Francis Asbury (1745-1816) was the first Methodist bishop in North America, arriving in 1771. At one time he was the head of the Baltimore County Methodists, and actively introduced the institution of “traveling preachers” into practice, since people at that time lived far from each other.
In the early 1800s he was the most famous man in America, an English pastor and friend of John Wesley far ahead of his time. Asbury spoke out against alcohol and slavery decades before they were outlawed, and called for the liberation of the colonies from British rule even before the war of liberation began.
He was bullied at school, so at the age of 11 he dropped out and took a job as a servant in the home of a wealthy but godless family near Birmingham, England. And although his parents were Christians and took him to the Anglican Church, he remained far from all this until he heard a Methodist sermon. The dedication, the prayer, the singing and the confidence of the Methodists impressed him. Francis Asbury dedicated his life to God at the age of 15.
From that moment on, he began to read the Bible, pray, share the Good News with other young people in the neighborhood. At the age of 17 he was ordained as a preacher by the Methodist Church, but even before that he had preached the gospel several times in nearby towns. As soon as he turned 21, he left all other activities and devoted himself to preaching, traveling all over England. Following the example of John Wesley, Francis developed habits that made full use of the available time, including reading at least 100 pages a day, most of which he read on the road, on horseback. Through this dedication he earned the respect of the Methodist community.
When Asbury was 26, he attended the Methodist Conference in Bristol. At this event, John Wesley was looking for volunteers to go to America, several people came forward. Wesley chose Asbury.
It would be hard to imagine a better choice. Francis Asbury arrived in America in 1711 when there was a small, divided Methodist congregation. Here he decided to use the scheme he had learned and practiced in England. He developed routes and traveled more than 5,000 miles on horseback every year, stopping in so many small towns that his face was known throughout the country because people saw him at sermons. He distributed literature, preached at 17,000 meetings, ordained 3,000 preachers, founded 5 colleges, and became the first American Methodist bishop. Under his leadership, the Methodist Episcopal Church saw unprecedented growth. At the beginning of the journey, it was the smallest denomination in the American colonies, but became the largest nationally.
Asbury worked at the limit of his strength until old age. On March 24, 1816, he held his last service at a church in Richmond, Virginia. He was so weak that he preached while lying on a table. He spoke for about an hour, taking as a basis the text from the Scripture: “For he will finish the work and will soon decide in righteousness; the Lord will do the decisive work on earth” (Rom. 9:28).
Francis Asbury went to the Lord a week later, at the age of 71.
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