JOHN WESLEY (1703-91) intended his movement to remain in the
Established Church. Believing that a presbyter had the right to
ordain, he held back from this until 1784, when he ordained
ministers for the American colonies. Thereafter, Anglicanism and
Methodism, itself internally dividing, grew apart.
The attempt to put them back together can be traced to various
points in history; but in 1955, when Anglican-Methodist
Conversations began, the Methodist Church was the only Free Church
ready to enter into formal talks in response to Archbishop Fisher's
1946 sermon inviting the Free Churches to take episcopacy into
their system.
Talks began on the understanding that the discussions were
within the Body of Christ, and that the office and function of a
priest would be safeguarded. An interim report, accepted in 1958
and 1959, recommended unification of ministries and intercommunion
(stage one), then "organic unity" (stage two).
Four of the Methodist committee members dissented from the final
report in 1963, and their objections (on episcopacy and priesthood)
were taken up by a protest campaign, the Voice of Methodism.
Objections began to be voiced by Anglicans, too: Fisher argued that
intercommunion was enough, and feared for the Anglican
Communion.
A second Anglican-Methodist commission (1965-68) included a
common ordinal in its final report. In a service of reconciliation,
laying on of hands was to be accompanied by prayer that the Holy
Spirit be sent upon "each according to his need". Evangelical
objectors focused on the possibility that this might be construed
as ordination; Anglo-Catholics on its not being explicitly an
ordination to the priesthood.
In May 1969, the Convocations provisionally agreed stage one;
but the Laity's support was ambiguous; a clergy referendum found
that more than a third would not take part in the reconciliation
service; and diocesan voting was inconclusive. In July 1969, the
Methodist Conference approved it by 76 per cent, but the clergy in
the Convocations failed to reach the required 75 per cent
(Canterbury 67, York 68). Leading Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical
opponents then argued for unity to emerge from local agreement, and
for a different method of reconciling ministries. A second attempt
to get the scheme approved, by the new General Synod, in May 1972,
achieved only 65.2 per cent (Clergy), and 62.82 per cent (Laity),
despite Archbishop Ramsey's advocacy.
In 1964, the British Council of Churches' Faith and Order
Conference had agreed to covenant for unity by 1980. Some Anglicans
had hopes of this multilateral approach, and a Churches Unity
Commission (1974-76) proposed a covenant with recognition of
ministries and the Free Churches' taking episcopacy into their
system. But the Anglican and United Reformed Churches set different
conditions, three Anglo-Catholic commission members objected to
pre-empting the C of E's own decisions on women's ordination, and
synodical voting was not propitious. In 1982, the required
two-thirds majorities in the Synod were lacking, and the plan
fell.
