Why is it der Methodist?

Methodist ends in -ist, and nouns ending in -ist are masculine: in a German dictionary, 97% of them take der.

All nouns ending in -ist
Sense 1
der

Meaning

[1] Religion: supporters of a Christian religious community of the revival movement

[1] Religion: Anhänger einer christlichen Religionsgemeinschaft der Erweckungsbewegung

Examples

[1] "He belonged to the methodists who operated several leprosy hospitals in the area"

[1] „Er gehörte den Methodisten an, die mehrere Leprahospitäler in der Gegend betrieben.“

Declension

1 Singular Plural
Nominativ der Methodist die Methodisten
Genitiv des Methodisten der Methodisten
Dativ dem Methodisten den Methodisten
Akkusativ den Methodisten die Methodisten

Pronunciation

Dictionary entries include material from Wiktionary. Wiktionary