The Methodist Protestant Church was officially formed in 1828 as a church that was Wesleyan in doctrine, but rejected the episcopacy. In 1818 Methodist Episcopal minister William M. Stillwell organized a class of fellow believers who were concerned about the increasing power of the bishops and the lack of lay representation in the church structure. They began pamphleteering to advocate their ideas of reform. As their strength grew, they alarmed church leaders and several were ousted from the church. In the early days of the church they were called Stillwellites. The new church was organized with elected district superintendents (with limited powers) rather than bishops, and had lay representation in the structure.

In 1939 the church merged with the Methodist Episcopal Church (which by that time had added lay representation), and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South to form The Methodist Church, which in 1968 merged with the Evangelical United Brethren to form the United Methodist Church.