Methodism has played a major role in all areas of public life in Australia but has been particularly significant for its influence on education, social welfare, missions to Aboriginal people and the Pacific Islands and the role of women. Drawing together a team of historical experts, Methodism in Australia presents a critical introduction to one of the most important religious movements in Australia's settlement history and beyond. Offering ground-breaking regional studies of the development of Methodism, this book considers a broad range of issues including Australian Methodist religious experience, worship and music, Methodist intellectuals, and missions to Australia and the Pacific.
Foreword, Russell E. Richey; Preface; Introduction: Methodism and the southern world, Hilary M. Carey and Glen O’Brien. Part I Histories, 1811-1977: Methodism in the Australian colonies, 1811-1855, Glen O’Brien; Methodism in New South Wales, 1855-1902, Malcolm Prentis; Methodism in Victoria and Tasmania, 1855-1902, Renate Howe; Methodism in South Australia, 1855-1902, David Hilliard; Queensland Methodism until 1902, John Harrison; Methodism in Western Australia, 1829-1977, Alison Longworth; Methodists and Empire, Troy Duncan; Methodist reunion in Australasia, Ian Breward; Methodism and the crises of nationhood, 1903-1955, Samantha Frappell; Methodism and the challenge of ‘the sixties’, Jennifer Clark. Part II Themes: Australian Methodist religious experience, Glen O’Brien; Worship and music in Australian Methodism, D’Arcy Wood; Wesleyan Methodist missions to Australia and the Pacific, David Andrew Roberts and Margaret Reeson; Australian Methodist women, Anne O’Brien; Australian Methodist scholars, Garry W. Trompf; Australian Methodist historiography, Hilary M. Carey; The continuing Methodist legacy, 1977-2014, William Emilsen and Glen O’Brien. Conclusion, Glen O’Brien; Select bibliography; Indexes.
Biography
Hilary M. Carey is Professor of Imperial and Religious History and Head of the School of Humanities at the University of Bristol and adjunct Professor in the School of Humanities and Social Science at the University of Newcastle (NSW). Her books include Believing in Australia (1996), Empires of Religion, ed. (2008), Church and State in Old and New Worlds, ed with John Gascoigne (2011), and God's Empire: Religion and Colonialism in the British World (2011), which was nominated for the Ernest Scott Prize.
Glen O’Brien is Associate Professor of Church History at Booth College (a member institute of the Sydney College of Divinity), and an adjunct lecturer in the University of Divinity. He is a Research Fellow of the Australasian Centre for Wesleyan Research and an Honorary Fellow of the Manchester Wesley Research Centre. He has published widely on Wesleyan and Methodist themes and engaged in post-doctoral research at Duke University, Asbury Theological Seminary, and Oxford Brookes University. In 2013 he served as a Member of the 13th Oxford Institute for Methodist Theological Studies.
"Concise and crisp, the chapters of this book make a strong case for the significance of the Methodist tradition in Australia. The significance is primarily explained in terms of social impact, and an excellent case is made for the deep impact of Methodism on nineteenth and early twentieth-century Australian life and the differences among the nation s different states. One might .not ordi.narily think ofAusb·alians as influenced by religion but this stereotype is effectively challenged in this book. " - Peter Lineham, Massey University
