November 1, 1796 — to the General Conference of the People Called Methodists in Great Britain,
ASB_VOL3.PDF, PDF page 186
The British Conference met in London on July 25. In that
conference a letter of greeting to the General Conference in America was prepared. This was to be taken over personally by Bishop Coke. He presented it to the General Conference; and this letter of November 1, 1796, is the answer sent back by the General Conference.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
November 1, 1796
TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE PEOPLE
CALLED METHODISTS IN GREAT BRITAIN,
Fathers and Brethren, dearly beloved in the Lord:
We feel ourselves highly gratified by your kind remembrance of us, and with great satisfaction embrace the present opportunity, by Dr. Coke,1 of returning you our sincere thanks for your welcome address,2 and of assuring you of our unfeigned esteem and affection for you. Though a vast ocean divides us, we are intimately one with you in spirit, and frequently with much delight remember you in our prayers. We doubt not but we are remembered in yours; and we entreat also, through you, the fervent petitions of your dear flocks to the throne of grace in our behalf. With you, beloved brethren, we deeply lament the increase of infidelity in the world. But it is no more than we have reason to expect, from the sure word of prophecy. And we have full confidence that, through the exercise of one great prerogative of the Head of the Church, abundance of good will be brought out of this greatest of evils. The faithful will be made manifest; the reign of antichrist to be put down by the infidels, who are the fittest instruments for the work; and the church of God will eminently become the city set upon a hill, the salt of the earth, the light of the world. There certainly is, as you observe, brethren, a liberal spirit gone forth into the Christian world, and bigotry and party-rage daily lose ground. But the carelessness, and the contempt of the sacred writings, which more and more prevail, are perhaps as dangerous to individuals as the former. May we be able to steer between the rocks on both sides, under the guidance of our heavenly Master!
We admire with you the method God is taking to beat down the pride of philosophy, even by choosing the foolish things of the world to confound the things which are mighty: and this is agreeable to the method of God’s proceedings in the purest times of Christianity. At the same time, the Lord has not left us without men who, when necessary, are able to contend against that vain philosophy with its own weapons of logical arguments, and with success; though we are sensible how far we are inferior to you, our elder brethren, in this respect.
We bless God, that both we and our people highly esteem all the branches of the Methodist discipline; nor can we possibly be too thankful to our adorable Lord, for that highly-honoured instrument of His grace, your and our late Father in the Gospel, the Rev. John Wesley. We do trust, brethren, we shall with you persevere to walk by the same rules, and mind the same things.
We candidly confess to you, that we were very fearful, when the Lord took that eminent man to his reward, that divisions would take place among you, from the delicate circumstances in which you were placed. To us in general he was personally unknown, and acted only by his delegates. But you were honoured with his constant residence and useful labours. Among you he superintended for half a century, to the admiration, we had almost said, of the whole civilized world. But our God is infinitely kind to us all. He has preserved both you and us in a wonderful manner. We rejoice in your union; and can bless God that we were never more united than at present. A few indeed, who were as great enemies to the civil government under which they lived, as to our discipline, have left us; and we have now not a jarring string among us. God has abundantly owned our feeble labours, during this present Conference, to the people of Baltimore; and we trust it is an earnest of a glorious Gospel-harvest through this continent in the ensuing and future years. At present you have the largest sphere of action in respect to the number of souls; but we are humbly endeavouring to sow those seeds of grace, which may grow up and spread in this immense country, which in ages to come will probably be the habitation of hundreds of millions.
We trust we shall never forget your kind advice, but shall always remember that the Methodist Societies through the world are eminently called to be one body, and to be actuated by one spirit; and that we have but one faith, one Lord, and one baptism.
To you and our God we humbly recommend you, fathers and brethren. May His everlasting arms be ever beneath and around you; may His blessed Spirit overshadow you in all your conferences, and in all your labours; and may that love which we mutually feel towards each other increase a hundred-fold, till we all meet in those realms of bliss where we shall see each other eye to eye, and, with the children God hath given us, live together in the complete union forever!
We subscribe ourselves, with great respect and esteem,
Your affectionate and younger Brethren in the Gospel,
The American General Conference
Signed, in behalf and by order of the Conference,
THOMAS COKE,
FRANCIS ASBURY
“An Extract of the Minutes of Several Conversations held at Leeds, July 31, etc. 1797.” (Minutes of conference.)
Transcribed with notes by Frank Baker
Notes (2)
- Bishop Coke. ↩
- The British Methodist Conference met in London on Monday, July 25, 1796, and agreed that Coke should take over a letter of greeting from the conference to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Coke took it with him when he embarked at Gravesend August 6 on the “Friendship” for Baltimore. To the General Conference of the People called Methodists in America. Dearly beloved Brethren: With real pleasure we embrace the present opportunity, by means of our highly-respected brother, the Rev. Dr. Coke, of greeting you in the name of our common Lord, and of convincing you that we still remember you in love, and have your peace and prosperity greatly at heart.… We consider you as a branch from the same root from which we sprung, and of which we can never think but with inexpressible gratitude. You will rejoice to hear of our unanimity and increase. The more so, as on the death of our venerable father, Mr. Wesley, the contrary was feared by our friends, and wished for by our enemies. Glory be to God, we never were more united to each other; nor were our labours, in general, more owned by the Head of the Church. We trust, dear brethren, that you will join us, in frequently calling to mind our original design, and “walk by the same rule and mind the same thing; namely, to save our own souls and those who hear us.” We congratulate you on the honour which our blessed Lord has put upon you, in crowning your endeavours with such amazing success, and blessing you with the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, for which we also have great cause to be thankful. May we still remember that, whatever differences may mark other denominations, we are eminently one body, actuated by one Spirit, having one faith, one Lord, one baptism. That the ever-blessed Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, may preside in all your assemblies and continue to distinguish you by particular manifestations of His love, till we meet together in the peaceful mansions of unmixed and never-ending happiness, is the sincere and fervent prayer of, Dearly beloved Brethren, Your truly affectionate Brethren in Christ Jesus, The English Conference Signed by order and on behalf of the Conference, Thomas Taylor, President Samuel Bradburn, Secretary This seems to have been the first official address which passed between the Methodists of the two countries, apart from John Wesley’s letter of September 10, 1784. No mention is made in the address of the formal written engagement into which Coke had entered in order to assist Asbury more fully in the oversight of the rapidly spreading societies. “I offer myself to my American brethren, entirely to their service, all I am and have, with my talents and labours in every respect, without any mental reservation whatever, to labour among them, and to assist Bishop Asbury; not to station the preachers any time when he is present; but to exercise all the episcopal duties when I hold a Conference in his absence, and by his consent; and to visit the West Indies and France when there is an opening and when I can be spared. Thomas Coke Conference Room, Baltimore, October 27, 1796.” The news of this engagement, released by Coke at the Irish Conference, preceded him to the English Conference, causing grave disquiet. Whatever misgivings the English preachers had about Coke’s supposed ambitions, they realized that he was too valuable a leader to be driven from them. They made somewhat belated atonement for past neglect—or rejection—by electing him president of the conference. They also pleaded with him on four separate occasions not to desert them for America. Coke was deeply moved but hardly knew what to do. He obviously acquiesced in the reply to the address from America, though for modesty’s sake he did not add his presidential signature. This answer, “To Mr. Francis Asbury, and all the Conferences of the People called Methodists in America,” spoke of the discord within British Methodism, leading to the formation of the Methodist New Connexion, and pleaded that he might be released from his engagement to America: “It is on this ground, that we must request the return of our friend and brother, the Rev. Dr. Coke. He has often been a peace-maker among us, and we have frequently experienced the salutary effects of his advice and exertions in behalf of this part of the Connexion. He has informed us of the engagements he has made to you. But you must spare him to us for a time, at least while these convulsions continue in our Societies; and the sooner you permit him to return, the greater will be the favour. In this, we address you as your elder brethren; and therefore, we had almost said, we will not be denied; and if, when our affairs are in a settled state, he must return to you, to devote the remainder of his days to the work of God upon your continent, he shall return with our blessing and thanks. And, at all events, he shall visit you, if God preserve his life, at your next General Conference.” The English Conference’s address went on to proclaim the real unity in spirit of Methodists on both sides of the Atlantic, and stated that any of the American itinerant preachers coming to Great Britain with a recommendation from their annual conference would be freely accepted on transfer and be accorded the full status of their years of traveling. The address was “Signed in behalf, and by order of the British Conference in Leeds, August 10, 1797, SAMUEL BRADBURN, Secretary.” For Asbury’s reply from the Virginia Conference see letter, November 29, 1797. ↩