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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Query - Why is the scallop shell a Methodist symbol?
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
I was talking to someone who was in a Methodist scout troop some fifty years ago. He told me their badge was an M (for Methodist?) on a scallop shell.
He wondered if there was some connection with St James, which I thought unlikely.
Any suggestions why the shell?
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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Kitten
Shipmate
# 1179
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Posted
I've been given to understand that it was from the Wesley coat of arms
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Maius intra qua extra
Never accept a ride from a stranger, unless they are in a big blue box
Posts: 2330 | From: Carmarthenshire | Registered: Aug 2001
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venbede
Shipmate
# 16669
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Posted
Thank you.
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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.
Posts: 3201 | From: An historic market town nestling in the folds of Surrey's rolling North Downs, | Registered: Sep 2011
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Perhaps they're secret worshipers of Aphrodite? (Sometimes depicted as rising from the sea, in a shell.)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Tea
Shipmate
# 16619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key
Perhaps they're secret worshipers of Aphrodite? (Sometimes depicted as rising from the sea, in a shell.)
There's a Dan Brown bestseller in the making here: Central Hall Westminster replicating the layout of a temple of Venus...Wesley transmits the secrets of the Cyprian priesthood to Coke and Asbury....the erotic mystery cult of the "circuit riders"...any ideas for the title of this masterpiece?
Posts: 66 | From: USA | Registered: Aug 2011
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
'Strangely Warmed'?
(Strap line: And it's not the CH!)
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Custard
Shipmate
# 5402
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Posted
The Method
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Adam's likeness, Lord, efface;
Stamp thine image in its place.
Posts: 4523 | From: Snot's Place | Registered: Jan 2004
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Yes, Tea, re a Dan Brown novel. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) And Firenze's got the perfect title. But what does CH mean, please??
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Central Heating.*
Or, I suppose, Central (Hall) Heating.
*always used here in property ads.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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blackbeard
Ship's Pirate
# 10848
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Posted
Not nearly so interesting, but ...
I understood that the scallop shell was used as a badge for a medieval pilgrim.
Posts: 823 | From: Hampshire, UK | Registered: Dec 2005
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by blackbeard:
Not nearly so interesting, but ...
I understood that the scallop shell was used as a badge for a medieval pilgrim.
I think the OP had already discounted any connection to the pilgrimage to St James of Compostella.
But I suspect it might require some research into the original badge: was it peculiar to that troop? Who designed it?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
All right, on the Methodist Church in Singapore website we get the following (including spelling mistakes)
quote:
These stories added to the missionary tradition of the Wesley family because the Wesley ancestors had fought in the Crusades and one had been martyred in the Holy Land in 1340. This eed the Wesleys to use the scallop shell in the quarterings of their family arms.
More on the heraldry on this site, please note the different spelling of the name. There is more than you could want at this page on Wesley Family heraldry.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
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Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Avila
Shipmate
# 15541
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Posted
No idea on the history but many Methodist churches used to have (may still have?) 'Shell Club' for primary aged children and the scallop shell used as the logo.
Was this a younger version of MAYC and like that nationally linked? (Methodist Association of Youth Clubs)
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http://aweebleswonderings.blogspot.com/
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
Although I've spent most of my life in the Methodist Church I've never knowingly come across this symbol. If it's linked to Methodist youth work that could be why - I never benefited from a Methodist youth club, Girls' Brigade or anything like that. My church didn't have such things, and no one put in me touch with any other churches in the circuit that might have done.
It's amazing I stayed in the Methodist Church for so long, but that's another story!
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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Angel Wrestler
Ship's Hipster
# 13673
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Posted
This must be a British thing, as I've never seen it in the US, at least not as an "official" symbol, such as the cross-and-flames. Shells have been used for baptism, to sprinkle the water onto someone's head. Usually the pastor just uses his or her hand, but sea shells, or metal scoopers that are forged to resemble a sea shell, are also used. As a symbol, say, on a Chrismon tree, it is a remembrance of our baptism.
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The fact that no one understands you does not make you an artist.
(unknown)
Posts: 2767 | From: half-way up the ladder | Registered: May 2008
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
I would say it is deprecated rather than a British thing. It is wider than just the UK, maybe not in the US but still widely used elsewhere in the world (Singapore and South Africa both come up when googling). However it looks as if it is a symbol that Methodists are loosing their attachment to. For instance it is not on the current Methodist Church in Britain home page.
Jengie
[ 05. July 2013, 20:14: Message edited by: Jengie Jon ]
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
While the British Methodist Church is still very respectful towards the Wesley brothers, and Charles's hymns are still proudly sung, the idea that the Wesley coat of arms/scallop shell would have a noticeable place on the denominational website strikes me as strange. I think the clergy have to study John's sermons at some point, but the laity aren't expected to relate to the Wesley family. And from an evangelistic point of view fewer and fewer people who might enter the Methodist Church now would have any knowledge or particular interest in the Wesleys.
I suspect that most of the British people who are studying the history of the Wesley family these days are non-Methodist historians. They wouldn't go to the British Methodist Church website for their information.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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The Machine Elf
Irregular polytope
# 1622
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Posted
I remember these badges or something similar, but when did the MAYC cease to exist? I'm sure I attended something that used the MAYC name in the late 90's/early 00's.
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Elves of any kind are strange folk.
Posts: 1298 | From: the edge of the deep green sea | Registered: Oct 2001
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Sober Preacher's Kid
Presbymethegationalist
# 12699
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Posted
The symbol representing the Methodists in the United Church of Canada's crest is the Descending Dove, not a scallop.
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NDP Federal Convention Ottawa 2018: A random assortment of Prots and Trots.
Posts: 7646 | From: Peterborough, Upper Canada | Registered: Jun 2007
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SvitlanaV2
Shipmate
# 16967
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Machine Elf:
I remember these badges or something similar, but when did the MAYC cease to exist? I'm sure I attended something that used the MAYC name in the late 90's/early 00's.
I can't find any sign that MAYC has ceased to exist, but then again, I've never seen much sign of it in action either, despite having spent my teenage years (1980s) in the Methodist Church.
I suspect that MAYC only exists in certain areas. I once heard that a Methodist church in my circuit had a youth club - but the one or two people who mentioned it to me weren't Methodists. I don't remember my own church encouraging its young people to get involved in anything like that. It's strange.
Posts: 6668 | From: UK | Registered: Feb 2012
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