many deaconesses completed medical training ( some before women were permitted to matriculate into medical schools ) to provide health care to the impoverished . John Wesley describes the role of sick visitors and deaconesses in a sermon and other writings .
The parish nurse carried this practice into the twentieth century , though it is less prevalent today . Methodist deaconesses and parish nurses often served as extensions of Methodist hospitals and congregations building bridges to care for bodies and souls . While many Methodist health care institutions exist as historic legacies of larger systems , a number still serve North Carolina including Methodist Hospitals in Charlotte , Winston Salem , and Durham ( the latter through Duke University Hospitals ).
Education Methodists established hundreds of primary and secondary public schools , including education for immigrant communities who were sometimes excluded from the public school system . Methodists established dozens of undergraduate schools . The Methodist higher education accrediting body , the University Senate , is one of the oldest in the United States dating from 1892 . A Historical Convocation in 1999 reported at least thirty Methodist institutions of higher learning to have existed at some point in the Western North Carolina Conference .
Similar to early commitments dating to John Wesley and specifically Mary Bosanquet ( 1739-1815 ), Methodists continue to provide care for vulnerable and orphaned children in North Carolina through a number of schools and homes , such as the Methodist Home for Children that originally operated solely through referrals from the almost 2000 Methodist churches across the state 5 Another Methodist affiliated school is The Crossnore School that has a long history of supporting children from difficult family settings . A resident of the school named Mitzi Ensor writes , “ I came [ to campus ] with a paper bag that had all my belongings in it … I had never had as much as I got my first few days at Crossnore ,” Mitzi says . “ I thought to myself , ‘ What a friendly , safe , and beautiful place ,’ even though I was a scared seven-year-old .” 6
Methodist Home for Children
The Crossnor School
Although their work with children ’ s homes continues , in recent years the involvement of the United Methodist Church with children and schools has evolved . The two annual conferences represented in North Carolina have partnered together to create the Congregations 4 Children 7 initiative that challenged Methodist congregations across the state to engage in meaningful partnerships with their local schools . There are four focal points of the C4C program . First , is K-3 Literacy where church members serve as in-school tutors and congregations host after school reading programs . The second
5 https :// www . mhfc . org / who-we-are / 6 https :// www . crossnore . org / growing-up-at-crossnore / 7 https :// nccumc . org / c4c / and https :// www . wnccumc . org / c4cabout
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