In the early national period, a small number of Methodist women received God's call to ministry. They rejected traditional role as wives and mothers. They defied gender bias against women's leadership.
And they carried out a public ministry with and without the approval of the male-dominated church. It is important to note that their determination was nurtured in part by reading accounts and writings from prominent women, mostly from England. First of this writing was from Elizabeth Singer Rowe, who wrote the devotional, Devout Exercises of the Heart.
in meditation and salilakuy, prayer and praise, which was published in 1737. So if Wesley read Jeremy Taylor's The Rules and Exercises of Holy Living and Holy Dying, as shown on the screen, many of these women in both sides of the Atlantic, on the other hand, read Rao's work. Although Rao was obviously not Methodist, since this book was published on the year of her death in 1737, her book was abridged for use in the Methodist societies in England, and as shown on the screen, was also reprinted by American Methodist publishing houses. They kept the devotional book in print from 1798 to 1855 in America. So what is interesting about this work is that there is a section on prayer for speedy sanctification.
This tells us why this book was so immensely popular among Methodist women, because it offers some kind of a recipe for those who were seeking the experience of sanctification. Aside from Rao's book, Methodist women also kept autobiographies from women who pioneered Methodism in West England. And a good example of this was Hester Ann Rogers.
Hester Rogers was one of the most influential early men and women on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Noted in particular for her life of holiness. So despite family opposition, Hester Rowe joined the Methodist Society in her native Macclesfield, which was near Manchester in 1774. She served as a devoted class leader until her marriage in 1784 to one of Wesley's troubling preachers by the name of James Rogers. James Rogers, by the way, was stationed in London during the final years of Wesley's life. And so that's why James and Hester were both present, were able to witness the death of John Wesley in 1791. Hester kept a journal from the time she became a Methodist.
Extracts from her journal and autobiography were published in England beginning in 1793. Her funeral sermon, preached by Thomas Koch in 1794, which was printed a year later, and the expanded collection of her letters were combined and gained a considerable circulation under the title, The Experience and Spiritual Letters of Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers. Sometimes this book also went with the title, A Short Account of the Experience of Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers. So this book was kept in print by the American Methodist publishers. from 1806 to the 1890s. Again, what's the reason for its popularity?
Again, it's because of its emphasis on sanctification. Hester Ann actually emphasized entire sanctification. She helped popularize this particular doctrine among men and women on both sides of the Atlantic.
And she claimed experiencing this experience, which she also called the baptismal flame, another term used for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And so aside from Elizabeth Rowe and Hester Ann Rogers, another woman that was influential to American Methodist women was Mary Bosonquay Fletcher. We talk about her in one of our previous lectures. Her journal was continuously in print in America from 1818 to the 1890s. It was immensely popular among American Methodist women.
Another of her writings was this book, Jesus Altogether Lovely, or A Letter to Some of the Single Women in the Methodist Society, which was published in 1766. This book has been popular also among American Methodist women. Hence, the words of Rowe, Rogers, and Boston Clay Fletcher were some of the most popular books sold by the 1899 preachers. Methodism afforded many satisfactions or benefits for women. That's why this accounts for its success among women. So the question now is, what were these benefits?
Well, the first benefit would be this. It would be conversion. Why?
Because conversion offered women a higher sense of allegiance. That was above men. Meaning, now...
Their allegiance is to God and not with men. Another benefit was the benefit of worship. Worship created the space for these women to be nurtured in public speaking, in praying, and in testifying. So these worship gatherings among the mothers were quite empowering for women.
And what else? Third would be sermons. Why? Because sermons praise feminine traits.
What were the traits? Patience, love, sensitivity, versus the competitive values of males, which was quite visible in commerce, politics, and sport. Women found a natural affinity for the sermon speech in the marriage chapels.
Fourth, social justice commitments, or that is, the sanctioning of socially acceptable public activities outside the home. So it gave women the chance to be part of this socially acceptable public activities beyond the home, which was what? What were these activities? Missions, activities pertaining to the promotion of temperance, and activities pertaining to the promotion of abolition or the abolition of slavery. And also, finally, another benefit was that the chapels or churches became a home away from home for these women.
because men could congregate on the job or at a local bar. But church meetings, on the other hand, gave women a similar sense of bonding, a sense of solidarity, a sense of security, as well as a leadership training venue for them to learn a variety of social skills. But aside from these benefits, the primary vocational dream for many of these women of the early 19th century were being the wife of a minister. or a missionary. For both of these roles allowed them a keen sense of usefulness, both in winning souls and being publicly asserted.
The transition to a married clergy in the years after 1816, in effect, opened a new era of religious activity to men as women. By the way, that year was the first year where a married preacher was elected bishop in the person of Robert R. Roberts from Western Pennsylvania. You need to understand that most itinerant ministers were single prior to this.
And if you got married during that time, you surrender, basically surrender your membership with the conference. You're no longer an itinerant. minister. And so, with the change of these rules against ministers marrying, this opened a much wider sphere for women once they started marrying itinerant ministers.
Well-known scholar, Leonard Sweet, has offered four models for roles of minister's wives. And what were these four models? There were those who, according to Sweet, serve as, number one, as companion, In other words, they served as companions to their husbands.
They accompanied them in their ministry. A second model mentioned by Sweet was sacrificer. There were times that they made sacrifices, stay at home, take care of the kids, so that the husband can do the work of ministry, or so that the husband can seek first the kingdom of God, basically. Third model mentioned by Sweet was assistant.
They assisted their husbands in the work of ministry. And the fourth model would be partner. Of course, there were some who acted as partners in ministry with their husbands. They were like preachers too. They did not only accompany their husbands, but they also exercised that same authority.
And in some cases, they carried much weight than their husbands. And so marriage to a preacher offered women the possibility of a genuinely shared ministry. But aside from marriage to a minister, some women found the strength during this period to take the next step. And what was the next step?
Well, this next step is the one we dare not name, actually. That is, preaching. And there are so many examples of women that transitioned to preaching, not just exhortation, but really exegeting the text and preaching to people. But we will only cite two examples here. A very good example would be Fanny Newell of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who began her ministry in 1809 and onwards.
Fanny Butterfield was born in Maine. And she experienced a trance-like conversion at the age of 15. She testified at home and at church the next Sunday that she got religion, quote-unquote, and she cut off her curls. The following year, she married a Methodist preacher by the name of Ebenezer Newell and traveled with him on his circuits in Maine and Vermont.
So see, you see what's happening here? She married the preacher, but at the same time, She was a partner to her husband, and she ended up preaching because of that. So her call to preach was confirmed a few years later when she preached at a camp meeting held in connection with the New England Conference.
She continued to preach from time on in Ebenezer's circuit, many times taking his place while he stayed home taking care of the children. So together, they become one of the earliest documented Baptist clergy couples. The first edition of her memoirs was printed within months of her death in 1824. 10,000 copies of an expanded edition was published in 1832, and they were sold in a few months. And before the end of the year, the publisher reprinted 5,000 more copies.
So the book was kept in print until 1848 and reprinted twice even in recent years, one in 1996 and one in 2000. So this just goes to show how immensely popular Fanny Newell was. good example was Jarena Lee of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Lee was born in New Jersey in Cape May in 1783. In 1836, she published the first edition of her religious memoirs.
This book told the inspiring story of a poor colored woman, quote unquote, who rose to fame as an evangelical preacher during the early decades of the 19th century. As early as 1809, Lee told her New Jersey pastor that she felt it her duty to preach the gospel. But her pastor discouraged her.
Eight years later, 1817, while living and working as a housemaid in Philadelphia, she eventually was licensed to preach by Bishop Richard Allen of the AMA Church. So what led to her being licensed to preach by Bishop Allen? Well, this took place at Bethel Church in Philadelphia, the first AME church in the country, by the way. It happened while the preacher, Reverend Williams, began to preach.
According to her memoir, here's what Lee wrote about the event. Referring to Williams, the text he took is Jonah 2, chapter 9, verse. Salvation is the Lord.
But as he proceeded to explain, he seemed to have lost the spirit, when in the same instant I sprang, as by altogether supernatural impulse, to my feet, when I was aided from above to give an exhortation on the very text which my brother Williams had taken. During the exhortation, God made manifest His power in a manner sufficient to show the world that I was called to labor according to my ability, and the grace given unto me in the vineyard of the good husband's man. I now sat down, scarcely knowing what I had done, being frightened.
I imagined that for this indecorum, as I feared it might be called, I should be expelled from the church. But instead of this, the bishop rose up. in the assembly and related that I had called upon him eight years before, asking to be permitted to preach, and that he had put me off.
By the way, you'll find the history of this if you check the snapshot on Jarena Lee, what happened eight years before this. But that he now... I much believe that I was called to that work as any of the preachers present. These remarks greatly threatened me so that my fears of having given an offense and made myself liable as an offender subsided, giving place to a sweet serenity, a holy joy of a peculiar kind. and tasted in my bosom until then.
What's quite amazing about this account is, if you look at the second paragraph, God made manifest his power in a manner sufficient to show the world that I was called to labor. as a preacher. And so basically what happened there, there was most likely manifestations happening while she was preaching. It affected the people who were listening to her, who listened to her sermon. And so that's why the bishop could not ignore this as an evidence that she was gifted to preach.
So with Bishop Allen's approval, Geronimo began to move about Philadelphia, preaching to small groups in private homes. Her winsome personality and obviously her speaking talent generally overcame any opposition against her gender. Beginning in 1823, she spent most of her time on the road as an independent itinerant evangelist on behalf of the AME Church.
Traveling by horseback, by boat, or on foot, she crisscrossed the country on her mission to preach the gospel. Visiting churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Delaware, Ohio, and even in Canada. Remarkably, in 1827 alone, Lee covered 2,000 miles and preached several hundred sermons.
She created quite a sensation in antebellum America, often speaking to overflowing crowds at camp meetings and church services. Although her audiences were usually composed of other African Americans, she was reputed to be a powerful speaker that many white Methodists flocked to her meetings as well. As a black woman in the pulpit, Lee often suffered hostility and persecution.
But nonetheless, she deposed her career defending the equality of the sexes. She wrote in the same memoir, And why should it be thought impossible, heterodox, or improper for a woman to preach? Seeing the Savior died for the woman as well as for the man.
If the man may preach because the Savior died for him, why not the woman? Seeing he died for her also. Is he not a whole Savior instead of a half one? As those who hold it wrong for a woman to preach would seem to make it appear.
In the 1850s, Lee led the Women's Caucus in the AME Church to press for licensing and ordaining women. However, her church general conference said no. This was in 1852, by the way, and ended such talk for a time.
We know very little about her later life, however. Although Lee often felt isolated, she was only one among A large community of women, both black and white, who felt called to a life of public evangelism in the early life of the nation and Antebellum America. Many women, just like the two examples I mentioned, Newell and Lee, exhibited the radicalism of what is called evangelical feminism.
Again, let me repeat that, evangelical feminism. What is evangelical feminism, by the way? Well, it's described this way, in three ways.
First, it is the rejection of traditional roles as wife and mother. And we found that clearly in the lives of Jewel and Lee. Second, the determination to defy gender biases against women's leadership.
Again, we see that in those two examples. Third... the physical ability, the gifts and graces to carry out a public ministry, with and without approval by male-dominated churches.
Again, we see that in the ministries of the two examples. We now move on to the next topic.