I’ve read in several places that the United Methodist Church has a stronger connection to the Progressive era Social Gospel and Christian Socialism movements than other denominations. But these have mostly been journalistic sources — Newsweek, for example. I’m wondering if anybody knows of more scholarly sources on this that might be helpful. Observations from clergy, theologian types et al on this subject (is it true? If so, why? Examples? Etc?) would be welcome too. Please send responses to [email protected].

Update: I’ve gotten a lot of interesting stuff already. But just to be clear what I’m looking for isn’t the role of Methodists during the Progressive era or in the turn of the century Social Gospel movement. I’ve got that stuff pretty well covered. What I’m trying to figure out is why/how that tradition has stayed alive until today among Methodists more than other denominations — if, in fact, that’s actually the case.