Here we have the tale of how a couple of disgraced brothers joined with the Moravians to accidentally found the Methodist church. A combination of necessity, open air preaching to the poor in particular and the accidental invention of Born Again set the stage for a truly independent movement. The American Revolution made it real.
In the end, it all sounds so utterly unplanned yet it really happened.
Sometimes that is the real way of the world even for those truly prepared.
.
How the Creek Migration Legend led to formation of the Methodist Church – Part Four
“From now on, when we come to this place, we will call it Georgia.”
Parakusa (High King) Chikili
Speech to the leaders of Savannah, GA
June 7, 1735
http://peopleofonefire.com/how-the-creek-migration-legend-led-to-formation-of-the-methodist-church-part-four.html
“This Morning James Oglethorpe, Esq; accompanied by the
Rev. Mr John Wesley, Fellow of Lincoln College, the Rev. Mr. Charles
Wesley, Student of Christ Church College, and the Rev. Mr. John Ingram
of Queens College, Oxford, set out from Westminster to Gravesend, in
order to embark for the Colony of Georgia – Two of the aforesaid
Clergymen design, after a short stay at Savannah, to go amongst the
Indian Nations bordering that Settlement, in order to bring them to the
Knowledge of Christianity.”
Gentleman’s Magazine – October 14, 1735
The image above portrays John Wesley romancing Sophia Hopkey in the movie, “Wesley” (2009)
The Creek Migration Legends Series
Prologue: The thinly populated provinces of the
Creek Confederacy along the Georgia Coast had sold a county-sized tract
of land to Squire Oglethorpe that nobody lived on until a few months
before the Georgia colonists arrived. It consisted of the swampy land
between the Savannah and Ogeechee Rivers, up to the high tide line. It
was land that most Creeks disdained, because it was infested with
mosquitoes, parasitic worms and horrific intestinal diseases, most
notably “the flux” (vibrio~New World cholera) a bacteria that thrived in
locations where fresh and salt water mixed.
The Creeks had formerly called the region around this county sized province, Parachikora. The Spanish had once called Chicora. The French had once called it Chicola. Now it would be called Georgia.
A century later, some historian in South Carolina would decide that
Chicora was 150 miles to the north near Georgetown, SC. A legion of
institutions, streets, schools and Indian tribes in that state would
eventually be named Chicora.
Mikko Tamachichi made a “fast buck” in February of 1733, selling land
that he had never lived on until late 1732. In fact, until 1717 the
Coastal Plain had been the domain of the Yamasee Confederacy. After
Yamasee’s demise in the war against South Carolina, the new Koweta
Confederacy cut a deal with South Carolina officials that declared all
lands west and south of the Savannah River to be Koweta turf.
In private negotiations with James Oglethorpe in early June of 1735,
Chikili had agreed to allow the construction of a trading post at the
Fall Line of the Savannah River. The Creeks detested the South Carolina
planter aristocracy because they kept thousands of African and Native
America slaves in bondage. Squire Oglethorpe had banned slavery in the
new colony. A Georgia trading post on the Fall Line would be much closer
to the main centers of Creek population.
When Chikili and the national council strode out of Savannah in
mid-June 1735, they assumed that the Colony of Georgia would always be a
thin strip of unwanted land on the coast, which would be a source for
European firearms, manufactured goods and technology.
The minuscule population of Georgia would always be dependent on the
mighty Creek army for protection from the Spanish, French and Cherokees.
With a steady flow of munitions and intelligence being supplied by
loyal Georgia-based traders, the Creeks could quickly re-occupy their
lands, seized by the Cherokees twenty years earlier. Perhaps they could
eventually drive the Cherokees back north to where they came from. At
least, that was the delusion that Creeks carried toward this new colony
in their midst.
Act VII: John Wesley’s planned mission to recreate
the Creek Indians in his own image was doomed from the start. He later
admitted that “he hoped to save his own soul by saving theirs.” There
was a worse problem, however, than Wesley’s self-doubts. He viewed the
Creeks as simple-minded children with no cultural memory or knowledge of
spiritual matters. He expected them to be in awe of his superior
intellect and cultural heritage then immediately do everything possible
to emulate him.
Remember the University of Georgia senior anthropology professor
in 2012, who said to us, “Now run along children and play. You
shouldn’t be meddling in things that you don’t understand.”
Wesley’s response to being bested intellectually by the Creek elders
at Palachicola (Part Three) was to shun the Native peoples for the rest
of his time in Georgia. He pretended in his mind that they did not
exist, since they refused to bow down before him.
Does that sound like some Dixie academicians we know?
James Oglethorpe appointed John Wesley as his private secretary to
replace Thomas Christie. Wesley would be completely loyal to his patron
and was expected to be his “eyes and ears” among the colonists. Almost
from the beginning of the settlement, the colony’s chief magistrate,
Thomas Causton, had been breeding discontent. He actively tried to get
Oglethorpe court-martialed in England.
Wesley became aware that Causton was embezzling the Trustee’s funds
and conducting business with the Moravians dishonestly. The Moravian
commune had an agreement in which they would provide public works for
the colonial government as payment for supplies. Causton was applying
their required work to improvements to his plantation. Eventually, the
evidence that Wesley gathered was sufficient to impeach Causton.
Since it was obvious that Wesley was not going to be a missionary to
the Creek Indians, Oglethorpe also asked him to minister to the
foreigners, who were now arriving in Georgia by the boatloads. Wesley
was multilingual and highly educated. He was the ideal person to
minister to their needs and to integrate them into the colony. After
twiddling his thumbs, looking for something to do, he suddenly became a
very busy man.
From the beginning, religious tolerance (except for Roman Catholics)
was a mainstay of the Colony of Georgia. One of the oldest synagogues in
the United States was founded there by Sephardic Jews, evicted from
Brazil. They were joined by French Huguenots, who had fled France in the
1680s to live for two generations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Italian-speaking Waldensian Protestants arrived in Savannah after being
persecuted for many centuries by both the French and Italian Roman
Catholics. The Moravians originally spoke Czech, but after living in
Germany for awhile, also spoke German. The Salzburgers were Lutheran
refugees from Austria, who spoke German. Their colony was at the
northern edge of the lands, purchased from the Creeks.
Wesley’s days became filled with direct interaction with the foreign
colonists. This was his typical week day schedule: 5:00-6:30 English
Prayers – 9:00-10:00 Italian Prayers – 10:30-12:30 English Communion and
Service – 1:00-2:00 French Prayers – 2:00-3:00 Catechism of children –
3:00-4:00 English Prayers. He made frequent visits to the Moravian
commune north of Savannah. They became his closest friends and taught
him German. He also periodically visited the Lutherans at Ebenezer,
several miles northwest of Savannah. (See the 1735 Map of Savannah.)
It is quite ironic that John Wesley was destined to found the
Methodist Church. While very empathetic and friendly with foreign
Protestants and Jews, he treated the British Dissenters (non-Anglicans)
of Savannah in a similar manner to the Creek Indians, after the
humiliating sermon in Palachicola.
Wesley’s ostracism of their people, was particularly irritating to
the Presbyterian Scots, who composed the majority of soldiers,
protecting the colony. Wesley shunned the Dissenters (primarily
Presbyterians and Calvinists) and refused them attendance at prayer
meetings or church services. This was because he always despised the
doctrine of predestination that was preached by the founders of
Presbyterianism, John Calvin and John Knox.
A romantic interlude: On the voyage to Georgia, John
Wesley had made friends with Sophia Hopkey and her mother. While on
aboard, he gave Sophia French lessons. Sophia was considered the most
attractive single lady in the new colony and was a member of one its
wealthiest families. Wesley continued to pay regular social visits to
the Hopkey home, developing a warm friendship, which most persons,
including Sophia, assumed was leading to matrimony.
In late 1736, just when a formal betrothal announcement by Sophia and
John, seemed imminent, Wesley later claimed that Bishop Spangingberg of
the Moravians advised him to avoid amorous relationships with women. At
the time, Wesley told some that God had told him to break off the
relationship. Whatever the cause, Wesley suddenly began shunning Sophia .
. . without any explanation to her.
On March 12, 1737, Sophia and William Williamson eloped to
Purrysburg, SC and were legally married there. Wesley had refused to
perform the ceremonies. He suddenly regretted the cruel way that he had
dumped the young woman that he loved. He should have never listened to
the advice of the bishop.
On August 17, 1737, probably as an act of reconciliation, Sophia
showed up at church service for the first time since marrying. Wesley
refused to give her communion. Wesley was exhibiting the same jackass
behavior that in the previous year he had exhibited toward the Creek
Indians, when he didn’t get what he wanted. The next day, her husband
filed a charge of criminal defamation of Sophia and sued Wesley for 1000
pounds sterling in civil claims.
Wesley denied the right of the courts to interfere with what he
viewed to be an ecclesiastical matter, but a trial was held,
nevertheless. A newspaper of the time stated that “the jury consisted of
a Frenchman who did not understand English, one papist (Roman
Catholic), one infidel, three Baptists, and seventeen Dissenters
(Presbyterians).” Nevertheless, the jury did not produce enough guilty
verdicts to convict him. However, there was another problem. Sophia was
the niece of Thomas Causton.
The Caustons and Hopkeys began spreading rumors that Sophia had
repeatedly rejected Wesley’s proposals and that Wesley was secretly a
Roman Catholic. Public opinion swayed to being almost entirely against
Wesley . . . so much so that Oglethorpe could not dare intervene. After
he received rumors that a lynch mob was about to come after him, Wesley
was rowed across the Savannah River during the dead of night. He then
traveled to Charleston and took the next ship to England.
After arriving in London, Wesley was called before the Board of
Trustees for the Province of Georgia. In a non-judicial trial, he was
made the scapegoat for everything that had gone wrong in the colony,
then fired.
Unable to find a church assignment in England because of the rumors
constantly arriving from Savannah, Wesley joined a Moravian congregation
in London on Aldersgate Street. Both he and his brother, Charles became
friends with the young Moravian missionary Peter Boehler, who was
temporarily in England, before departing for Georgia. The Moravian and
Salzburg missionary efforts among the Creeks and Uchee along the
Savannah River were thriving. The Church of England had lost interest in
the missionary work with the Creeks after William Wake died in 1737.
George Whitefield, Wesley’s friend from the Holy Club at Oxford, was
also excluded from Anglican churches when he returned to England. He
began preaching in the open air to the commoners, just as Wesley had
done at Frederica (Part III). On May 27, 1738 Wesley experienced a “born
again” moment at the Moravian service. This is the point in time that
he always considered his beginning as a true Christian. He never
exhibited again the arrogant, jackass behavior that so poisoned his
ministry in Savannah. Charles Wesley and George Whitefield, soon had
“born again” experiences at the same location.
The Wesleys and Whitefield cut their ties with the Moravians in 1739,
when their congregations in England shifted to religious practices more
akin to those of the Quakers. The three rebellious ministers then
formed the Methodist Society with Whitefield as its leader.
The Methodist Society maintained its allegiance to the Church of
England, but focused its ministry on the poor and working class, who
felt unwelcome at most Anglican churches. Whitefield volunteered to
return to the colonies and John Wesley replaced him. Whitefield founded
an orphanage in Savannah and then began a triumphant progression up the
colonies that is now called the Great Awakening.
Both Wesley brothers always considered themselves to be members of
the Church of England even though John was frequently persecuted by
Anglican clergy and English magistrates. During the American Revolution
tensions accelerated between the Church of England and Methodist
factions, because almost all the Methodists were Whigs, who sympathized
with the American revolutionaries.
In 1784, when the Church of England no longer existed in the new
United States of America, John Wesley “laid hands” on an Anglican
priest, Thomas Coke, naming him bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
in America. He “laid hands” on Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey to be
the presbyters of the new denomination. This moment is considered to be
the birth of the Methodist Church as a separate denomination. Methodist
Societies in Great Britain soon separated from the Church of England.
A final footnote on history
In 1743, James Oglethorpe, received orders to return to England to
face charges of mismanaging the invasion of Florida during a war with
Spain. He was absolved and in fact, praised for his victory at the
Battle of Bloody Marsh. However, he never returned to Georgia.
Chikili was no longer treated with deference by the colonial
administrator, who replaced Oglethorpe. Chikili quickly turned over the
leadership of the Creek Confederacy to Malatchi, the nephew of Emperor
Brim, who was far more militant in attitude. The capital of Koweta was
moved from the Ocmulgee River to the Chattahoochee River, to symbolize
the Creek’s independence from both Great Britain and France. However,
for the remainder of the Georgia colony’s existence, more and more land
was ceded to the British.
When John Adams arrived in London that same year to be the first
ambassador to the Court of St. James, one of the first Englishmen to pay
him a social call was none other than General James Edward Oglethorpe,
founder of the Colony of Georgia. Oglethorpe and Adams continued their
friendship until Oglethorpe’s death in 1785. Although senior general in
1775, Oglethorpe had declined command of British forces being dispatched
to crush the rebellion.
In 1784, the same year that the Methodist Church was formally
birthed, the Creek Confederacy found itself being treated like a
squatter on its own land. It was clear that the new government
considered Creeks to be a barrier in the way, rather than a partner in
progress.
Then one morning in 1790, Creek leaders learned that five years
earlier, the United States had secretly negotiated a treaty with the
Cherokees that took all remaining Creek lands in northeast Georgia,
while giving the rest of North Georgia to the Cherokees. It was the
beginning of the end.
John Wesley passed on to his eternal reward in 1791. Virtually, a
pauper for most of his life after leaving Georgia, all that he left this
world was his clothes, his Bible and the Methodist Church. It was John
Wesley, who first publicly used the phrase, “Let us agree to disagree,” while giving the eulogy at George Whitefield’s funeral.
No comments:
Post a Comment