Since the 1970s Richard Allen's scholarship on the social gospel has broken new ground in the field of Canadian social and religious history by recovering key aspects of the tradition and its contribution to reform movements and politics. Beyond the Noise of Solemn Assemblies collects and extends many of his classic works to present a comprehensive overview of a major thread in the fabric of the country. Observing the mutual foundations of political and religious traditions in myth and arguing that the sacred and the secular belong together in discussions of public affairs, Allen contests the view that religion is personal and isolated from the public square. He discusses a range of topics: the transition from providential to progressive thought in nineteenth-century Canada; the new spirituality of social solidarity articulated by Winnipeg college students in the 1890s; the role of the social gospel in pioneering urban reform; farmers and workers finding in radical Christianity legitimation for political revolt; Christian intellectuals in the 1930s framing a revolutionary prospectus for Depression-era Canada; the significance of Norman Bethune's religious upbringing for his life and work; strategically focused post-war ecumenical coalitions like Project North and the Latin American Working Group; and the prospects for democratic socialism at the end of the Cold War. Opening with a chapter relating the author's upbringing in a ministerial household dedicated to the Protestant ethic as the spirit of socialism, Beyond the Noise of Solemn Assemblies represents a significant contribution to understanding the social Christian movement in Canada.

In 1850, Samuel Nelles, a well-educated Methodist minister, was selected to resuscitate the debt-ridden and declining Victoria University. As principal, and later as president and chancellor, he fought against shortsighted government educational policies while making the school into one of the premier universities in Canada. A true academic, Nelles believed in the importance of testing assumed laws, dogmas, and creeds. However his pursuit of intellectual inquiry was always guided by a rational faith in God, as well as the expectation of the future greatness and goodness of humanity. Faithful Intellect expands the reader's understanding of many of the key intellectual, religious, and political concerns of nineteenth-century English Canada while providing an essential contribution to the study of Canada's system of higher education.

“I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power.” — John Wesley, 1786 “Church renewal” is widely discussed across Methodism today, and yet such renewal will not happen apart from serious engagement with and from the margins of society. Through a series of new and previously published essays, this book looks to the experiences of Methodists in Latin American pueblos and Hispanic barrios to open new scholarly conversations about doctrine, worship, and mission for the sake of social renewal. The flames of renewal do not confine themselves to Methodism. But from the people called metodista they can spread, sharing in the Wesleyan movement’s fundamental calling to revitalize the church universal in its mission to the world. Praise for The People Called Metodista “What is the future of Methodism? Colón-Emeric offers a deep meditation on this difficult question and suggests an answer: we find its future in the margins of the church. Nashville and London must learn to sing together with Seoul, Latin America, and Africa.” —Pablo R. Andiñach, PhD, Instituto Teológico Santo Domingo “The Wesleyan tradition—as a piety, a community in mission, and a theology—took rise within and has found repeated renewal through engagement with those on the fringes of the reigning ‘powers.’ At its best, it has nurtured deep respect for its foundation in Scripture and earlier Christian witness, while cultivating openness to new understandings and expressions of ‘faith working by love.’ Colón-Emeric’s study exemplifies Wesleyanism at its best, probing the witness of Hispanic streams of Methodism for insights addressing the entire movement, much of which suffers from malaise and morbidity. Highly recommended.” —Randy L. Maddox, PhD, William Kellon Quick Emeritus Professor of Wesleyan and Methodist Studies, Duke Divinity School “In The People Called Metodista, Edgardo Colón-Emeric has mined treasures that have been hidden to many of us, particular in the North American and European expressions of Methodism. If Methodism is a renewal movement, voices speaking to us from the margins will lead us to new insight and to holy living. Through the translation of doctrine, worship and mission into a language that surfaces new accents and engages a wider community of conversation partners, Colón-Emeric has broken new ground that will hopefully enlarge our vision for who we are in the present moment.” —Ken Carter, Bishop, Florida and Western North Carolina Conferences, The United Methodist Church “The Holy Spirit, who blows wherever it wishes, continues to give life around the world. Across this book, Dr. Colón-Emeric helps us open our eyes to see and enjoy God’s new creation in and through the people called metodista. He reminds us of how the Spirit continues to create something new amid chaos. This book will renew your hope and inspire you to join God’s move!” —Eric A. Hernández López, DMin, Chair of the Board of Directors, Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico “Gratitude to God for this winsome, faithful, encouraging resource for the people of God in every place. Edgardo Colón-Emeric refreshes and deepens the powerful gospel summons to attentiveness at the margins. Let us go with him to the edge, where our strangely warmed hearts become hearts afire, corazones ardientes.” —Hope Morgan Ward, Retired Bishop, North Carolina Conference, The United Methodist Church

Bessie Scott, nearing the end of her first year at university in the spring of 1890, recorded in her diary: “Wore my gown for first time! It didn’t seem at all strange to do so.” Often deemed a cumbersome tradition by men, the cap and gown were dearly prized by women as an outward sign of their hard-won admission to the rank of undergraduates. For the first generations of university women, higher education was an exhilarating and transformative experience, but these opportunities would narrow in the decades that followed. In University Women Sara MacDonald explores the processes of integration and separation that marked women’s contested entrance into higher education. Examining the period between 1870 and 1930, this book is the first to provide a comparative study of women at universities across Canada. MacDonald concludes that women’s higher education cannot be seen as a progressive narrative, a triumphant story of trailblazers and firsts, of doors being thrown open and staying open. The early promise of equal education was not fulfilled in the longer term, as a backlash against the growing presence of women on campuses resulted in separate academic programs, closer moral regulation, and barriers that restricted their admission into the burgeoning fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The modernization of higher education ultimately marginalized women students, researchers, and faculty within the diversified universities of the twentieth century. University Women uncovers the systemic inequalities based on gender, race, and class that have shaped Canadian higher education. It is indispensable reading for those concerned with the underrepresentation of girls and women in STEM and current initiatives to address issues of access and equity within our academic institutions.

What can movements for decolonization teach Wesleyan theology? This book faces this question to show that decolonial voices are reshaping the contours of Methodist and Wesleyan traditions. Contributors to this volume include theologians, pastors, and leaders in the Global South who are leading the people called Methodists to encounter the tradition anew in the radical spirit of decolonization.

Written in celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the United Church of Canada and prepared by the Archives Committee of the Conference of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, this collection of articles explores, in fifteen articles, the issues and concerns of the prairie congregations of the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational Churches that combined in 1925 to for the United Church of Canada. The volume also includes six short essays about unique congregations, two bibliographic guides on archive holdings, and a charming photo essay on historic churches in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.