House Church Talk - Riddle me this.

[David Anderson]

      Hi all,

Here for your consideration are a few fascinating paragraphs about the 
small group meetings which the Wesleyans set up in the 1800's. (Looking 
back, I would heartily approve of them in principle but certainly could 
not endorse all the methods they employed such as the ticket system 
mentioned below.) According to the last sentence, these meetings 
eventually fizzled and were discontinued. I wonder why. Do you know?

The town of Bristol, btw, is the name of the town where I am located and 
gainfully employed - named after this very town in England. We grow many 
wonderful fruits and vegetables here! The climate is mild and the average 
rainfall is just what you would expect.

       David Anderson
       Bristol, TN

"The answer [to an influx of new converts] began in Bristol where 
Wesley's Society had grown to 1,100 people. A society member by the name 
of Foy suggested that one person call on eleven others during the week to 
inquire of their status. The Bristol Society was quickly transformed, "In 
a while, some [class leaders] informed me that they found such and such a 
one did not live as he ought. It struck me immediately, 'This is one 
thing, the very thing we have wanted so long.'" These weekly visitations 
soon became weekly class meetings, "This was the origin of our classes at 
London," he wrote, "for which I can never sufficiently praise God, the 
unspeakable usefulness of the institution having ever since been more and 
more manifest." Soon, every Methodist Society was broken into smaller 
Classes of 12 persons who met weekly with a Class Leader for pastoral 
care, examination, encouragement and exhortation. According to Wesley, 
"Many now happily experienced that Christian fellowship of which they had 
not so much as an idea before. They began to 'bear one another's 
burdens,' and naturally to 'care for each other.' As they had daily a 
more intimate acquaintance with, so they had a more endeared affection 
for, each other."

"The "Class," consisting of 12 people pursuing the discipline of 
Christian godliness, became the centerpiece of Methodism for the next 100 
years, until the mid_1800s. It was in the Class that the "awakened" were 
discipled, examined and instructed, and where they shared mutual 
fellowship and learned to bear one another's burdens. It was in the Class 
that the "Rules" (those standards of behavior expected of every 
Methodist) were read and where individuals were examined to see if they 
were sincere in their desire to live according to Methodist discipline. 
Eventual membership in the greater Methodist Society was contingent upon 
a probationary period in the Class. People whose lives appeared to 
genuinely mirror their profession would be recommended for full 
membership. Those who continued in their old ways and demonstrated no 
willingness to change their walk would eventually be excluded from the 
weekly Class and the quarterly Love Feast. This was accomplished by a 
system of "tickets." A written ticket (eventually printed) would be 
issued once every three months, by Wesley or by the Class leader, to 
those Class members who were in good standing. This gained them entry to 
the Class meeting for the next three months and to the quarterly Love 
Feast. Then new tickets would be issued. Those members who by their lives 
had demonstrated growth in grace were given new tickets. Those who failed 
to attend meetings or whose lives had otherwise called their profession 
into question were not issued new tickets until they had demonstrated 
genuine repentance and a desire to renew their pursuit of Christian 
godliness.

"It was Wesley's Class meeting that most closely resembles the Cell 
Church today, and the larger Society meeting that most closely parallels 
the "Cellabration" concept [of today]. This dual structure represented 
the backbone of classic Methodism until the Classes began to unravel in 
the mid-1800s."

http://www.banner.org.uk/apostasy/cell-church5.htm