The Methodist Church on the Prairies, 1896-1914

T.D. Regehr is a professor of history at the University of Saskatchewan.
He is the author of Mennonites in Canada, 1939–1970: A People
Transformed, The Beauharnois Scandal: A Story of Canadian
Entrepreneurship and Politics, and Remembering Saskatchewan:

This book is a radically revised version of Emergy’s 1970 doctoral
dissertation. His thesis, which he calls “a declension story,”
described how an Ontario-centred evangelic tradition failed to transfer
its strength to the prairie region. Methodism, according to the old
interpretation, succumbed to the kind of secularization that saw
Methodist preachers such as J.S. Woodsworth become social and political
activists. And Methodist women missionaries were transformed into
teachers, health-care, and social workers.

Scholarly research since 1970, which is discussed in some detail in an
excellent introduction, subscribes to an evolutionist interpretation.
Canadian religious historians now argue that the evangelic tradition was
not in decline in pre-World War I prairie society, but was merely
redeployed to suit changing times and circumstances. On the basis of
such new work, and further intensive research in the provincial and
national archives of the United Church, the author has rethought and
restructured his thesis.

The broad outlines of the story remain unchanged, even though the
interpretation has been revised. Methodist preachers, missionaries, and
influential laypersons who came west at the turn of the last century
vigorously addressed the challenges and problems of pioneer life. The
conditions they faced, the structure and organization of the Methodist
church, the cross-class composition of its membership, the way in which
resources were raised and managed, and the recruitment of church workers
are all discussed in considerable detail. In addition, there are three
chapters dealing with Methodist encounters with non-Anglo-Saxon
immigrants. The suitability of these people as prospective citizens was
questioned by many. The response of Methodist leaders was to insist on
what they regarded as necessary and appropriate educational and
missionary initiatives to ensure that these people would become good
Christian Canadian citizens. Their objectives are described as saving
souls, working at moral uplift, transforming the immigrants into
Anglo-Canadians, and “making Methodists.” Success in achieving these
four objectives was uneven, in part because Methodist preachers and
missionaries did not support all the objectives with equal fervor. But
where previous studies focused mainly on the failures, this study also
examines some of the successes.

Prairie experiences influenced national Methodist policies and church
structures. Early church expansion was managed with a centralized,
Ontario-based structure. Some authority, and greater understanding of
cultural differences as a result of the prairie immigration boom, made
Methodism less an Ontario-centred and more broadly a national movement.
As a result, the Methodist Church changed, but did not suffer a serious
decline as it adapted to new conditions on the prairies during the
settlement boom years from 1895 to 1914.