Susanna Wesley – Mother of Methodism

“For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.” (II Timothy 1:5).

Most people remember Susanna Wesley as the remarkable mother of Charles and John Wesley, the founders of worldwide Methodism. She is remembered for her devotion to all of her children and the way she took the responsibility for their care with steadfast faith, much grace, and daily trust in God. Perhaps not written about as much has been her strength of character that showed itself in her independent spirit, remarkable especially for her day.

Susanna Annesley was youngest of twenty-five children, so it did not seem unexceptional to her to have 19 children, including two sets of twins.

Susanna was born in London, England, in 1669, when there was much controversy in the church. There was an independently thinking group at the time, called Dissenters, because they dissented from the official Church of England.

Susanna’s father, Dr. Samuel Annesley, was such a man. His conscience would not allow him to sign a document that made changes in the Book of Common Prayer that he could not agree to. He left St. Giles Church in London and founded a new parish. His daughter, Susanna inherited his independent way of thinking, but she would later rejoin the Church of England.

When Susanna was nineteen years old, she married Samuel Wesley, who was a bright, young, easy-going preacher whose father was also a Dissenter. They lived for a few years in London and then moved to Epworth near Lincoln. They lived there for nearly forty years until the death of Rev. Wesley.

Of the nineteen children born to them, only three sons and seven daughters survived to adulthood. Despite their low income, the Wesley’s managed to help all three sons receive M.A.’s from Oxford. All three were ordained in the Church of England.

Samuel and Susanna differed politically. Samuel accepted William of Orange as King William III, but Susanna believed that only the members of the Stuart family should reign. She was for King James II. This is interesting to consider, since James II was rejected for his Catholicism. One wonders what Susanna could have been thinking of. Her pride over this issue got her in trouble one day, because she refused to say “Amen” when her husband was praying for God’s blessing on King William. Samuel was just as headstrong as Susanna, and therefore he decided to move away saying, “We must part, for if we have two Kings, we must have two beds.”

Susanna was concerned about herself and the children being abandoned, but in her own headstrong way replied, “I am more easy in the thoughts of parting because I think we are not likely to live happily together.” She explained further, “Since I am willing to let him quietly enjoy his opinions, he ought not to deprive me of my little liberty of conscience.” This sounds more like the twenty-first century than the seventeenth century!!!  Later, when William III died, they would reunite. Queen Anne was the daughter of James II, and so both Samuel and Susanna could agree on politics at last.

We might wonder at Susanna’s strong spirit, but it was well for her to be so strong. Samuel traveled often and she was left in charge of the children. She began the daily routine that would have a big impact on her famous sons, John and Charles. They would found the Methodist church, and some historians would even refer to Susanna as the founder of Methodism.

The family rose at 5:00 AM, and each hour of the day was organized by activity. Susanna set aside an hour every day and prayed with her different children. On Thursdays, for example, she prayed with John. She would teach them and also exhort them to be mindful of the state of their souls. John would later say that his habit of self-examination began at his mother’s knees. When he left home, he asked her to spend their regular hour in prayer for him, and in writing to him on various spiritual themes.

Susanna’s influence spread outside of her home as well. In later years, John referred to her as a “preacher of righteousness”. She had been recognized as a devout woman and the mistress of a large family. Yet, while her husband was away, she would also pray with the children in the neighborhood. Soon other people began to come to her home. There would usually be between thirty and forty people in attendance. People sought her out to help them in their spiritual growth.

What about the fact that she was a woman? Susanna believed as other women did during her time; the husband is the spiritual head of the home. But this did not stop her from doing what she believed God called her to do. “Though I am not a man, nor a Minister, yet if my heart were sincerely devoted to God, and I was inspired with a true zeal for his glory, I might do somewhat more than I do.”

Because of her belief in a woman’s place, she kept the meetings at her home. She could not help the spontaneous growth that occurred. “With those few neighbours that then came to me, I discoursed more freely and affectionately. I chose the best and most awakening sermons we have. And I spent somewhat more time with them in such exercise, without being careful about the success of my undertaking. Since this, our company increased every night; for I dare deny none that ask admittance.”

One Saturday they had over two hundred people attend and had to turn some away because of the lack of space for them. She made it clear that as a woman she was not seeking to have a congregation. She couldn’t help it if many people came to appreciate her wisdom and guidance and sought her out. She answered her husbands concerns with her own reservations about what she was doing as a woman, “I doubt if it is proper for me to present the prayers of the people to God. Last Sunday I would fain have dismissed them before prayers; but they begged so earnestly to stay, I durst not deny them.” She would gladly have had a man read the sermon, but there wasn’t one present who was literate enough to do so.

Like so many women who lived in her day, or even in the twenty-first century, she was not trying to take a stand for women’s rights. She was only following her burning desire to preach the Gospel.