. J.L. Kennedy at the age of 23.
J.L. Kennedy was one of the three founders of the First Brazilian Annual Conference, in 1886. In 1889, J. L. Kennedy, J.W. Wolling, and Tarbaux published "The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist Church of the South."[56]
Reception and emancipation of blacks
The Church did little to fight against slavery. It is important to remember that the Catholic Church was the official religion of Brazil. There was opposition to the Protestants. But the Church did not stop supporting liberation and welcoming freed blacks.
"The Church raised 300$000 to help in the emancipation of slaves"
Professor José Gonçalves Salvador, in his book History of Methodism in Brazil, stated: "And at the meeting of May 5, being pastor, now, Rev. Kennedy, it is read that the Church raised 300$000 to help in the emancipation of the slaves of Rio. The amount was forwarded to the president of the City Council of the city".[57]
One black man that J.L. Kennedy welcomed was Ludgero de Miranda, who had converted to Methodism and went to Rio de Janeiro to study for the pastoral ministry. Ludgero said: "On February 5, 1885 I went to Rio de Janeiro to begin the studies necessary for the ministry under the direction of Rev. J.J.Ransom."[58]
Ludgero said that in December he got sick: "on the 25th of that same month I had yellow fever, but God delivered me.[59]
He was welcomed in the house of Pastor J.L. Kennedy, who was a pastor in Catete: "Ludgero Luís Correia de Miranda, Rev. Kennedy's assistant in Rio, falls seriously ill. The symptoms soon manifest themselves: it is the terrible fever. As no one yet knows the causes of it, everyone fears the opposite. In spite of everything, the generous Mr. Kennedy agreed to take him home and give him the treatment indicated by the doctor. Fortunately the crisis passed and he was able to go to Juiz de Fora, in order to recover better, and return to the work of the Gospel."[60]
Ludgero was also an assistant to Rev. J.L. Kennedy at the Methodist Church of Catete.
He was married to Jennie Wallace. He was widowed and later married Dayse Pyles. He was a pastor in large and small churches. In 1928 he published the historical book "Fifty Years of Methodism in Brazil".
He was Editor of the Christian Expositor and director of schools. He was much loved and admired for his immense dedication to Brazilian Methodism. He had a very fruitful ministry.[61]
He was distinguished by the variety of activities performed. He organized the first Federation of SS. MM.SS. on April 23, 1916, at the Central Church of São Paulo.[62]
Data from the Brazilian Annual Conference
J.L. Kennedy continued in the writing of Sunday School
literature, "the Sunday School Magazine being started by him in October,
1899, and the "Juvenile" in January of that year. It seemed, in the
judgment of the Conference, that these two periodicals were filling a very
sensitive gap." [63]
The
Mother's Day Inspirational Woman was a Sunday School teacher
She
taught the church's Sunday School for the next 25 years
Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis
(1832-1905) lived in Webster, West Virginia. She was a Methodist sympathetic to
others. Anna arrived in West Virginia at the age of eleven. At the time, her
father, the Rev. Josiah W. Reeves, was a minister in the Methodist Church[64].
Your social vision
During the 1850s, she
worked to organize several "Mother's Day Work Clubs." She organized a
number of mothers' work clubs in Webster, Grafton, Fetterman, Pruntytown, and
Philipp, to improve health and sanitary circumstances, due to the high infant
mortality rate. Among other services, the clubs raised money for medicine, and
hired women to work for families in which the mothers suffered from
tuberculosis[65].
In 1860, local doctors
supported the formation of clubs in other cities.[66] Anna Jarvis's spirit of solidarity was immense and practical.
"During the American Civil War, she organized women to meet the needs of
the wounded on both sides."[67]
Anna Jarvis follows the
Wesleyan line of works of mercy—visiting the prisoners, feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked, etc. She anticipated the Social Gospel, which emerged in
force at the end of the nineteenth century, especially with Walter Rauschenbusch
(1861-1918) and Washington Gladden (1836-1918). They opposed the idea that the
Church should focus only on spiritual matters.[68] Some of the institutional aspects of the social gospel are social,
educational, recreational services during the week, and social centers[69].
She was a pacifist and her vision was to help
with the needs of others. Anna encouraged clubs to declare neutrality in the
American Civil War, so that everyone could help both the Confederates and the
Union soldiers. At the time of the Civil War, she organized a mothers' club to
help wounded soldiers, and fed and clothed them. Near the end of the war, the
family moved to Grafton[70].
After the war, Anna Jarvis
sought to reconcile families divided by the conflict[71].
Jarvis managed to preserve
an element of peace in a community torn apart by political differences. During
the war, he worked tirelessly, despite the personal drama of losing four of his
children to illness. In all, eight of his 12 children died before they reached
adulthood[72].
Anna Reeves Jarvis's life
has always been around the Methodist Church. Under the leadership of her
husband, Granville, the Methodist Church temple was built in Grafton and
dedicated in 1873. She taught the church's Sunday School for the next 25 years.[73]
Her daughter, Anna Jarvis, honored her mother on the second Sunday in
May 1908. The first Mother's Day took place in 1908 at the Grafton Methodist
Church where Ann performed. [74]
The date became a tribute to all mothers.
The First Sunday School in Piracicaba
In 1881. He soon learned Portuguese and
organized the first Sunday School in Piracicaba, even before the organization
of the Church
Martha Hite Watts (1845-1910) was born on February 13, 1845 in the United States, in Bardstown, Kentucky. She was "the daughter of a large family with nine children. Her father was a lawyer and her mother a zealous housewife. In her youth she moved to Louisville, in the same state, where she became a teacher. There she attended Broadway Methodist Church, where she faced the loss of her fiancé, who died in the Civil War."[75]
"Her conversion experience took place in 1874. She did not accept to share her heart with the world, since that year she was very active in the service of Christ. When she felt the call to the "Forgotten Continent", she answered the task and embarked for Brazil in March 1881".[76]
Martha Watts "finished the Normal Course and dedicated herself to teaching. During a revival she was converted and consecrated her life to the Lord Jesus. Years later, in February 1881, Bishop Keener appointed her as the first missionary to Brazil."[77]
Martha was a contemporary of Peter Cartwright, an itinerant Methodist preacher, who ministered in Kentucky for 69 years. When he died in 1872, Martha was 27 years old.
An important fact about Martha Watts is that she was not nominated. She offered to work in Brazil:
"A letter published in the Woman's Advocate, a periodical of the Women's Missionary Society in the USA, in March 1881 says: The elites thus began to realize the importance of women's education" Miss Mattie H. Watts of Louisville, Kentucky, offered herself as a candidate for missionary, aspiring to go to Brazil. I have her recommendations in hand and I must add that they are of the first order." (Woman's Advocate, March, 1881, p.8)".[78]
On March 26, 1881, at the age of 36, Martha and two other missionaries "left New York, via Europe, bound for our dear Brazil, the following missionaries: Rev. J. W. Koger, wife, little son, the old educator Miss Martha Watts and Rev. J. L. Kennedy, who was still single."[79]
Martha Watts was not inexperienced. Certainly, this was important in her choice to be a missionary in Brazil.
She was a healthy young woman, with an active and well-disciplined mind.
"Possessed of a strong and healthy body, together with an active and well-disciplined mind by a seven years' experience in schools, she is cheerful, has a balanced temperament, with a rare combination of amiability and strength of character. All of herself, life, time and talents, she consecrated to God several years ago, and has been permanently engaged in the different branches of church work. For two years she desired to serve as a missionary and when she saw Brazil open, simple faith was manifest in her answer: Behold the Woman's Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MESQUITA, 2001)".[80]
The blog Historical Collections states: "Miss Martha Watts definitely changed the identity of Piracicaba society at the end of the nineteenth century."[81]
He arrived in Piracicaba with Revds. J.W. Koger and J.L. Kennedy, in 1881. He soon learned Portuguese and organized the first Sunday School in Piracicaba, even before the organization of the Church. "The dedicated missionary, Miss Watts, already at the beginning of July of that year, gathering several children, every Sunday, before the morning service, thus effectively organized and conducted with skill a small Sunday school."[82]
Martha Watts founded the Colégio Piracicabano, on September 13, 1881, starting
classes with only one student – Maria Escobar. In Brazil, it was the first
Methodist school. The dedication to a single student impressed everyone.
College and Sunday School
H.C. Tucker opened a private school at the Court in 1887, "but all
evangelical, almost all of whose students attended Sunday School."[83]
Hugh
Clarence Tucker (1857-1956) was born in Williamson County, Tennessee, USA. He
was married to Euvira Tucker, daughter of Bishop John Cowper Granbery.
At the
age of 28, he left Tennessee and came as a missionary to Brazil.
Tucker
represented the Board of Missions at world meetings and in Brazil and was one
of the most important evangelical figures in the world. An advocate and
practitioner of the Social Gospel. He worked at the American Bible Society.
The
Methodist missionary K.L. Kennedy thus recorded his arrival in Brazil
prophesying about his ministry: "Recently Rev. Hugh C. Tucker arrived, who
has dedicated his days to preaching the crucified Christ to the contrite in
heart and freedom to the captives."[84]
On September 16, 1886,
Tucker, along with James L. Kennedy and John William Tarboux, founded the
Brazilian Annual Conference.
The following year, after
almost two years at the head of a church where the North American colony
congregated, in Rio de Janeiro, he accepted the invitation and was appointed
secretary of the American Bible Society, with an office in this city. His task:
to disseminate the Holy Bible, because, on the eve of the Proclamation of the
Republic, the field would soon be open to Protestant missions.[85]
Tucker
built the first Methodist temple in Brazil. He was pastor of the Methodist
Church of Catete.
Said
Tucker: "This was the first house of worship built by the Methodist Church
in Brazil and was inaugurated in September 1882. Two congregations worshipped
in the chapel: the Portuguese-speaking Brazilian church with 42 members and the
English-speaking congregation with 39 souls that he had come to serve."[86]
H.C. Tucker opened a private school at the Court in 1887, "but all
evangelical, almost all of whose students attended Sunday School."[87]
In the Methodist Church he helped form the smallest annual conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church (3 people).
Tucker
in his memoirs said that the "need was urgent and Bishop Granbery formally
organized the smallest Annual Council ever organized in the history of the
Southern Methodist Church. There were only 3 members: Reverend J.L. Kennedy, of
Tennessee, Reverend J. W. Tarboux, of South Carolina, and myself. Of those only
I remained. Dr. Kennedy came to Brazil in 1881 and served the Church and the
country for 61 years."[88]
Creator
of Bem-Te-Vi magazines
and
Missionary Voice
She
created the Bem-Te-Vi magazine for the children of the Sunday School of the
Methodist Church
Leila Flossie Epps (1884-1962) was born in
Kingstree, South Carolina, and attended Leesville, Meridian, Mississippi, and
the Training School in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1911. In 1911, she arrived in
Brazil, where she served for 37 years, first in the educational field. She
created the Bem-Te-Vi magazine for the children of the Sunday School of the
Methodist Church.
In 1929, the Women's Missionary Council of the Methodist Episcopal Church (USA) appointed Leila Epps to work with women. She resisted, but a dream about Brazilian women changed her thinking and she accepted the appointment. She was a pioneer in the development and expansion of the work of Methodist women in Brazil. When the Methodist Church in Brazil became autonomous in 1930, Epps was asked to continue this task.
In 1930, together with the women's federations, she created the Missionary Voice, a magazine for women's societies. She was the first editor. She was enthusiastic, good-humored and called Dona Mizépe.
Epps was concerned about the plight of neglected Indians in Brazil. She supported the creation of an interdenominational mission that was established among the Cauiá Indians of Mato Grosso, and the women helped support a young Brazilian doctor, Nelson de Araújo, a medical missionary. She risked catching diseases and faced dangers in the jungle. She also helped educate one of the young Indians of this tribe.
In the press, she fought the tragedy of lepers in Brazil and supported the work with lepers of Methodist Eunice Weaver, who became known worldwide. Leila retired in 1950, in South Carolina, USA.[89]
[1]
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/wen/ephesians-1.html
[2]https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/073989131401100210?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.1
The Role of Obedience in the Formation of the Child's Faith: Insights from the
Teachings and Practices of John Wesley, by Colleen R. Derr, Ed.D.Ver.
[3]https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/sermon-95-on-the-education-of-children
[4]
https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=26141
[5]https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/073989131401100210?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.1
[6] https://wesleyscholar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Volume-3-Journal-1760-1773.pdf.
[7] https://wesleyscholar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Volume-3-Journal-1760-1773.pdf.
[8] LELIÈVRE, Mateo. João Wesley - Sua vida e obra. São Paulo: Editora Vida, 1997, p.14
[9] https://www.123helpme.com/essay/Education-In-Britain-During-The-18th-Century-63680
[10] LUCCCK, Halford, ibid., p. 65. Thomas Coke was born in 1747, in Wales,
and received a doctorate in laws. In 1784, he was appointed by Wesley as Superintendent
of Methodism in America. Title later changed to Bishop.Idem, p.107-1.
[11] ROY, James Richard, ibid., p. 80.
[12] https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/weslmethstud.8.2.0135
[13] HEITZENHATER, Richard P., Ibidem, p. 121.
[14] WESLEY, João.Excerpts from the Diary of John Wesley. Ibidem, p.66.
[15] WESLEY, João.Excerpts from the Diary of John Wesley. Ibidem, p.66.
[16] REILY, Duncan Alexander, Ibid., p. 9.
[17] The Magazine of John Wesley, with an
introduction by Hugh Price Hughes, m.a., edited by Percy Livingstone Parker,
Chicago Moody Press, 1951.
[18] https://wesleyscholar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Volume-3-Journal-1760-1773.pdf
[19]
https://www.mywesleyanmethodists.org.uk/content/people-2/lay_people/hannah-ball-friend-john-wesley-founder-first-sunday-school
[20] LUCCOCK, Halford, Ibidem, p. 86.
[21] https://www.mywesleyanmethodists.org.uk/content/people-2/lay_people/hannah-ball-friend-john-wesley-founder-first-sunday-school
[22]
https://www.mywesleyanmethodists.org.uk/content/people-2/lay_people/hannah-ball-friend-john-wesley-founder-first-sunday-school
[23]
https://www.mywesleyanmethodists.org.uk/content/people-2/lay_people/hannah-ball-friend-john-wesley-founder-first-sunday-school
[24]Ditto.
[25]
http://www.methodistheritage.org.uk/jerseyandguernsey.htm
[26]https://dmbi.online/index.php?do=app.entry&id=1197
[27]Ditto.
[28] Ditto.
[29]
https://suffragettecity100.com/wcw04
[30] https://www.encyclopedia.com/.../hart-sisters-antigua
[31]
https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:..
[32]
https://www.bu.edu/missiology/gilbert-anne-hart-1768-1833
[33]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Hart_Thwaites
[34]
https://www.encyclopedia.com/.../hart-sisters-antigua
[35] Ditto.
[36]
https://suffragettecity100.com/wcw04
[37]
https://www.bu.edu/missiology/gilbert-anne-hart-1768-1833
[38]
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267516106_The_Hart_Sisters_of...
[39]
https://www.encyclopedia.com/.../hart-sisters-antigua
[40]
Search:https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Antiguan+Methodism+and+Antislavery+Activity%3A+Anne+and+Elizabeth+Hart...-a065541447
http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/hart-sisters-antigua
https://www.questia.com/library/2718572/the-hart-sisters-early-african-caribbean-writers
[41] Letter in Duncan A. Reily, Documentary History of
Protestantism in Brazil. SP, ASTE.,
1984, p. 81-82
[42] Ditto.
[43] Ibid., p.32-3.
[44] Ibidem., p.36
[45] Carta in Reily,
História Documental do Protestantismo no Brasil. ibidem.,
p. 83-84.
[46]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Edwards_(British_politician)
[47] Search: www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/anvil/14-1_036.pdf
http://www.myprimitivemethodists.org.uk/page_id__1417_path__0p3p127p.aspxhttp://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/whs/41-1.pdf
[48] Johnny Appleseed (1774-1845) was a legendary American missionary, and
apple seed planter. (https://www.google.com.br/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Johnny+Appleseed), http://www.godeke.org/Psi_Phi/Ancestors_JohnIng.htm, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=sh&GRid=29471625, http://japan-brand.jnto.go.jp/foods/fruits/7/, http://www.toddjayleonard.com/Todd_Jay_Leonard/Johnny_Appleseed_Ing_brings_seeds_to_Japan,_Blog_Archives.html.,
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed
[49]
https://www.oldtokyo.com/methodist-church-japan-c-1920/#:~:text="The%20Japan%20Methodist%20Church%20(Nippon,leadership%20both%
[50] https://www.geni.com/people/Rev-John-James-Ransom/6000000024074524892
http://www.metodistavilaisabel.org.br/artigosepublicacoes/descricaobiografias.asp?Numero=614
www.metodistavilaisabel.org.br/.../descricaobiografias.asp?Numero=614
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=gerrha&id=I02445
[51]Research:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Miller_(philanthropist)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaper
www.babylon.com/definition/Lewis_Miller.../Englis
http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.5779:3:7.lincoln
http://www.akronempire.com/2015/05/akron-history-lewis-miller.html
[52] http://hollandmethodistchurch.org/home/welcome/
http://hollandmethodistchurch.org/
http://hollandmethodistchurch.org/congregation/
[54] Ditto.
[55]
https://www.scvpalmbeach.com/sub-pyles-minchin
[56] Methodist
Episcopal Church of the South, The Doctrines and Discipline of the Methodist
Church of the South 1888: Portuguese Edition, eds. J. L. Kennedy, J. W.
Wolling, and J. W. Tarbaux. Rio de
Janeiro: Typ. Aldina de A. J. Lamourreux & Co. 79, Rua de Sete de Setembro,
1888. p. 2.
[57] SALVADOR. José Gonçalves. História do Metodismo no
Brasil. São Paulo, Imprensa Metodista, 1982, p.151
[58] ROCHA, Isnard.
Pioneers and Pioneers of Methodism in Brazil. São Paulo, Methodist Press. 1967, p.61.
[59] Ditto.
[60] SALVADOR, José
Gonçalves. História do metodismo no Brasil. Imprensa Metodista, p.103. Centro
Editorial Metodista de Vila Isabel.
http://www.metodistavilaisabel.org.br/docs/docs/historiadometodismobrasileiro.pdf
[61] ROCHA, Isnard. "Pioneiros e
bandeirantes do metodismo no Brasil". Methodist
Press, 1967, p,154-156.
[62]
Ditto.
[63] Ditto.
[64]
http://educaterra.terra.com.br/almanaque/diadasmaes/diadasmaes.htm
[65]
http://www.wvculture.org/history/jarvis.html
[66] Ditto
[67]
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associação_Cristã_de_Moços
[68] REILY, Ducan A. História Documental
do Protestantismo no Brasil. ASTE, São Paulo, 1984, p.275.
[69] Idem, p.276.
[70]
http://www.wvculture.org/history/jarvis.html
[71]
www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2002/may10.html
[72]
www.wvculture.org/hiStory/thisdayinwvhistory/0508.html
[73] Ditto.
[74]
https://super.abril.com.br/historia/quem-foi-anna-jarvis-a-mulher-por-tras-do-dia-das-maes
[75]
http://iepapp.unimep.br/biblioteca_digital/pdfs/2006/JCXNCAQNVXCJ.pdf
[76]
https://dgmcriadorxcriaturas.blogspot.com/2012/12/martha-hite-watts.html
[77]
SALVADOR. José Gonçalves. History of Methodism in Brazil. Methodist Press, 1982. p.113.
[78] Zuleica de Castro Coimbra Mesquita. "Martha Watts: a methodist
educator in the tropical belle époque * Martha Watts: a methodist educator in
the tropical belle époque". Zuleica, PhD in Education (Unimep) Coordinator
of the Memory Project at Unimep (Piracicaba-SP).https://www.metodista.br/revistas/revistas-cogeime/index.php/COGEIME/article/viewFile/577/523
[79] KENNEDY, J.L. Cincoenta annos de methodismo no Brasil.
1928, p. 22.
[80]Lilian Sarat de
Oliveira. http://iepapp.unimep.br/biblioteca_digital/pdfs/2006/JCXNCAQNVXCJ.pdf. Methodist University of Piracicaba – Faculty of Human
Sciences. Graduate Program in Education – Martha Whatts: A look
at Brazil.
[81]
http://acervoshistoricos.blogspot.com/2014/
[82] KENNEDY, J.L.
Cincoenta annos de methodismo no Brasil. 1928, p. 25.
[83] Kennedy, J.L. Methodista Catholico.
Rio de Janeiro, August 1, 1886, v.15, p.54.
[84] Kennedy, J.L. Methodista Catholico.
Rio de Janeiro, August 1, 1886, v.15, p.4
[85] http://www.tabernaculo.com.br/arquivo/2001/junho/paginas/testemunhos.htm.
Article published in the
Avante Newspaper, written by Joel Dias da Silva.
[86]
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Clarence_Tucker
[87] Kennedy, J.L. Methodista Catholico.
Rio de Janeiro, August 1, 1886, v.15, p.54.
[88]
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Clarence_Tucker
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