This page presents information and resources on the history of Methodism in South Africa. The cover image is taken from a Methodist Library resource. A timeline describes the major events in the development of Methodism in South Africa. Key terms and people link to research resources, and the books listed at the bottom of the page can be found in the Methodist Library. 

1806: British soldiers brought Methodism to South Africa.

1816: Barnabas Shaw reached the Cape and launched the mission.

1820: William Shaw (unrelated to Barnabas) accompanied the British settlers.

1866: Revivals and the Evangelical Revival under the inspiration of Charles Pamla and William Taylor in South Africa.

1883: Mission work was extended into Gauteng and north through Limpopo into Zimbabwe.

1883: The First South African conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church was held in Cape.

1927: An independent Conference was formed.

1931: The conference expands to include the Transvaal Missionary District of the British Conference and the Primitive Methodist Mission.

1994: South African apartheid officially ends.

2016-2017: Celebrated 200 years of Methodism in South Africa.

Hyperlinked text opens a relevant search in ScholarSearch.

• Cape Colony (Colonial name)
• William Shaw (Methodist chaplain, 1798-1872)
• Charles Pamla (African Methodist minister, 1834-1917)
• William Taylor (Methodist Episcopal missionary bishop, mission theorist, and holiness advocate, 1821-1902)
• Stanley Mogoba (Politician and Methodist minister, 1933-Pres.)