Methodist Episcopal Church, South and South and was criticized for holding slaves. The 1844 General Conference voted to suspend Bishop Andrew from exercising his episcopal office until he gave up the slaves. Southern delegates to the conference disputed the authority of a General Conference to discipline bishops. The cultural differences that had divided the nation during the mid-19th century were also dividing the Methodist Episcopal Church. The 1844 dispute led Methodists in the South to break off and form a separate denomination, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC,S). The statistics for 1859 showed the MEC,S had as enrolled members some 511,601 whites and 197,000
Reformed Episcopal Seminary in their desired ministerial and scholastic goals and to be grounded in Anglican polity and worship. The seminary trains clergy candidates for the Reformed Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church in North America, and churches of many other traditions. Clergy are educated in a belief in the primacy and final authority of the Bible and educated about the sacraments, creeds, councils, and the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. The seminary was granted initial accreditation by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, effective August 8, 2013. The Theological Commission of the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church