Attached Paper Annual Meeting 2024

Wesley & Womanism: John Wesley's Practical Theology and Womanist Tenets Converse

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

The enduring legacy of Wesleyan principles and theology within the Black Church tradition and Womanist Theology in particular, is not often named and celebrated. The connection of the budding Methodist church in the United States at the same time African American Folk Religion was established are paralleled. The Great Awakening in the United States with its Methodist and Baptist roots saw numerous African Americans adherents. Germane to the descendants of Africans was the Wesleyan understanding of acts of mercy and personal piety, along with a diversity in scriptural interpretation that have been guiding practical theological values for the Black Church traditions. As Womanist Theology and Theological ethics took form and continues throughout different waves, this Pan-Methodist employment can be seen in the tenets of womanist principles and scholarship that undergird the field to this day.