ABSTRACT
Schism, according to Wesley, has almost always been wrongly defined a separation from a church, instead of a separation in a church. The organisation of Methodism, which, at this time, may vie with that of any society that has ever been instituted, for the admirable adaptation of the means to the end proposed, was slowly developed, and assisted in its progress by accidental circumstances. Calm and steady, however, as Wesley conceived these believers to be, there soon occurred what he himself pronounced a genuine instance of enthusiasm. The United Society, as they now denominated it, was defined to be ‘no other than a company of men having the form and seeking the power of godliness; united in order to pray together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, that they may help each other to work out their salvation’.
