Methodism

===Asia===

====China====
[[File:Flower lane church 2010.jpg|right|thumb|[[Flower Lane Church]] is the first Methodist church erected in downtown [[Fuzhou]].]]
[[File:Wuhan - former Methodist School - P1050047.JPG|thumb|Former Methodist school in [[Wuhan]] (founded 1885)]]

Methodism was brought to China in the autumn of 1847 by the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]]. The first missionaries sent out were [[Judson Dwight Collins]] and [[Moses Clark White]], who sailed from [[Boston]] 15 April 1847, and reached [[Fuzhou]] 6 September. They were followed by Henry Hickok and [[Robert Samuel Maclay]], who arrived 15 April 1848. In 1857, the first convert was baptised in connection with its labours. In August 1856, a brick built church was dedicated named the "Church of the True God" ({{lang-zh|s=真神堂|p=Zhēnshén táng}}), the first substantial church building erected in Fuzhou by Protestant Missions. In the winter of the same year another brick built church, located on the hill in the suburbs on the south bank of the [[Min River (Fujian)|Min]], was finished and dedicated, called the "[[Church of Heavenly Peace, Fuzhou|Church of Heavenly Peace]]". In 1862, the number of members was 87. The Fuzhou Conference was organized by [[Isaac W. Wiley]] on 6 December 1867, by which time the number of members and probationers had reached 2,011.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Hok Chau ({{lang-zh|c=周學|p=Zhōu Xué|labels=no}}; also known as Lai-Tong Chau, {{lang-zh|c=周勵堂|p=Zhōu Lìtáng|labels=no}}) was the first ordained Chinese minister of the South China District of the Methodist Church (incumbent 1877–1916). [[Benjamin Hobson]], a medical missionary sent by the [[London Missionary Society]] in 1839, set up Wai Ai Clinic ({{lang-zh|c=惠愛醫館|p=Huì ài yī guǎn|labels=no}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.ifeng.com/article/46027.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313042953/http://blog.ifeng.com/article/46027.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 March 2013 |title=回眸：当年传教士进羊城-MW悦读室之岭南话廊-凤凰网博客 |publisher=Blog.ifeng.com |access-date=19 April 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mall.cnki.net/magazine/Article/GDSI199901009.htm |title=合信的《全体新论》与广东士林-《广东史志》1999年01期-中国知网 |publisher=Mall.cnki.net |date=3 February 2012 |access-date=19 April 2013 |archive-date=7 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007074316/http://mall.cnki.net/magazine/Article/GDSI199901009.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Liang Fa]], Hok Chau and others worked there. Liang baptized Chau in 1852. The Methodist Church based in Britain sent missionary [[George Piercy]] to China. In 1851, Piercy went to Guangzhou (Canton), where he worked in a trading company. In 1853, he started a church in Guangzhou. In 1877, Chau was ordained by the Methodist Church, where he pastored for 39 years.<ref>Rebecca Chan Chung, Deborah Chung and Cecilia Ng Wong, "Piloted to Serve", 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/PilotedToServe |title=Piloted to Serve |publisher=Facebook |access-date=19 April 2013}}</ref>

In 1867, the mission sent out the first missionaries to Central China, who began work at [[Jiujiang]]. In 1869, missionaries were also sent to the [[capital city]] [[Beijing]], where they laid the foundations of the work of the North China Mission. In November 1880, the [[History of Methodism in Sichuan|West China Mission]] was established in [[Sichuan Province]]. In 1896, the work in the Hinghua prefecture (modern-day [[Putian]]) and surrounding regions was also organized as a Mission Conference.<ref>Stephen Livingstone Baldwin, Foreign Missions of the Protestant Churches, 1900.</ref>

In 1947, the Methodist Church in the Republic of China celebrated its centenary. In 1949, however, the Methodist Church moved to Taiwan with the [[Kuomintang]] government.

====Hong Kong====
{{See also|:yue:%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E5%9F%BA%E7%9D%A3%E6%95%99%E5%BE%AA%E9%81%93%E8%A1%9E%E7%90%86%E8%81%AF%E5%90%88%E6%95%99%E6%9C%83{{!}}The Methodist Church, Hong Kong}}

====India====
{{See also|Church of South India|Methodist Church in India}}
[[File:Wesleyan Church, Broadway.JPG|thumb|upright|The [[Church of South India|CSI]] English Wesley Church in [[Chennai]] is one of the oldest Methodist chapels in India.]]

Methodism came to India twice, in 1817 and in 1856, according to P. Dayanandan who has extensively researched the subject.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/10/29/stories/2004102903381000.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041103131148/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2004/10/29/stories/2004102903381000.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=3 November 2004 | location=Chennai, India | work=[[The Hindu]] | title=In commemoration of John Wesley | date=29 October 2004}}</ref> Thomas Coke and six other missionaries set sail for India on New Year's Day in 1814. Coke, then 66, died en route. Rev. James Lynch was the one who finally arrived in [[Madras]] in 1817 at a place called Black Town (Broadway), later known as George Town. Lynch conducted the first Methodist missionary service on 2 March 1817, in a stable.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The first Methodist church was dedicated in 1819 at [[Royapettah]]. A chapel at Broadway (Black Town) was later built and dedicated on 25 April 1822.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Pastorate – Mount Wesley Church |url=https://mountwesleychurch.org/pastorate/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |language=en-US}}</ref> This church was rebuilt in 1844 since the earlier structure was collapsing.<ref name=":0" /> At this time there were about 100 Methodist members in all of Madras, and they were either Europeans or Eurasians (European and Indian descent). Among names associated with the founding period of Methodism in India are [[Elijah Hoole]] and Thomas Cryer, who came as missionaries to Madras.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mr Elija Hoole – India – Biographical Papers – Special Series – (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society Archive – Archives Hub |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb102-mms/mms/17/02/06/07 |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk}}</ref>

In 1857, the Methodist Episcopal Church started its work in India, and with prominent evangelists like [[William Taylor (bishop)|William Taylor]] of the Emmanuel Methodist Church, [[Vepery]], born in 1874. The evangelist [[James Mills Thoburn]] established the Thoburn Memorial Church in Calcutta in 1873 and the Calcutta Boys' School in 1877.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

In 1947, the Wesleyan Methodist Church in India merged with Presbyterians, Anglicans and other Protestant churches to form the Church of South India while the American Methodist Church remained affiliated as the [[Methodist Church in Southern Asia]] (MCSA) to the mother church in the USA – the United Methodist Church until 1981, when by an enabling act, the Methodist Church in India (MCI) became an autonomous church in India. Today, the Methodist Church in India is governed by the General Conference of the Methodist Church of India headed by six bishops, with headquarters in Mumbai, India.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=3174 |title=The Methodist Church in India: Bangalore Episcopal Area |publisher=Gbgm-umc.org |access-date=19 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524022335/https://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=3174 |archive-date=24 May 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref>

====Malaysia and Singapore====
{{Main|Methodist Church in Malaysia|Methodist Church in Singapore}}
Missionaries from Britain, North America, and Australia founded Methodist churches in many [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries. These are now independent from their former "mother" churches. In addition to the churches, these missionaries often also founded schools to serve the local community. A good example of such schools are the [[Methodist Boys' School (Kuala Lumpur)|Methodist Boys' School in Kuala Lumpur]], [[Methodist Boys' School (Penang)|Methodist Girls' School and Methodist Boys' School]] in [[George Town, Penang|George Town]], and [[Anglo-Chinese School]], [[Methodist Girls' School, Singapore|Methodist Girls' School]], [[Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' School (Secondary)|Paya Lebar Methodist Girls School]] and [[Fairfield Methodist Secondary School|Fairfield Methodist Schools]] in Singapore.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Admin |first1=M. C. S. |title=The Methodist Church in Singapore – Methodist Schools |url=https://methodist.org.sg/index.php/ministries/methodist-schools |website=methodist.org.sg |access-date=23 July 2021 |language=en-gb}}</ref>

====Philippines====
Methodism in the Philippines began shortly after the United States acquired the Philippines in 1898 as a result the [[Spanish–American War]]. On 21 June 1898, after the [[Battle of Manila Bay]] but before the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)|Treaty of Paris]], executives of the American Mission Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church expressed their desire to join other [[Protestant]] denominations in starting mission work in the islands and to enter into a [[Comity Agreement]] that would facilitate the establishment of such missions. The first Protestant worship service was conducted on 28 August 1898 by an American military chaplain named George C. Stull. Stull was an ordained Methodist minister from the Montana Annual Conference of The Methodist Episcopal Church (later part of the United Methodist Church after 1968).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Oconer |first1=Luther J. |last2=Asedillo |first2=Rebecca C. |title=The United Methodist Church in the Philippines |url=http://archives.gcah.org/bitstream/handle/10516/1319/UMC_Philippines.pdf |website=gcah.org |publisher=United Methodist Church |page=2}}</ref>

[[File:AIM Pilipinas First Bishop.jpeg|thumb|left|Consecration of the first Presiding Bishop of Ang Iglesia Metodista sa Pilipinas held at Luacan Church in [[Bataan]], Philippines]]
Methodist and Wesleyan traditions in the Philippines are shared by three of the largest mainline Protestant churches in the country: [[Philippines Central Conference (United Methodist Church)|The United Methodist Church in the Philippines]], ''[[Iglesia Evangelica Metodista En Las Islas Filipinas]]'' ("Evangelical Methodist Church in the Philippine Islands", abbreviated IEMELIF), and The [[United Church of Christ in the Philippines]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uccp.ph/|title=uccp.ph|access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref> There are also evangelical Protestant churches in the country of the Methodist tradition like the Wesleyan Church of the Philippines, the [[Free Methodist Church]] of the Philippines,<ref>[http://cebu.freemethodistchurch.org/aboutus.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011114200/http://cebu.freemethodistchurch.org/aboutus.html|date=11 October 2008}}.</ref> and the [[Church of the Nazarene]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nazarene.org.ph/|title=Philippines Church of the Nazarene – Mabuhay!|access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref> There are also the IEMELIF Reform Movement (IRM), The Wesleyan (Pilgrim Holiness) Church of the Philippines, the Philippine Bible Methodist Church, Incorpoorated, the Pentecostal Free Methodist Church, Incorporated, the Fundamental Christian Methodist Church, The Reformed Methodist Church, Incorporated, The Methodist Church of the Living Bread, Incorporated, and the Wesley Evangelical Methodist Church & Mission, Incorporated.

There are three [[Episcopal area (United Methodist Church)|episcopal areas]] of the United Methodist Church in the Philippines: the Baguio Episcopal Area, Davao Episcopal Area and Manila Episcopal Area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.meaweb.blogspot.com/|title=Manila Episcopal Area|access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref>

A call for autonomy from groups within the United Methodist Church in the Philippines was discussed at several conferences led mostly by episcopal candidates. This led to the establishment of the ''[[Ang Iglesia Metodista sa Pilipinas]]'' ("The Methodist Church in the Philippines") in 2010,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aimpilipinas.org/ |title=AIM Pilipinas Website |work=AIM Pilipinas |access-date=28 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130418183528/http://aimpilipinas.org/ |archive-date=18 April 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> led by Bishop [[Lito C. Tangonan]], George Buenaventura, Chita Milan and Atty. Joe Frank E. Zuñiga. The group finally declared full autonomy and legal incorporation with the [[Securities and Exchange Commission (Philippines)|Securities and Exchange Commission]] was approved on 7 December 2011 with papers held by present procurators. It now has 126 local churches in [[Metro Manila]], [[Palawan]], [[Bataan]], [[Zambales]], [[Pangasinan]], [[Bulacan (province)|Bulacan]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://philmethodist.blogspot.com/2011/06/first-annual-conference-of-pmc.html |title=Philippine Methodist |work=AIM Pilipinas |date=9 June 2011 |access-date=28 March 2012}}</ref> [[Aurora (province)|Aurora]], [[Nueva Ecija]], as well as parts of [[Pampanga (province)|Pampanga]] and [[Cavite (province)|Cavite]]. Tangonan was consecrated as the denomination's first Presiding Bishop on 17 March 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aimpilipinas.blogspot.com/ |title=AIM Pilipinas Blogsite |work=AIM Pilipinas |access-date=28 March 2012}}</ref>

====South Korea====
{{Main|Korean Methodist Church}}
The Korean Methodist Church (KMC) is one of the largest churches in South Korea with around 1.5&nbsp;million members and 8,306 ministers.<ref name="KMC">{{cite web|title=Korean Methodist Church|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/korean-methodist-church|website=oikoumene.org|date=January 1948 |publisher=World Council of Churches|access-date=23 January 2017|language=en}}</ref> Methodism in Korea grew out of British and American mission work which began in the late 19th century. The first missionary was [[Robert Samuel Maclay]] of the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]], who sailed from Japan in 1884 and was given the authority of medical and schooling permission from emperor [[Gojong of the Korean Empire|Gojong]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kim|first1=Sebastian C. H.|author-link=Sebastian Kim|last2=Kim|first2=Kirsteen|author2-link=Kirsteen Kim|title=A History of Korean Christianity|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1316123140|page=100|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F4FIBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT100|language=en|year=2014}}</ref> The Korean church became fully autonomous in 1930, retaining affiliation with Methodist churches in America and later the United Methodist Church.<ref name="KMC" /> The church experienced rapid growth in membership throughout most of the 20th century{{snd}}in spite of the [[Korean War]]{{snd}}before stabilizing in the 1990s.<ref name="KMC" /> The KMC is a member of the World Methodist Council and hosted the first Asia Methodist Convention in 2001.<ref name="KMC" />

There are many [[Korean-language]] Methodist churches in North America catering to Korean-speaking immigrants, not all of which are named as Methodist.

====Taiwan====
In 1947, the Methodist Church in the Republic of China celebrated its centenary. In 1949, however, the Methodist Church moved to Taiwan with the [[Kuomintang]] government. On 21 June 1953, Taipei Methodist Church was erected, then local churches and chapels with a baptized membership numbering over 2,500. Various types of educational, medical and social services are provided (including [[Tunghai University]]). In 1972, the Methodist Church in the Republic of China became autonomous, and the first bishop was installed in 1986.<ref>{{cite web |title=Asia – World Methodist Council |date=9 November 2019 |url=https://worldmethodistcouncil.org/asia/ |access-date=29 April 2021}}</ref>