The Christmas Conference was an historic founding conference of the newly independent Methodists

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

 within the United States held just after the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 at Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore, Maryland in 1784.

Prior to the revolution American Methodism consisted of itinerant preacher

Preacher

Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...

s commissioned by John Wesley

John Wesley

John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...

 the founder of the Methodist societies in England. Wesley had been sending preacher/missionaries since the 1760s. With the outbreak of war, most of these returned to England, with the notable exception of Francis Asbury

Francis Asbury

Bishop Francis Asbury was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now The United Methodist Church in the United States...

, who began to be looked upon as the leader of the groups. His activities were greatly restricted because, as an Englishman, he was suspected of not being sympathetic to the patriot cause. During the war, he ceased his circuit riding

Circuit rider (Religious)

Circuit rider is a popular term referring to clergy in the earliest years of the United States who were assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations...

 and stayed at the residence of his friend, Judge Thomas White

Thomas White

-Politicians:* Thomas White, Jr., New York politician* Thomas White , mayor of San Jose, California from 1851 to 1854* Thomas White , Canadian politician...

 of Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

.

Prior to the war, the Methodist itinerant preachers were appointed to form societies, but they were expected by Wesley to work within the Anglican Church, as they were not ordained. They were not allowed to administer the sacrament

Sacrament

A sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...

s. This produced some difficulty as Anglican Churches were limited to the coastal cities, and the itinerant preachers were moving westward and inland. Similarly the Anglican priests almost all left for England with the outbreak of war.

Asbury had come to America in 1771. Under his leadership, conferences were formed and American preachers appointed, but this did not solve the problem of the administration of the sacraments.

During the war, the societies continued to grow, albeit more slowly due to all the disruptions. Following the war, there was a move to locally ordain the preachers, but Asbury counseled patience until Wesley gave direction.

In England, at the Methodist Conference at Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 in July of 1784, Wesley himself ordained Richard Whatcoat

Richard Whatcoat

Richard Whatcoat , was the third Bishop of the American Methodist Episcopal Church.-History:Whatcoat was born in Gloucestershire, England and, although reared in the Church of England, became a Methodist at age 22...

 and Thomas Vasey as elders, appointing them to go, along with a group of itinerant preachers to America. Wesley then ordained Thomas Coke (who was already an ordained Anglican priest) to go as superintendent of the American church. He gave Coke instructions to also ordain Francis Asbury as co-superintendent. Wesley was reluctant to take this action, but he had already asked for the Bishop of London to ordain a bishop for America, and he had been rebuffed.

Meeting with Asbury on November 14, 1784, Coke explained Wesley's intentions and proposed to ordain him. Asbury, catching the spirit of democracy in the new country, refrained from accepting the ordination until approved by the American connection. Messengers were sent, calling the American itinerants to Baltimore on December 24. Eighty three preachers were entitled to membership; sixty of them were able to arrive for the conference. During the six weeks while waiting for the conference, Coke and Asbury went on a preaching tour (on horseback) that covered over 1000 miles.

With the Christmas Conference's unanimous approval, Asbury was ordained and appointed as co-superintendent. He was ordained deacon on Christmas Day by laying on of hands; elder on the next day; and superintendent the next. Asbury's friend Philip William Otterbein

Philip William Otterbein

Philip William Otterbein was a U.S. clergyman. He was the founder of the United Brethren in Christ, a group that is a forerunner of today's United Methodist Church.-Biography:...

, pastor of the German Reformed Church of Baltimore, also laid hands on Asbury to assist in the ordination.

Coke later said of Asbury, "In the presence of Mr. Asbury, I feel myself a child. He is in my estimation, the most apostolic man I ever saw, except Mr. Wesley." Coke preached Asbury's ordination sermon, which was later published and caused some stir in England because he emphasized the need to ordain only godly men, and pointed to England for an example of immoral and unconverted men to orders.

This conference, which became known as the first General Conference of the new church, abridged the 39 Articles of Religion of the Anglican Church into 24, added one additional one about civic duties as US citizens, and adopted them as its governing principals, also known as the Discipline. They also received a modified prayer book sent by Wesley.

John Dickins

John Dickins

John Dickins was an early Methodist preacher in the United States. Born in London in 1746 and educated in Eton College, he came to America and was appointed a Methodist preacher in 1774. He served circuits in Virginia and North Carolina, then went to New York in 1784...

 a pastor in New York proposed the name of the fledgeling church: the Methodist Episcopal Church

Methodist Episcopal Church

The Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...

.

The conference also ordained 12 preachers to orders, setting a precedent for the American church that ordinations were to be approved by the conference.

Immediately after the ten-day conference, Asbury set out circuit riding as he had before the war. His first destination was Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

which he deemed the city most in need of spiritual enlightenment.

The American church held another General Conference in 1792 and every four years after.