Methodism

===Europe===
[[File:Jerusalemskirken in Copenhagen 2.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Jerusalem's Church, Copenhagen]], the main Methodist church in Denmark]]
Methodism is prevalent in the English-speaking world but it is also organized in mainland Europe, largely due to missionary activity of British and American Methodists. British missionaries were primarily responsible for establishing Methodism across Ireland and Italy.<ref name="Italy"/> Today the [[United Methodist Church]] (UMC){{snd}}a large denomination based in the United States{{snd}}has a presence in Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Collectively the European and Eurasian regions of the UMC constitute a little over 100,000 Methodists ({{as of|2017|lc=on}}).<ref>{{cite web |title=Central and Southern Europe |url=http://www.umc-europe.org/ |access-date=20 January 2017 |website=www.umc-europe.org |publisher=United Methodist Church Europe UMC / Evangelisch-Methodistische Kirche Europa |quote=The United Methodist Church in Central and Southern Europe consists of about 33 500 members and friends living in 16 countries.}}</ref><ref name="Nordeuropa statistics">{{cite web|title=3.7.1 Statistical Reports, details|url=http://www.umc-northerneurope.org/fileadmin/sites/49/CC2016/3.7.1_Statistical_Reports_details.docx|publisher=The United Methodist Church – Northern Europe & Eurasia|access-date=20 January 2017|format=Word doc.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131194833/http://www.umc-northerneurope.org/fileadmin/sites/49/CC2016/3.7.1_Statistical_Reports_details.docx|archive-date=31 January 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Germany statistics">{{cite web|title=Statistische Zahlen|url=http://www.emk.de/emk-presseinformationen/statistische-zahlen/|website=Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche|language=de|access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref>{{update inline|reason=Some of these countries' conferences have left the UMC|date=January 2023}} Other smaller Methodist denominations exist in Europe.

====Great Britain====
{{further|Methodist Church of Great Britain}}
{{See also|Organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain}}
The original body founded as a result of Wesley's work came to be known as the [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan Methodist Church]]. [[Schism]]s within the original church, and independent [[revival meeting|revivals]], led to the formation of a number of separate denominations calling themselves "Methodist". The largest of these were the [[Primitive Methodism in the United Kingdom|Primitive Methodists]], deriving from a revival at [[Mow Cop]] in [[Staffordshire]], the [[Bible Christian Church|Bible Christians]], and the [[Methodist New Connexion]]. The original church adopted the name "Wesleyan Methodist" to distinguish it from these bodies. In 1907, a union of smaller groups with the Methodist New Connexion and Bible Christian Church brought about the [[United Methodist Church (Great Britain)|United Methodist Church]]; then the three major streams of British Methodism [[Methodist Union|united in 1932]] to form the present [[Methodist Church of Great Britain]].<ref name="DoU">{{cite web|title=Deed of Union|url=http://www.methodist.org.uk/media/633296/cpd-vol-2-0912.pdf|work=The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church|publisher=The Methodist Church in Britain|access-date=5 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107104512/http://www.methodist.org.uk/media/633296/cpd-vol-2-0912.pdf|archive-date=7 November 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The fourth-largest denomination in the country, the Methodist Church of Great Britain has about 202,000 members in 4,650 congregations.<ref>{{cite web|title=Methodism in Numbers – Statistics at a Glance|url=http://www.methodist.org.uk/media/1771003/Methodism_in_Numbers_2015.pdf|website=methodist.org.uk|publisher=The Methodist Conference|access-date=23 December 2015|date=July 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223190349/http://www.methodist.org.uk/media/1771003/Methodism_in_Numbers_2015.pdf|archive-date=23 December 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

[[File:Wesley's Chapel.jpg|thumb|left|[[Wesley's Chapel]] in [[London]] was established by John Wesley, whose statue stands in the courtyard.]]
Early Methodism was particularly prominent in [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]], which were key centers of activity by the [[Bible Christian Church|Bible Christian]] faction of Methodists.<ref>{{cite book |author=Workman |first=H. B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQsl-dV2HUEC&pg=PA97 |title=Methodism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1107626584 |page=97}}</ref> The Bible Christians produced many preachers, and sent many missionaries to Australia.<ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Brien|first1=Glen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nAmrCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA62|title=Methodism in Australia: A History|last2=Carey|first2=Hilary M.|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=978-1317097099|page=62|author-link2=Hilary Carey}}</ref> Methodism also grew rapidly in the old mill towns of [[Yorkshire]] and [[Lancashire]], where the preachers stressed that the working classes were equal to the upper classes in the eyes of God.<ref>S. J. D. Green, ''Religion in the Age of Decline: Organisation and Experience in Industrial Yorkshire, 1870–1920'' (1996).</ref> In Wales, three elements separately welcomed Methodism: Welsh-speaking, English-speaking, and [[Calvinistic Methodism|Calvinistic]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Yrigoyen Jr |first=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JE6vAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA502 |title=T&T Clark Companion to Methodism |publisher=A&C Black |year=2010 |isbn=978-0567290779 |page=502}}</ref>

British Methodists, in particular the Primitive Methodists, took a leading role in the [[Temperance movement in the United Kingdom|temperance movement]] of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Methodists saw alcoholic beverages, and alcoholism, as the root of many social ills and tried to persuade people to abstain from these.<ref>{{cite web |title=Temperance |url=https://dmbi.online/index.php?do=app.entry&id=2704 |work=A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland |access-date=24 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Field |first1=Cive D. |date=2000 |title='The Devil in Solution': How temperate were the Methodists? |journal=Epworth Review |volume=27 |pages=78–93}}</ref> Temperance appealed strongly to the Methodist doctrines of sanctification and perfection. To this day, alcohol remains banned in Methodist premises, however this restriction no longer applies to domestic occasions in private homes (i.e. the minister may have a drink at home in the [[manse]]).<ref name=alcohol>{{cite web|title=Alcohol|url=http://www.methodist.org.uk/who-we-are/views-of-the-church/alcohol|work=Views of the Church|publisher=The Methodist Church in Britain|access-date=20 April 2013}}</ref> The choice to consume alcohol is now a personal decision for any member.<ref name=alcohol />

[[File:2017 Methodist Central Hall.jpg|thumb|upright|The Central Hall in Westminster, London]]
British Methodism does not have [[Bishops in Methodism|bishops]]; however, it has always been characterised by a strong central organisation, the [[Connexionalism|Connexion]], which holds an annual Conference (the church retains the 18th-century spelling ''connexion'' for many purposes). The Connexion is divided into Districts in the charge of the chairperson (who may be male or female). Methodist districts often correspond approximately, in geographical terms, to counties{{snd}}as do Church of England [[diocese]]s. The districts are divided into [[Methodist Circuit|circuits]] governed by the Circuit Meeting and led and administrated principally by a superintendent minister. [[Religious minister|Ministers]] are appointed to Circuits rather than to individual churches, although some large inner-city churches, known as "central halls", are designated as circuits in themselves{{snd}}of these [[Westminster Central Hall]], opposite [[Westminster Abbey]] in central London, is the best known. Most circuits have fewer ministers than churches, and the majority of services are led by lay [[local preacher]]s, or by supernumerary ministers (ministers who have retired, called supernumerary because they are not counted for official purposes in the numbers of ministers for the circuit in which they are listed). The superintendent and other ministers are assisted in the leadership and administration of the Circuit by circuit stewards – laypeople with particular skills who, who with the ministers, collectively form what is normally known as the Circuit Leadership Team.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The Methodist Council also helps to run a number of schools, including two [[Public school (United Kingdom)|public school]]s in [[East Anglia]]: [[Culford School]] and [[the Leys School]]. The council promotes an all round education with a strong Christian [[ethos]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Schools|url=https://www.methodistschools.org.uk/find-a-school/schools|website=www.methodistschools.org.uk|publisher=Methodist Schools|access-date=29 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129080731/https://www.methodistschools.org.uk/find-a-school/schools|archive-date=29 January 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Other Methodist denominations in Britain include: the [[Free Methodist Church]], the [[Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches]], the [[Church of the Nazarene]], and [[The Salvation Army]], all of which are Methodist churches aligned with the [[holiness movement]], as well as the [[Wesleyan Reform Union]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thewru.com/ |title=Wesleyan Reform Union of Churches |publisher=Thewru.com |access-date=19 April 2013}}</ref> an early secession from the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and the [[Independent Methodist Connexion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imcgb.org.uk/|title=Welcome to IMCGB – Home page|access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref>

====Ireland====
[[File:Chapel-athlone.jpg|thumb|upright|A Methodist chapel in [[Athlone]], opened in 1865]]
{{Main|Methodist Church in Ireland}}

John Wesley visited Ireland on at least twenty-four occasions and established classes and societies.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Wesley in Ireland|url=http://www.irishhistorylinks.net/Historical_Documents/JohnWesley.html|publisher=Irish History Links|access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref> The [[Methodist Church in Ireland]] ({{lang-ir| Eaglais Mheitidisteach in Éirinn}}) today operates across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on an all-Ireland basis. {{As of|2013}}, there were around 50,000 Methodists across Ireland. The biggest concentration – 13,171 – was in [[Belfast]], with 2,614 in [[Dublin]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Going beyond the church buildings and into the community|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/going-beyond-the-church-buildings-and-into-the-community-1.1424798|access-date=20 January 2017|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=12 June 2013}}</ref> {{As of|2011}}, it is the fourth-largest denomination in Northern Ireland, with Methodists accounting for 3% of the population.<ref name=2011ks>{{cite web|title=Census 2011: Key Statistics for Northern Ireland|url=http://www.nisra.gov.uk/Census/key_stats_bulletin_2011.pdf|publisher=nisra.gov.uk|access-date=21 April 2013}}</ref>

[[Eric Gallagher]] was the President of the Church in the 1970s, becoming a well-known figure in Irish politics.<ref>{{cite web|last=Taggart|first=Norman W.|title=Conflict, controversy and co-operation|url=http://www.catholicireland.net/conflict-controversy-and-co-operation/|publisher=Columba Press|access-date=21 April 2013|page=133|year=2004}}</ref> He was one of the group of Protestant churchmen who met with [[Provisional IRA]] officers in [[Feakle, County Clare]] to try to broker peace. The meeting was unsuccessful due to a [[Garda Síochána|Garda]] raid on the hotel.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

In 1973, the [[Fellowship of Independent Methodist Churches]] (FIMC) was established as a number of theologically conservative congregations departed both the [[Methodist Church in Ireland]] and [[Free Methodist Church]] due to what they perceived as the rise of [[Liberal Christianity|Modernism]] in those denominations.<ref name="Matthews2003">{{cite book |last1=Matthews |first1=Rex Dale |title=Timetables of History for Students of Methodism |date=2007 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=978-0-687-33387-5 |page=231 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Cooney2001">{{cite book |last1=Cooney |first1=Dudley Levistone |title=The Methodists in Ireland: A Short History |date=2001 |publisher=Columba Press |isbn=978-1-85607-335-6 |page=120 |language=en}}</ref>

====Italy====
[[File:Ponte - memoria Gavazzi e chiesa evangelica 1130333.JPG|thumb|The Methodist chapel in [[Rome]] houses Italian and English-speaking congregations]]

The [[Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy|Italian Methodist Church]] ({{lang-it|Chiesa Metodista Italiana}}) is a small Protestant community in Italy,<ref>{{cite web |title=Opera per le Chiese Metodiste in Italia |url=http://www.metodisti.it/cms/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023053809/http://www.metodisti.it/cms/ |archive-date=23 October 2013 |access-date=22 April 2013 |publisher=Evangelical Methodist Church in Italy |language=it |df=dmy-all}}</ref> with around 7,000 members.<ref name="italy1">{{cite web|title=La diaspora Valdese |url=http://www.chiesavaldese.org/pages/storia/dove_viviamo.php |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724023747/http://www.chiesavaldese.org/pages/storia/dove_viviamo.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 July 2012 |publisher=Chiesa Evangelica Valdese |access-date=22 April 2013 |language=it }}</ref> Since 1975, it is in a formal covenant of [[Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches|partnership with the Waldensian Church]], with a total of 45,000 members.<ref name="italy1" /> [[Waldensians]] are a Protestant movement which started in [[Lyon]], France, in the late 1170s.

Italian Methodism has its origins in the Italian Free Church, British [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan Methodist]] Missionary Society, and the [[American Methodist Episcopal Mission]]. These movements flowered in the second half of the 19th century in the new climate of political and religious freedom that was established with the end of the [[Papal States]] and unification of Italy in 1870.<ref name="Italy">{{cite web|title=Italian fact sheet|url=http://www.methodist.org.uk/downloads/wc_italian_factsheet.doc|publisher=The Methodist Church in Britain|access-date=22 April 2013|format=Microsoft Word document}}</ref>

[[Bertrand M. Tipple]], minister of the American Methodist Church in Rome, founded a college there in 1914.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/01/26/100671159.pdf | work=The New York Times | title=METHODISTS BUY ROME SITE; Will Build a College in Connection with Mission Work | date=26 January 1914}}</ref>

In April 2016, the World Methodist Council opened an Ecumenical Office in Rome. Methodist leaders and the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, [[Pope Francis]], jointly dedicated the new office.<ref>{{cite web|title=World Methodist Council opens new ecumenical office in Rome|url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/04/06/world_methodist_council_opens_new_ecumenical_office_in_rome/1220756|website=en.radiovaticana.va|publisher=Vatican Radio|access-date=21 May 2016|date=6 April 2016}}</ref> It helps facilitate Methodist relationships with the wider Church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome|url=http://www.methodist.org.uk/who-we-are/relationships-with-other-denominations/ecumenism-in-europe/the-methodist-ecumenical-office-rome/about-the-methodist-ecumenical-office-rome|publisher=Methodist Church in Britain|access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref>

====Nordic and Baltic countries====
[[File:Methodist Church in Hammerfest.jpg|thumb|[[Hammerfest (town)|Hammerfest]] Methodist Church in Norway was the world's most northerly Methodist congregation when established in 1890.<ref name="Hassing1991">{{cite book |last=Hassing |first=Arne |title=Religion og makt: metodismen i norsk historie |journal=Relieff: Publications ed. By the Department of Religious Studies, University of Trondheim |publisher=Tapir |location=Trondheim |year=1991 |language=no |url=http://www.nb.no/nbsok/nb/43894f7f8a336cb52f35d03cf42f376d |isbn=82-519-0954-6 |issn=0333-029X |pages=35, 56}}</ref>]]
[[File:Methodist church, Tampere.jpg|thumb|left|Methodist church in [[Tampere]], Finland]]
The "Nordic and Baltic Area" of the United Methodist Church covers the [[Nordic countries]] (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland) and the [[Baltic countries]] (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Methodism was introduced to the Nordic countries in the late 19th century.<ref name="Hassing1991" /> Today the [[United Methodist Church in Norway]] ({{lang-no|Metodistkirken}}) is the largest annual meeting in the region with 10,684 members in total ({{as of|2013|lc=on}}).<ref name="Nordeuropa statistics" /> The [[United Methodist Church in Sweden]] ({{lang-sv|Metodistkyrkan}}) joined the [[Uniting Church in Sweden]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Swedish Methodists join new denomination |url=https://www.umnews.org/en/news/swedish-methodists-join-new-denomination |website=United Methodist News Service |access-date=7 January 2022 |language=en |date=1 May 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Pilviškių metodistų bažnyčia.JPG|thumb|Methodist church in [[Pilviškiai]], Lithuania]]
In Finland, Methodism arrived through [[Ostrobothnians]] sailors in the 1860s, and Methodism spread especially in [[Swedish-speaking population of Finland|Swedish-speaking]] Ostrobothnia. The first Methodist congregation was founded in [[Vaasa]] in 1881 and the first Finnish-speaking congregation in [[Pori]] in 1887.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-01-19 |title=Metodistikirkon historia |trans-title=History of the Methodist Church |url=https://www.lappeenrannanmetodistiseurakunta.com/metodistikirkko/metodistikirkon-historia/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=Lappeenrannan metodistiseurakunta |language=fi}}</ref> At the turn of the century, the congregation in Vaasa became the largest and most active congregation in Methodism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Björklund |first=Leif-Göte |title=Rikssvenska metodistpredikanters betydelse för metodistkyrkans framväxt och utveckling i Finland 1880-1923 |trans-title=The significance of National Swedish Methodist preachers for the rise and development of the Methodist Church in Finland 1880-1923 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/39937811.pdf |location=Turku |publisher=Åbo Akademis förlag |date=2005 |isbn=951-765-241-0 |language=sv}}</ref>

====France====
The French Methodist movement was founded in the 1820s by Charles Cook in the village of [[Congénies]] in [[Languedoc]] near [[Nîmes]] and [[Montpellier]]. The most important chapel of department was built in 1869, where there had been a [[Quaker]] community since the 18th century.<ref>{{cite web|title=Methodist influences in 19th century in France|url=https://www.museeprotestant.org/en/notice/pietist-and-methodist-influences-in-xixth-century-france/|publisher=Virtual Museum of Protestantism|access-date=2 February 2018}}</ref> Sixteen Methodist congregations voted to join the [[Reformed Church of France]] in 1938.<ref name="French UMC">{{cite web|title=France|url=http://www.umc-europe.org/france_e.php|website=www.umc-europe.org|publisher=United Methodist Church Europe UMC / Evangelisch-Methodistische Kirche Europa|access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref> In the 1980s, missionary work of a Methodist church in [[Agen]] led to new initiatives in [[Fleurance]] and [[Mont de Marsan]].<ref>{{cite web|title=France – General Board of Global Ministries|url=http://www.umcmission.org/Explore-Our-Work/Europe-and-Eurasia/France|website=www.umcmission.org|access-date=20 January 2017|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202071801/http://www.umcmission.org/Explore-Our-Work/Europe-and-Eurasia/France|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Methodism exists today in France under various names. The best-known is the Union of Evangelical Methodist Churches ({{lang-fr|l'Union de l'Eglise Evangélique Méthodiste}}) or UEEM. It is an autonomous regional conference of the United Methodist Church and is the fruit of a fusion in 2005 between the "Methodist Church of France" and the "Union of Methodist Churches". {{As of|2014}}, the UEEM has around 1,200 members and 30 ministers.<ref name="French UMC" />

====Germany====
{{Further interlanguage link|Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche|de|Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche}}
[[File:Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche Eningen unter Achalm.jpg|thumb|Methodist chapel at the foot of the [[Achalm]] mountain, [[Baden-Württemberg]]]]

In Germany, Switzerland and Austria, ''Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche'' is the name of the [[United Methodist Church]]. The German part of the church had about 52,031 members {{As of|2015|alt=in 2015}}.<ref name="Germany statistics" /> Members are organized into three annual conferences: north, east and south.<ref name="Germany statistics" /> All three annual conferences belong to the ''Germany Central Conference''.<ref name="WMC-Germany">{{cite web |title=Germany Central Conference |date=9 November 2019 |url=https://worldmethodistcouncil.org/europe/name/germany-central-conference/ |publisher=World Methodist Council |access-date=25 September 2021}}</ref> Methodism is most prevalent in southern [[Saxony]] and around [[Stuttgart]].{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

A Methodist missionary returning from Britain introduced (British) Methodism to Germany in 1830, initially in the region of [[Württemberg]]. Methodism was also spread in Germany through the missionary work of the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]] which began in 1849 in [[Bremen]], soon spreading to [[Saxony]] and other parts of Germany. Other Methodist missionaries of the [[Evangelical Association]] went near Stuttgart (Württemberg) in 1850.<ref name="WMC-Germany"/> Further Methodist missionaries of the [[Church of the United Brethren in Christ]] worked in [[Franconia]] and other parts of Germany from 1869 until 1905.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Drury |first=A. W. |url=http://archive.org/details/UBwmHistoryOfTheChurchOfTheUBCByAWDrury |title=History Of The Church Of The United Brethren in Christ |date=1924 |language=En}}</ref> Therefore, Methodism has four roots in Germany.

Early opposition towards Methodism was partly rooted in theological differences{{snd}}northern and eastern regions of Germany were predominantly Lutheran and Reformed, and Methodists were dismissed as fanatics. Methodism was also hindered by its unfamiliar church structure (Connectionalism), which was more centralised than the hierarchical polity in the Lutheran and Reformed churches. After [[World War I]], the 1919 [[Weimar Constitution]] allowed Methodists to worship freely and many new chapels were established. In 1936, German Methodists elected their first bishop.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of The United Methodist Church in Europe – The United Methodist Church|url=http://www.umc.org/who-we-are/history-of-the-united-methodist-church-in-europe|publisher=United Methodist Communications|language=en|access-date=20 January 2017|archive-date=30 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130141854/http://www.umc.org/who-we-are/history-of-the-united-methodist-church-in-europe|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Hungary====
The first Methodist mission in Hungary was established in 1898 in [[Bácska]], in a then mostly German-speaking town of [[Verbász]] (since 1918 part of the Serbian province of [[Vojvodina]]).{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}} In 1905 a Methodist mission was established also in [[Budapest]]. In 1974, a group later known as the [[Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship]] seceded from the Hungarian Methodist Church over the question of interference by the communist state.

{{As of|2017}}, the United Methodist Church in Hungary, known locally as the Hungarian Methodist Church ({{lang-hu|[[:hu:Magyarországi Metodista Egyház|Magyarországi Metodista Egyház]]}}), had 453 professing members in 30 congregations.<ref>{{cite web|title=The EMF in Hungary|url=http://www.umc-europe.org/ungarn_d.php|publisher=United Methodist Church Europe UMC / Evangelisch-Methodistische Kirche Europa|access-date=20 January 2017|language=de}}</ref> It runs two student homes, two homes for the elderly, the Forray Methodist High School, the Wesley Scouts and the Methodist Library and Archives.<ref>{{Cite web |last=László |first=Khaled A. |date=2020-12-01 |title=Magyarországi Metodista Egyház |url=https://metodista.hu/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |language=hu}}</ref> The church has a special ministry among the [[Roma people|Roma]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Communications |first=United Methodist |title=UMTV: Ministry with the Roma |url=http://ee.umc.org/who-we-are/umtv-ministry-with-the-roma2 |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=The United Methodist Church |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Blagojevic |first=Gordana |title=G. Blagojevic, The Influence of Migrations on the Ethnic/National and Religious Identities: the Case of the United Methodist Church in Banat |url=https://www.academia.edu/11011913}}</ref>

The seceding Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship ({{lang|hu|Magyarországi Evangéliumi Testvérközösség}}) also remains Methodist in its organisation and theology. It has eight full congregations and several mission groups, and runs a range of charitable organisations: hostels and soup kitchens for the homeless, a non-denominational theological college,<ref>John Wesley Theological College site: [https://archive.today/20130217174123/http://www.wesley.hu/wesley/foiskola/english Retrieved 26 March 2012.]</ref> a dozen schools of various kinds, and four old people's homes.

Today there are a dozen Methodist/Wesleyan churches and mission organisations in Hungary, but all Methodist churches lost official church status under new legislation passed in 2011, when the number of officially recognized churches in the country fell to 14.<ref>Fellowship site: [http://www.metegyhaz.hu/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815122105/http://www.metegyhaz.hu/|date=15 August 2015}}. College site: {{cite web |title=Wesley Intézmények |url=http://www.wesley.hu/index/altalanos |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402144829/http://www.wesley.hu/index/altalanos |archive-date=2 April 2012 |access-date=2011-09-18}}. Both in Hungarian. Retrieved 18 September 2011. {{cite web |title=Főoldal – Híreink – MET |url=http://www.metegyhaz.hu/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815122105/http://www.metegyhaz.hu/ |archive-date=15 August 2015 |access-date=2012-02-19}}</ref> However, the list of recognized churches was lengthened to 32 at the end of February 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-07 |title=Neues Gesetz: Ungarns Kirche von Viktor Orbáns Gnaden abhängig – WELT |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article13936759/Ungarns-Kirche-von-Viktor-Orbans-Gnaden-abhaengig.html |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=DIE WELT |language=de}}</ref> This gave recognition to the Hungarian Methodist Church and the [[Salvation Army]], which was banned in Hungary in 1949 but had returned in 1990, but not to the Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship. The legislation has been strongly criticised by the [[Venice Commission]] of the [[Council of Europe]] as discriminatory.<ref>Opinion on Act CCVI/2011: [http://www.venice.coe.int/docs/2012/CDL-AD(2012)004-e.pdf Retrieved 26 March 2012.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117013635/http://www.venice.coe.int/docs/2012/CDL-AD%282012%29004-e.pdf|date=17 January 2013}}.</ref>

The Hungarian Methodist Church, the Salvation Army and the Church of the Nazarene and other Wesleyan groups formed the Wesley Theological Alliance for theological and publishing purposes in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Üdvhadsereg Szabadegyház Magyarország |url=https://www.udvhadsereg.hu/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=www.udvhadsereg.hu |language=hu}}</ref> Today the Alliance has 10 Wesleyan member churches and organisations. The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship does not belong to it and has its own publishing arm.<ref>Wesley Kiadó site (in Hungarian): [https://archive.today/20130217183709/http://www.wesley.hu/wesley/foiskola/szervezeti_egysegek/egyeb_szolgaltatasok/kiadvanyok_jegyzetek/ Retrieved 26 March 2012.]</ref>

====Russia====
The Methodist Church established several strongholds in Russia{{snd}}[[Saint Petersburg]] in the west and the [[Vladivostok]] region in the east, with large Methodist centres in [[Moscow]] and [[Yekaterinburg|Ekaterinburg (former Sverdlovsk)]]. Methodists began their work in the west among Swedish immigrants in 1881 and started their work in the east in 1910.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia">{{cite web|url = http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=1723955&ct=7160023|title = Centennial of Methodism in Russia observed|publisher = United Methodist Church|access-date = 29 December 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110515000925/http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=1723955&ct=7160023|archive-date = 15 May 2011|url-status = dead|df = dmy-all}}</ref> On 26 June 2009, Methodists celebrated the 120th year since Methodism arrived in Czarist Russia by erecting a new Methodist centre in Saint Petersburg.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia"/> A Methodist presence was continued in Russia for 14 years after the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution of 1917]] through the efforts of [[Deaconess Anna Eklund]].<ref name="UMC-Methodist Centre in St. Petersburg">{{cite web|url=http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=5032 |title=Develop United Methodist Center in St. Petersburg |publisher=United Methodist Church |access-date=29 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615225409/https://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=5032 |archive-date=15 June 2010 |df=dmy }}</ref> In 1939, political antagonism stymied the work of the Church and Deaconess Anna Eklund was coerced to return to her native Finland.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia"/>

After 1989, the Soviet Union allowed greatly increased religious freedoms<ref name="Soviets OK New Religious Freedoms">{{cite web|url = http://www.deseretnews.com/article/124148/SOVIETS-OK-NEW-RELIGIOUS-FREEDOMS.html| title = Soviets OK New Religious Freedoms |publisher = deseretnews|access-date = 11 May 2011}}</ref> and this continued after the USSR's collapse in 1991. During the 1990s, Methodism experienced a powerful wave of revival in the nation.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia" /> Three sites in particular carried the torch{{snd}}Samara, Moscow and Ekaterinburg. {{As of|2011}}, the United Methodist Church in Eurasia comprised 116 congregations, each with a native pastor. There are currently 48 students enrolled in residential and extension degree programs at the United Methodist Seminary in Moscow.<ref name="UMC-Centennial in Russia" />