The divergence between Anglicanism and Methodism distinguishes the doctrine, as well as the practices of Anglicans and Methodists. This divergence occurred early on, during the lifetime of John Wesley, who is regarded as the founder of the Wesleyan Methodist tradition. In the 1760s, Methodism and Evangelical Anglicanism took different trajectories, with differences becoming “distinctly apparent”. Calling it "the grand depositum" of the Methodist faith, Wesley specifically taught that the propagation of the doctrine of entire sanctification was the reason that God raised up the Methodists in the world.George, 2017, p. 225Gibson, 2018
Additionally, the Church of England was seen by Methodists as suffering from corruption and complacency. Revivalistic worship, as well as certain doctrines distinguish Wesleyan Methodism from Anglican doctrine, particularly the teaching of the New Birth (first work of grace), as well as the teaching of the second work of grace—entire sanctification—the eradication of original sin from the heart of a believer, who is then made perfect in love.Tucker, 1918, p. 49Clarke, 2008, pp.13-26 In several ways, Methodism was influenced by Moravianism in "church organization, structure, worship and hymnody". Methodist worship, as well as the evangelism and missionary work of Methodist itinerant preachers John Wesley, George Whitefield and William Seward, included extemporaneous prayer and open-air preaching, which were disdained by Anglican clergy who resented and vehemently opposed the Evangelical Revival.Goodwin, 1966, pp. 343-371
Worship and evangelization Early Methodists, in general, held a "distaste for the forms and trappings of Anglicanism". Anglican theologian Jennifer Woodruff Tait writes that "For Methodists, Wesley's critique of Anglican legalism, corruption, and complacency (of which there was plenty in the 18th century) culminates in the establishment of Methodism". This is reflected in the Historical Statement in The Book of Discipline of the Southern Congregational Methodist Church, which states:
The Sunday Service of the Methodists, the first liturgical texts of Methodism, is a revision of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer by John Wesley, who supplanted the word "bishop" with "superintendent", "removed the service for private baptism", and "removed words which seem to presume the inevitability of regeneration in baptism". Key to Methodist soteriology is the doctrine of the first work of grace—the New Birth—a personal conversion experience to faith in Jesus. Explicating Wesleyan Methodist theology, Dale M. Coulter states that "While prevenient grace [given in Holy Baptism] forms truth and goodness in human persons, it does not form Christ within them." He writes further that "In the new birth, the Spirit conceives Christ in the heart by reshaping the heart into the likeness of Christ." This personal experience of the new birth is a common doctrine among Evangelical traditions, such as Methodists and Baptists—who like Methodists, branched off of Anglicanism. Christian theologian Henry Bett deemed the changes reflected in The Sunday Service of the Methodists as theologically "very significant".
Ryan Nicholas Danker wrote that the early Methodists ignored "numerous boundaries in their drive to preach the New Birth", including those boundaries of "hierarchy, law, sex, age, wealth, education, and religious vocation." Methodists were accused by the Anglican mainstream of being "enthusiasts" and were seen as "disturbers of the world." Gerald Goodwin described the Church of England as being "the one major church hostile to the Great Awakening" which it saw as the manifestation of "preposterous enthusiasm".Tirenin G. “All Say He is a Downright Methodist”: The Ministry and Evangelical Loyalism of the Rev. William Stringer. Church History. 2024;93(1):44-62. doi:10.1017/S0009640724000696. Page 45. Street preaching was widely employed by Methodist preachers to call people to repentance, as well as to preach the New Birth and entire sanctification. On April 2, 1739, John Wesley wrote in his journal that he "submitted himself to be more vile and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining to the city, to about three thousand people." Mobs, led by both Anglican clergy and laity, were violent towards the Methodists. On 24 August 1748, John Wesley was "attacked by a mob in a British town called Roughlee while preaching." William Seward, protégé of George Whitefield, was stoned to death by an angry mob in Caerleon, becoming the first Methodist martyr.
Anglican bishop Edmund Gibson dismissed the Journal of Calvinistic Methodist preacher George Whitefield as "tainted with enthusiasm" and "in August 1739 Gibson wrote his Pastoral Letter, cautioning the people in his diocese—which included the American colonies—against Whitefield's 'enthusiasm'."
No Anglican rector would allow Whitefield to preach in their churches in London, with the same being the case in the city of Bristol. Being barred from preaching in Anglican churches led George Whitefield to preach in the fields, where large crowds gathered to hear him.Kelley, 2018
The contentions aired by the Methodists against the established Anglican Church spared no one, including the clergy. While Wesley always maintained a reserved and diplomatic tone, others were not so reserved. Seward, for example, maintained that the “scarlet whore of Babylon” was not more corrupt in practice and principle than the Anglican clergy.Tucker, 1918, pp. 12-13
Subsequently Evangelical Anglicans, who often held to Reformed theology, distanced themselves from Methodists:
To discourage Methodist itinerant preachers from open-air preaching various measures were sometimes resorted to. Aside from rowdy and threatening mobs, typically incited by various members of the Anglican clergy, a drummer-boy would sometimes be instructed to stand along side the preacher, and beat his drum loudly, drowning out the words of the sermon. Both Whitefield and Harris had to endure this sort of treatment. Itinerant preachers were at times also confronted and sharply reprimanded for drawing away people, and any contributions they would otherwise offer to the Anglican Church.Morgan, 1852, pp. 36, 49, 57Dallimore, 1980, p. 116
Methodists, including leaders John Wesley and George Whitefield, employed extemporaneous prayer and Gibson labelled extemporaneous prayer "as a rejection of the 'Established Worship' outlined in the liturgy." In the present-day, Methodist worship includes extemporaneous prayer as normative, though it is not common in Anglican services. In general, Dissenters from the Church of England held that liturgical prayer was "performative, artificial, boring and repetitious, whereas free-form preayer was authentic and bespoke the heart's true desire." Methodism's first liturgical text The Sunday Service of the Methodists omitted "most of the holy days" that were present in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer as John Wesley saw them as "answering no valuable end."
Methodism has incorporated particular distinctive worship practices, most of which are uncommon in Anglican praxis. The Oxford Handbook of Methodist Studies explicates this:
In 1768, six Methodist students were expelled from the University of Oxford, leading to further deterioration between Anglicans and Methodists. The Church of England came to refuse Holy Communion to known Methodists and in Great Britain, in the "1795 conference, the Methodist leaders decided to allow the administration of sacraments [in Methodist meetinghouses] if the majority of church officials consented."
Historically, Methodist churches have devoutly observed the Lord's Day (Sunday) with a morning service of worship, along with an evening service of worship (with the evening service being aimed at seekers and focusing on "singing, prayer, and preaching"); the holding of a midweek prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings has been customary. 18th-century Methodist church services were characterized by the following pattern: "preliminaries (e.g., singing, prayers, testimonies), to a 'message,' followed by an invitation to commitment", the latter of which took the form altar call—a practice that a remains "a vital part" of worship. A number of Methodist congregations devote a portion of their Sunday evening service and mid-week Wednesday evening prayer meeting to having congregants share their prayer requests, in addition to hearing personal testimonies about their faith and experiences in living the Christian life. After listening to various members of the congregation share their salvation testimonies, voice their prayer requests, and share their praise reports, congregants may kneel for intercessory prayer. Influenced by the practice of the Moravian Church—another part of the Evangelical Revival—Methodists adopted the observance of the lovefeast (with bread and water), which are typically held on a quarterly basis. In certain Methodist connexions, such as the Missionary Methodist Church and the New Congregational Methodist Church, feetwashing is practiced at the time that the Lord's Supper is celebrated.Melton, 1987, p. 275Missionary Methodist Church, p. 7 Foot-washing was once practiced in the Anglican Church but was entirely phased out by 1754. Modern Anglican/Episcopal provinces, however, have reintroduced foot washing for the liturgical observance of Maundy Thursday.Frykholm, 2020,The Christian Century, Essay
Following the lead of the Moravian Brethren, John Wesley, adopted watch night services in 1740, sometimes calling them Covenant Renewal Services. The services provided Methodist Christians with a godly alternative to the drunken revelry of New Year's Eve. A Methodist watchnight service includes singing, spontaneous prayers and testimonials, as well as scripture readings and Holy Communion. Methodist revival services and camp meetings have been characterized by groaning and shouting, as people sought the fullness of salvation that Methodists taught to be embodied by the experience of entire sanctification. To outsiders, Wesleyans were labeled as "Shouting Methodists" due to their free expression during worship. Revival services are often held for a week at least once a year in a number of Methodist churches.
Summarizing the worship of Methodists, in contrast to that of Anglicans, academics James E. Kirby and William J. Abraham state:
Doctrines The formularies of Anglicanism—including the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, along with the The Books of Homilies—were drafted by Thomas Cramner, who held to Reformed (Calvinist) soteriology and sacramentology. The Thirty-Nine Articles were approved by the Continental Reformed Churches, and the view of the Lord's Supper explicated in them, was viewed as reflecting the theology of John Calvin. There was "emphatic official expression of the Church's Calvinist identity when James dispatched official delegates to attend the Reformed Synod of Dort in the Netherlands." Benjamin Jenks (1646-1724) held that Reformed doctrine was the "express doctrine of the Church of Engand" and insisted that since the Reformation, the majority of English clergy held to Reformed soteriology. Though early Anglicanism adhered to "a broad Calvinist or Reformed consensus", contenders for Arminian doctrine in the Church of England emerged in the 17th century. The Wesleyan-Arminian theology of Wesleyan Methodism differed from Classical Arminianism, however, by a "stronger Augustinian view on natural corruption; it lays greater stress of the subjective experience of conversion and regeneration; and adds a few additional doctrines, namely:"