2. The Methodist Class Meeting - It’s Present

Transcription of article in the Primitive Methodist Magazine by R. Newman Wycherley

It is quite evident that the class-meeting no longer receives the united and enthusiastic support of Methodism. During the memorable discussion that took place in the Wesleyan Conference of 1907, the Rev. W. Bradfield, B.A., claimed that this institution is still very much alive in Methodism. “So far as he could read and learn past history he did not believe there was any period when the class-meeting was more alive and more loved, and more useful than it was to-day.

But this surely is a case of the wish being father to the thought. It is folly to pretend things are not what they seem. Facts are stubborn things, and facts everywhere prove that the class-meeting has fallen on evil days.

Some Methodist Societies have no class-meeting at all. The class exists. A list of members’ names are enrolled in a book, and a leader is appointed to take charge of the class, but it never meets. These societies have their preaching services and prayer-meetings and debating fraternities, but they ignore the class-meeting. It is a thing of the past and has no fitness for the requirements of the present. In other societies the class-meeting is the most sparsely attended service of the week. A handful of members gather together for praise and testimony. The leader may be there: he is more frequently absent. The service itself lacks inspiration and helpfulness.

First one and then another talks of the crosses of life and the bitternesses of the struggle until one imagines there is no brightness in the world and it must be a sin to smile! Happily there are exceptions to this type, but they are few. The average class-meeting has lost caste. The old warmth of fellowship has gone and there is no delight of testimony, no exuberance of praise. It is cold, unreal, repellent, with the result that the majority of Methodists stand aloof from it. 

Careful investigation will convince any sceptical mind that this statement of the case is quite true. It is a rare thing to meet with a prosperous class, rarer still to find one where its fellowship is more sought for, and exerts a more gracious influence than it did thirty years ago. And Methodists across the seas are just as emphatic in their testimony.

Dr. Sutherland, of Toronto, made the problem of the class meeting a matter of special study. But it is significant that in discussing the various questions that arose, he accepted without controversy the statement that the institution had lost hold upon the imagination and affection of the people. It was too evident to need the labour of proof.

Perhaps the most disquieting feature is the rise of an aggressive opposition. Even within the ranks of Methodism there are some who denounce the class-meeting. They insist that it has served its purpose, that it never can recover its old charm, that other more modern institutions have arisen to take its place. I say this is a disquieting symptom because it is still true, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.”

What is the explanation of the present weakness of the class-meeting? This is a vital question and demands careful consideration. Tt is impossible for me to deal with it fully in the space at my disposal. Suffice it to say that this weakness is due to several causes. For instance, there can be no doubt that a regrettable laxity in the admission of members has injured the class-meeting. People have entered the ranks of Methodism who are not sincerely Methodist. Quantity has been secured at the expense of quality. Then it is said that Christian experience is not so deep and so expressive as it used to be. Members do not like to talk about themselves. Certainly the example of high officials has affected the rank and file. If the prominent officials of a society do not support the class-meeting, it is not surprising that private members feel no compunctions in neglecting it. But chief of all causes has been incompetent leadership. As leader so class.

Dr. Sutherland is right when he says that the condition of the class-meeting can be fully explained. It does not prove that Methodism has no longer room for it, but only that it is suffering the consequence of ungenerous treatment.

References

Primitive Methodist Magazine 1909/301