Francis Asbury

English-born American preacher

• Born: August 20, 1745
• Birthplace: Hamstead Bridge, Handsworth, Staffordshire, England
• Died: March 31, 1816
• Place of death: Spottsylvania, Virginia

Asbury led the dramatic growth of Methodism in the United States from 1771 until his death in 1816. He was to American Methodism what John Wesley was to English Methodism.

Early Life

Francis Asbury’s birthplace was located near Birmingham, which had been the site of religious controversy and conflict. As in most industrial centers, where the workers were exploited, Methodism spoke to the masses more than did Anglicanism. From the first, Asbury’s intellectual gifts were apparent and, as is often the case, made him the object of ridicule and abuse by his schoolmates. He left school and became a servant in the home of a wealthy but irreverent family, and then he became an apprentice, though the nature of his trade remains in doubt.

His mother, a dominant influence in his life, had a vision before his birth concerning his religious future as a spreader of the Gospel among the heathens; she read the Bible to him and prayed with him when he was young. Although Asbury’s mother attended Wesleyan meetings, she wanted her son to have a career as an Anglican. It was not until he was fifteen years old, however, that he was converted to Methodism, though he did not leave the Church of England until he went to America. Still in England, within a year he was preaching, and he joined the Methodist ministry before he was twenty and made preaching his sole vocation. He preached in the Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Bedfordshire, Sussex, and Northamptonshire circuits, and in 1770 was in Wiltshire. During these years he demonstrated his tendency to take charge and to “ramble,” that is, to go outside his own circuit, for which he was reprimanded by William Orp, one of his superiors.

Life’s Work

When he was twenty-six years old, Francis Asbury, along with Richard Wright, responded to John Wesley’s call for volunteers to spread Methodism in America. Wright’s work was undistinguished, but Asbury would become America’s most outstanding Methodist. Asbury arrived in Philadelphia on October 27, 1771, but he preferred to preach in the country rather than in the city. In 1772, Wesley appointed him to be his assistant in America, but Thomas Rankin soon superseded him as assistant.

Asbury was assigned to were chosen, but he also traveled widely through Westchester County on horseback. His so-called rambling, which had brought him some criticism in England, now served him in good stead. The villages he served became what was called a circuit, and he and his fellow ramblers were known as “circuit riders.” When he was transferred to Maryland, he tripled the number of circuits and doubled the Methodist membership in the course of one year by riding on horseback through the different circuits. Even while riding, he was busy praying, singing hymns, and learning languages, and often in foul weather. The bad weather—and overwork—made him almost always ill. Sometimes he had to be lifted onto his horse and tied to the saddle, and his swollen feet would often not fit into the stirrups.

He also preached during the American Revolution, when the official Methodist position, as proclaimed by Rankin, his supervisor, was opposed to the rebellion against England. In fact, Asbury was the only English Methodist minister to remain in the colonies. When Rankin returned to England, Asbury carried on in his stead, although he did not receive Rankin’s title. Because he refused to sign Maryland’s oath of allegiance (he considered all oaths wrong), he was in danger during the war and was even fired upon and forced to flee to Delaware, where he continued to preach. In 1784, in recognition of Asbury’s work, Wesley sent Thomas Coke (a bishop who later worked with Asbury on the Methodist Book of Discipline) to America to consecrate him as a superintendent, but he would not assume any title until the other ministers approved. Since a superintendent was similar to a bishop, he assumed the latter title, despite Wesley’s protests. By creating additional bishops, Asbury kept his power, illustrating his political prowess; his rivals considered him a dictator.

The first Methodist conference, which was held in 1785, was followed by several other conferences, and the first council met in 1789, at which time he successfully urged the Methodists to congratulate George Washington on winning the presidency. Since the Methodist Church was the first church to do so, the Methodists got favorable press. Asbury extended the Methodist mission to New England in 1791 but had troubles with James O’Kelly, who withdrew from the church after a leadership squabble. The 1790’s saw a general membership decline, which was reversed after 1800, at which time membership numbers rose to more than 100,000. During the first decade of the 1800’s, Methodism expanded, despite Asbury’s antislavery stance and his declining health. Although he lost some of his power to William McKendree in 1808, his travels resembled triumphal processions, and he was one of the best-known Americans of his day.

He had his critics, partly because he insisted, like Wesley, that ministers study five hours a day, and because he held Methodist ministers to a high standard. No other minister could travel as far on horseback or preach as many sermons, and this was accomplished while he was sick. He rode 5,000 miles per year on horseback. He traveled south to Georgia, twice crossed the Alleghenies, and went north to New York State and New England. He preached thousands of sermons (reportedly more than sixteen thousand), his last occurring in Richmond, Virginia, just a week before his death. Since many of the other Methodist ministers had other jobs, none could even approach his commitment to the church. In addition, he never received more than $85 per year in salary, and he gave away money and clothes to the needy.

Significance

In addition to his preaching and administering, Francis Asbury was a great recruiter of other preachers and a tireless reader and writer. His journal and letters, edited in 1958, are compiled in three volumes. It is for his preaching and evangelism, however, that he is best known. By example, sheer force of will, and political savvy Asbury brought John Wesley’s Methodism to the United States, where at the time of his death it was the second largest Protestant denomination, second only to the Baptists. If it had not been for the defections of William Hammett, who broke away to establish the Primitive Methodists, and William O’Kelly (James O’Kelly’s son), who had clashed with Asbury over what he considered Asbury’s Anglicanism, the Methodists would have even been more numerous.

The 214,000 Methodists in 1816 were scattered throughout the country east of the Mississippi River and even beyond the Mississippi in Missouri and Arkansas. On October 15, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge dedicated a statue of Asbury in Washington, D.C., where he attributed America’s freedom to the work of preachers such as Asbury. As a testament to his importance, countless Methodist churches are called Asbury United Methodist Churches. His legacy—the American Methodist Church—has itself been divided into many other Protestant denominations with Wesleyan ties.

Bibliography

Asbury, Herbert. A Methodist Saint: The Life of Francis Asbury. New York: Knopf, 1927. A largely sympathetic account of Asbury’s life plus some relevant letters and documents.

Baker, Frank. From Wesley to Asbury: Studies in Early American Methodism. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1976. Baker devotes two chapters to Asbury, one examining Asbury as an apprentice and the other as a master craftsman.

Collins, John Smiley. Man of Devotion: Francis Asbury. Nashville, Tenn.: Upper Room, 1971. A short biography with an interesting chapter on Asbury’s establishment of colleges.

Duren, William Larkin. Francis Asbury: Founder of American Methodism and Unofficial Minister of State. New York: Macmillan, 1928. A biography, with an interesting account of Asbury’s personality and his problems with his rivals.

Ludwig, Charles. Francis Asbury: God’s Circuit Rider. Milford, Mich.: Mott Media, 1984. A biographical account that focuses on Asbury’s preaching.

Salter, Darius. America’s Bishop: The Life of Francis Asbury. Nashville, Tenn.: Abington, 1966. A comprehensive, definitive biography with an exhaustive bibliography.

Smeltzer, Guy. Bishop Francis Asbury: Field Marshal of the Lord. Denver, Colo.: Eastwood, 1982. A biography with chapters on Asbury’s political and economic philosophy and a thorough discussion of the context within which Methodism flourished.