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Find below a collected bibliography of works related to the study of Methodism.
General sources
United Methodist studies : basic bibliographies. Kenneth Rowe. Nashville , TN : Abingdon Press, 1998. (MC and Stacks BY55 U582u 1998) Topically arranged; includes more recent sources. Available online.
John and Charles Wesley : a bibliography. Betty Jarboe. Metuchen , N.J. : Scarecrow Press, 1987. (MC and Stacks BY316 J37j) Alphabetically arranged; includes chapters and essays in books.
Disciplinograph : a guide to Methodist disciplines, 1785-1992. George A. Zimmermann, 1994. (MC BY55 Z74d)
Lists all the Disciplines of the United Methodist Church and its predecessors.
Historical dictionary of Methodism, revised edition . Ed. Charles Yrigoyen, Jr. and Susan E. Warrick. Lanham , Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2005. (MC and Cornell Room BY35 H673h)
Short articles on many important figures and events.
Encyclopedia of world Methodism. Editor in chief, Nolan B. Harmon, Nashville : United Methodist Pub. House, c1974. (MC BY35 E56e)
Excellent coverage (many in-depth articles) of events up until the time of the MC/EUB merger in 1968.
Historical dictionary of the holiness movement. Ed. William C. Kostlevy and Gari-Anne Patzwald. Lanham , Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2001. (MC and Cornell 270.8 H6733h)
The new international dictionary of Pentecostal and charismatic movements, revised edition. Ed. Stanley M. Burgess and Eduard M. van der Maas. Grand Rapids : Zondervan Pub. House, 2002. (Cornell and Stacks 270.8203 D554d 2002)
Background information on people, places, and events in these important religious movements which grew out of Methodism.
Wesley sources
Bicentennial Edition of John Wesley’s works. Editor in chief, Frank Baker. Oxford : Clarendon, and New York : Oxford University Press, 1975- ; Nashville : Abingdon Press, 1984- (MC, Stacks, and Cornell Room BY321 H4 1975 and BY321 H4 1984)
Critical edition with editorial introductions and footnotes. Contains: all sermons, all journals and diary transcriptions, selected tracts, hymns, letters up to 1755. Use wherever possible: supplement with Jackson , Telford (see below).
The works of John Wesley. Grand Rapids : Zondervan Pub. House, [1958-1959] (MC and Cornell Room BY321 J3 1958)
Commonly known as the ” Jackson edition” from the name of its first editor.
The letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., sometime fellow of Lincoln College , Oxford. Edited by John Telford. London : The Epworth Press, 1960. (MC and Stacks BY325 T4 1960)
The only complete edition of Wesley’s letters until the Bicentennial edition is finished.
Journal of Charles Wesley (2 vols.) Kansas City , Mo. : Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City , 1980. (MC and Stacks BY395 A3 J14 1980)
Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley (3 vols.) Nashville , Tenn. : Kingswood Books, 1988-1992. (MC and Stacks BY391 K49 1988)
How to cite Wesley material: see the following guide compiled by Wesley expert Dr. Richard Heitzenrater: http://library.divinity.duke.edu/sites/default/files/citingwesley.pdf
American Methodist sources
Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury. London , Epworth Press, and Nashville , Abingdon Press, 1958. (MC BY1542 A799j 1996)
Disciplines of the United Methodist Church and its predecessors:
- Evangelical Association (1803-1922): BY3443 A7
- Evangelical Church (1922-1946): BY3445 A7
- Evangelical United Brethren Church (1946-1968): BY3446 A7
- Methodist Episcopal Church (1784-1939): BY2030
- Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1844-1939): BY3407
- Methodist Protestant Church (1830-1939): BY3427
- Methodist Church ( U.S. ) (1939-1968): BY3780
- United Brethren in Christ (1816-1946): BY3442 A7
- United Evangelical Church (1894-1922): BY3444 A7
- United Methodist Church (1968-present): BY3980 ( Book of Resolutions: BY 3982)
General minutes (collected yearly) of the annual conferences. Available in the Methodist Center Reading Room.
General Conference Journals. Available in the Methodist Center Reading Room.
Conference Journals. Available at the Methodist Center .
Journals for the United Methodist Church appear in our online catalog. For journals previous to 1968, see Conference Journal Holdings of the Methodist Library for a listing
Methodist Quarterly Review / Methodist Review / Quarterly Review / Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review
Both the Methodist Episcopal Church and the MEC, South published periodicals with these titles. Article citations can be found in ATLAS and other periodical databases. See Methodist Center staff for assistance in locating these materials.
Christian Advocate
There were national and regional editions of this magazine in both the MEC and MEC, South. You will find them listed in the online catalog. To make further sense out of which Advocate is which, consult the listings for “Christian Advocate” in the American Methodist periodical list, and see Methodist Center staff for assistance.
Archives of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. Available at the Methodist Center .
Methodist Library and General Commission staff members are not able to provide access to these materials; for access, contact Walter H. Jones, 26 Edgewater Drive, Matawan, NJ 07747-3072, 732-566-5321; E-mail: WaltRetired@att.net
Electronic sources
Library catalog (tips: search by subject and call number as well as keyword, or use Browse to find books when you know the title or author.) All Methodist books in the circulating collection have BY call numbers. Methodist books housed in the Methodist Center may have other Library of Congress call numbers.
Drew Methodist Center Weblinks page
Databases accessed from Drew’s electronic resources page:
- ATLAS (American Theological Library Association serials database; includes full-text resources)
- Dissertation Abstracts
An excellent website on finding Methodist resources developed by Duke University Divinity School Library.
Tips on how to search in electronic databases
* Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), and combine them
- Wesley AND Methodism (will return only citations containing both “Wesley” and “Methodism”)
- Wesley OR Methodism (will return citations with either “Wesley” or “Methodism”
- Methodism NOT England (will not return citations dealing with British Methodism)
- Wesley AND Methodism NOT England (will return only citations dealing with Wesley and Methodism outside of England )
*Try different combinations of keywords, and truncate characters (i.e. search on “Methodis*” to get results containing either “Methodist” or “Methodism”)
*Use appropriate strategies to limit your results when necessary (i.e. English-language sources only, book reviews only)
*Learn the “quirks” of each database, read the “help” file if there is one, and NEVER be afraid to ask a librarian for help!
