01/09/2026
📜 Church History: September 1, 1784
On this date, John Wesley recorded an important decision in his journal regarding the future of Methodism in the newly independent United States:
“Being now clear in my own mind, I took a step which I had long weighed in my mind, and appointed Mr. Whatcoat and Mr. Vasey to go and serve the desolate sheep in America."
Following the American Revolutionary War and the treaty of 1783, the Church of England effectively collapsed in the United States. Most Anglican clergy returned to Britain. John Wesley repeatedly asked the Bishop of London to ordain Methodist preachers for America, but his requests were denied. So he decided to act independently.
On September 1, 1784, John Wesley privately ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as elders and made Dr. Thomas Coke a superintendent.
Coke, Whatcoat, and Vasey traveled to America, and in December 1784, they convened the Christmas Conference in Baltimore, Maryland. At this meeting, the Methodist Episcopal Church was officially organized as a separate denomination from the Church of England, establishing the framework for the rapid expansion of Methodism across the US.
