Methodist Church Members, Lay Leaders, and Socio-Economic Position in Mid-Nineteenth Century St. Stephen, New Brunswick

Socio-economic class In much of the historiography of Anglo-American Protestantism and class formation, evangelicals such as Methodists are cast in a key role, as actively constructing "middling" or "middle class" identity. This argument has linked Methodism to this identity chiefly through the interpretation of evangelicalism as a religious culture, rather than through the socio-economic positions of Methodists themselves. This dissertation explores the extent to which Methodists in the parish of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, were associated with any one socio-economic position. It examines the relationship between gender and Methodist piety, the economic practices of local churches, and patterns of church involvement among different socio-economic groups. This community study draws on both qualitative and quantitative sources, profiling 2,580 Methodist church members, lay leaders, or adherents. Neither Methodist church members nor adherents in St. Stephen were demographically and socially homogenous groups. Although most lay leaders were relatively prosperous men, some were not, and some leaders were women. Most church members were women who joined at all stages of the life course; only a minority were men, primarily older and married men. The poor were neither over nor underrepresented, and church members reflected the socio-economic composition of local Protestants as a whole. In contrast to the founders of a socially homogenous Congregationalist church which emerged out of a Methodist schism, Methodist lay leaders, church members, and adherents still fit the model of the socially diverse church.

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