Women Pioneers in Continental European Methodism, 1869–1939

Abstract

Much has been written on the indispensable place of women in Methodism's growth and stability. Despite this scholarship's abundance in recent years, the focus on British and American women has left a lacuna in the historical record. Continental European women are largely absent from the histories of Methodism in those countries. Paul W. Chilcote and Ulrike Schuler, both prolific historians of Methodism, began addressing this gap at a conference in 2015 in Ruse, Bulgaria. Out of that conference emerged this book, a fascinating introduction to women in continental European Methodism.The volume features essays by ministers, archivists, and researchers, each of whom contributes to the central argument that continental European Methodist women were essential to the growth of Methodism in their geographic locations because of their networking abilities, their faithfulness without recognition, their deft negotiation of cultural and national concerns, and their vital ministries. After an introductory chapter, the book's remaining nine chapters are divided into two parts. Part one surveys the contributions of bible women, deaconesses, and missionaries to continental Europe. Part two offers portraits of individual women, concluding with a chapter of short vignettes. The countries that receive examination are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the former state of Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Russia, and Sweden.Two particularly strong chapters are Margit Herfarth's essay on the American Methodist deaconess movement's European heritage and Andrea Annese's essay on Ines Piacentini Ferreri. The former explains how the Kaiserswerth Deaconess Motherhouse of Germany influenced the American deaconess movement in both German-American communities and the larger United States. The unique deaconess clothing, community, training, support, and respectability can all be linked back to Kaiserswerth, contrary to Lucy Rider Meyer's insistence that American Methodist deaconesses were founded independently and without a European Methodist model. Annese's chapter is an intellectual history of Ines Piacentini Ferreri, focusing on her contributions to Christian feminism. By emphasizing Ferreri's writings, Annese demonstrates how the writings of continental European women are excellent sources for uncovering Methodism's intellectual heritage in these regions. Additional strengths are the extensive endnotes and bibliographies at the end of each chapter, as well as the historical charts.The weaknesses of the book begin with chapter arrangements. For example, the second chapter, on the deaconess movement in Germany, contains five different section headings and six subheadings in the span of ten pages. This division means that the essay moves quickly from sketch to sketch, allowing for limited orientation to the material. This is a common issue for many of the chapters. Another problematic feature of these short chapters is extensive block quoting from both primary and secondary sources. This extensive quoting leaves questions of what critical contributions are made by certain authors.Indeed, discerning the book's historiographic contribution is a challenge. The chapters previously mentioned by Margit Herfarth and Andrea Annese show the best of the critical historiography in the volume. The rest of the book, however, moves from points of insightful engagement to contemporary ministerial and missiological reflections to outright hagiographies. Since the stated purpose of the book is to spur further scholarship into European Methodist women, I expected the work to present critical introductions to primary sources. While the book is brimming with both primary and secondary sources for further study, the writing is not in line with accomplishing the book's purpose. One of the most glaring historiographic issues is the presentation of opinions as facts. Conclusions like ‘they lived the gospel in ways that won the hearts and souls of many’ (40), ‘they always trusted God and this trust in God was rewarded in the end by the success of their work’ (59), and ‘[t]he fact of the matter … is that she had a sympathetic heart and … ardent enthusiasm to relieve the misery of others’ (155), are just a few examples of opinions presented as historical conclusions. This, along with the aforementioned extensive block quoting, shows that the primary documents are treated as both self-explanatory and absolutely reliable. In light of this, I question whether or not other historical data was read alongside the organizational reports and individual writings. While the charts, notes, and bibliographies are beneficial for researchers, the historiographical contribution of the writing is limited to a few chapters. The volume's overarching thesis is tenuous because the primary sources are not sufficiently interrogated.While suffering from significant weaknesses, the book is an essential starting point for those interested in European Methodism and Methodist women. Scholars will find a wealth of sources for further study, and casual readers will appreciate the short, informative chapters and fascinating stories. Given its appeal to both audiences, I believe it will accomplish its purpose in spurring further study.