Reformed Free Methodist Church

The Reformed Free Methodist Church (RFMC) was a Methodist denomination in the conservative holiness movement.[1]

Reformed Free Methodist Church
Tabernacle of Flatwoods Reformed Free Methodist Campground, which served as the location of the Reformed Free Methodist Church's annual camp meeting in Perryopolis, Pennsylvania
ClassificationMethodism
OrientationConservative holiness movement
PolityConnexionalism
AssociationsInterchurch Holiness Convention
Origin1932
Separated fromFree Methodist Church (1932)

History

The formation of the Reformed Free Methodist Church is a part of the history of Methodism in the United States; it was founded in 1932 as a result of a schism with the Free Methodist Church spearheaded by Samuel E. West. The Reformed Free Methodist Church was one of the first denominations in the conservative holiness movement.[2][3]

Name

The name of the denomination derives from the Church it left, the Free Methodist Church, as well as the word "Reformed", which does not refer to the theology of the denomination, but invokes the meaning of the word in plain English, "refined" or "improved". The Reformed Free Methodist Church upheld traditional Wesleyan-Arminian theology.

Traditions

Communicants of the Reformed Free Methodist Church sung hymns in corporate worship a cappella and wore plain dress (with black and white clothing preferred at the liturgy), in keeping with historic Holiness Methodist standards.[1] The denomination published The Reformed Free Methodist Standard.[4]

Camp Meetings

The earlier camp meetings of the Reformed Free Methodist Church were held at McClain's Grove in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. The Reformed Free Methodist Church then held its annual camp meeting, the Flatwoods Camp Meeting, at Perryopolis, Pennsylvania after acquiring property there.[1] It was free of cost, running only off of the free-will offerings of those who attended it.[5][6]

Churches

The Reformed Free Methodist Church had congregations throughout North America, with notable churches existing in Buffalo, Perryopolis, Fairmont, Morgantown and Havelock, among many others. The church building of the Reformed Free Methodist Church in Alliance, Ohio was the oldest one in that city until it was demolished on 25 January 2019; the congregation, ministered by the Rev. Herbert Smith, is now located at the Home Mission in Alliance.[7][8] The Reformed Free Methodist Church of Morgantown, West Virginia, with a membership of around two hundred people, was unique in that its architecture resembled a tabernacle.[9]

See also

References
  1. Jones, Charles Edwin (1974). A guide to the study of the holiness movement. Scarecrow Press. p. 685. ISBN 9780810807037.
  2. Kostlevy, William (2009). Historical Dictionary of the Holiness Movement. Scarecrow Press. p. 321. ISBN 9780810863187.
  3. Kostlevy, William (2010). The A to Z of the Holiness Movement. Scarecrow Press. p. 321. ISBN 9781461731801.
  4. "Shelhamer Family ARC2008 -003 - Finding Aid" (2012). Finding Aids. 38.
  5. "Camp Meeting Set Near Pittsburg". The Titusville Herald. 28 July 1959. p. 5. The Reformed Free Methodist Church will hold its annual Old Time camp meeting Aug. 6 through 16. The camp grounds are located south of Pittsburgh off route 711 at Flatwoods. The camp is run on the free will offering plan with no charge made for room and board, and the general public may attend the services. James R. West of Perryopolis will overseer the meeting.
  6. "Tabernacle". The Evening Standard. Uniontown. 12 August 1960. Members of the Reformed Free Methodist Church of Flatwoods have built this tabernacle, not far from Route 51. Attendance has been high at a camp meeting now held at the site, to be concluded this coming Sunday. Tent space and food are available at the site, with only a free-will offering asked.
  7. "Seneca Street Mission to be razed Friday". The Alliance Review. 18 January 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  8. "Alliance's oldest church razed". The Alliance Review. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  9. The 175th Anniversary of the Formation of Monongalia County, West Virginia. Monongalia Historical Society. 1954. p. 95. The Reformed Free Methodist Church is located at 646 Jones Avenue. It is a frame building designed like a tabernacle. ... The membership is less than 200.

Further reading
  • West, Betty J. (1998). Forty years of history at Flatwoods Camp, 1958-1998. Sound of the Trumpet Tract Ministries.
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