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ONLY GOD KNOWS THE OPPOSITION WE FACE: THE RHETORIC OF NINETEENTH CENTURY FREE METHODIST WOMEN’S QUEST FOR ORDINATION Christy E. Mesaros-Winckles A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2012 Committee: Ellen Gorsevski, Adviser Ellen E. Berry Graduate Faculty Representative Alberto Gonzalez Catherine Cassara © 2012 Christy Mesaros-Winckles All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Ellen Gorsevski, Advisor This study focuses on two prominent evangelists, Ida Gage and Clara Wetherald, who served as two of the earliest women delegates to the Free Methodist General Conference and argued in defense of their ministries. Rhetorical artifacts include historical writings from both Gage and Wetherald. To illustrate the tension these women faced in gaining acceptance for their ministry, the 1890 and 1894 General Conference debates on ordaining women are analyzed to provide a broader religious and cultural understanding. Using archival research methods, the dissertation emphasizes constructing a rhetorical history narrative about the debates in the Free Methodist Church on women’s place in ministry and in the home. The rhetorical concept of “passing” is used to illustrate how both Wetherald and Gage had to construct their narratives in a way that would allow them to be accepted in the male dominated profession of ministry. Additionally, the concept of silence as a rhetorical device is also used to demonstrate how both Wetherald’s and Gage’s ministries and impact in the denomination quickly vanished after the issue of women’s ordination was defeated and both became divorcees. However, while their ministry gains suffered setbacks within the Free Methodist Church, the fact that Wetherald went on to have a thriving preaching career and Gage inspired both her children and grandchildren to start successful ministries outside of the denomination illustrates their long-lasting impact on nineteenth century ministerial culture. iv This dissertation is dedicated to the lives of all Free Methodist women who have faithfully pursued their passion to spread their faith despite opposition. In particular, I dedicate this to the nineteenth century Free Methodist women trailblazers who experienced numerous physical, financial and personal hardships to break pathways for women to become ministers. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Without the help of numerous individuals, this dissertation would never have been possible. First, I wish to thank Dr. Ellen Gorsevski, who has been my adviser and dissertation committee chair. Thank you for pushing me to explore new theoretical ideas and helping me to believe in my academic abilities when I sometimes did not believe in them myself. Additionally, I want to thank my wonderful dissertation committee – Dr. Ellen Berry, Dr. Alberto Gonzalez and Dr. Catherine Cassara – who have allowed me to research the topics I am passionate about and have seen value in my scholarship. The gentle guidance my committee has provided is invaluable. When I began working on this dissertation a year and a half ago, Clara Wetherald and Ida Gage were no more than names on the page of a denominational history book. At times I seriously questioned whether I would ever find enough information to understand the lives and rhetoric of these two amazing trailblazers in women’s ministry. Without question, I would not have succeeded without the help of Wetherald’s and Gage’s descendants. Special thanks must go to Florene Turner who faithfully preserved her grandmother Edith Gage Tingley’s memoirs and provided me with a copy of this amazing book. So much of what I know about Ida is a result of the Tingely family’s thorough genealogical research. Additionally, I have to thank Norm Luppino, a descendant of Clara Wetherald’s brother, Perry Miller. Thank you for working as my tireless, unpaid, research assistant and sending me newspaper articles, family letters and other valuable information about Clara Wetherald and her family. Furthermore, I need to thank Betty Arford for her help transcribing the Miller and Wetherald family letters, and Dr. Rev. Doug Showater who shared his research on Clara Wetherald’s Congregationalist connections and was incredibly helpful in explaining the history of ordination in the Congregationalist Church. vi Finally, special thanks goes to Dorothy Spring who has served as my sounding board, research assistant, and friend throughout this process. Dorothy’s passion to uncover Clara’s story helped motivate me to beat her in uncovering information. Furthermore, because at the heart and soul of this dissertation are the primary sources collected for this project, I wish to thank several archivists for their time and access to the amazing collection of treasures they oversee. Thank you to Cathy Fortner and Kate McGinn at the Marston Memorial Historical Center for opening up the Free Methodist archives and hunting down sources and material for me. Thank you to Susan Panak of Spring Arbor University whose probing questions as the Spring Arbor archivist made me think about the missing pieces in Clara and Ida’s stories in new ways. I’m indebted to all of you. The list of people who helped me with this project is extensive, but I wish to especially remember two amazing Free Methodist scholars who have helped me throughout this process. First, Dr. Howard Snyder’s groundbreaking history, Populist Saints, about Free Methodist founders B.T. and Ellen Roberts, helped me see that Free Methodism’s impact extends beyond religious history to the history of social movements in nineteenth century American culture. Thank you, Dr. Snyder, for your support throughout this project and for your belief that my research had merit and is valuable to the denomination. You have become a wonderful mentor to me. Thank you to Beth Armstrong whose current survey research on barriers to women’s ordination in the twenty-first century Free Methodist Church has helped me draw correlations between the past and present. I greatly appreciate you sharing your ongoing research findings with me. I have enjoyed finding a colleague who shares my passion to break down the “stained glass ceiling” for women pursing full-time ministry. vii Finally, thanks to my husband, Andrew Winckles, who acted as my editor and provided valuable, honest critiques of each dissertation chapter before I sent it off to the committee for review. Andrew has listened to me worry for almost two years about not finding needed sources and wondering at times if this topic was even possible to pursue. Without his support I doubt I would have been sane enough to finish this dissertation. I also need to thank my cat Paisley who telepathically communicated to me some of the most complex theoretical ideas I used in this dissertation. I have one smart cat who spent hours sitting on my lap as I wrote, a wonderful comfort and stress reliever. I think he is probably one of the first cats to complete a dissertation. Thus, he rightfully deserves to be credited in my acknowledgements section. In conclusion, I want to extend thanks to the Bowling Green State University Alumni Association for giving me the Katzner Award to fund part of this research. The financial assistance was greatly appreciated, as archival research is not an inexpensive research method. I have been humbled, encouraged and challenged by the faculty I have worked with in the School of Media and Communication, the Women’s Studies Department, and the American Culture Studies Department who have exposed me to new topics and new research methods. I am a more well-rounded scholar because of the diverse, interdisciplinary research I have been taught. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. EXCAVATING THE PAST: THE LITERATURE OF NINETEENTH CENTURY WOMEN’S RHETORIC ...........................................................................................................1 Retrieving Nineteenth Century Women’s Contributions ................................................4 Wesleyan History and Women’s Rhetoric ......................................................................7 Free Methodist Rhetoric in the Nineteenth Century .....................................................11 First-wave Feminism and Religion ................................................................................18 CHAPTER II. WEAVING TOGETHER FEMINIST THEORY, RHETORICAL HISTORY AND ARCHIVAL RESEARCH ..............................................................................................26 Overview of Rhetorical Criticism from a Narrative Perspective ..................................26 Conversion Narratives/Christian Perfection as Embodied Experience .........................31 Overview of the Rhetorical Concepts of the Fourth Persona .......................................35 Rhetorical Silencing of Women in Their Faith Communities .......................................37 Overview of Feminist Archival Research Methods ......................................................39 CHAPTER III. THE LEGACY OF CLARA WETHERALD AND IDA GAGE .....................44 Clara Wetherald’s Ministry and Rhetorical Identity .....................................................46 Ida Gage’s Ministry and Rhetorical Identity .................................................................61 CHAPTER IV. THE ORDAINING DEBATE WOMEN IN THE FREE METHODIST CHURCH ..................................................................................................................................74