FRANCIS ASBURY – GABRIEL & MICHELLE STRYDOM

Table of Contents

I. Overview, Timeline & Primary Events 2

Ashbury’s Background & Personal Awakening 2
Philadelphia & St. George Church 2
New York & Wesley Chapel 3
Circuits to Rural America 3

II. Contemporary Events 3

War Between the British and the American Colonies 3

III. Primary Areas of Impact 4

Entrepreneur 4

IV. Small Beginnings to Catalyzed Movements 5

Four Fold Gospel 5
Early Teen Years 5
Admiration for John Wesley 5

V. Essential Steps of Simple Obedience & Risk Taking 6

Consistent 6
Selfless 6
Unwavering Determination 6

VI. Important Quotes 6

VII. Methodism’s Effect on Ashbury 7
VIII. Asburie’s Ability to Change a Nation 9

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I. Overview, Timeline & Primary Events

A) Ashbury’s Background & Personal Awakening

Francis Asbury was born into a working-class Anglican family; he dropped out of school before
he was 12 to work as a blacksmith's apprentice. When Frank was 3years old his only sibling
Sarah was 5 years old and she passed away. In one day Frank lost his only sibling and a happy
home. His mother (Eliza) did all she could to shake the depression that had settled over her.
Nothing worked until she had an encounter with a Methodist preacher who preached the gospel-
this changed her life. She finally knew how to overcome the grief and fear she carried and knew
that she was saved. From that day Eliza Asbury was an enthusiastic Christian and spent hours
each day in prayer and Bible reading, hosting ministers in her house as they traveled through
town (Benge,Francis Asbury: Circuit Rider - Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

By the time Francis was 14, he had been “awakened” in the Christian faith. Furthermore he
became a tradesman within 7 years. His parents were proud as this was not common. Francis
however had other dreams, he wanted to be a methodist preacher, a travelling preacher. His father
did not approve, but his mother wanted Him to be obedient- “apprenticed to God.”- she said. He
however knew he was called by God and intended to follow Him. Francis knew it was hard for
people to understand his decision.
(Benge,Francis Asbury: Circuit Rider - Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

He and his mother attended Methodist meetings, where soon he began to preach; he was
appointed a full-time Methodist preacher by the time he was 21. (Galli, Hundred and thirty one
Christians everyone should know)

At the age of 24 Francis knew He was called by God to preach and teach, but was painfully aware
of the truth of his father's word that he was poorly equipped. (Benge,Francis Asbury: Circuit
Rider - Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

Frank closely followed the lives of Joseph Pilmore and Richard Boardman as he longed to impact
a new group of people- The American colonies. Their letters circulated and Frank devoured them.
As he read the letters it felt God was leading him across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1771, at a gathering of Methodist ministers, John Wesley asked, “Our brethren in America
call aloud for help. Who are willing to go over and help them?” Asbury volunteered and was
chosen. (Galli, Hundred and thirty one Christians everyone should know)

B) Philadelphia & St. George Church

Asbury landed in Philadelphia in October 1771 and at that point there were only 600 Methodists
in America. (Galli, Hundred and thirty one Christians everyone should know)

Frank was troubled by how St. George’s church had abandoned practices and anyone was now
welcome to attend. In 1772, he stood at the door and personally quizzed every person and turned
away many. His unpopular view did not move him, he could not be guided by the view of half-

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hearted Methodists. Despite this, Francis did not change his views. He had been sent out by John
Wesley to follow the pattern laid down by the English Methodists, and he was certain that
following that pattern was the right and only way for Methodists to live.

C) New York & Wesley Chapel

His trip to New York was magnificent. Frank met Richard Boardman and thanked him for his
missionary letters as it was part of Frank’s journey to say YES to help strengthen the Methodist
work. Frank preached at Wesley chapel, he was troubled by the fine clothing of some and the fact
that so many others were slave owned. He found himself troubled to think he will only preach in
Phil and NY and he longed to be on his horse preaching to the poor and needy- he longed to
follow John Wesley’s circuit riding pattern. During the NY Winter he was dissatisfied and he
decided to lead the way to organize thousands of colonists in the hinterland around NY into
Methodist Societies. Frank worked hard to convince the other men to get out into the countryside
to preach in the scattered communities throughout the colonies.

D) Circuits to Rural America

In 1795, 95 percent of Americans lived in places with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants; by 1830 this
proportion was 91 percent. While Methodism retained a stronghold in the seaports of the middle
states, Asbury felt that that the Methodist should have a distinctly rural orientation adept at
expanding into newly populated areas.

II. Contemporary Events

War Between the British and the American Colonies

The HMS Gaspee (sent by the british to patrol the waters) was destroyed by colonists and Frank
sensed more confrontation would develop after he read the sermon of a Baptist minister from
Boston preaching against the British. Tension continued to rise and the certainty of eventual
conflict drove Francis to pray more and work harder at setting up methodist societies around the
countryside. Peoples hearts were more open as they faced the possibility of an all out war with
Great Britain. (Benge, Francis Asbury: Circuit Rider - Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

In 1775, Francis was in Norfolk and received a letter from Thomas Rankin to return to England.
By no means would he leave the people in the American colonies- it was his mission field.

He heard of a revival in Brunswick county led by George Shadford and went to visit.

Warfare between Great Britain and the American colonies increased and became unavoidable
1776 They received a letter from John Wesley telling American colonists that they must submit to
England. The Declaration of Independence was presented to Continental Congress, thus 13
american colonies now regarded themselves independent states, no longer a part of the British
Empire. Two methodist leaders spied for the british and raised suspicion for methodists even
more. As the war increased he was seen as a treat as he was an Englishman in America. Methodist
was seen as british supporters. For 7 years he roamed freely riding circuits preaching and

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establishing Methodist Societies wherever he went. All had changed- now he was an Englishman
caught in the Americans War with the British for their independence. Fear rose in Americans and
as a result any englishman caught riding through the countryside was considered an English
sympathizer and had been arrested or killed. Should he have left to England via ship like his
friends.

George and Francis fasted and prayed for answers. George felt to go back to England and Frank
felt God asked him to stay. They knew it was right as George explained- they had separate
callings upon their lives. Frank was the last remaining methodist preacher in the American
colonies directly sent out by John Wesley and people looked to him for direction. (Benge, Francis
Asbury: Circuit Rider - Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

During the Revolutionary War, Asbury remained politically neutral. To avoid signing an oath
disclaiming his allegiance to England and to dodge the American draft, he went into hiding for
several months. “I am considered by some as an enemy,” he wrote, “liable to be seized by
violence and abused.” By war's end, he had retained his credibility with the victorious Americans
and was able to continue his ministry among them.

After the war, John Wesley ordained Englishman Thomas Coke as Wesley's American
superintendent. Coke, in turn, ordained Asbury at the famous Baltimore “Christmas Conference”
of 1784, which gave birth to the American Methodist Episcopal Church. On Christmas Day,
Asbury was ordained a deacon, the following day, an elder, and on December 27, a
superintendent (against Wesley's advice, Asbury later used the term “bishop”). As Coke put it,
“We were in great haste and did much business in a little time.” Within six months, Coke returned
to England, and thereafter, Asbury held the reins of American Methodism. (Galli, Hundred and
thirty one Christians everyone should know, 184-187)

III. Primary Areas of Impact

Entrepreneur

Organization was Asbury's gift. He created “districts” of churches, each of which would be served
by circuit riders—preachers who traveled from church to church to preach and minister,
especially in rural areas. In the late 1700’s, 95 percent of Americans lived in places with fewer

than 2,500 inhabitants, and thus most did not have access to church or clergy. This is one reason
Asbury pushed for missionary expansion into the Tennessee and Kentucky frontier—even though
his and other preachers' lives were constantly threatened by illness and Indian attacks. According
to biographer Ezra Tipple, Asbury's preaching was more zeal than art, and highly effective. Tipple
wrote there were occasions when “under the rush of his utterance, people sprang to their feet as if
summoned to the judgment bar of God.” Though a school dropout, Asbury launched five schools.
He also promoted “Sunday schools,” in which children were taught reading, writing, and
arithmetic. Asbury didn't limit his work to administration and preaching. Asbury hated slavery
and petitioned George Washington to enact antislavery legislation. “My spirit was grieved at the
conduct of some Methodists,” wrote Asbury, “that hire slaves at public places to the highest
bidder, to cut skin, and starve them.” Asbury pushed himself to the end. After preaching what was

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to be his last sermon, he was so weak he had to be carried to his carriage. By then, though,
Methodism had grown under his leadership to 200,000 strong. His legacy continued with the
4,000 Methodist preachers he had ordained: by the Civil War, American Methodists numbered 1.5
million. (Galli, Hundred and thirty one Christians everyone should know, 184-187)

IV. Small Beginnings to Catalyzed Movements

A) Four Fold Gospel

Asbury’s mother encountered a Methodist preacher who preached the fourfold gospel:
1. All need to be saved. Every person is born with original sin and in need of
redemption.
2. All can be saved. Every person in the world can be saved through the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ if he or she so chooses.
3. All can know in their hearts that they are saved.
4. All can be saved to the uttermost. That is, every Christian can grow in his or her
faith to the fullest.

...which brought healing over her daughter's death and changed her life. After this she was
spending many hours in the Bible and in prayer. She influenced Francis by reading to him and
praying with him.

B) Early Teen Years

Francis gave his life to Lord at the age of 14 and Methodist leaders then started taking interest in
Francis and educating him with books and notes far beyond what his school experience offered.

C) Admiration for John Wesley

Francis greatly followed John Wesley’s life and longed to ride horseback doing the circuits and
being a travelling preacher. John Wesley preached at a conference and it made Francis feel that

even though he is uneducated that he too could be used by the Lord in great ways to spread the
gospel if he said YES to being used.

V. Essential Steps of Simple Obedience & Risk Taking

A) Consistent

Francis did not care about the size of his following, position or honor. He had been sent out by
John Wesley to follow the pattern laid down by the English Methodists, and he was certain that
following that pattern was the right and only way for Methodists to live. He did not give attention
to the half-hearted methodist.

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B) Selfless

During tension arising in the war he was given multiple options, and even asked by Wesley, to
leave the American colonies and move back to England. His life was at stake and he even faced
ministry discomfort as he could not travel freely anymore to do his circuits. Francis had every
opportunity to leave America. Francis, however, knew what his mission was, he had love and
compassion for the people and he fully knew that God wanted him to stay. (results of that)

C) Unwavering Determination

Ashbury’s radical commitment to traveling and preaching the gospel is nothing short of
miraculous; his simple obedience and commitment to love the people in His movement required
him to travel approximately 30,000 miles on horseback in the 45 years that he was in ministry.

VI. Important Quotes

Still, Frank did not give up. He recalled the words of John Wesley: “You have nothing to do but to
save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. Gaining knowledge is a good thing, but
saving souls is better.” (Benge, Janet. Francis Asbury: Circuit Rider (Christian Heroes: Then &
Now).

He was given a new circuit and could not see his parents often- his mom was having a hard time
adjusting to this he wrote her a letter ending: “...and though I have given up all, I do not repent,
for I have found all.” (Benge, Janet. Francis Asbury: Circuit Rider (Christian Heroes: Then &
Now) . YWAM Publishing. Kindle Edition.)

1771 John Wesley at the Methodist preacher conference Frank attended: “If we are not walking in
the way of the cross, we are not following Him; we are not treading in His steps but going back
from, or at least wide of, Him.”
“Three thousand miles from home—my friends have left me—I am considered by some as an
enemy of the country—every day liable to be seized by violence, and abused. This is just a trifle to
suffer for Christ, and the salvation of souls. Lord, stand by me!”

After the southern and northern conference a split had to come as the southern decided that
methodist preachers would baptise, “We saw we must part, though we loved each other as David
and Jonathan.”

VII. Methodism’s Effect on Ashbury

Ashbury’s success did not happen in a vacuum but it was largely because of the movement that he
got saved into. Methodism he held certain views that would ultimately set him up for success in a
way others before him were not able. Next are beliefs that Wesely held that inspired Asbury to
live in the way that he did and as a result he saw a mass move of God in America.

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1. The renewal movement “rediscovers” the gospel. Initially one or more persons discover, in
both experience and concept, what they consider to be a new dynamic in the Christian faith. This
experience alters their perception of the nature of the faith, or of its essential core, thus
constituting or leading to a new model or paradigm of the gospel and of the church (a paradigm
shift). Based on my study of Pietism, Methodism, and Moravianism and comparisons of these
movements with others through history, I conclude that such a gospel rediscovery is a distinctive
factor in renewal movements. Genuine renewal movements often begin when a few people, by
God’s grace, rediscover the heart and power of the gospel.

2. The renewing movement exists as a smaller, more intimate expression of the church within
the church. It sees itself not as the true church in an exclusive sense, but as a form of the church
which is necessary to the life of the larger church, and which in turn needs the larger church in
order to be complete. It understands itself as necessary not merely because of a perceived lack in
the larger church but also because of a conviction that the Christian faith can be fully experienced
only in some such “subecclesial” or small-church form. This understanding of small groups did
not happen in a vague or general sense; it takes on a specific small-group form within the local
congregation. It functions in two ways: both as a group within the Christian church at large and in
the more restricted sense of a movement expressing itself in specific small communities within
the local congregation. While the size and structure of these small groups may vary, generally
they are composed of a dozen or less persons and meet regularly once a week. This is a fairly
consistent pattern across movements.

3. The renewal structure is mission-oriented. It senses keenly its specific purpose and mission,
which is conceived in part as the renewal of the church and in part as witness to the world. It will
stress practical ethics, attempting to combine faith and love, belief with everyday life.

4. The renewal movement is especially conscious of being a distinct, covenant-based

community. It knows it is not the whole church; it senses its own incompleteness. But it sees
itself as a visible form of the true church. It does not attempt or intend to carry on all the
functions of the church but is a restricted community of people voluntarily committed to each
other. Based on a well-understood covenant, it has the capability of exercising discipline, even to
the point of exclusion, among its members. As a community the renewal movement prizes face-
to-face relationships, mutuality, and interdependence. It especially stresses Scriptures that speak
of koinonia, mutual encouragement, and admonition within the body—a “one-another”
community. It sees itself as a primary structure for experiencing those key aspects of the church. (
the Band meeting )

5. The renewal movement provides the context for the rise, training, and exercise of new forms
of ministry and leadership. Out of its experience of community comes a practical emphasis on
the gifts of the Spirit and the priesthood of believers. This consciousness combines with the
natural need for leadership within the movement and the outward impulse of witness and service
to produce both the opportunity and the enabling context for new forms of ministry and new
leaders who arise not through the more restricted, established ecclesiastical channels (typically,
education and ordination, restricted to males), but through practical experience and the shared life
of the group. This happened in Methodism as well as in other renewal movements. The renewal
group provides not only opportunities for leadership and service but also a natural environment

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for training new leaders. Partly for this reason, a disproportionately high number of future church
leaders often comes from the ranks of a renewal movement if it is not cut off from the established
church. (One thinks here of the important renewal popes who came from the ranks of religious
orders.)

6. Members of the renewal movement remain in close daily contact with society, and especially
with the poor. Church renewal movements vary a lot at this point, as can be seen in the case of
Pietism, Moravianism, and Methodism. Some renewal movements arise primarily among or
appeal directly to the poor. Others do not. We may contrast for example the thirteenth-century
Franciscan movement and the twentieth-century charismatic movement. The Franciscan revival,
like early Methodism, was largely a movement of the poor and lower classes. But the charismatic
movement, like Continental Pietism, was more a movement of the middle and upper classes,
especially in North America. In general, movements that appeal to and spread among the poor are
both more radical and more socially transforming than those which do not. The extent of social
impact varies, depending on the specific cultural context and other factors. A key lesson here:
much of the unique strength of early Methodism was that its members were, on the one hand, in
deeply committed covenant community through the Methodist classes, bands, and society while,
on the other hand, they were in constant daily contact with the larger society through employment

and extended family and social networks. Early Methodists were not cloistered off from society
and commerce as were the close-knit Moravian communities at Herrnhut, Germany, or
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The early Methodists were radical precisely in being both in the world
yet covenantally distinct from the world.

7. Finally, the renewal structure maintains an emphasis on the Spirit and the Word as the basis
of authority. It is both Christological and pneumatological. It stresses the norm of Scripture and
the life of the Spirit, maintaining both of these in some tension with the traditionalism of the
institutional church. If it veers to the right or the left at this point, it will become either a highly
legalistic sect or an enthusiastic cult liable to extreme or heretical beliefs. In the case of
Methodism, Wesley was able to maintain a balance which prevented either extreme. The renewal
movement stresses the Spirit and the Word as the ultimate ground of authority, but within limits
also recognizes the authority and traditions of the institutional church.

VIII. Asburie’s Ability to Change a Nation

His legacy is not in books and sermons, but in the thousands of preachers whose careers he
shaped one conversation at a time, and in the tens of thousands of ordinary believers who saw
him up close and took him (in however limited a way) as their guide. He was the people’s saint,
an ordinary person who chose to do extraordinary things. Asbury communicated his vision for
Methodism in four enduring ways that came to define much of evangelical culture in America.

1. The first was through his legendary piety and perseverance, rooted in a classically
evangelical conversion experience. Piety isn’t a word we use much anymore. It simply refers to
devotion to God and serving others, to a desire to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” and “thy neighbour as thyself.” Where most Methodists,
even most preachers, settled for a serviceable faith, Asbury strove for a life of extraordinary

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devotion. During his forty-five years in America he essentially lived as a houseguest in thousands
of other people’s homes across the land. This manner of life “exposed him, continually, to public
or private observation and inspection, and subjected him to a constant and critical review; and
that from day to day, and from year to year,” wrote Ezekiel Cooper, who knew Asbury for more
than thirty years. He lived one of the most transparent lives imaginable, with no private life
beyond the confines of his mind. It is all the more revealing, then, that the closer people got to
him, the more they tended to respect the integrity of his faith. (Wigger, John. American Saint (pp.
4-5). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.)

2. The second way that Asbury communicated his vision was through his ability to connect with
ordinary people. Connection was an important word for early Methodists, and Asbury embodied
its meaning better than anyone. As he crisscrossed the nation from year to year, he conversed with
countless thousands, demonstrating a gift for building relationships face to face or in small
groups. It is remarkable how many of those he met became permanent friends, even after

a single conversation. They loved to have him in their homes. Asbury often chided himself for
talking too much and too freely, especially late at night. He considered this love of close, often
lighthearted, conversation a drain on his piety. In reality it was one of his greatest strengths,
allowing him to build deep and lasting relationships and to feel closely the pulse of the church
and the nation. Henry Boehm, who traveled some 25,000 miles with Asbury from 1808 to 1813.
(Wigger, John. American Saint (p. 6). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.)

3. The third conduit of Asbury’s vision was the way that he understood and used popular
culture. John Wesley and Asbury were alike in their willingness to negotiate between competing
religious and cultural worlds. In his biography of Wesley, Henry Rack argues persuasively that
Wesley acted as a “cultural middleman” between Methodists on the one hand and clergymen and
educated gentlemen in England on the other.14 If so, then Asbury acted as a mediator between
Wesley and common Americans. Wesley and Asbury came from significantly different
backgrounds, but they shared a realization that the dominant religious institutions of their day
were failing to reach most people. The great question they both addressed was how to make the
gospel relevant in their time and place. The audience was never far from their minds. This led
Asbury to do things in America that he wouldn’t have done in England, some of which Wesley
disapproved. Asbury, for example, accepted the emotionalism of southern worship in the 1770s,
promoted camp meetings in the early 1800s, and reluctantly acquiesced to southern Methodists
holding slaves. This mediating impulse, transmitted from Wesley through Asbury, became a
trademark of American Methodism. (Wigger, John. American Saint (p. 7). Oxford University
Press. Kindle Edition.)

4. The fourth way that Asbury communicated his message was through his organization of
the Methodist church. He was a brilliant administrator and a keen judge of human motivations.
He had a “superior talent to read men,” as Peter Cartwright put it. As Asbury crisscrossed the
nation year in and year out, he attended to countless administrative details. Yet he never lost sight
of the people involved. “I have always taken pleasure as far as it was in my power, to bring men
of merit & standing forward,” he wrote to the preacher Daniel Hitt in 1801. The system Asbury
crafted made it possible to keep tabs on thousands of preachers and lay workers. Under his
leadership, American Methodists anticipated the development of modern managerial styles. No
merchant of the early nineteenth century could match Asbury’s nationwide network of class
leaders, circuit stewards, book stewards, exhorters, local preachers, circuit riders, and presiding

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elders, or the movement’s system of class meetings, circuit preaching, quarterly meetings, annual
conferences, and quadrennial general conferences, all churning out detailed statistical reports to
be consolidated and published on a regular basis.15 At the center of Asbury’s system was the
itinerant connection. He learned the itinerant system in England under John Wesley, bringing it to
America, where it worked even better than it had in England. Methodist itinerant preachers, or
circuit riders, didn’t serve a single congregation or parish, but rather ministered to a number of
congregations spread out along a circuit they continually traveled. Under Asbury, the typical
American itinerant rode a predominantly rural circuit 200 to 500 miles in circumference, typically
with twenty-five to thirty preaching appointments per round. He completed the circuit every two

to six weeks, with the standard being a four weeks’ circuit of 400 miles. This meant that circuit
riders had to travel and preach nearly every day, with only a few days for rest each month. Often
they were assigned a partner, but even so, they usually started at opposite ends of the circuit
instead of traveling together. The itinerant system worked well for reaching post-revolutionary
America’s rapidly expanding population. “We must draw resources from center to
circumference,” he wrote in 1797.

There was another less obvious, but equally important, component of Asbury’s system that went
to the heart of what it meant to be a Methodist, to practice a method: the necessity of a culture of
discipline. As individuals and communities, believers had to take it upon themselves to regulate
their spiritual lives, to maintain their own spiritual focus. Neither Asbury nor his preachers could
be everywhere at once. This is why, from his first days in America, he insisted on upholding the
requirement that all members attend class meetings and that love feasts be limited to active
members, creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and support. He delegated authority to others,
recognizing that a voluntary system wouldn’t work if it relied on coercion from above. It needed
to become a central component of people’s world view. Though there were plenty of
disagreements along the way, Methodists succeeded where other religious groups failed largely
because they were more disciplined. (Wigger, John. American Saint (pp. 8-10). Oxford University
Press. Kindle Edition.)

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