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M.E. Sharpe, Inc. is an academic publisher that was founded in 1958.^[1] Its headquarters are in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York.^[2] It is a privately held publisher of books and journals in the social sciences and humanities.

Books[link]

M. E. Sharpe specializes in social sciences, humanities, business management, and public administration.

Journals[link]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• European Education
• Problems of Post-Communism
• Journal of Economic Issues
• Journal of Management Information Systems
• International Journal of Political Economy

References[link]

External links[link]

	Hudson Valley portal
	Companies portal
	Books portal

• Official website

This publishing-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Part of a series on Methodism
John Wesley
Background Christianity Protestantism Pietism Anglicanism Arminianism Wesleyanism
Doctrines Articles of Religion Prevenient Grace Governmental Atonement New Birth Imparted righteousness Christian perfection Assurance Conditional preservation of the saints Works of Piety Works of Mercy
Key people John Wesley Richard Allen Francis Asbury Thomas Coke William Law William Williams Pantycelyn Howell Harris Albert Outler James Varick Charles Wesley George Whitefield Countess of Huntingdon Bishops · Theologians
Largest groups World Methodist Council AME Church AME Zion Church Church of the Nazarene CME Church Free Methodist Church Methodist Church of Southern Africa Methodist Church of Great Britain Methodist Church in Ireland Methodist Church in India United Methodist Church Wesleyan Church
Related groups Holiness movement Moravian Church Salvation Army United Church of Canada Uniting Church in Australia
Other topics Connexionalism Saints in Methodism Homosexuality and Methodism
Methodism portal	v t e

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.^[1] Through a series of divisions and mergers, the M.E. Church became the major component of the present United Methodist Church.

Origins[link]

1850 Census map shows widespread distribution

The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, was an Anglican. Prior to the American Revolution, some people had concerns about Methodist evangelism in the colonies that took no heed of established Anglican parishes.^{[citation needed]} For example, the Rev. Devereux Jarratt (1733–1801) was and remained an Anglican clergyman who founded Methodist societies in Virginia and North Carolina. However, after the 1784 establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he expressed shock that the Methodists "had rejected their old mother."^[2] It is possible that Jarratt and others considered the Methodist movement to be some sort of 18th-Century parachurch organization. However, as more and more migrants from England who saw themselves as Methodist, not Anglican, arrived in America, the establishment of a distinctly Methodist denomination was inevitable.^{[citation needed]}

The earliest forms of Methodism were not originally referred to as a "connexion" because members were expected to seek the sacraments in the Church of England or Anglican Church.^[3] By the 1770s, however, they had their own chapels. In addition to salaried circuit riders (who were paid just over one-quarter what salaried Congregationalist ministers earned at the time), there were also unsalaried local ministers who held full-time jobs outside the church; class leaders who conducted weekly small groups where members were mutually accountable for their practice of Christian piety; and stewards who often undertook administrative duties.

Circuit riders, many of whom were laymen, traveled by horseback to preach the gospel and establish churches until there was scarcely any crossroad community in the United States without a Methodist presence.^{[citation needed]}

The earliest Episcopal Methodists in North America were often drawn from the middle-class trades. Women were more numerous among members than men, and adherents outnumbered official members by as many as five-to-one. Adherents, unlike members, were not publicly accountable for their Christian life and therefore did not usually attend weekly class meetings. Meetings and services were often characterized by extremely emotional and demonstrative styles of worship that were often condemned by contemporary Congregationalists and Presbyterians. It was also very common for exhortations — testimonials and personal conversion narratives distinguishable from sermons because exhorters did not "take a text" from the Bible — to be publicly delivered by both women and slaves. Some of the earliest class leaders were also women.^{[citation needed]}

Divisions and mergers[link]

The following list represents some major organizational developments in the United States. There have also been divisions and merges in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

1767: Philip William Otterbein and Martin Boehm started Methodist evangelism among German speaking immigrants to form the United Brethren in Christ.^[4] This development had to do only with language. Methodist Episcopal Bishop Francis Asbury preached at Otterbein's funeral.^[5] In the 20th Century, the United Brethren and Evangelical Association merged to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church, and then with the Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church.

1793: The first recognized split from the Methodist Episcopal Church was led by a preacher named James O'Kelly who wanted clergy to be free to refuse to serve where the bishop appointed them.^[6] He organized the "Republican Methodists," later called simply the Christian Church or Christian Connection, that through its successors eventually became part of the United Church of Christ.

1800: The Evangelical Association was organized by Jacob Albright to serve German speaking Methodists.^[7]

1816: The African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in Philadelphia by Richard Allen, who had been born a slave and bought his freedom. Francis Asbury had ordained him in 1799. It was also sometimes called the "African Bethel Church."^[8]

1820: The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was organized in New York.^[9]

1828: The Canadians formed their own Methodist Church.^[10]

1828: The Methodist Protestant Church was organized by Nicholas Snethen, who had earlier argued against the O'Kelly split, along with Asa Shinn. The issue was the role of laity in governance of the church. In 1939, the Methodist Protestant Church merged with the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal South to form the Methodist Church.^[11]

1843: The Wesleyan Methodist Church was organized.^[12] In 1968, the Wesleyan Methodist and Pilgrim Holiness denominations merged to form the Wesleyan Church.

1844: The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized because of the slavery controversy. In 1939, the Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South, and Methodist Protestant denominations merged to form the Methodist Church.^[13]

1860: The Free Methodist Church was organized by B. T. Roberts and others. The differences centered around a rural vs. urban ethos.^[14]

1870: The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was organized from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to serve African-American Methodists.

1895: The Church of the Nazarene was organized by Phineas F. Bresee.^[15]

1895: Fire Baptized Holiness Church

1897: Pentecostal Holiness Church of North Carolina. Merged with the Fire Baptized Holiness Church in 1911 and formed what is now known as the International Pentecostal Holiness Church.

1897: The Pilgrim Holiness Church was organized.^[16]

1939: The Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the Methodist Protestant Church merged to form the Methodist Church.^[17]

1946: The Evangelical Church (Albright's Evangelical Association) and Otterbein's Church of the United Brethren in Christ merged to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church.

1968: The Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church merged to form the United Methodist Church.^[18]

A related development was the establishment of The Salvation Army in Great Britain in 1865. Although this was not a split from the Methodist Episcopal Church, it later became a significant branch of the Wesleyan movement in the United States.

History[link]

North and South split[link]

Travis Park Methodist Episcopal Church South, San Antonio, Texas (postcard, circa 1910)

The church split over the question of slavery in 1844 with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South being formed in southern states. Former slave Henry Bibb was particularly strident in his confrontations of churchmen who served as slave masters through letters he sent to Methodist Episcopal church members. Bibb called on them to confront their pasts and account for their dual roles as slave owner and religious persons.^[19]

Germans[link]

In the late 1840s, separate Conferences were formed for German-speaking members of the Methodist Episcopal Church who were not members of the Evangelical Association or the United Brethren in Christ (later merged to form the Evangelical United Brethren (EUB)). Among these was the St. Louis German Conference, which in 1925 was assimilated into the surrounding English-speaking conferences, including the Illinois Conference.

Civil War and Reconstruction[link]

Many Northerners had only recently become religious (thanks to the Second Great Awakening) and religion was a powerful force in their lives. No denomination was more active in supporting the Union than the Methodist Episcopal Church. Carwardine argues that for many Methodists, the victory of Lincoln in 1860 heralded the arrival of the kingdom of God in America. They were moved into action by a vision of freedom for slaves, freedom from the terror unleashed on godly abolitionists, release from the Slave Power's evil grip on the state, and a new direction for the Union.^[20] Methodists formed a major element of the popular support for the Radical Republicans with their hard line toward the white South. Dissident Methodists left the church.^[21] During Reconstruction the Methodists took the lead in helping form Methodist churches for Freedmen, and moving into Southern cities even to the point of taking control, with Army help, of buildings that had belonged to the southern branch of the church.^[22][23]

The Methodist family magazine Ladies' Repository promoted Christian family activism. Its articles provided moral uplift to women and children. It portrayed the War as a great moral crusade against a decadent Southern civilization corrupted by slavery. It recommended activities that family members could perform in order to aid the Union cause.^[24]

Holiness[link]

In 1895, during the 19th century Holiness movement, Methodist Episcopal minister Phineas F. Bresee founded the Church of the Nazarene in Los Angeles with the help of Joseph Pomeroy Widney. The Church of the Nazarene separated over a perceived need to minister further to the urban poor, the origins of its Nazarene name. Several other churches, roughly 15 holiness denominations that had also split from the Methodist Episcopal Church, joined the Church of the Nazarene in 1907 and 1908, and it became international soon thereafter. The new Church of the Nazarene retained the Methodist Episcopal tradition of education and now operates 56 educational institutions around the world, including 8 liberal arts colleges in the United States, each tied to an "educational region". Ironically, around the time of the first General Assembly, the Nazarene Church would claim to be Congregational, similar to the Methodist Protestant Church, but has retained much of its Episcopal character to this day.

There are many offshoots of the original Methodist Episcopal Church in the US. For more detail see: Methodism.

See also[link]

• African Methodist Episcopal Church
• African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
• Church of the Nazarene

References[link]

Tony Sharpe (born on June 26, 1961 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a former sprinter from Canada who won an Olympic bronze medal in 4 x 100 metres relay in Los Angeles 1984. Competing at the first World Championships in 1983, he set his personal best 100 metres time with 10.31 seconds.

Sharpe was a part of the doping regime of George Astaphan, the physician who infamously supplied Ben Johnson with stanazolol.^[1]

See also[link]

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References[link]

• IAAF profile for Tony Sharpe

1. ^ Janofsky, Michael (25 May 1989). "Doctor Says That He Treated Johnson With Steroids for 5 Years". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=950DE6DE1739F936A15756C0A96F948260. Retrieved 2007-01-01. 

This biographical article relating to Canadian athletics and track and field is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Damian Wilson

Damian Wilson (born 11 October, England)^[1] is a singer known in the progressive rock genre. He is lead singer with the band Headspace along with Adam Wakeman and is lead singer for Threshold.

Damian was lead singer for Landmarq and recorded four non-Progressive singer-songwriter solo studio albums (Cosmas, Disciple, Live in Rehearsal and Let's Start a Commune). Aside from performing as a solo artist, he has often performed with several guest musicians as the Damian Wilson Band. The last DWB tour was filmed and released on DVD^[2].

He has also worked on projects with Ayreon, Star One and Gary Hughes and played the lead role of Jean Valjean in the musical Les Misérables. Damian has also worked with Rick Wakeman's English Rock Ensemble, Guy Fletcher, Aina, After Forever, Mostly Autumn and Praying Mantis.

In 2007, Wilson returned to Threshold as replacement for lead vocalist Mac for the "Live Reckoning" tour. A new Threshold album is to be released in 2012)^[3].

He is currently frontman for the first instalment of the Maiden uniteD project.

In November 2011 Damian released a retrospective double album called I Thought The World Was Listening. 1997 – 2011^[4] containing 31 remastered songs, including new versions and previously unreleased material.

In March 2012 his first album "Cosmas" was remastered and rereleased as "Cosmas - Remastered".

Discography[link]

Solo albums[link]

• Cosmas - 1997 (Remastered version released in 2012)
• Disciple - 2001
• Live in Rehearsal (live) - 2002
• Let's Start a Commune - 2003
• 20 Years Of Avoiding A Job (Dvd) - 2011
• I Thought The World Was Listening. 1997 - 2011 - 2011
• Cosmas - remastered - 2012

With Landmarq[link]

• Solitary Witness - 1992
• Infinity Parade - 1993
• The Vision Pit - 1995

With Threshold[link]

• Wounded Land - 1993
• Extinct Instinct – 1997
• Paradox – 2009 (singles box set)
• March of Progress – 2012 (to be released)

With Rick Wakeman and the New English Rock Ensemble[link]

• Out Of The Blue (live) – 2001
• Live in Buenos Aires (DVD) - 2001
• Out There - The movie - 2003

With Headspace[link]

• I Am (Ep) - 2007
• I Am Anonymous - 2012

With Maiden United[link]

• Mind the Acoustic Pieces - 2010
• The Trooper (Single) - 2010

With Arjen Anthony Lucassen[link]

• Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle - 1998
• Ayreon - Universal Migrator Part 1: The Dream Sequencer – 2000 (Lead vocals on "And the Druids Turned to Stone")
• Ayreon - Universal Migrator Part 2: Flight of the Migrator – 2000 (Backing vocals on "Dawn of a Million Souls")
• Ayreon - Ayreonauts Only – 2000 (Lead vocals on "Into the Black Hole")
• Star One - Space Metal – 2002
• Star One - Live on Earth – 2003
• Stream of Passion - Live in the Real World – 2006
• Star One - Victims of the Modern Age – 2010

With Other Artists[link]

• LaSalle – LaSalle – 1993
• Tales from Yesterday w/Jeronimo Road - 1995 (Lead vocals on the "Starship Trooper")
• Micha Calvin - Evolution 2 - 1995 (Backing vocals)
• Shadowland - Mad as a Hatter – 1996 (Backing vocals on "Salvation Comes")
• Revealing Songs of Yes -2001 (Lead vocals on "Going For the One" & "And You & I")
• After Forever- Emphasis (Single) – 2001 (Lead vocals on "Imperfect Tenses" & "Who Wants to Live Forever")
• Shadowkeep- A Chaos Theory – 2001 (Backing vocals)
• Wicked Sensation- Reflected – 2002 (Backing vocals on "You're the Answer", "Stand Tall", "Highspeed Chase", "The Preacher", "Night on Fire", "Caught in a Fantasy", "Let it Ride", and "Joker in the Pack")
• Mostly Autumn - Passengers – 2003 (Backing vocals)
• Gary Hughes - Once & Future King Part 1 - 2003 (Lead vocals on "Excalibur")
• Aina - Days of Rising Doom – 2003 (Vocals on "Revelations")
• Shadrane – Neurastasia - 2004
• Jeronimo Road - Live at the Orange - 2006
• Resource - More Than a Feeling – 2006 (Single)
• Bass Bumpers - 2006
• After Forever - Mea Culpa - 2006
• Port Mahadia – Echoes in Time- 2007
• Casual Silence - Lost In Life – 2007 (Guest Vocals)
• Guy Fletcher – Inamorata – 2008 (Backing Vocals)
• Galexia – Recidivate – 2008 (Single)
• Archangel - The Akallabeth - 2009
• Seti - Discoveries - 2010
• Unwritten Pages – Part 1. Noah - 2010
• For All We Know – For All We Know - 2011
• Peter Gee - East Of Eden - 2011

Films[link]

• Guy Fletcher - Sergeant Pepper – My Best Friend vocals/co-written (2004
• Guy Fletcher – Spirit Trap - Tie me down (Spirit Trap) vocal/co-written (2006)

References[link]

• Axiom of Choice

1. ^ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1627702364&ref=ts#/profile.php?id=1627702364&ref=mf
2. ^ http://www.vidiarts.eu Vidiarts
3. ^ http://www.thresh.net Threshold official website
4. ^ http://www.damian-wilson.net

External links[link]

• Official website
• Damian Wilson on Myspace
• Headspace official site

Alex Sharpe is an Irish singer who is mostly known for being a former member of the ensemble Celtic Woman.

Early career[link]

She began her career portraying Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin.^[1] Her career in Musical Theatre continued, as she played Janet in The Rocky Horror Show, Young Sally in Follies in Concert, Jenny in Aspects of Love, and Mila in Aloha Kamano by Sean Purcell.^[1] She was asked to play Eponine in Les Misérables for the Cameron Mackintosh Company in England and Ireland and in the Concert Tour of Les Misérables.^[1][2] Alex created the role of Bernadette in the Andrew Lloyd-Webber/Ben Elton Musical The Beautiful Game. On her return to Ireland she played the role of Kate Foley in The Wireman in the Gaiety Theatre Dublin.^[1]

Alex has sung with the Icelandic Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Danish National Symphony, and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. She has made many recordings, such as on the Evita film Soundtrack with Madonna.^[1][2] She has appeared at a concert for the Princes Trust in the Mayflower Theatre, England and in 2006 she travelled to Chicago to launch the musical The Pirate Queen as principal female.^[1]

Celtic Woman[link]

When founding member of Celtic Woman Lisa Kelly went on maternity leave, Sharpe became a temporary member of the ensemble in 2008, saying that "I'm just in for this tour," and "It's a different style than I'm used to. But I've enjoyed learning the technique. My background is musical theatre, so this is something very different for me...But my philosophy is, you're always growing as a performer. There's always so much to learn."^[3] She admits that before she joined, she was not familiar with the group's music; "I'd never seen any of their shows...David (Downes, composer and music director of Celtic Woman) gave me a CD and some DVDs, and that was the first time I'd seen any of it."^[3] However, "I knew about the success of Celtic Woman and was thrilled to join," she said. "It was an opportunity I couldn't say no to."^[4]

In 2009, Sharpe became a permanent member of Celtic Woman, in effect replacing Órla Fallon. She has said that "The other members have been really encouraging," and "They have such a history together. I've never been in anything with such a high profile; usually you're much more anonymous."^[3] She has toured with the ensemble on their 2009 'Isle of Hope' tour, and has recorded a CD and DVD with the group, both entitled Celtic Woman: Songs from the Heart, released in January 2010.^[5] The group toured North America from February to May 2010 on their 'Songs from the Heart' tour.^[6] In May 2010, Sharpe announced she would be leaving Celtic Woman to be with her family full-time.^[7]

Personal life[link]

When asked where she developed her musical talent, she has said that "my granddad was a great one for singing songs and banging out tunes on the piano."^[4] Also, "I love 'Abide With Me' and 'I Know That My Redeemer Lives'...I love singing hymns. Music is a very powerful thing. I've heard it said that music prepares a man's soul to receive the gospel."^[4]

Sharpe is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[4]

She has a six-year-old son (as of 2008); "When I had my son, he became my passion in life", she said. "I tried to stay home and take work that wouldn't compromise my relationship with my son."^[4]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Alex Sharpe biography