Ministers. Societies. Members. 1830 -- 193 -- 1840 -- 200 -- 1850 250 244 -- 1860 298 -- -- 1863 43 260 30,000 1864 326 250 -- 1867 370 300 -- The average annual increase has been estimated for a series of forty or more years at about one per cent., or 300. 31. The denomination of "Universalists" first made its appearance in England about 1750. In Gloucester, Massachusetts, the first Universalist society was formed in 1779. No statistics of the denomination contain the "membership" like those of other denominations, as to believe is to become a member. The active members have been estimated in 1850 at 60,000, although the population among which Universalism exists to the exclusion of other denominations may be ten times greater. Ministers. Societies. Members. 1842 646 990 -- 1850 700 918 60,000 1859 724 913 -- 1865[24] 496 681 -- 1867 523 732 80,000 1868 588 792 -- 1869 520 844 -- [24] Incomplete. Average annual increase in twenty years, 1,000. 32. The Protestant Episcopal Church is a well-known offshoot of the church established by the British Parliament in England. Their numbers and growth have been as follows: Ministers. Churches. Members. 1859 2,030 2,111 135,767 1862 2,270 2,327 160,612 1863 1,772 1,617 111,093[25] 1864 1,895 1,741 143,854[25] 1865 2,467 2,322 154,118 1866 2,530 2,305 161,224 1867 2,600 2,370 178,102 1868 2,736 2,472 194,692 1869 2,762 2,512 200,000 [25] Southern States not reported. The average annual increase during the last nine years has been as follows: Ministers. Churches. Members. 78 40 6,536 33. Another large class of denominations is embraced under the general term "Methodism." The first denomination, out of which all the others have sprung, was an offshoot of the Church of England, known in this country as the Protestant Episcopal Church. The statistics of the denomination have been as follows: