It was on this date in 1816 that Francis Asbury, one of the
first two bishops of The Methodist Episcopal Church, preached his last
sermon. He was born August 20 or 21,
1745 in Hamstead Bridge, Staffordshire, England. At age 25 he came to America as a Methodist
minister and for the next 45 years he preached, organized churches and
established schools, largely in the frontier. Sent by John Wesley in England, Thomas
coke and others ordained Asbury as a General Superintendent at the Christmas Conference
of 1784. Coke fancied the title “bishop,”
and used the title for himself and Asbury from the time of the Conference
on. Asbury didn’t prefer that title but
acquiesced to the wishes of the elder Coke.
When he first arrived in the American colonies, he preached
his first sermon at Woodrow, Staten Island. Within the first 17 days of being
in the colonies, Asbury had preached in Philadelphia and New York. During the
first year in which he was Wesley's assistant in America, he preached in 25 different settlements.
When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, he and James Dempster
were the only Methodist ministers to remain in America.
During his ministry in America Asbury traveled over a
quarter of a million miles, mostly by horseback until his health began to fail
him in his later years. Then, he
traveled by carriage. In the fall of 1800, he attended a joint Presbyterian and
Methodist multi-day religious gathering.
Part of the experience was that worshipers camped on the grounds of the meeting-houses. This gathering made a deep impression on
Asbury and he promoted such events for the rest of his ministry. “Camp Meetings” would become an important
part of the spread of Methodism in the frontier.
Asbury’s health began to fail him seriously in 1814, but he
rallied in 1816 and returned to his former activities. However, his health once again slowed him and
so he preached one last time on March 24, 1816.
He died at the home of George Arnold near Fredericksburg" on March
31.
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