THE EARLY METHODIST LAY PREACHERS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY REVIVAL IN ENGLAND A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of Divinity, New College The University of Edinburgh In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy James Sampson Wilder, junior May, 1948 . TABLE OP CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. ENGLAND IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY . 1 Introduction . 1 I. Social Conditions . « 3 II. Moral Conditions .... 16 III. Religious Conditions ... 28 Summary ...... 50 II. THE RISE OP LAY PREACHING IN EARLY METHODISM Part I John Wesley And The Rise Of Methodism I. John Wesley's early life ... 52 II. Many beginnings of Methodism . 53 1. Oxford, 1729 .... 53 2. Savannah Society, April, 1736 55 3. Aldersgate, May 24, 1738 . 56 4. Fetter Lane Society, May 1, 1738 57 5. New Room, Bristol, May 9, 1739 . 58 6. Kingswood School, May 15, 1739 . 61 7. Poundery, London, November, 1739 62 8. The "First" Methodist Society, "latter end of 1739" . .66 Part II The Rise of Lay Preaching and John Wesley f s Developing Ideas on Lay Preaching I. The Situation . .69 1. Rapid growth of the societies . .69 2. Lack of proper supervision . 70 3. Need for assistants . .71 II. Possible Solutions . .71 1. Clerical help desired . .71 2. Laymen the only solution . .73 3. Societies produced lay preachers . 73 4. Clerical attitude forced lay preaching 74 III. Wesley ! s Developing Ideas on Lay Preaching 76 1. Early period .... 76 a. Susanna Wesley in 1711 . 76 b. Oxford and high churchmanship 77 c. High churchmanship modified 78 d. Use of laymen in Georgia 80 e. Delamotte becomes a lay helper 81 ii 2. Transitional period .... 87 a. Hernnhut and Christian David . 87 b. John Cennick assists Wesley . 89 c. Joseph Humphreys begins to preach 97 3. Pull acceptance ..... 109 a. Thomas Maxfield at the Poundery. 109 b. Crisis and decision . 114 c. Maxfield»s later life. 119 d. The "first" Methodist lay preacherJLSl 4. Period of development . 124 a. Thomas Richards . * . 124 b. Thomas Westell . 127 c. David Taylor . 129 d. Six new assistants in 1741 136 e. Increasing number of assistants 137 5. Final position .... 137 a. The First Conference, 1744 137 b. Wesley f s defence of lay preaching 138 IV. Charles Wesley and George Whitefield on Lay Preaching ...... 144 1. Charles Wesley ..... 144 2. George Whitefield .... 150 III. THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE EARLY METHODIST LAY PREACHERS I, Whence they carae ..... 154 1. Homes of their fathers . 155 2. Previous occupations ... 157 3. Religious background . 158 4. Growing stability .... 159 5. Why some left the work . 160 II Representative Lives . 162 1. Artisan -- John Nelson, 1707-1774 162 2. Soldier -- John Haime, 1710-1784 . 186 3. Middle class -- Christopher Hopper, 1722-1799 ..... 206 a. Gentry Robert Carr Brackenbury 222 General Characteristics . 223 1. Men of their time .... 224 2. Conversion experiences . 225 3. Moral revolution .... 228 4. Self-effacing, self-condemning 230 5. Courage in face of persecution 230 6. Forgiving love .... 233 7. Hardships and suffering cheerfully borne 234 8. Self-sacrifice ..... 237 9. Personal devotion to John Wesley . 238 10. Indefatigable labors .... 239 iii CHAPTER PAGE IV. Unworthy Assistants 241 1. James Wheatley 242 2. Thomas Williams 244 IV. THE WORK AND PLACE OP THE LAY PREACHERS IN THE METHO­ DIST SOCIETIES Part I The Work of the Lay Preachers in the Methodist Societies . 249 I, Early Developments 249 1. The Conference .... 249 2. Selection and admission . 254 3. The office of an Assistant 260 4. Rules and discipline . 263 a. "T^ie Twelve Rules of a Helper" 264 b. Imposed discipline 269 c. Reading and study 270 d. Preaching 283 e. Conduct of worship 289 f. Publishing . 292 g. Following trades 296 h. Financial support 299 i. Marriage 303 j. Support of wives 305 k. Personal advice . 310 1. Moral examination 312 5. Opposition to discipline 314 6. Willing acceptance 317 7. Methodist brotherhood 318 II Later Problems 320 1. Administration of the sacraments 320 2. Ordination . 326 .Part II The Place of the Lay Preachers In The Methodist Societies . 339 V. CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE LAY PREACHERS TO THE EIGH^ 2NTH CENTURY REVIVAL IN ENGLAND I. Religious Contribution . 344 1. The Revival of Evangelical Religion 344 2. The Spread of Evangelical Religion 346 a* Brought the tfnew n faith to the common man . 346 b. Reached those Wesley could not reach*347 c. Prepared the way for Wesley . 349 d. Influenced the Evangelical Party . 350 iv CHAPTER 1'AOK II. Organizational Contribution .... 3f>;: 1. Executed piano ..... ' ! ;'> 2. Influenced Break with tho (Jhurr,h <>r England . '>i>4 III. Educational Contribution . '.'.4 IV. Literary Contribution ..... M>H 1. Autobiographies ..... '.'*') 2. Hymns and poetry . .'><>) 3. Sermonn and tractn . '>'\\ V. Social Contribution ..... v,:> VI. Theological Contribution .... vv/ Conclusion ....... V'/M BIBLIOGRAPHY ......... V/0 APPEITDIXES ......... 'V-/a FOREWORD The subject of this study was first called to my attention by a statement of John S.' Simortfs in his John Wesley' And The Methodist Societies* He was describing the beginning of Methodism in the Midlands and especially the outstanding work of John Nelson, when>he said: ... we are impressed by a fact which has not been suf­ ficiently emphasized by some who have described the course of the great Revival. While doing justice to the importance of Wesley's direct work in the evangelization of the country they have failed to give sufficient value to his indirect influence. No one can read such books as The Lives Of The Early Methodist Preachers . with- out learning iBEat in many parts of the country the orig­ inal Societies were gathered and kept together by laymen. • • . It is possible by diligent search to recover some of their names, but an impenetrable veil covers most of them. They share the common fate of many of the pioneers in great religious revivals; but a day will come when the veil shall be lifted and we shall know those who, in rough places, prepared the way of the Lord and made His paths straight. 1 This sent me immediately to those almost forgotten volumes, The Lives Of Early Methodist Preachers. Before I had finished reading the first tome, the present study began taking shape in my mind. I soon discovered Simon was right when he said that an impenetrable veil covers most of that large body of laymen who acted as class leaders, band leaders, and exhorters ties, pp. John70-71. S. Simon, ———John Wesley And The ———————Methodist ————Socie­ vi in those first Methodist Societies. Even from over the lay preachers, the veil is lifted only here and there to reveal the men and their labors. But these glimpses stir the imag­ ination and send one diligently searching for more information. When John Wesley first began to use lay preachers in the work of the revival, he made no distinctions among them. They were simply known as Wesley ! s "helpers" or "assistants." As the work grew, however, Wesley accepted helpers who wanted to continue at their trades and give only a part of their time to preaching. These worked in a limited area and be­ came known as "Local" preachers. Others, who gave their full time to the work and travelled up and down the country assist­ ing V/esley in the supervision and control of the Methodist Societies and the local leadership, became known as "travelling preachers," "itinerants," "helpers," or "assistants." As Methodism expanded further, Wesley appointed in each circuit one of the "helpers" as a superintendent preacher and desig­ nated him an "Assistant." In the Conference of 1749 this dis­ tinction was formally recognized, and two orders of travelling preachers were established—"Helpers" and "Assistants." There were then three main divisions in the Methodist leadership: (1) the Wesleys and the small band of sympathetic clergymen; • (2) the itinerant lay preachers, !,.£•, "Helpers" and "Assist­ ants;" (3) and the local lay leaders. The principal subject of this study is that body of itinerant preachers who vii assisted Wesley. In the early days of Methodism, Wesley used the terms Assistant and Helper interchangeably and often referred to the whole body of travelling preachers as Assistants or as Helpers. Actually, there was not a great distinction to be made between them then—they were selected and admitted into Conference in the same manner and were governed by the same rules and regulations. The "Assistants" were really "Helpers" who were given a few added responsibilities. Since I am largely concerned with the early years before the division was too pronounced, I have not stressed the distinction; and it should be said at the outset that I have used the two terms interchangeably according to John Wesley f s original usage. In order to avoid any confusion, however, I have used a small "h" and "a M when using the terms helpers and assist­ ants to mean the total body of itinerant preachers. In the few instances where I have written specifically about only one group or the other, I have used the terms with a capital "H" or "A". It has been called to my attention that the modern use of the term "lay preacher" in the Methodist Church in England refers only to local preachers and that the itinerant preachers, or the direct predecessors of the present ordained ministry, who gave their full time to the work, are not generally spoken of as "lay" preachers but rather as "the early Methodist viii preachers." To avoid any misunderstanding about my use of the term "lay preacher" in reference to these assistants or travelling preachers, it must be said that during the early years of the revival in the eyes of John Wesley, in the offi­ cial view of the church, and in their own sight, these men were never considered other than laymen.