Editing Sabbath in Christianity (section)

=== Methodist ===
In keeping with historic [[Methodism]],<ref name="MECS1921">{{cite book|title=Journal of the North Carolina Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South|year=1921|language=en |page=62}}</ref> the ''Discipline'' of the [[Bible Methodist Connection of Churches]] enshrines first-day Sabbatarianism:<ref name="BMCC2014"/>
{{blockquote|We believe that the Lord's Day, celebrated on Sunday, the first day of the week, throughout the Christian church, is the Christian sabbath, which we reverently observe as a day of rest and worship and as the continuing memorial of our Savior's resurrection. For this reason, we abstain from secular work and from all merchandising on this holy day, except that required by mercy or necessity.<ref name="BMCC2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.biblemethodist.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2014-Bible-Methodist-Discipline.pdf|title=Discipline of the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches|year=2014|page=30|language=en|access-date=19 June 2017}}</ref>}}
Regarded as the "prince of Methodist theologians" [[William Burt Pope]] explained that "Its [the Sabbath] original purpose to commemorate the creation and bear witness to the government of the One God was retained, but, as the new creation of mankind in Christ Jesus had more fully revealed the Triune God, the day of the Lord's resurrection, the first day of the week, became the Christian Sabbath, or the Lord's Day".<ref name="McPherson2016"/> Pope delineated that the Christian Sabbath was "given by Christ Himself, the Lord also of the Sabbath" as with "His resurrection began a formal appointment of the First day, and with the Pentecost He finally ratified it."<ref name="McPherson2016"/> Methodist systematic theologian [[Richard Watson (Methodist)|Richard Watson]] delineated that the observance of the Sabbath is part of the unchanging moral law, and "its observance is connected throughout the prophetic age with the highest promises, its violations with the severest maledictions; it was among the Jews in our Lord's time a day of solemn religious assembling, and was so observed by him; when changed to the first day of the week, it was the day on which the Christians assembled; it was called, by way of eminence, 'the Lord's day;' and we have inspired authority to say, that both under the Old and New Testament dispensations, it is used as an expressive type of the heavenly and eternal rest."<ref name="McPherson2016"/>

Methodist churches have historically observed the Lord's Day devoutly with a morning [[Church service|service of worship]], along with an evening service of worship.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Karen B. Westerfield |title=American Methodist Worship |date=27 April 2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-045420-3 |pages=24–25 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="WFMC2024">{{cite web |title=Prayer |url=https://wilmorefmc.org/worship/prayer/ |publisher=Wilmore Free Methodist Church |language=English |date=2024}}</ref>