Christmas Conference

The Christmas Conference was an historic founding conference of the newly independent Methodists within the United States held just after the American Revolution at Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1784.

Prior to the revolution, American Methodism consisted of itinerant preachers commissioned by John Wesley the founder of the Methodist societies in England. Wesley had been sending preacher/missionaries since the 1760s. With the outbreak of war, most of these returned to England, with the exception of Francis Asbury and James Dempster. Asbury began to be looked upon as the leader of the groups, whereas Dempster moved to upstate New York, where he ministered locally. His activities were greatly restricted because, as an Englishman, he was suspected of not being sympathetic to the patriot cause. During the war, he ceased his circuit riding and stayed at the residence of his friend, Judge Thomas White of Delaware.

Before the war, the Methodist itinerant preachers were appointed to form societies, but they were expected by Wesley to work within the Anglican Church, as they were not ordained. They were not allowed to administer the sacraments. This produced some difficulty as Anglican Churches were limited to the coastal cities, and the itinerant preachers were moving westward and inland. Similarly the Anglican clergy almost all left for England with the outbreak of war.

Asbury had come to America in 1771. Under his leadership, conferences were formed and American preachers appointed, but this did not solve the problem of the administration of the sacraments.

During the war, the societies continued to grow, albeit more slowly due to all the disruptions. Following the war, there was a move to locally ordain the preachers, but Asbury counselled patience until Wesley gave direction.

In England, at the Methodist Conference in Leeds in July 1784, Wesley himself ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as elders, appointing them to go, along with a group of itinerant preachers to America. Wesley then ordained Thomas Coke (who was already an ordained Anglican priest) to go as superintendent of the American church. He gave Coke instructions to also ordain Francis Asbury as co-superintendent. Wesley was reluctant to take this action, but he had already asked for the Bishop of London to ordain a bishop for America, and had been rebuffed.

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