Religion, Gender, and Industry

Geordan Hammond is Lecturer in Church History and Wesley Studies, Nazarene Theological College and Director of the Manchester Wesley Research Centre, UK. Peter S. Forsaith is Research Fellow at The Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History, Oxford Brookes University, UK.

• Foreword by D. Bruce Hindmarsh Introduction - Geordan Hammond and Peter S. Forsaith 1 Religion, Gender, and Industry in the Eighteenth Century: Models and Approaches - Jeremy Gregory 2 John Fletcher's Parishioners: Reflections on Industrial Revolution and Evangelical Revival in the Severn Gorge - Barrie Trinder 3 John Fletcher's Silent Bishop: Lord James Beauclerk of Hereford - William Gibson 4 Church and Chapel: Methodism as Church Extension - David R. Wilson 5 John Fletcher's Links with Mystical Methodists and Swedenborgians - Peter James Lineham 6 "Adoring the Holy Trinity in Unity": John Fletcher's Doxological Trinitarianism - Kenneth M. Loyer 7 Women, Work, and Worship in the Trefeca Family 1752 - 1773 - Eryn M. White 8 Mothers in Christ: Mary Fletcher and the Women of Early Methodism - Brett C. McInelly 9 Support Groups for Methodist Women Preachers 1803 - 1851 - John H. Lenton 10 "Oh That the Mantle May Rest on Me!": The Ministry of Mary Tooth - Carol Blessing 11 Holding Tightly to "the Promise of the Father": Phoebe Palmer and the Legacy of the Fletchers of Madeley in Mid-Nineteenth- Century Methodism - Harold E. Raser 12 John Fletcher as the Theologian of Early American Methodism - Laurence W. Wood 13 The Long Fletcher Incumbency: A Personal View of the Context and Continuity - Peter S. Forsaith List of Contributors Index

"Our understanding of eighteenth-century English industry, gender, and religion has been transformed during the last thirty years. The special merit of this symposium is to bring together researchers often pursuing their subjects in isolation. The conference producing these papers met, appropriately, in an area that saw industrial innovation, the ministry of the Methodist clergyman John Fletcher and his remarkable wife and female friends. This excellent collection sensitively illustrates the lives of working men, women, and believers and deserves to set the pattern for similar collaborations in future."Henry Rack, Former Bishop Fraser Senior Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History, University of Manchester'What we actually have here is an interesting book that is mainly about religion and gender, with a focus on John and Mary Fletcher and their contributions to the growth of Methodism.' Michael Wheeler, in Church Times, 27/07/2012"...This is quite a specialised book, intended for the serious student. However, it is far from being either dull or heavy-going, and the end result leaves the reader feeling that s/he was present throughout the conference... [...] There is always a danger, of course, in generalising from the particular, but although these studies focus on a particular idea, the contributors allow their research to speak for itself, and therein lies the book's basic integrity and undoubted excellence..." Barrie Tabraham, The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol.64, Issue 01, January 2013.'...[Religion, Gender and Industry] adds considerably though to our general understanding of the contexts and influences that helped to shape the movement that became eighteenth century Evangelicalism. It is to this enterprise that the volume as a whole makes a substantial contribution well worth the cover price...' Mark Smith, Wesley and Methodist Studies, Volume 5, 2013."This volume is of significance to students of Methodism because it brings us closer to understanding the special, perhaps unique way that Methodism functioned in Madeley as an integral component of Anglican parish ministry. [...] This volume shines by bringing together strong work by historians in all of these areas, creating an unusually fruitful set of perspectives and juxtapositions. [...] It is very hard to find such a wealth of recent scholarship in such an accessible and affordable form. This slim, well-edited volume is certainly of interest to scholars interested in English Methodism; it might also be of use in courses that examine the history and development of Methodism, the theological development of Methodism, or the ministry of women."Brian Clark, Methodist History, Vol. 50.3, April 2012"...a stimulating collection of essays"David Ceri Jones, Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society"Religion, Gender, and Industry: Exploring Church and Methodism in a Local Setting is an exceptional collection of essays that offers a dynamic and integrated account of Methodism in the Madeley parish"David Reagles, Wheaton College, Journal of Religious History, Volume 37, Issue 3, September 2013"...this volume is inherently interdisciplinary in its approach, and this is unquestionable one of its greatest strengths. [...] these essays are very useful for examining religion and gender in eighteenth-century England. [...] this will prove an important resource and a valuable addition to knowledge in this area." Andrew Crome, University of Manchester, in Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol.37, Issue 1, March 2014