This week we read American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists by John Wigger. Wigger is a professor of history at the University of Missouri. As an American historian, Wigger writes to prove that Asbury is not just an important patriotic figure in American history, but an American Saint (417). Wigger suggests that Asbury was an American Saint by claiming, “Asbury wasn’t an intellectual, charismatic performer or autocrat, but his understanding of what it meant to be pious, connected, culturally aware, and effectively organized redefined religious leadership in America” (13).
Wigger
proves his argument that Asbury is an American Saint by illustrating how
Asbury’s piety, connectedness, cultural awareness, and organizational skills
redefined what it means to be an American religious leader. Asbury is perhaps
best known for his piety. He would often awaken between four and five am to read
Scripture, pray, and read theology (40). After leaving England in 1771, Asbury
never owned a home, sleeping for more than forty years in the homes of
Methodist believers (23). Asbury never married, partially because he wanted to
devote his energies to his ministry (417), and partially because many of the
circuits could not financially support married preachers (369).
Amongst
American Methodists, Asbury is known as “the people’s saint” because of his connectedness
and cultural awareness. In a letter to Wesley, dated March 1784, Absury wrote:
“we must suffer with, if we labour for the
poor, being often obliged to dwell in dirty cabins, to sleep in poor beds, and
for retirement, to go into the woods. Yet how else would [we] find the people
who most needed the gospel?” (127). For Asbury, his personal suffering was the
best way for him to connect with the people he was trying to minister to. Later
in life, Asbury lamented the disconnectedness of married preachers from their
congregations writing, “our preachers get wives and a home, and run to their dears
almost every night: how can they, by personal observation, know the state of
their families it is part of their duty to watch over for good” (370). For Asbury,
it was more important for a preacher to be connected than comfortable.
Asbury also
cultivated a reputation as “the people’s saint” through the cultural awareness
he demonstrated in his sermons. Asbury never became a great preacher (285). He
never went to college, or seminary. His sermons were “close to home” sermons. Every
sermon began with a reading of Scripture, and the sermon comprised of anecdotes
and analogies from everyday life (284). As an itinerant preacher, Asbury
prepared his sermons while traveling on horseback. Also, Methodism, during
Asbury’s ministry was largely comprised of poor men and women with little
formal education. By focusing on exhortation instead of doctrine, Asbury’s
“close to home” sermons ensured that the greatest number of people could
receive the gospel.
Finally,
Asbury is also known for his administrative gifts. During his ministry, Asbury
founded what historians have labeled, “the Asburyan Episcopacy.” The Asburyan
Episcopacy relied on itinerant preaching. Every year at Conference the bishop
(Asbury) would hand out assignments dictating where his preachers were to
travel that year. All assignments were final. This system existed so that the
greatest number of people had a chance to hear the gospel (365). A system
reliant on itinerant preaching required incredible organization on Asbury’s
part. For example, from 1769-1806, Asbury was responsible for assigning 1,250
itinerant preachers (366). Disorganization on Asbury’s part would mean that
parts of the country would have no Methodist preachers to proclaim the gospel.
What then, can the church today learn from Asbury’s understanding of religious leadership? I believe that the characteristics of religious leadership Asbury exemplified, piety, cultural awareness, connectedness, and organization are important characteristics of religious leadership. Our task is to ask ourselves how to embody these characteristics in our current contexts. What follows are a few ways to imagine each characteristic in our modern context. As you go about your life and ministries this week, I invite you to reflect on what you believe to be the characteristics of religious leadership, and how you might interpret them in your current context.
Characteristics of
Religious Leadership
Piety
·
a willingness to cultivation a devotional
life that includes prayer, Scripture reading, and theological texts
·
a willingness to cultivate a disciplined life
that includes maintaining personal relationships, self care, exercise,
hobbies, leisure, and rest.
·
an willingness to discern the call God has places on your life, and rearrange your
life choices accordingly.
Connectedness
·
investing in personal relationships with
the women and men under your care.
·
a willingness to set your personal comfort aside for the sake of the kingdom.
·
a willingness to engage with whatever means of communication the men and women under
your care use (for some that means learning how to write church newsletters,
for others it means learning how to use Twitter).
Cultural Awareness
·
a willingness to investigate what’s going on in the world. You don’t have to be
glued to the news, but you should have a basic sense of what’s happening in the
world.
·
a willingness to discern which elements of the culture are helpful in fostering
Christian discipleship, and which elements are unhelpful.
Effectively Organized
·
a willingness to organize your responsibilities and commitments in a way that
allows you to use your time efficiently.
·
a willingness to say no to projects that you have neither the time, or the
responsibility for.
·
a willingness to work well with others and delegate responsibilities accordingly.
All citations taken from:
Wigger, John. American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists. London: Oxford
University Press, 2009.
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