In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, observance of the Christian year by American Methodists was mainly limited to "great festivals" such as Christmas, Easter, and Whitsunday (Pentecost). A movement toward recovery of the entire Christian year gained momentum in the mid-twentieth century, and in 1984 United Methodists adopted the ecumenical Common Lectionary and calendar.
Methodism began as a movement led by John Wesley (17031791), a priest of the Church of England who followed...
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