Sunday Service of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Sunday Service of the Methodist Episcopal Church was an abridgment of the Prayer-book of the Church of England, prepared by Mr. Wesley. It was arranged for the use 6f the Methodists in America, when he recommended their organization into a Methodist Episcopal Church. It was entitled The Sunday Service of the Methodists of North America, with other Services, and was adopted by the General Conference of 1784. It was published in connection with the Discipline (Phila. 1785; Lond. 1786). This appears to have been the last time the Sunday Service was published in connection with the Discipline, and at the General Conference of 1792 all reference to the use of a Sunday Service was stricken out. It gradually dropped out of use. The M. E. Church, South, in 1866, ordered that the Prayer book as printed by Mr. Wesley in 1786 should be reprinted for the use of their Church, and the same service is used in many Wesleyan churches in England, though generally the churches using a service prefer the regular English Prayer-book. See Simpson, Cyclop. of Methodism, s.v.