Methodism may have been introduced to Shelf by John Bennet, an itinerant Methodist preacher who preached at Shelf in 1744. Towards the end of the century, Shelf had two classes in the Methodist society and membership is known from 1784 to 1797. A class was held at Witchfield under the leadership of John Shutt, and the other at 'Shelf' was under the leadership of Thomas Whitley and then James Sledding. The 1784 refers to classes at Witchfield and High Bentley, and there are nine crossed out names which could be members of the latter class. The 'Shelf' class may have been held at High Bentley. Local tradition relates that early members of Witchfield Chapel met at High Bentley Hall. Witchfield Chapel opened in 1785.

The table here is extracted from entries in the books of the Methodist Society in Bradford Archives. The unlined and unnumbered pages carry the information of all the local societies in the Bradford area and sometimes beyond. The book gives the state of class membership for eight separate years over thirteen years. A grey cell means that person is listed as being amongst the membership for that particular year. The initials in the cell shows whose class it was. The lists for the 'Witchfield' classes start in 1784 and are identified with the initial 'W'. The 'Shelf' class lists start in 1794 and are identified with a 'TH' for the leader Thomas Whiteley in 1794 and 1795, and a 'JS' for the leader James Sledding in 1797.

There are wide variations in the spelling of names in these books. We have standardised the names here but spelling variations are listed under the 'Notes' column. The listings were usually made in June. The earlier records give the most information about members while the latter years just give name and surname.