Published: August 29, 2009 05:33 pm      

Free presentation focuses on ‘mother of Methodism’

Carlile potrays Susanna Wesley

DUNCAN — Susanna Wesley, 1669-1742, has been called the mother of Methodism. The portrayal of her that lecturer Glenda Carlile will give at noon Wednesday to the United Methodist Women’s group at First United Methodist Church will use anecdotes from Wesley’s life to back up that assertion.

Born Jan. 20, 1669, Susanna Annesley was the daughter of a London pastor and the youngest of 25 children. She was educated at home, with her lessons supplemented by the intellectual atmosphere of her father’s many scholarly visitors. One of these was the son of a Dissenting minister, Samuel Wesley, then a student.

Seven years before she was born, the Church of England asserted its supremacy over the other English Protestant “Non-Conformist” or “Dissenting” churches. With the 1662 Act of Uniformity, all Church of England ministers were required to support the Book of Common Prayer or be forced out of their parishes and banned from preaching in an Anglican pulpit. When some 2,000 refused they were forced from their parishes, homes and university positions, leaving many to make a living by teaching, writing or preaching where they could.

Born in 1662, Samuel Wesley had come from a background of poverty since his Dissenting father had been deprived of his parish. However, after much thought, Samuel Wesley decided to affiliate with the Church of England and because of that decision he was able to attend Oxford University, where he lived on an extremely limited budget with little luxury. He was ordained in 1689 and he and Susanna, who had also decided to affiliate with the Anglican Church, were married soon after. She was 20 and he was 28.

Following his ordination and marriage, Samuel Wesley served other parishes before 1696 when he went to Epworth in the North Lincolnshire area, the church he would serve most of his life. The couple had seven children in seven years, three of whom died.

Samuel Wesley was, by many accounts, a rigid and moralistic pastor and some parishioners responded with occasional hostility. He also lacked business sense, so it was left up to his wife to manage the household. More children were born in the next few years, but many did not survive. Ten of the couple’s eventual 19 children lived to maturity, making for a large family to raise and educate while she carried out all her other household responsibilities.

One scholar described the Wesley children as “a cluster of bright, vehement, argumentative boys and girls, living by a clean and high code, and on the plainest fare; but drilled to soft tones, to pretty formal courtesies; with learning as an ideal, duty as an atmosphere and fear of God as law.”

Susanna spent an hour each week with each child discussing spiritual matters and she prayed an hour a day for her children. She began an evening family gathering where they sang psalms, prayed and she read a short sermon from her husband’s library. It began with the family and the servants but soon word spread and others neighbors appeared, and soon there were too many for the parsonage. While women have been ordained in many Methodist churches for more than 50 years at that time the idea of a woman having any part in a worship service — even in her own home — was unheard of, and she encountered opposition for her actions. It was Susanna and her devotions that inspired her sons, John and Charles Wesley, to begin the meetings that would lead to the Methodist movement.

Samuel died April 5, 1735. Soon after, with Susanna settled in a daughter’s home, John and Charles Wesley joined a group of colonists settling in Georgia. For some time, they had been searching for spiritual fulfillment and through various experiences in America and after their return to England they finally found the peace and assurance they sought. Their conversion not only fulfilled them spiritually but also inspired them to begin the preaching and outreach that would be a part of their new ministry, dubbed Methodism after a “methodical” religious routine John had developed while at Oxford.

As time went on, John Wesley and Charles Wesley became leaders in what became The Great Awakening. John was the founder of Methodism, and Charles not only preached, but also wrote many hymns, including “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” and “Rejoice, the Lord is King.”

The Great Awakening was a major event in history that had a profound effect on the heritage of the United States. The preaching of this period emphasized that all men are equal in the sight of God. This basic principle shaped many of the ideas that went into the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. John and Charles Wesley helped put in place the conditions needed for the Gospel to be taught around the world. By teaching her children, and being totally devoted to God herself, Susanna Wesley began a great spiritual fire. She died July 23, 1742.

Oklahoma City writer/storyteller Carlile is primarily known for her interest in Oklahoma women and their place in history. She has written “Buckskin, Calico, and Lace: Oklahoma Territorial Women,” “Petticoats, Politics and Pirouettes: Oklahoma Women from 1900 to 1950,” “Astronauts, Athletes, and Ambassadors,” and, co-authored with Bob Burke, “Kate Bernard, Oklahoma’s Good Angel.”

As an entertainer, Carlile is familiar to audiences across the state, as in period costume she brings to life the exciting stories of Oklahoma women. She was recognized for her knowledge and presentations on Oklahoma women when in 1996, she received an award for the promotion of Oklahoma history from the American Association for State and Local History.

She is the executive director for the Oklahoma Center for the Book, an outreach center of the Library of Congress located in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.

A potluck salad luncheon will also be provided. The event is open to the community, but reservations are required by Monday by calling the church office at 580-255-3353.