American Religion: Methodism

Religion in the American Experience is a podcast of the National Museum of American Religion, which is dedicated to telling the story of what religion has done to America and what America has done to religion.

Scholarly support provided by Dr. Lauren Turek, Associate Professor of History at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Technical audio and video assistance provided by Dr. Randall Stephens, a Professor of American and British Studies at the University of Oslo.

 

Season 3, Episode 28: American Religion - Methodism

Guest Bio

Dr. Ashely Boggan is the General Secretary of the United Methodist Church’s General Commission on Archives and History. In this role, she ensures that The UMC understands its past, in order to envision a more equitable future for all Methodists. Ashley earned her PhD from Drew Theological School’s Graduate Division of Religion, specializing in both Methodist/Wesleyan Studies and Women’s/Gender Studies. She earned an M.A. from the University of Chicago’s Divinity School, specializing in American Religious History. Dr. Boggan is a lay member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference and the daughter of two ordained United Methodist ministers. Her Methodist lineage dates beyond this, back to the early 19th century when her great-great-great grandfathers were Methodist circuit-riders. 

Background

Methodist churches are everywhere in the United States with their easily recognizable sign, the “Cross and Flame”. Methodism and those that are affiliated with it have influenced the country in profound ways. First arriving in the colonies in the decades before the Revolutionary War, Methodists and the American narrative are bound up together.