Part 1: The Methodist Church

The Methodist Church of Kenya rarely attracts media attention, but it was recently trending over its decision to ban the wearing of hijab in schools it supports.

My friend, Kinyua, has been a Methodist all his life; but he does not know the meaning of the word "Methodist".

The word "Methodists" was originally an insult.

Between 1720 and 1724, a group of students at Oxford University formed a prayer cell on campus, and they called it "The Holy Club".

The leaders of The Holy Club were John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley.

This group had a structured way of worship that other students found unconventional. For example, they woke up at 3.00 a.m. every day to pray; and they prayed eight times a day. They had strict guidelines on what should happen at each of their prayer meetings, stringent rules on how members should live their lives on campus, and a long list of things members should not do.

Of course, some members could not cope with the strict discipline requirements of The Holy Club, and they quit. Those who quit said they did so because the group had too many rules that were difficult to keep. They said that the leadership of The Holy Club was "more concerned about the METHODS of worship than CONTENT or SUBSTANCE of worship."

Soon, other students on campus started referring to members of The Holy Club as "The Methodists", a derogatory reference to their methodical way of worship.

John Wesley responded to these attacks by saying he was proud of the way his group worshipped.

"If you call us Methodists because of the way we worship," he said, "then we'll call ourselves Methodists. It's what defines us". He then changed the name of The Holy Club to The Methodists.

Years later, under John Wesley's leadership, this group developed into a movement that sought to reform the Church of England.

However, it later became an independent global Christian movement that today boasts of 75 million adherents worldwide.