Editor’s Note

Abstract

The United Methodist Church and the field of Methodist history lost two great scholars in the last year: Rev. Dr. Kenneth E. Rowe and Rev. Dr. Charles Yrigoyen Jr. The work of these two men overlapped in the halls of the United Methodist Archives and History Center on the campus of Drew University. In 1982, Yrigoyen and Rowe oversaw moving the denomination’s repository from Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, to Drew University’s campus in Madison, New Jersey. They knew that when the United Methodist denomination’s materials were housed in tandem with Drew University’s prodigious Methodist collection, it would create a world-renowned collection of global Methodism, which is still unprecedented.Over the last forty years, this building has been the home of the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church. Under the twenty-three-year leadership of Yrigoyen, GCAH expanded its programming to focus on funding, researching, and promoting the history of Methodists of color and the many women integral to the shaping of Methodism. Many of those histories were shared in the pages of Methodist History, for which he served as a brilliant editor. Rowe was pivotal in expanding the repository of Drew University to include histories of women, indigenous persons, and LGBTQ+ persons over his thirty-five-years of service to the University’s Methodist collection. Rowe frequently published his latest finds in the “Discovery” portion of Methodist History.For Yrigoyen, history was of utmost importance, he wrote, for “We really don’t know who we are, from whence we have come, and how God has blessed us (often in spite of ourselves) without remembering our past.”1 The United Methodist Church is one of the few denominations to uplift the importance of its heritage. If you have ever opened a Book of Discipline, at the very front, before all of the legislation, before the Constitution, and before even the Doctrine of our faith is “A Brief History of The United Methodist Church.” Each quadrennium, we choose once again to place history at the forefront of how we organize ourselves.In this current moment of the UMC, now more important than ever, we ought remember who we are, what it means to be (United) Methodist, and how we can use our heritage to change the future of those around us. In 1976, Rowe wrote a short article for a local Methodist history journal in New Jersey. In it he reflected on and marked the 100th anniversary of the Cape May Conference (1876), which began the long process of reconciliation between the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He claimed that 100 years later, “we United Methodists still find ourselves struggling to understand what it means to be a united church and a uniting church.”2 This is especially the case as external “yearnings toward unity are matched by internal yearnings toward schism.” Even in the 1970s, Rowe makes clear the intense disagreements made especially visible at General Conference without being disheartened because history had proven time and again that Methodists have always prioritized loving alike over thinking alike. For Rowe, “Pluralism is not an option to consider; it is a reality to accept—and celebrate.”This fall, the United Methodist Archives and History Center is celebrating forty years of housing the stories, the ministries, the failures, and the triumphs of those who claim Methodist identity. Over the next forty years, both figuratively and structurally, United Methodism and its archival repository will undergo some renovations, additions, and restructuring, but GCAH is here to ensure that during these shifts we do not lose sight of who we are as Methodists and how our past continues to enlighten an unknown future.Thank you to Yrigoyen and Rowe for providing GCAH with a literal strong foundation here on the campus of Drew University and a strong sense of why history is important—not only in this moment, but in all.This issue of Methodist History features three articles that are the work of graduate students at United Methodist seminaries. Two of these articles were the first- and second-place winners of the John Harrison Ness Memorial Award, an annual award given in memory of Ness’s ministry as pastor, conference superintendent, and denominational executive in the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The $500 first-place and $200 second-place prizes are awarded by GCAH to students enrolled in the M.Div. program (or its equivalent) in United Methodist or other seminaries accredited by the Association of Theological Schools to recognize and celebrate their interest and research in the area of church history. The essay must be submitted by the writer’s professor.This year’s first-place prize was presented to Carie Dupree, a recent MDiv graduate from Duke Divinty School in North Carolina. Her paper—submitted by her professor, Dr. Russell Richey—is titled “Methodist Desegregation and Inclusion: Polity vs. Policy.” Dupree is passionate about social justice and seeks to live out a call to social justice ministry addressing criminal justice reform, race and gender equality, environmental justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, and food insecurity. Her commitment to compassion and justice is driving her to pursue ordination as a Deacon in The United Methodist Church. Carie has a love for writing and reading about history, especially Methodist history, because it is inspiring, convicting, and hopeful. “I’m honored and excited to receive the John Harrison Ness Memorial Award,” said Dupree. “The complex history of The United Methodist Church convicts me to be a part of action and advocacy for the future of the denomination”; and, she added:The second-place John Ness Memorial Award was presented to Adam Muckleroy, a student at Perkins School of Theology. His “American Parable” paper was written for Dr. Ted Campbell for a directed study course focused upon American Methodism in times of crisis. “I am grateful to have received second place for the John Harrison Ness Memorial Award,” said Muckleroy. “It encourages me to continue to tell the stories and lift up the voices that I have been focusing on in my studies.”The third graduate student whose work is included in this issue is Mark Grafenreed. His article, “The Central Jurisdiction: Methodism’s Original and Central Sin,” is exceptionally well-written and examines the Central Jurisdiction from a new lens as a central or original sin within Methodism. GCAH is highly supportive of graduate student research, and we are honored to publish the work of future Methodist scholars. Keep an eye out—I’m sure we’ll be seeing more from these three!Ashley Boggan D., PhDEditor, Methodist HistoryGeneral SecretaryGeneral Commission on Archives and History