History

The larger-than-life statue of Bishop Francis Asbury is located near the front of campus at United Methodist-affiliated Drew University in Madison, N.J. File photo by Kathleen Barry, UM News.

Bishop Asbury still shapes church today

Francis Asbury played a key role in developing what is now The United Methodist Church. Fresh discoveries about his life remain reasons to celebrate.

Mission and Ministry

The ordination of Bishop Francis Asbury performed by Bishop Thomas Coke in Baltimore, Md., at the Christmas Conference, the historic meeting establishing the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States in 1784. An engraving by A. Gilchrist Campbell from a painting by Thomas Coke Ruckle, 1882. Courtesy of the Drew University Methodist Collection (Madison, New Jersey) via Wikimedia Commons.

Ask The UMC: What influence did Francis Asbury have on the role of bishops?

Francis Asbury set the precedent for the work of Methodist bishops as organizers of ministry, as a source of unity, and in developing consensus.

Mission and Ministry

The Rev. Kenneth Rowe, shown here in the United Methodist archives at Drew University in Madison, N.J., was an author, professor, librarian, archivist and bibliographer. Rowe died Oct. 8, at age 84. File photo courtesy of the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History.

Kenneth Rowe, Methodist historian, dies at 84

Rowe was an important writer on Methodist history, seeking to include marginalized groups, and gave crucial help to other scholars as a professor, librarian, archivist and bibliographer.

Church History

Standing in front of the pulpit of John Wesley’s New Room in Bristol, England, the Rev. Jonathan Pye leads a Sept. 12 service celebrating the 250th anniversary of Francis Asbury’s crossing of the Atlantic to America. Pye is the chair of the Bristol District of the Methodist Church in Britain and deputy chair of the trustees of John Wesley’s New Room. Attendance for the service was limited to allow for social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Tim Tanton, UM News.

Celebrating Asbury’s impact on 2 shores

The 250th anniversary of Francis Asbury’s crossing of the Atlantic from England to America is being celebrated jointly by the Methodist Church of Britain and The United Methodist Church.

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