Table of Contents
Part 2 - Samuel Wesley
Part 3 - John Wesley, Birth and Early Life
Part 4 - The Holy Club and Wesley Sails for America
Part 5 - Wesley in Georgia
Part 6 - "Strangely Warmed"
Part 7 - Wesley's Spiritual Rebirth
Part 8 - All the World my Parish
Part 9 - Moving Toward the First Annual Conference
Part 10 - History of Methodism
First Annual Conference and Beyond
Part 11 - History of Methodism
John Wesley's Last Days
Part 12 - History of Methodism
The Formative Years: 1738 - 1744
Part 13 - History of Methodism
The First Methodist Churches in America
Part 14 - History of Methodism
Early Methodist Leaders in America
Part 15 - History of Methodism
Religious Oppression in Europe
Part 16 - History of Methodism
From "Societies" to "Church"
The Thirty-Nine Articles
Journal of John Wesley
Journal of John Wesley (Abridged)
John Wesley - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A Short History of Methodism
Part 1 - Susanna Wesley
I think it is fitting to begin the history of Methodism with John Wesley's mother, Susannah. Why? Because she had a much more profound influence over John's life than his father did.
Perhaps the best introduction to Susannah Wesley can be found in the quote below from The Heart of John Wesley's Journals, 1989, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids Michigan.
The mother of the Wesleys was a remarkable woman, though cast in a mold not much to our minds nowadays. She had nineteen children and greatly prided herself on having taught them, one after another, by frequent chastisements to--what do you think? to cry softly. She had theories of education and strength of will, and of arm too, to carry them out.
She knew Latin and Greek, and though a stern, forbidding, almost an unfeeling, parent, she was successful in winning and retaining not only the respect but the affection of such of her huge family as lived to grow up. But out of the nineteen, thirteen early succumbed. Infant mortality was one of the great facts of the eighteenth century whose Rachels had to learn to cry softly over their dead babes. The mother of the Wesleys thought more of her children's souls than of their bodies.
Susannah Annesley, the youngest of twenty-five children, was born in England in 1669. Her father was a good Christian man and a minister, so the importance of religion was strongly taught to her in her youth. Beginning as a child, she had a strong desire to make her life count in the world through her Christian service.
She lived in an age of religious persecution, with many put to death for their religious views (even her own father had almost lost his life for what he believed). Many confused the practice of true Christianity with politics.
Susannah loved to read. History in conjunction with religion seemed to be a favorite topic of hers. These studies caused her to question many of the practices of her time and she turned to the Bible for truth.
Susannah Wesley spent one hour each day praying for her 17 children. In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters with him or her.
Ten of Susannah Wesley's nineteen children died before they were two years old and one of her daughters was deformed. Yet Susannah wrote in her diary that all her sufferings served to "promote my spiritual and eternal good. Glory be to Thee, O Lord."
Susannah's husband, Samuel, was frequently away from home, leaving her with the responsibility of rearing the children alone. Education was very important to the Wesleys and Susannah worked diligently with her children to educate them.
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Part 2 - Samuel Wesley
Wesley, Rev. Samuel, Sr., (1662 – 1735), British, ordained minister of Church of England, rector of Church of St. Andrew, Epworth in Lincolnshire, father of John and Charles Wesley - founders of Methodism - and the author of a variety of religious treatises, as well as poetry. Also a member of the learned "Athenian Society," with brothers-in-law of John Dunton and Richard Sault, who together wrote and published the twice weekly The Athenian Mercury a periodical that resolved "all the nice and curious questions proposed by the ingenious" readers, answering them in print. 1
Samuel Wesley, the son of John Wesley, was baptized December 17, 1662 at Winterbourne Whitchurch. He received his education at the Dorchester Free School, where he remained until he was fifteen years of age. His widowed mother being at this time very poor, he was sent, through the kindness of Dissenting friends, to an academy at Stepney, in the hope that he would enter the Dissenting Ministry.
Encouraged by the offer of an exhibition of £10, he decided to go to Oxford. Entering himself as a servitor of Exeter College, he supported himself for five years, took his degree, and moved to London, where he was ordained deacon on August 7, 1688.
Samuel obtained a curacy, with an income of £28, and afterwards a then a chaplaincy on board a man-of-war. He then obtained another curacy, and soon after married Susanna the daughter of Dr. Annesley, a leading Nonconformist divine.
In 1691, he was appointed to the parish of South Ormesby, with an income of £50 and a house. Here he spent nearly six of the best years of his life, and wrote some of his most able works. Five of his children were born were born here. It was about 1696 or 1697 he moved with his wife and family to Epworth.
A Domestic Squall 2
The revolution of 1688 threatened to disturb the early married life of Samuel Wesley and his spouse.
The husband wrote a pamphlet in which he defended revolution principles, but the wife secretly adhered to the old cause; nor was it until a year before Dutch William's death that the rector made the discovery that the wife of his bosom, who had sworn to obey him and regard him as her over-lord, was not in the habit of saying Amen to his fervent prayers on behalf of his suffering sovereign. An explanation was demanded and the truth extracted, namely, that in the opinion of the rector's wife her true king lived over the water. The rector at once refused to live with Mrs. Wesley any longer until she recanted. This she refused to do, and for a twelvemonth the couple dwelt apart, when William III. having the good sense to die, a reconciliation became possible. If John Wesley was occasionally a little pig-headed, need one wonder?
It was into this family, on the seventeenth day of June, 1703, that the eleventh child, and fourth son, of the nineteen children of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, was born at Epworth parsonage, a few hours after his birth, being weakly, he was baptized by his father. The baby was named John Benjamin.
1 http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/7484/lib/poetry/s-wesley.htm
1 The Heart of Wesley's Journal, 1989, Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501
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Part 3 - John Wesley, Birth and Early Life
In parts 1 and 2 we discussed John Wesley's mother and father. This issue will begin the discussion of John beginning with his birth and early years.
In 1689 Samuel married Susanna Annesley, twenty-fifth child of Dr. Samuel Annesley. Both Samuel and Susanna had been raised in Dissenting homes before becoming members of the Established Church early in adulthood. Susanna herself became a mother of nineteen children. In 1696 Samuel Wesley was appointed by the Church of England as rector of Epworth, 23 miles (37 km) northwest of Lincoln where John, their fifteenth child, was born on June 17,1703. Like the others of the Epworth family, John Wesley was small in stature. Barely five feet six and weighing only one hundred and twenty-two pounds, he was yet muscular and strong. Bright hazel eyes, fine features, an aquiline nose, a fine forehead, and a clear complexion combined to make his face arresting.
The Wesley children's early education was given by their parents in the Epworth rectory. Each child, including the girls, were taught to read, beginning at the age of five. In 1713 John was admitted to the Charterhouse School, London, where he lived the studious, methodical, and (for a while) religious life in which he had been trained at home.
In 1709, at the age of six, John was rescued from the burning rectory. This escape made a deep impression on his mind; and he spoke of himself as a "brand plucked from the burning," and as a child of Providence.
In 1720 John entered Christ Church, Oxford
On July 24, 1732 John's mother, Susanna wrote him a long and fascinating letter. In that letter she explained in detail how she raised her children. Click this link to read that letter
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The Holy Club and Wesley Sails for America
Wesley's Letter to Mr. Morgan About the Holy Club
The first entry in Wesley’s Journal is that of October 14, 1735. But the following letter, which Wesley published with the first edition of his Journal, precedes it, as it describes the incidents which led to the formation of the Holy Club and to the social activities from which, as the Journal shows, Methodism has evolved.
The letter was written from Oxford in 1732 to Mr. Morgan, whose son is mentioned. Click to read Wesley's Letter to Mr. Morgan
Wesley Sails for America
From the beginning, the new colony of Georgia was to be a haven for persecuted religious sects and impecunious debtors. The Salzburgers and the Scotch Highlanders because of their religious oppression were offered refuge in Georgia. John Wesley was approached by Oglethorpe to be a minister for the new parish of Savannah. It was Wesley’s belief that he would preach to the Indians and lead them to Christ. Wesley and his brother, Charles, sailed for Georgia on October 14, 1735.
The first entry in Wesley's Journal was on October 14, 1735. Click to read Wesley's First Journal Entry.
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History of Methodism Part 5 - Wesley in Georgia
Wesley felt that his trip to Georgia was a failure. Even the journey over the ocean foretold the problems he would encounter during his ministry to America. The trip was dogged by frequent storms with waves that broke completely over the ship and poured in between the decks. During these storms Wesley noticed that a group of German Moravians were the only passengers on board who did not scream in distress as the storms raged. He asked one of the Germans how they could remain so calm. Below is an entry in his journal about that conversation.
Sunday January 25, 1736
In the midst of the psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the mainsail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sang on. I asked one of them afterward, “Were you not afraid?” He answered, “I thank God, no.” I asked, “But were not your women and children afraid?” He replied, mildly, “No; our women and children are not afraid to die.”
Wesley was greatly impressed with the Germans' tranquility. It was through his friendship with Moravians that Wesley discovered what seemed to be missing in his faith. The Moravians practiced the doctrine of free justification by faith and of the Holy Spirit’s witness.
The two years he spent overseas were deeply troubled. There are three reasons why his mission to America did not succeed.
First, the colonists regarded him as eccentric. Preaching in Georgia was quite different from preaching in England. The colony was populated from the humbler classes of Englishmen, with a few Portuguese Jews, Germans, and Scotch Highlanders. John Wesley was a man of High Church notions and strict methods of living that had little practical value to the native Indians and the collection of colonists struggling to provide a new way of life for themselves in Georgia.
The second reason the trip was considered a failure was because Wesley entered Georgia convinced that he must take his ministry to the Indians. He did not succeed in doing this.
The third reason for his failure was because of a confused courtship of Sophia Hopkey, the niece of a prominent official, Thomas Causton. Causton was known to be corrupt in his dealings with the Moravians and Wesley sided with the Moravians against Causton. The relationship between Miss Hopkey and Wesley was such that she believed he would propose marriage to her. However, Bishop Spangenberg of the Moravians advised him to avoid contact with any female admirers. So, instead of proposing marriage, Wesley stopped seeing Sophia. On March 12,1737, Sophia Hopkey married William Williamson, a clerk in her uncle’s store (Thomas Causton). John Wesley must have felt quite a disappointment at losing such an ardent admirer. After the marriage, he seemed to be inconsolable, for he had always avowed his utmost love for her.
On August 7, 1737, he refused to give Sophia Williamson the sacrament of holy communion in the church. This started a series of events that eventually led to Wesley's decision to return to England.
Click this link to read more details about Wesley on Trial.
Wesley left Georgia a defeated man on December 22,1737. His goals of preaching to the masses and teaching the Indians of Christ was in his eyes a failure. He had been uncompromising in his beliefs and standards, a man that could not be persuaded to change his ideals through coercion. Although Wesley left in disappointment, he did accomplish much more than he realized at the time.
Click this link to read Wesley's account of his Escape from Georgia.
On January 24, 1738, he wrote in his Journal: “I went to America to convert the Indians; but O! who shall convert me?
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History of Methodism Part 6 - "Strangely Warmed"
Wesley felt that his mission to America was a failure. But, as we look back on that time in his life we can see that it was not the complete failure he felt at the time. Part of the reason for this was his encounters with the German Moravians. Their spirit made a deep impression upon Wesley and gradually led him to a rebirth of his own understanding of faith. His journal entry below, written soon after he arrived in Georgia, shows clearly the struggles he was having within himself.
February 7, 1736 Mr. Oglethorpe returned from Savannah with Mr. Spangenberg, one of the pastors of the Germans. I soon found what spirit he was of and asked his advice with regard to my own conduct. He said, “My brother, I must first ask you one or two questions. Have you the witness within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God?” I was surprised, and knew not what to answer. He observed it and asked, “Do you know Jesus Christ?” I paused and said, “I know He is the Saviour of the world.” “True,” replied he; “but do you know He has saved you?” I answered, “I hope He has died to save me.” He only added, “Do you know yourself?” I said, “I do.” But I fear they were vain words.
We see more of his inward struggles in his journal entry below, which was written two years after his conversation with Mr. Spangenberg.
Sunday, January 29, 1738 - We saw English land once more; which, about noon, appeared to be the Lizard Point. We ran by it with a fair wind; and at noon the next day made the west end of the Isle of Wight............It is now two years and almost four months since I left my native country in order to teach the Georgian Indians the nature of Christianity. But what have I learned myself in the meantime?
Wesley continued to struggle inwardly for several more months until his faith was reborn in a small Moravian chapel on Aldersgate Street in London.
May 24, 1738 - In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.
I began to pray with all my might for those who had in a more especial manner despitefully used me and persecuted me. I then testified openly to all there what I now first felt in my heart. But it was not long before the enemy suggested, “This cannot be faith; for where is thy joy?” Then was I taught that peace and victory over sin are essential to faith in the Captain of our salvation; but that, as to the transports of joy that usually attend the beginning of it, especially in those who have mourned deeply, God sometimes giveth, sometimes withholdeth, them according to the counsels of His own will.
After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations, but I cried out, and they fled away. They returned again and again. I as often lifted up my eyes, and He “sent me help from his holy place.” And herein I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. I was striving, yea, fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace. But then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now, I was always conqueror.
May 25, 1738 — The moment I awakened, “Jesus, Master,” was in my heart and in my mouth; and I found all my strength lay in keeping my eye fixed upon Him and my soul waiting on Him continually. Being again at St. Paul’s in the afternoon, I could taste the good word of God in the anthem which began, “My song shall be always of the loving-kindness of the Lord: with my mouth will I ever be showing forth thy truth from one generation to another.” Yet the enemy injected a fear, “If thou dost believe, why is there not a more sensible change? I answered (yet not I), “That I know not. But, this I know, I have ‘now peace with God.’ And I sin not today, and Jesus my Master has forbidden me to take thought for the morrow.”
The profound influence that the German Moravians had upon Wesley is reflected in his next journal entry.
June 7, 1738 — I determined, if God should permit, to retire for a short time into Germany. I had fully proposed, before I left Georgia, so to do if it should please God to bring me back to Europe. And I now clearly saw the time was come. My weak mind could not bear to be thus sawn asunder. And I hoped the conversing with those holy men who were themselves living witnesses of the full power of faith, and yet able to bear with those that are weak, would be a means, under God, of so establishing my soul that I might go on from faith to faith, and from “strength to strength.”
The next three months Wesley spent in Germany visiting the Moravians.
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History of Methodism Part 7 - Wesley's Spiritual Rebirth
In the last edition of this newsletter we looked at Wesley's "Spiritual Rebirth" at a chapel on Aldersgate Street. We would do well to pause now and review his ministry at this point in his life.
John Wesley was an ordained priest in the state sanctioned Church of England in 1728. He taught at Oxford for about a year and then accepted an invitation to go to Georgia in America as a missionary to the colony. He was never assigned to a parish by the church in which he was ordained. His trip to Georgia was largely a failure and he left under a spiritual cloud that greatly disturbed him.
During the voyage to Georgia Wesley met a group of German Moravians. Their strong, serene convictions during the Atlantic storms influenced him greatly. After returning to England he met Peter Böhler, a man regarded by Wesley as the instrument of his conversion. Then he went through a spiritual "rebirth" in the small chapel on Aldersgate Street on May 24, 1738, less than one month shy of his 35th birthday.
It is safe to say that Wesley struggled mightily within himself. But, he was also struggling with the doctrine of the Church of England. On February 4, 1738 he wrote in his journal:
…….. the next morning I waited on Mr. Oglethorpe but had not time to speak on that head. In the afternoon I was desired to preach at St. John the Evangelist's. I did so on those strong words, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" [II Cor. 5:17]. I was afterward informed many of the best in the parish were so offended that I was not to preach there any more.
Then again on February 12 we find these words:
I preached at St. Andrew's, Holborn on "Though I give all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing" [I Cor. 13:3]. Oh, hard sayings! Who can hear them? Here, too, it seems, I am to preach no more.
Clearly, Wesley was out of sync with the dogma of the church that had ordained him, his father, and his grandfather as priests. What, specifically was his struggle? He states it clearly in his journal on March 4, 1738:
I found my brother at Oxford, recovering from his pleurisy; and with him Peter Bohler; by whom, in the hand of the great God, I was, on Sunday, the fifth, clearly convinced of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby alone we are saved.
Immediately it struck into my mind, "Leave off preaching. How can you preach to others, who have not faith yourself?" I asked Bohler whether he thought I should leave it off or not. He answered, "By no means." I asked, "But what can I preach?" He said, "Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith."
Accordingly, Monday, 6, I began preaching this new doctrine, though my soul started back from the work. The first person to whom I offered salvation by faith alone was a prisoner under sentence of death. His name was Clifford. Peter Bohler had many times desired me to speak to him before. But I could not prevail on myself so to do; being still, as I had been many years, a zealous asserter of the impossibility of a deathbed repentance.
It is interesting to note that John's brother, Charles, also experienced a rebirth of salvation through grace. He, too was brought to this conversion by Peter Böhler. On May 3, 1738 John wrote in his journal:
My brother had a long and particular conversation with Peter Bohler. And it now pleased God to open his eyes so that he also saw clearly what was the nature of that one true living faith, whereby alone, "through grace, we are saved."
Salvation through Grace is an integral part of the United Methodist Church doctrine today, but John Wesley only reached that conclusion after he was already well into his ministry.
The next article in this series we will follow Wesley as he begins his Field-preaching and stand with him as he says "All the World as my Parish."
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History of Methodism Part 8 - All the World my Parish
Before moving into John Wesley's journey into field preaching I wanted to mention something interesting that I found in his journal. On March 28, 1739 Wesley and his close associates were trying to decide if he should make a trip to Bristol at the request of Mr. Wednesday Whitefield. His brother, Charles was against the trip, but others in the group argued that he should go. The statement below tells us how they resolved the dispute:
Our other brethren, however, continuing the dispute, without any probability of their coming to one conclusion, we at length all agreed to decide it by Lot. And by this it was determined I should go.
The journal does not explain the method by which they cast lots
Field Preaching
On Saturday March 31 Wesley arrived in Bristol and met Mr. Whitefield. Here he was first introduced to field preaching. He made the following entry in his journal.
I could scarcely reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he set me an example on Sunday; I had been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church.
On June 11, 1739 Wesley made a long entry in his Journal as the result of a letter he received from his brethren in "Fetter Lane." That was one of the early "societies" that Wesley set up for Bible study and worship. Shown below are two short excerpts from that entry. Here Wesley confirms that he has no parish of his own
God in Scripture commands me, according to my power, to instruct the ignorant, reform the wicked, confirm the virtuous. Man forbids me to do this in another’s parish; that is, in effect, to do it at all, seeing I have now no parish of my own, nor probably ever shall. Whom then shall I hear, God or man?
Immediately following that entry is the following profound statement:
“I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation. This is the work which I know God has called me to; and sure I am that His blessing attends it. Great encouragement have I, therefore, to be faithful in fulfilling the work He hath given me to do. His servant I am, and, as such, am employed according to the plain direction of His Word,.........
Wesley went on to become a preeminent field preacher, sometimes preaching to as many as 20.000 people at the time. In retrospect it seems inevitable that he would preach in the fields as easily as he preached in homes. From this point forward Wesley would travel approximately 8,000 miles each year on horseback preaching an average of over 15 sermons a week (42,000 total in his life), almost until the day he died. It is estimated that he covered over 250,000 miles, almost all of it on horseback, during his life of preaching.
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History of Methodism
Part 9 - Moving Toward the First Annual Conference
The years 1739 - 1744 were formative in the development of what we know today as the United Methodist Church. It was not Wesley's desire or intention to establish a new church. But, he found himself at odds with The Church of England and yet, felt strongly that the poor masses in England were not being well served by the church. Sounds like Jesus, doesn't it. It also sounds like Paul who carried the Good News to the gentile.
In fact, I can't help but notice many incidents in Wesley's life of preaching that seem to parallel many incidents in Paul's life of preaching. Jesus and Paul started first in the synagogues and, when they did not find a receptive audience they went elsewhere to carry out their ministry. In Wesley's case, after he preached at certain churches he was told never to return. His response was to form "Societies" everywhere he went of people who met together regularly to study the Bible and pray. He checked back on those societies regularly to be sure they were carrying out the ministry as he had taught them. Who can you think of in the New Testament that did that in the first century Christian Church?
let's look at a few entries from Wesley's journal during those formative years.
Wesley saw many people out of work and suffering. Unlike others, he took an action to help reduce the hardship of those needy people. On Tuesday, November 25, 1740 we find the following entry in his journal.
(London).—After several methods proposed for employing those who were out of business, we determined to make a trial of one which several of our brethren recommended to us. Our aim was, with as little expense as possible, to keep them at once from want and from idleness, in order to which 2 , we took twelve of the poorest and a teacher into the society room where they were employed for four months, till spring came on, in carding and spinning of cotton. And the design answered: they were employed and maintained with very little more than the produce of their own labor.
Several months later, on May 7, 1742 we find Wesley employing lay people to carry out the work he considered necessary to care for the poor and Disenfranchised.
I reminded the United Society that many of our brethren and sisters had not needful food; many were destitute of convenient clothing; many were out of business, and that without their own fault; and many sick and ready to perish: that I had done what in me lay to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to employ the poor, and to visit the sick; but was not, alone, sufficient for these things; and therefore desired all whose hearts were as my heart:
- To bring what clothes each could spare to be distributed among those that wanted most.
- To give weekly a penny, or what they could afford, for the relief of the poor and sick.
To these we will first give the common price for what work they do; and then add, according as they need.
Twelve persons are appointed to inspect these and to visit and provide things needful for the sick.
Each of these is to visit all the sick within her district every other day and to meet on Tuesday evening, to give an account of what she has done and consult what can be done further.
Question:
How many of you can find a parallel to this in the New Testament? Kudos to the first one who emails me chapter and verse.
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History of Methodism
Part 10 - First Annual Conference and Beyond
On Monday, June 18, 1744 we find the following short entry in John Wesley's journal.
I left Epworth; and on Wednesday, 20, in the afternoon, met my brother in London.
Monday, 25, and the five following days we spent in conference with many of our brethren (come from several parts), who desire nothing but to save their own souls and those who hear them. And surely, as long as they continue thus minded, their labor shall not be in vain in the Lord. The next day we endeavored to purge the society of all that did not walk according to the gospel. By this means we reduced the number of members to less than nineteen hundred. But number is an inconsiderable circumstance. May God increase them in faith and love!
For such a momentous date in the history of Methodism the journal entry was disappointingly brief. Wesley continued his ministry on horseback almost until the day he died, March 2, 1791. In 1751 he married. However, he did not let marriage interfere in any way with his ministry. On Tuesday, April 19, 1751 we find this entry.
Having finished the business for which I came to Bristol, I set out again for London; being desired by many to spend a few days there before I entered upon my northern journey. I came to London on Thursday and, having settled all affairs, left I again on Wednesday, 27. I cannot understand how a Methodist preacher can answer it to God to preach one sermon or travel one day less in a married than in a single state. In this respect surely, “it remaineth, that they who have wives be as though they had none.”
Does that statement remind you of anyone in the New Testament?
Next time we will move forward to Wesley last days and his death.
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History of Methodism Part 11 - John Wesley's last Days
Wesley's Last Journal Entries
Monday, 18.--No coach going out for Lynn to-day, I was obliged to take a post-chaise. But at Dereham no horses were to be had, so we were obliged to take the same horses to Swaffham. A congregation was ready here that filled the house and seemed quite ready to receive instruction.
But here neither could we procure any post-horses, so that we were obliged to take a single-horse chaise. The wind, with mizzling rain, came full in our faces, and we had nothing to screen us from it; I was thoroughly chilled from head to foot before I came to Lynn. But I soon forgot this little inconvenience, for which the earnestness of the congregation made me large amends.
Tuesday, 19.--In the evening all the clergymen in the town, except one who was lame, were present at the preaching. They are all prejudiced in favor of the Methodists, as indeed are most of the townsmen; they give a fair proof by contributing so much to our Sunday schools that there is nearly twenty pounds in hand.
Wednesday, 20.--I had appointed to preach at Diss, a town near Scoleton; but the difficulty was where I could preach. The minister was willing I should preach in the church but feared offending the bishop, who, going up to London, was within a few miles of the town. But a gentleman asking the bishop whether he had any objection to it, was answered, 'None at all.' I think this church is one of the largest in this county. I suppose it has not been so filled these hundred years. This evening and the next I preached at Bury to a deeply attentive congregation, many of whom know in whom they have believed. So that here we have not lost all our labor.
Friday, 22.--We returned to London.
Sunday, 24.--l explained, to a numerous congregation in Spitalfields church, 'the whole armor of God.' St. Paul's, Shadwell, was still more crowded in the afternoon, while I enforced that important truth, 'One thing is needful'; and I hope many, even then, resolved to choose the better part.
WESLEY'S LAST HOURS
BY ONE WHO WAS PRESENT
Betsy Ritchie, one of the saints of early Methodism, wrote an account of Wesley's last hours. She was about thirty-nine and for the last two months of Wesley's life she was his constant companion. Her account is too lengthly for this newsletter, so you will need to click the link below to read the full text.
Wesley's Last Hours - by One Who Was There
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History of Methodism Part 12 - The Formative Years: 1738 - 1744
Much is made of John Wesley's trip to America and his Aldersgate experience. But, whatever one makes of the significance of the spiritual development of Wesley by those two experiences, the year 1738 marks the true beginning of the Wesleyan movement. True, there is evidence of "bands" and "societies" before 1738. But, things really started moving during that six-year period.
Wesley's experience with the Moravians' concept of collegia pietatis and ecclesiola in ecclesia; or, the little group of serious Christians existing within the larger church impressed him greatly. Drawing on his experiences with the Moravians, Wesley undertook oversight of these small groups by providing rules of discipline, worship and conduct.
By 1743 this all became fixed as "The Nature, Design, and General Rules of the United Societies in London, Bristol, Kingswood, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, &c." We might think of this as a very early Book of Discipline that is used today. Thus, by the London Conference in 1744 (first annual conference), most of the features of the "United Societies of the People Called Methodist" came into being. Some of those features were the bands, classes, societies, select bands, love feasts, watch nights, and the British Conference.
Methodism spread into the urban areas, especially those affected by the Industrial Revolution. During this time the Wesleys based their works in the three points of the "Methodist triangle," London, Bristol, and Newcastle.
The early struggles were with the Established Church, with political interests, and with mob prejudice and violence. The resistance gradually gave way to tolerance, acceptance, and even broadly based approval. Wesley established the "Itinerant" form of ministry that is still an important part of Methodism today. Wesley, himself ceaselessly made the rounds as a circuit rider on horseback and in old age by carriage.
Next time we will look at how Methodism spread to America.
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Part 13 - History of Methodism
The First Methodist Churches in America
The story of early Methodism in America during the 18th century is all about unauthorized lay ministers. They had no warrant from anybody.1 In fact John Wesley, who was in England, did not know about them or what they were up to until he received a letter in 1768 asking for help.
Who the first Methodist lay preacher was in America is the subject of some dispute. The two men involved in the dispute are Philip Embury and Robert Stoneridge. We will present the cases for both men and leave it to Methodist historians to sort out the details.
- Philip Enbury
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Philip Enbury was born in Ballygaran, Ireland on September 21, 1729 and died in Camden, Washington County, New York, in August 1775. His parents were members of the colony of Germans that emigrated from the Palatinate to Ireland early in the eighteenth century, and in which Wesley labored with great success. Embury was educated at a school near Ballygaran, and learned the carpenter's trade. He was converted on Christmas day, 1752, became a local preacher in 1758, and in 1760 came to New York and worked at his trade.
In common with his fellow emigrants, he began to lose interest in religious matters, and did not preach in New York till 1766, when, moved by the reproaches of Barbara Heck, sometimes called the "foundress of American Methodism," he began to hold services first in his own house on Barrack Street, now Park place, and then in a rigging loft on what is now William Street.
The congregation thus formed was probably the first, Methodist congregation in the United States, though it is a disputed question whether precedence should not be given to Robert Strawbridge, who began laboring in Maryland about this time. The first Methodist Church was built under Embury's charge in 1768, on the site of the present John Street Church, and he himself worked on the building as a carpenter, and afterward preached there gratuitously.
He resigned in 1769 and went to Camden, New York, where he continued to work at his trade during the week, preaching every Sunday. He organized among Irish emigrants at Ashgrove, near Camden, the first Methodist society within the bounds of what is now Troy conference. He died suddenly, in consequence of an accident in mowing, and was buried on a neighboring farm, but in 1832 his remains were removed to Ashgrove Churchyard, and in 1866 to Woodland cemetery, Cambridge, New York, where in 1873 a monument to him was unveiled, with an address by Bishop Simpson.
- Robert Strawbridge
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Robert Strawbridge was born in Drummer's Nave, near Carrick-on-Shannon, County Lei-trim, Ireland; died in Maryland in 1781. He came to this country some time between 1760 and 1765, settled on Sam's creek, Frederick County, Maryland, and soon opened his house for religious services. Shortly afterward a Methodist society was formed, and a place of worship, known as the Log meeting-house, was erected.
Mr. Strawbridge now travelled constantly through the state, forming new societies, and in order that he might go on these journeys his farm was cultivated for him by his neighbors. After residing on Sam's creek about sixteen years he removed to Long Green, Baltimore county, where the use of a farm had been given him for his life. He died while he was on one of his preaching tours. It is a matter of dispute whether he or Philip Embury founded the first Methodist society and built the first chapel in this country, but most authorities give Embury priority. A full discussion of the point may be found in Joseph B. Wakeley's "Lost Chapters Recovered from the Early History of American Methodism" (New York, 1858), and John Atkinson's "Centennial His-tory of American Methodism" (1884).
1 The Story of American Methodism, Frederick A. Norwood, Abingdon Press, 1974, p. 65
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History of Methodism Part 14 - Early Methodist Leaders in America
Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmore were the first two preachers appointed to America by John Wesley.
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Richard Boardman (1738 - 1782) was thirty-one years old when he came to America, but already suffered from poor health. For this and other reasons he spent most of his time in New York. He returned to the British Isles in 1774 and continued his ministry in Ireland.
Joseph Pilmore (1739-1825) was born into an Anglican family in Tadmouth, Yorkshire. He was converted under the influence of John Wesley at the age of sixteen and was subsequently educated at Kingswood School. He was admitted to the Wesleyan itinerancy in 1766.
In 1769 Pilmore volunteered for service in America with Richard Boardman. For the first three years of his American ministry he alternated between New York and Philadelphia, where he over saw the purchase of St. George's Church (See below.), destined to be known as the cradle of American Methodism. He then embarked on an extensive tour of the Southern Colonies, forming Methodist Societies in Maryland and Virginia.
Pilmore returned to England in 1774 and labored as an itinerant preacher from 1776 to 1784, after which he withdrew from the Methodist movement for reasons which are unclear.
Pilmore returned to America and in 1785 was ordained, on the recommendation of Charles Wesley, into the Protestant Episcopal Church. He remained in the United States for the rest of his life, much of which was spent as a clergyman in New York and Philadelphia.
St. George's Church
Construction on the main building began in 1763 to be a church building for a German Reformed Congregation. The name "St. George's Church" was given to the building. Due to a large debt the German congregation lost the building and it was sold at auction in August 1769. The recently formed Methodist Society borrowed the money to buy the building -- which was dedicated on November 24, 1769. Joseph Pilmore conducted the first worship service in the newly acquired building on that day.
Take this link to see some Pictures of St. George's Church. These images were provided by Larry and Pam Hayes.
Take this link to visit St. George's Church web site.
Bishop Francis Asbury
Asbury, Francis (1745-1816), pioneer bishop of American Methodism, was born in Handsworth, near Birmingham. Asbury was one of the most respected and venerated men in the newly formed United States. Schools, colleges, churches, neighborhood, streets and even children were to be named "Asbury" in his honor.
Asbury left England in 1771 to become North America's first Methodist Bishop. He played a key role in American and Methodist history.
He spent forty-four years traveling throughout the colonies, later the states, of America. He is believed to have preached 16,550 sermons, and ridden over a quarter of a million miles. When he arrived in 1771 there were just 550 Methodists concentrated in New York and Philadelphia. By 1816 there were 250,000 Methodists ministered to by 700 ordained preachers.
He attended the Methodist society at Wednesbury, was converted at the age of 16 and became a local preacher. Entering the itinerancy in 1766, he served in the Bedfordshire, Colchester and Wiltshire Circuits, before offering for America at the Conference of 1771.
In Philadelphia and New York he found that Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmore had virtually abandoned an itinerant ministry and set about reversing this trend. He, himself traveled further and further afield until the outbreak of war in 1775 curbed his activities and forced him into hiding for a time in Kent County, Delaware.
By the end of the War of Independence he was the only British-born itinerant still active in the former colonies. His ministry led him across the Appalachians, where new settlements were beginning to spread westwards.
John Wesley recognized him as the natural leader of the American Methodists, and in 1784 at the Christmas Conference in Baltimore, Thomas Coke successively ordained him deacon, elder and Superintendent - a title soon replaced by that of Bishop in spite of Wesley's strong disapproval.
During the next 30 years he led the rapid growth of American Methodism, maintaining a celibate and relentlessly itinerant life-style to match the rugged terrain and scattered population.
Asbury never returned to his native land, but died in Spotsylvania County, Virginia and was buried in Baltimore.
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History of Methodism Part 15 - Religious Oppression in Europe
Before we continue with our discussion of early American Methodism it is important to understand what prompted our founding fathers to put the "Freedom of Religion" section into the American Constitution. That can be described most easily by remembering why the Pilgrims decided to leave England during the reign of James I.
At the time the Pilgrim Fathers were living in England there was only one church approved by the English rulers. Everyone was required to attend that church - and ONLY that church - every week. If the English ruler were Protestant, all people of the realm were required to follow the Protestant beliefs and attend those church services; if the ruler were Catholic, everyone in the kingdom was required to practice the Catholic faith and rituals. All religion in the kingdom was strictly dictated by the government. This is what we call a "State Church."
The reigning ruler appointed the archbishop of his or her choice and every church in the kingdom was under the direct orders of the ruler and the archbishop. There was no freedom to choose what a person believed or how he could worship.
Anyone who objected to the beliefs of the state church or the forms of the church services could be arrested, questioned and thrown into prison. If they refused to give up their personal beliefs, they could be tortured in an effort to make them agree with the state church. If they still refused to give up their convictions after torture, they could be executed. Many people were imprisoned, tortured and put to death. Those who were executed for their religious beliefs died painful deaths. Many were hanged and quartered, some were burned at the stake, while others were crushed to death under heavy weights.
The Pilgrims were a group of English people who came to America seeking religious freedom during the reign of King James I. After two attempts to leave England and move to Holland, a Separatist group was finally relocated to Amsterdam where they stayed for about one year. From there the group moved to the town of Leiden, Holland, where they remained for about ten years, able to worship as they wished under lenient Dutch law.
Fearing their children were losing their English heritage and religious beliefs, a small group from the Leiden churches made plans to settle in Northern Virginia - as New England was known at the time. In August 1620 the group sailed for Southampton, England, where other English colonists who hoped to make a new life in America met them.
They planned to make the crossing to America in two ships, the Speedwell and Mayflower. However, after many problems the Speedwell was forced to return to England where the group was reorganized. In their second attempt to cross the Atlantic, they boarded the Mayflower in September 1620 bound for the New World. They arrived as winter was settling in and endured significant hardships as they struggled to establish a successful colony at Plymouth.
In time their colony flourished and lead the way to establishing religious freedom and creating the foundations of the democracy Americans enjoy today. Their celebration of the first Thanksgiving has grown to become a festive national holiday.
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History of Methodism Part 16 - From "Societies" to "Church"
Up until at least 1784 the Methodist groups were all referred to as "Societies." At the three sessions of Annual Conference held between April 29 and June 15, 1885, the action taken by the Constitutional Convention in Baltimore in 1884 was confirmed. The printed minutes include the following statement.
"Therefore at this conference we formed ourselves into an Independent Church: and following the counsel of Mr. John Wesley, who recommended the Episcopal mode of church government, we thought it best to become an Episcopal church, making the Episcopal office elective, and the elected superintendent or bishop, amenable to the body of ministers and preachers."
This, however, did not mark a clean break from "society" to "church" because another entry in the minutes says, "What members are in society?" (18,000) Neither did it mark a clean break from the Church of England, but for all practical purposes the Methodist Episcopal Church was well on the road to becoming a separate church. Not all Methodists were in agreement with separating from the English church, but it was inevitable that it would happen in spite of delays and compromises.
The church now entered into a period of sometimes tortuous administrative adjustments. Debate erupted over the issue of authority, the nature and scheduling of conferences, the establishment of geographically defined conference boundaries, and the establishment of a general conference. None of these issues came easy to the emerging church, and Wesley was not always pleased with the results.
By the turn of the century great disparities existed in the representation in the general conference. Bitter complaints came from all parts of the country that travel distances were such as to disenfranchise ministers who found it difficult or impossible to travel to the conference location. The combined power of Baltimore and Philadelphia was able to dominate legislation. Thus, with considerable opposition, each annual conference was apportioned a share of ministers elected to that conference.
Next we will take a look at the importance of the small group or "society" type of organization to the Methodist church.
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