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<\/a>At that time, William\u2019s church was listed as a \u201cPrimitive Methodist Church\u201d<\/a> \u2013 a specific denomination that still exists today.<\/p>\n Along with their distinctive name, they have a comfortable sense of their focus \u2013 and, with a touch of good humor, they use this logo on their denominational Facebook page.<\/p>\n While Primitive Methodism\u2019s roots are in England, it started in the United States in the 1840s \u2013 and it was not an easy launch.<\/p>\n In the late 1890s, the Stamford Methodist Church was the largest Methodist congregation in America. So, what happened there was visible to the entire church. Clearly there was an internal struggle among Methodists in accepting the \u201cPrimitive Methodist\u201d approach.<\/p>\n The website Jesus Army<\/span> \u2013 an evangelical Christian site with a \u201ccharismatic emphasis\u201d that sees the \u201cShouting Methodists\u201d as part of their larger historical background \u2013 writes this about the denomination:<\/p>\n \u201cSome early Methodists were known for their noise\u2026 One name commonly applied to early nineteenth century Methodists was \u2018shouting Methodists\u2019 \u2013 a name Methodists were glad to accept and make their own. What was meant by the term, \u2018shouting Methodists\u2019?<\/p>\n \u201cAt the very least, it meant that Methodists were a noisy lot, interrupting the preacher with ejaculations of \u2018Praise the Lord,\u2019 \u2018Hallelujah,\u2019 and \u2018Amen.\u2019 Alexander Campbell declared that the Methodist church could not live without her cries of \u2018Glory! Glory! Glory!\u2019 And he reported that \u2018her periodical Amens dispossess demons, storm heaven, shut the gates of hell, and drive Satan from the camp.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt is clear that \u2018shout\u2019 was a prominent part of the Methodist vocabulary. Nowhere is this more evident than in the refrains of their spiritual songs. \u2018Shout, shout, we\u2019re gaining ground,\u2019 they sang. \u2018We\u2019ll shout old Satan\u2019s kingdom down.\u2019 The word would appear in casual conversations. An aged person, for example, would rejoice at being still able \u2018to shout,\u2019 and a death would be recorded: \u2018She went off shouting.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did it mean to \u2018shout\u2019? \u2018Shouting\u2019 was never mere noise. \u2018Shouting\u2019 was neither preaching nor exhorting. Exhorting was a noisy performance, but the word had a technical meaning that was not broad enough to include even the \u2018action sermon.\u2019 Nor was \u2018shouting\u2019 praying, not even when praying became a din as a congregation sought to \u2018pray down\u2019 a sinner or to contend in prayer for the souls of the penitent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe term \u2018shouting\u2019 suggests confusion, and this was the initial impression one gained of Methodist meetings. Devereux Jarratt, a Methodist himself prior to the separation of 1784, reported of a Methodist gathering in 1776 that \u2018the assembly appeared to be all in confusion, and must seem to one at a little distance more like a drunken rabble than the worshippers of God.\u2019 The development of a specialised vocabulary with highly technical meanings, on the other hand, suggests that there were patterns of group activity in the midst of the confusion, a degree of order and method in the apparent madness.\u201d<\/p>\n I turned to GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> to learn more of the story.<\/p>\n Clearly my ancestor William Kemp held to this \u201cShouting Methodist\u201d tradition. The newspapers recorded that on multiple occasions he would stand up during the Sunday services \u201cinterrupting the preacher with ejaculations of \u2018Praise the Lord,\u2019 \u2018Hallelujah,\u2019 and \u2018Amen.\u2019<\/p>\n As the Boston Daily Advertiser<\/em> described:<\/p>\n \u201c[William Kemp] belonged to a [Sunday School] class\u2026 that was very noisy\u2026 Such was the state of affairs about 3 yrs. ago when the present pastor, Rev. F. W. Crowder, entered upon his duties here. The situation did not better itself any under the new pastor.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Rev. Frank W. Crowder clearly did not support the growing \u201cShouting Methodist\u201d faction in the congregation. During the three years he was the pastor there he tried to deal with the situation. He devised a plan to decide who could and couldn\u2019t attend Sunday School and announced his plan prohibiting the \u201cShouting Methodist\u201d faction from the class \u2013 and that \u201conly served to bring things to a crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n According to that same 1899 Boston Daily Advertiser<\/em> article:<\/p>\n \u201cOn Oct. 13 [William Kemp] appeared at the church and demanded that he be allowed to take part in the [Sunday School] class. He refused to leave the church, and finally the pastor called in a policeman and had him put out.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Wow \u2013 the minister had the police eject William from the church meetings.<\/p>\n Following this, Rev. Crowder put William Kemp on \u201ctrial\u201d for his theological position.<\/p>\n It was a frontpage story not only in Stamford, Connecticut, but also in New Haven. What was at issue was the evangelical, charismatic \u201cHoliness\u201d movement approach within the Methodist Church.<\/p>\n William lost and the controversy continued. By February 1900 the minister announced he was going to put another church member, Charles Swenson, on trial for his faith.<\/p>\n Charles Swenson resigned from the church instead of facing a church trial \u2013 and importantly, he was \u201ca contractor.\u201d<\/p>\n We know what happened next for William, Charles and their \u201cShouting Methodist\u201d co-religionists. They left the main Stamford Methodist Church, then organized and built the Maple Avenue Methodist Church where they and their descendants worshipped for decades after that.<\/p>\n But, what happened to the Rev. Crowder?<\/p>\n Within weeks of this episode, the Rev. Crowder resigned as a Methodist minister.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>