Methodist Micro-Loans

The Foundry was the home of several of John Wesley’s ministries in London. The former cannon works (Old King’s Foundry) was purchased by Wesley as a chapel in 1740 and was referred to simply as “The Foundry.”  Over time, the Foundry became home to a school, a bookstore, a clinic, a home for the elderly who were destitute, and on Tuesdays, beginning in 1744, a place for members of the Methodist Societies to find micro-loans.

Originally, the loan limit was 20 shillings or one pound. In today’s dollars that is something less than $100. It was capitalized with 50 pounds. During the life of the loan program, many tradesmen who had sold tools during times of unemployment were able to buy new tools through the micro-loan program. For example, during a very severe winter a stone mason might not find work. In order to survive, he would be forced to sell his hammers and chisels. With the return of good weather, he would not be employable without his tools.

The most famous of the micro-loans went to James Lackington. Lackington became the most successful book dealer in London, and it all began in 1774, when the 26-year-old Methodist applied for a loan to start a used book business.  The loan’s upper limit by then had been raised to five pounds; he received the full five pounds. Within a few years, Lackington was a very wealthy man, and his book store, “Temple of the Muses," was London’s largest. (See right)

Unfortunately, James Lackington did not stay within the Methodist fold.

His departure reminds me of the old tale of the single mother with three small sons ranging in age from six to ten.  The Sunday School at the Methodist church noted their absences over a period of several weeks and went to their home to inquire. The mother, obviously embarrassed, told the Sunday School Superintendent that she didn’t have enough money to provide new Sunday clothes for the boys and was reluctant to send them in tatters. The Superintendent shared this news with the pastor, and together they found enough money to buy the boys each a new suit, which were delivered to the home. For the next three weeks, the pastor and Sunday School Superintendent were on lookout for the boys, but alas they did not come to church or Sunday School. The pastor went round to call on the mother. He asked had they not received the clothes, and she replied that indeed they had, but the boys looked so good in them they were now attending the Episcopal church.

A Word to Preachers

As one might expect, Wesley was an excellent preacher and wanted the same from his traveling preachers. In his writings there are several cogent pieces of advice both on the standards of good preaching and also ways to improve. I share the following quotes:

“Be sure to begin and end precisely at the time appointed. Sing no hymn of your own composing. Endeavour to be serious, weighty, and solemn in your whole deportment before the congregation. Choose the plainest texts you can. Take care not to ramble from your text, but to keep close to it, and make out what you undertake. Always suit your subject to your audience. Beware of allegorizing or spiritualizing too much. Take care of anything awkward or affected, either in your gesture or pronunciation. Tell each other if you observe anything of this kind.”

A young preacher once asked John Wesley, "How can I get crowds to attend my church services?" Wesley replied, "Get on fire, and people will come out to see you burn."

Here is John Wesley writing to John Trembath (August 17, 1760), a young minister who was a poor preacher: “What has exceedingly hurt you in time past, nay, and I fear, to this day, is lack of reading. I scarce ever knew a preacher who read so little. And perhaps, by neglecting it, you have lost the taste for it. Hence your talent in preaching does not increase. It is just the same as it was seven years ago. It is lively, but not deep; there is little variety; there is no compass of thought.'

'Reading only can supply this, with meditation and daily prayer. You wrong yourself greatly by omitting this. You can never be a deep preacher without it, any more than a thorough Christian. Oh begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercise. You may acquire the taste which you have not; what is tedious at first will afterward be pleasant. Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily.”

One temptation of every Christian worker at some point in their ministry will be the temptation to succumb to discouragement because of a lack of visible results. In a letter to a leader of one of his societies Wesley says, “Sometimes you will be in danger of dejection--when you have labored long in any instance, and see no fruit of your labor. But remember! You will be rewarded according to your labor, nor according to your success.”

 

 

 

The Christian Library

John Wesley lived by the Bible, even using it when making difficult decisions. (See last week's blog entry). He claimed to be a man of one book: the Bible. But in fact he was a man of many books. His devotion to scripture did not prevent him from reading a wide range of authors on a great variety of subjects: history, medicine, natural science, grammar, and devotional literature. Wesley knew how to learn from others and achieved much learning through reading. He wanted to pass on this knowledge to others, and to that end he published a number of extracts from many of the 17^th and 18^th century’s best devotional writers.

Although it never had the success of many of his other writings, Wesley put together what he considered the ideal Methodist lifetime reading program. The fifty-volume Christian Library, with the subtitle, “Extracts from the Abridgements of the Choicest Pieces of Practical Divinity. . . .” (Pictured to the right is a complete set in the library at Southern Methodist University.)

This collection consists of John Wesley’s heavily abridged anthology of mostly English Christian classics of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including works by Jeremy Taylor (vol. 21) and Richard Baxter (vol. 37). As he “extracted” the works of his favorite authors, preserving roughly one page out of every fifty pages of original text, Wesley was careful to edit out any hint of the doctrine of predestination so as to emphasize what he judged were their most important contributions to the common thread of Christian piety.

The selections show Wesley’s bend towards piety over strict theological treatises. He included sermons from many of the well-known clerics of the previous generations, including his maternal grandfather, Dr. Annesley. Also prominent was John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, up to two-and-a- half volumes (vol. 2, 3 and 4).  The first edition was published from 1749-1755.  One can find all 50 vols. on line at  http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/a-christian-library-by-john-wesley/

Bibliomancy

John Wesley throughout his life resorted to the practice of bibliomancy. Bibliomancy is a practice whereby a person seeking spiritual insight selects a random passage from a book, in Wesley’s case, the Bible.  His journal is replete with references to this practice, but I bring to our attention the following.

John Wesley went to the Georgia colony in 1736 to serve as the settlement priest and as a missionary to the Native Americans.  John found comfort in a female acquaintance in Georgia named Sophy Hopkey.  But he was concerned that settling down would hurt his ministry. He wanted to evangelize the natives first. After a year, Sophy was getting impatient. Finally, in March, 1737, she made it known that she was going to marry another if Wesley had no objection. One of the things Wesley did when it was time to make a decision was to resort to bibliomancy and drawing lots. During these difficult days of decision, he wrote three slips of paper: 1) marry, 2)  think about it after a year, and 3)  think about it no more. He drew the latter slip of paper and decided that he was correct in not pursuing marriage.

During his time of indecision, Sophy became engaged and subsequently married another suitor. When Wesley later refused Sophy communion on August 7, 1737, stating that they had not properly posted the ‘bands’ for the marriage, he became mired in controversy. It was obvious to most of the colonists that Wesley was acting out of his pique about Sophy marrying another. He claimed he did so for valid reasons, but Sophy's new husband brought him to court for defamation of character. It did not hurt that Sophy’s father was the chief magistrate. Other charges were levied against him (concocted by people seeking ill will against Wesley). After a while, Wesley could take no more and headed back to England, with an unserved arrest warrant for him. I believe President Jimmy Carter finally commuted the warrant, but I don’t recall if it was while he was Governor of Georgia or as President.

Bibliomancy was so popular among early Methodists that John Wesley even produced a pack of readymade cards with scriptural excerpts, “Draw Cards”, which Methodists used as a kind of religious parlor game of fortune-telling, as well as a conversation starter.

And here is a story related to this practice:

A businessman was in a great deal of trouble. His business was failing, he had put everything he had into the business, and he owed everybody. It was so bad he was even contemplating suicide. As a last resort, he went to his pastor and poured out his story of tears and woe.

When he had finished, the pastor said, "Here's what I want you to do: Put a beach chair and your Bible in your car and drive down to the beach. Take the beach chair and the Bible to the water's edge, sit down in the beach chair, and put the Bible in your lap. Open the Bible; the wind will rifle the pages, but finally the open Bible will come to rest on a page. Look down at the page and read the first thing you see. That will be your answer; that will tell you what to do."

A year later the businessman went back to the pastor and brought his wife and children with him. The man was in a new custom-tailored suit, his wife in a mink coat, the children shining. The businessman pulled an envelope stuffed with money out of his pocket and gave it to the pastor as a donation in thanks for his advice.

The pastor recognized the parishioner and was curious. "You did as I suggested?" he asked.

"Absolutely," replied the businessman.

"You went to the beach?"

"Absolutely."

"You sat in a beach chair with the Bible in your lap?"

"Absolutely."

"You let the pages rifle until they stopped?"

"Absolutely."

"And what were the first words you saw?"

"Chapter 11."