Pioneer
mothers and heroines of world Methodism
Mothers
who contributed to the expansion of the Kingdom of God and were influential in
society
Odilon Massolar Chaves
===============================
Copyright © 2025, Odilon Massolar Chaves
All rights reserved to the
author.
It is allowed to read, copy and
share for free
Article 184 of the Penal Code and
Law 96710 of February 19, 1998.
Books published in the Wesleyan
Digital Library: 536
Books published by the author:
616
Booklets: 3
Address: https://www.blogger.com/blog/stats/week/2777667065980939692
Translator: Google
All glory to God!
Odilon Massolar Chaves is a retired Methodist pastor, with a doctorate
in Theology and History from the Methodist University of São Paulo.
His thesis dealt with the Methodist revival in England in the eighteenth
century and its contribution as a paradigm for our days.
He was editor of the official Methodist newspaper and coordinator of the
Theology Course.
Copyright
Statement: These files are in the public domain and are derived from an
electronic edition that is available on the Ethereal Library of Christian
Classics website.[1]
Rio de Janeiro – Brazil
===============================
Table of
Contents
·
Introduction
·
Highlights
of the book's chapters
·
The
mother of Mother's Day
·
A mother
in Israel
·
The
Sunday School Mother
·
The
mother of orphans in Equatorial Guinea
·
The
Mother of Methodism in America
·
The
Mother of Methodism
·
Black
Freedom Mother in South Africa
·
The
mother of the Holiness Movement in the USA
·
The
mother of civil rights in the U.S.
===============================
Introduction
===============================
"Pioneer Mothers and Heroines of World
Methodism" is a 36-page book that deals with mothers who have been
prominent from Susanna Wesley to our time.
They were exemplary mothers in several areas
and with great influence in society.
They were recognized as the inspiring mother
in the creation of Mother's Day; the mother of the Sunday School; the mother of the orphans in Equatorial
Guinea; the mother of Methodism in America; the mother of Methodism; the
mother of freedom for blacks in South Africa; the mother of the Holiness
Movement in the USA and the mother of civil rights in the USA or simply as an
exemplary mother, such as Sarah Wesley.
It is important to know at the time of the Methodist Movement "because of their leadership and exemplary courage, these women were called 'Mothers in Israel.'"[2]
Donna L. Fowler-Marchant wrote the book "Mothers
in Israel: Methodist Beginnings Through the Eyes of Women."
In the history of Methodism there is a Methodist Church called "Mother," the African Mother Methodist Episcopal Church. She is "also known as 'Mother Zion', located at 140-148West 137th StreetbetweenAdam Clayton Powell Jr. BoulevardeLenox Avenuein the neighborhood ofHarlemPosted onManhattan,New York, is the oldest African-American church in New York City and the 'mother church' of the ConferenceAfrican Episcopal Methodist Zion”.[3]
Methodist
pastors once referred to the U.S. Methodist Church as the "Mother
Church" of Brazilian Methodism.
A
historical book that reminds us of what Jesus taught about being salt of the
earth and light of the world.
This
book is a tribute to these mothers, bringing to the new generations the deeds
and lives of these Methodist women.
The
Author
===============================
Highlights of the book's chapters
===============================
The mother of Mother's Day
During the 1850s, he worked to organize several "Mother's Day Work
Clubs." She organized a number of mothers' work clubs at Webster, Grafton,
Fetterman, Pruntytown, and Philipp, to improve health and sanitary conditions,
due to the high infant mortality rate
A mother in Israel
They had eight children. Only
Samuel, Charles and Sarah survived. Of his three surviving children, two were
very talented musicians.[4]
Sally was heartbroken by the
deaths of her children. In 1754, Sarah wrote a poem titled "On the Death
of a Child."
The
Sunday School Mother
The first Sunday School was established in
1769 by the Methodist Hannah Ball (1734-1792) in Wycombe. She wrote to Wesley
and reported her work to John Wesley in 1770: "The children meet twice a
week, on Sundays and Mondays. It's a kind of wild bunch, but it seems receptive
to instruction. I work among them with the eagerness to promote the interests
of Christ"
The mother of orphans in Equatorial Guinea
She
raised, on her own, more than a hundred orphans. Those who were sick, or dispossessed,
or poor, or in trouble of any kind could always count on his sympathy and care
The Mother of
Methodism in America
One day, "Barbara Heck
returned home one day in 1766 to find her husband Paul and some friend's
playing cards. She grabbed her backpack, threw it into the fire, and ran to her
cousin Philip Embury's house. He had been a local preacher in Ballingrane, and
she urged him to begin preaching again, that all his souls might not be
lost."
The Mother of
Methodism
She is known as the mother of Methodism for having taught her children a
disciplined and methodical life
Black Freedom Mother in South Africa
She was the first black woman to become a
probation officer for juvenile offenders.
Charlotte was honored as "Mother of Black Freedom in South Africa." In Tanzania, a nursery school is named after him. Johannesburg Hospital was renamed Charlotte Maxeke Hospital
The mother of the Holiness Movement in the USA
"Phoebe Palmer is
often called the 'mother of the holiness movement.' His influence on the
holiness movement was profound
The
mother of civil rights in the U.S.
She is
now a symbol of the anti-racist struggle in the USA. Rosa won a gold medal from
the U.S. Congress in 1999 with the inscription "Mother of the Modern-Day
Civil Rights Movement
===============================
The
mother of Mother's Day
===============================
During the 1850s, he worked to organize several
"Mother's Day Work Clubs." She organized a number of mothers' work
clubs at Webster, Grafton, Fetterman, Pruntytown, and Philipp, to improve
health and sanitary conditions, due to the high infant mortality rate
Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis, the
mother
Anna Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832-1905) lived in Webster, West Virginia.
She was a Methodist in solidarity with others. Anna arrived in West Virginia at
the age of eleven. At the time, his father, the Rev. Josiah W. Reeves, was a
minister in the Methodist Church[5].
Your social vision
During the 1850s, he worked to organize several "Mother's Day Work
Clubs." She organized a number of mothers' work clubs in Webster, Grafton,
Fetterman, Pruntytown, and Philipp, to improve health and sanitary conditions
due to the high infant mortality rate. Among other services, the clubs raised
money for medicine, and hired women to work for families in which the mothers
suffered from tuberculosis.[6]
"The women gathered with their sisters at their sites to respond to
the needs they could see. For Ann, she was in a coal mining part of what is now
West Virginia. And she could see the needs of women and children. And she could
see the effect of the economics of her day on the people she cared most
directly."[7]
In 1860, local doctors supported the formation of clubs in other cities.[8] Anna Jarvis's spirit of solidarity was immense and
practical. "During the American Civil War, he organized women to meet the
needs of the wounded on both sides."[9]
"Ann recruited nurses for military hospitals and, after the war,
formed friendship clubs to promote reconciliation." [10]
Anna Jarvis followed the Wesleyan line of works of mercy – visiting the
prisoners, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc. She anticipated the
Social Gospel, which emerged with force at the end of the nineteenth century,
especially with Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) and Washington Gladden
(1836-1918). They opposed the idea that the Church should focus only on
spiritual matters.[11] Some of the institutional aspects of the social
gospel are social services, educational, recreational services during the week,
and social centers[12].
She was a pacifist and her vision was to help with the needs of others.
Anna encouraged the clubs to declare neutrality in the American Civil War, and
thus everyone to help, both the Confederates and the Union soldiers. At the
time of the civil war, she organized a mothers' club to help wounded soldiers,
and fed and clothed them. Near the end of the war, the family moved to Grafton[13].
After the war, Anna Jarvis sought to reconcile families divided by the
conflict[14].
Jarvis managed to preserve an element of peace in a community torn apart
by political differences. During the war, he worked tirelessly, despite the
personal drama of losing four of his children to illness. In all, eight of his
12 children died before they reached adulthood[15].
Anna Reeves Jarvis' life has always been around the Methodist Church.
Under the leadership of her husband, Granville, the Methodist Church temple was
built at Grafton and dedicated in 1873. She taught the church's Sunday School
for the next 25 years.[16]
Anna Maria Jarvis, the daughter
The creator of "Mother's Day", Anna M Jarvis (1864-1948), was
born in Webster, West Virginia, USA, on May 1, 1864. She was the daughter of
Granville and E. Jarvis Anna Reeves Jarvis[17].
Anna Jarvis, the daughter, received an elementary education in Grafton,
West Virginia and completed her secondary and higher education at Augusta
Women's College in the state of Virginia in 1881. He then made a series of
special studies that included English literature, psychology, philosophy,
Latin, German, mathematics and music. After these studies, she returned to
Grafton, where she was appointed a teacher at the State School, teaching for
seven years in a row[18].
The realization of the idea
In early 1900, Anna Jarvis and her family moved to Philadelphia, where
her mother died on May 9, 1905 and her father on December 31, 1905. With the
death of her mother, so close to her father, Anna Jarvis suffered greatly,
because, since she was a girl, she was known as a rare example of filial love.
Twelve-year-old Anna Jarvis heard a simple prayer from her mother at the
conclusion of the lesson on "Mothers of the Bible": "I hope that
someday someone will find Mothers' Memorial Day honoring them for their
incomparable service to humanity in every field of life. They have a right to
it."[19]
It was on the second Sunday of May, 1907, that the first celebration of
"Mother's Day" was held, in a private gathering, in honor of Anna
Jarvis' mother. Meanwhile, the first public celebration took place on May 10,
1908, as shown on the commemorative plaque, which is located in the Methodist
Church of Grafton, West Virginia. Here is the inscription there: "Andrews
Methodist Episcopal Church – Mother Church of 'Mother's Day' – First
Celebration of 'Mother's Day', May 10, 1908 – Founder: Anna Jarvis – Minister:
Dr. H.C. Howard – Sunday School Supte: L.L. Loar."[20]
Officialization
In May 1910, West Virginia Governor William E. Glasscock decreed the
first official celebration of "Mother's Day," and in May 1914, at the
proposal of Representative Heflin of Alabama and Senator Sheppard of Texas,
"Mother's Day" was included in the federal calendar of the United
States. The decree was signed by President Woodrow Wilson, in the presence of
Anna Jarvis, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, and those
parliamentarians[21].
Among other resolutions, the decree reads: "On the second Sunday of
May, the national flag shall fly on all government buildings of the United
States and its possessions." Rep. Heflin said at the event, "Never
has a national flag been used to celebrate so beautiful as it is sacred a
commemoration, Mothers of America."[22]
Not long after that the date was accepted by the majority of Christian
peoples, thus fulfilling Anna Jarvis' dream.
Anna Jarvis Museum
The museum of Anna Jarvis' birthplace is situated four miles south of
Grafton in Webster, West Virginia[23].
Officialization in Brazil
In Brazil, it was up to the Young Men's Christian Association to
introduce the celebration of "Mother's Day". In São Paulo, the date
was also celebrated at the initiative of the A.C.M. in May 1921[24].
The officialization of "Mother's Day" in Brazil came from the
initiative of Mrs. Alice de Toledo Tibiriçá, who as president of the 2nd
International Feminist Congress, in June 1931, addressed the then head of the
Provisional Government, Mr. Getúlio Vargas, in the following terms:
"The women of Brazil, united
by a high ideal of female fraternization, to work for the progress of the
country and society, wish to honor Brazilian mothers – the greatest factor of
our moral improvement – asking through this message for the officialization of
"Mother's Day", on the second Sunday of May, following the example of
what has already been done in the United States of America."
Later, a commission of the Feminist Congress visited the head of the
Provisional Government, reinforcing the request made, through the transcribed
message[25].
In response to that request, the Provisional Government promulgated
Decree No. 21366, of May 5, 1932, officially instituting "Mother's
Day", on the second Sunday of May[26].
Celebrations expand
In 1947, by determination of the Cardinal Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro,
Dom Jaime Câmara, "Mother's Day", on the second Sunday of May, was
included in the official calendar of the Catholic Church.[27]
The gesture of the Cardinal Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro was received
with deep sympathy by the religious and social circles of the country. Since
then, the celebrations around "Mother's Day" have been intensifying,
highlighting, among them, those organized by the Confederation of Christian
Families, Rotary Club, SESI, SESC and others. Little by little, the seed sown
among us by the Young Men's Christian Association germinated. Today, thanks to
the understanding of all Christians, above creeds and ecclesiastical divisions,
"Mother's Day" is a reality in Brazil[28].
The tradition of carnations
Anna Jarvis also came up with the delicate idea of the two carnations:
red and white.
It was established that children whose mothers were alive should present
themselves with a red carnation on their lapel and those who were orphans, a
white carnation. The suggestion was well
received and was immediately widespread.[29]
Purpose of Mother's Day
Anna Jarvis said about the purpose of Mother's Day, in a telegram sent
to Mr. L. L. Loar: "(...) To revive the dormant filial love and gratitude
we owe to the one who gave us birth. To gather the absentees. To annul family
disagreements. To create a bond of brotherhood through the use of a floral
badge. To make us better children close to the hearts of our mothers. To
brighten the lives of good mothers. To let them know that we appreciate them,
even though we don't show them as often as we should...
Mother's Day is to remember our duty before it's too late. The intention of this day is so that we can make new decisions for a more active thought in relation to our dear mothers.
By words, gifts, acts of
affection, and in every possible way, give him pleasure, and make his heart
happy every day, and keep constantly in memory Mother's Day; When you have made
this decision do not forget or neglect your dear mother, if she is away from
home, always write to her, tell her your noble and good qualities and how you
love her. A mother's love is new every day."[30]
International Mother's Day Shrine
"There is now an International
Mother's Day Shrine in Grafton, on the site of Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church. The
building is among the historic
landmarks of The United Methodist
Church. Listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1970 and
a National Historic Landmark since 1992, the shrine seeks to 'preserve,
promote, and develop through education, the Spirit of Motherhood, as
exemplified by the lives of Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis and Anna Jarvis, and the
institution of Mother's Day that they established."[31]
===============================
A mother in Israel
===============================
They had
eight children. Only Samuel, Charles and Sarah survived. Of his three surviving
children, two were very talented musicians.[32]
Sally
was heartbroken by the deaths of her children. In 1754, Sarah wrote a poem
titled "On the Death of a Child."
In the time of the Methodist Movement "because of their leadership and exemplary courage, these women were called 'Mothers in Israel.'"[33]
Sarah Gwynne (1726-1822) was a "mother in Israel.
Sarah and Charles Wesley (1707-1788) were happily married. Three children lived to adulthood.
Charles was the son of Susanna and Samuel Wesley, an Anglican minister. He was the brother of John Wesley. Susanna was an exemplary mother who taught her from an early age the Gospel and the life of discipline.
Carlos had a remarkable spiritual performance. He created the Holy Club to pursue holiness. He went as a missionary with Wesley to Georgia, America, and wrote about 9,000 hymns.
He was an itinerant preacher of Methodism. He traveled thousands of miles to preach in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.
In 1747, Charles also met Sally, who was 19 years old. It seems that it was love at first sight. She was the daughter of a wealthy family in Wales.
This is how Sarah is described by historians: "Sarah Wesley, née Gwynne, also known as Sally Wesley (1726 – December 28, 1822) was the wife of the Methodist [34]
Sarah was the daughter of a wealthy family. His mother was Elizabeth (Gwynne) Waller. His father Marmaduke Gwynne offered accommodations to evangelical travelers and for five days offered a place to Charles and John Wesley.
"Marmaduke was a wealthy man and a committed Anglican who employed his own chaplain." [35]
As a local magistrate, he went to arrest the Methodist preacher Howell Harris for inciting sedition, but while listening to Harris's sermon he was converted to his beliefs. He brought Harris back to his home, where his wife refused to see him. The only member of Gwynne's family who heard was her daughter, Sarah." [36]
Charles returned ill to Wales in March 1748 and was lodged at the home of Marmaduke Gwynne. Sally took care of him.
It was thus, on April 3, 1748, that he seems to have proposed marriage to her.
In his Diary, he noted, "In the evening my dearest Sally, as my guardian angel, accompanied me... I asked her if she could trust me for life and with noble simplicity she promptly replied that she could."[37]
Charles proposed marriage to her. Sarah's mother was happy to see Carlos become her son-in-law.
To express his love, Charles often wrote hymns. In the "Hymns and Sacred Poems" (1749), there are fifty-five hymns with the title "To Christian Friends".
While they are all applicable to Christian friends in general, they were written inspired by his friendship with Sally.[38]
The age difference between Sally and Carlos was almost twenty years, but they were both attracted to each other. Her father and Sally's mother were worried that Carlos didn't have a fixed income.
Carlos spoke to his brother about it, and apparently in a letter to Sally's mother, he indicated that money could be provided from the sale of her books.[39]
Wesley guaranteed his brother an income of £100 a year from book sales to reassure the financial position of the Gwynne family.
"Charles and Sarah were married in 1749 in the small, lonely parish church inLlanlleonfel, nearGarth, which is 6 miles (10 km) west ofBuilth Wells”.[40]
A two-week honeymoon followed, but we can raise some questions about that as Charles preached every day of the honeymoon![41]
They had eight children. Only Samuel, Charles and Sarah survived. Of his three surviving children, two were very talented musicians.[42]
Sally was heartbroken by the deaths of her children.
In 1754, Sarah wrote a poem titled "On the Death of a Child."[43]
Sally played the
harpsichord and sang in a sweet voice calming her children. She gave the
children their first musical guidance.
On his trip, Charles wrote several letters in an attempt to console his wife.[44]
Sally was the mother of John Wesley, Martha Mary Wesley, Charles Wesley, Sarah Wesley, Susanna Wesley, Selina Wesley, Samuel Wesley, and John James Wesley.[45]
Martha, Selina, John James, and Susanna died at less than 1 year of age.[46]
The surviving children were Charles Wesley Junior, Samuel Wesley, and Sarah Senior. The two sons were musically gifted.
Sally was known for her musical skills and including her singing voice which she still used to entertain in her old age.
Sarah performed musically for King George III and passed this talent on to two of his sons, both musical prodigies."[47]
In 1756, Charles Wesley revealed himself to be a passionate husband. He traveled in the Methodist itinerancy and wrote to his wife Sally.
He said, "My heart is with you. I want you every day and hour. I should be with you always (...), because no one can fill your place."
Poem turned into a hymn written
by Charles Wesley about his relationship with Sarah. "Two are better than
one" (volume 2), the poet celebrates the spiritual strength that comes
from marriage:
Woe to
Him, whose Spirits fall,
To the
one who falls alone!
He has
no one to lift him up,
And help
your weakness;
Happier
we keep each other
We bear
each other's weight;
Never
need our steps to slip
Sustained
by mutual prayer.
These poems effortlessly combine romantic love and Methodist piety."[48]
Charles proved to be not only a loving husband but also a devoted father, though he was strict.
He scaled back his itinerant ministry because he wanted to pay attention to his family responsibilities.
A series of letters to his children survive, in which he reveals his concern for their spiritual well-being as well as their temporal needs.[49]
At the age of 79, Carlos Wesley had already traveled 365 thousand kilometers in his ministry and had participated in 46 thousand services, crusades and evangelistic meetings.
Charles Wesley died on March 29, 1788.[50]
After her husband's death, Sarah Wesley "was held by other Methodists and Evangelicals, including William Wilberforce. She died on 28 December 1822 and was buried with her husband in St Marylebone's Parish Church". [51]
Sally died on 28 December 1818 and was buried with her husband in St Marylebone's Parish Church.[52]
===============================
The Sunday School Mother
===============================
The first Sunday School was
established in 1769 by the Methodist Hannah Ball (1734-1792) in Wycombe. She
wrote to Wesley and reported her work to John Wesley in 1770: "The
children meet twice a week, on Sundays and Mondays. It's a kind of wild bunch,
but it seems receptive to instruction. I work among them with the eagerness to
promote the interests of Christ"
Hanna Ball was the daughter of a farmer. She
was born on 13 March 1733 and spent most of her life at High Wycombe. She never
married, but lived with several relatives and cared for her brother's children.
Hannah read Thomas Walsh's sermons and heard
John Wesley preach in January, 1765, after which she began a correspondence
with him and they became friends. They exchanged dozens of letters over the
years.
Hannah became an important member of the
Methodist society at High Wycombe and was tireless in visiting the poor and the
sick. In 1769, she started a "lesson" for children working at the
local inns. They met before Sunday worship for religious instruction and on
Mondays to learn to read and write. As this is believed to be the first
institution of its kind, Hannah is now considered the founder of the Sunday
School movement."[53]
Hannah Ball was a member of
the Methodist Society in High Wycombe.[54]
The
first Sunday School was established in 1769 by the Methodist Hannah Ball
(1734-1792) in Wycombe. She wrote to Wesley and reported her work to John
Wesley in 1770: "The children meet twice a week, on Sundays and Mondays.
It's a kind of wild bunch, but it seems receptive to instruction. I work among
them with the eagerness to promote the interests of Christ."[55]
Hannah was a consecrated person and was
concerned about the spiritual well-being of adults; She was responsible for
several conversions, including a Charles Dean, a "very wicked" man on
his deathbed, as well as his wife and sister. [56]
"She was greatly encouraged in her work
by John Wesley. He also asked her to monitor the work of preachers in her area
and told her about the new circuit preachers and how to support them. For
example, in April 1774, he wrote about Joseph Bradford;
"Gently warn him not
to speak too fast or too loudly, and tell him if he does not preach strongly
and explicitly about perfection."
On Wesley's advice, Hannah broke off the
engagement to marry a man he considered "wicked." Wesley, however,
encouraged Hannah and a group of other Methodist women to correspond, give
mutual aid, and visit each other's societies." [57]
===============================
The mother of
orphans in Equatorial Guinea
===============================
She
raised, on her own, more than a hundred orphans. Those who were sick, or
dispossessed, or poor, or in trouble of any kind could always count on his
sympathy and care
Elizabeth
Job was a slave who was freed and lived in Santa Isabel, on Fernando Po Island,
now known as Malabo, the country's capital, on Bioko Island, in the Republic of
Equatorial Guinea.
In
1870, the Reverend Henry Roe and his wife Elizabeth
Holmes came to Fernando Po. The missionary couple's first child was born in
March and died in May of the same year.
When the first missionaries
arrived, Mamma Job helped welcome them.
The first services of the
Early Methodist Church were held in his home.
For more than 25 years, she
was a pillar of the church. Missionary Nathaniel Boocock described her as a
woman of strong individuality, who wielded extraordinary power over the
natives.
She
acted in all the means of grace; participated in two class meetings; he visited
all the members each week; he collected the money of the class of those who
could not attend.
Despite
her hundred years, she never became too old to help in missionary work.
He died
on Easter Sunday 1896.[58]
===============================
The Mother of
Methodism in America
===============================
One day, "Barbara Heck
returned home one day in 1766 to find her husband Paul and some friend's
playing cards. She grabbed her backpack, threw it into the fire, and ran to her
cousin Philip Embury's house. He had been a local preacher in Ballingrane, and
she urged him to begin preaching again, that all his souls might not be
lost."
Barbara Ruckle Heck (1734-1804) was born in County Limerick, Ireland. His
parents had fled religious persecution in Germany. She was converted at the age
of 18 through the preaching of John Wesley.
In 1760, she married Paul Heck and left with a group of Irish for the New
World, settling in the colony of New York. In the group was his cousin Philip
Embury, a carpenter, who was also converted by Wesley, in Ireland, and who had
received a preacher's letter.
In the
group was his cousin Philip Embury, a carpenter, who was also converted by
Wesley, in Ireland, and who had received a preacher's letter.
But they settled.
One day, "Barbara Heck returned home one day
in 1766 to find her husband Paul and some friend's playing cards. She grabbed
her backpack, threw it into the fire, and ran to her cousin Philip Embury's
house. He had been a local preacher in Ballingrane, and she urged him to begin
preaching again, that all his souls might not be lost." [59]
She challenged Philip to preach in his own home with the phrase:
"Philip, you must preach to us or we will all go to hell and God will
demand our blood from your hands
He
"preached the first Methodist sermon in New York to a congregation whose
tradition is said to be composed of his wife Margaret, the Hecks, another Irish
palatine John Lawrence, and Embury's African-American servant Betsy."[60]
They created two classes in New York. Soon the place became small and
they rented a "Cenacle". The following year, they were supported by
Captain Thomas Webb. In 1768, on St. John's Street in New York, the first
Methodist chapel in America was erected.
When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1766, Paul Heck took up
arms to fight for the British. Their farm in Vermont was confiscated and they
fled to Montreal in 1783.
The family received a donation of land in Maynard. There, they held the
first Methodist class in their small cabin in the woods.
In 1817, Barbara's son Samuel was ordained a deacon in the Methodist
chapel in Elizabethtown.[61]
Barbara
Heck is considered the mother of Methodism in America.
===============================
The Mother of
Methodism
===============================
She is known as the mother of Methodism for having taught her children a
disciplined and methodical life
Susanna Wesley (1669-1742) was the 25th daughter of Dr. Samuel Annesley
and Mary White. She is known as the mother of Methodism because she taught her
children a disciplined and methodical life.
She liked Theology. He had a good command of French, Latin and Greek. In
1688, at the age of 19, she married Samuel Wesley, who was 26, and they had 19
children.
Nine of his children died as infants. She was the children's first
teacher. Each night he talked to one of his sons.
The children were taught to speak courteously and to cry softly. Lack of
money was an ongoing struggle for Susanna.
His house was burned down twice. She began teaching her children the
alphabet on their fifth birthdays. She worried about her children's happiness.
She kept a strict schedule at home, was disciplined and methodical.
His children were taught about the importance of confession. She always
rewarded obedience. Susanna began to hold Sunday afternoon services for her
family. Many came to participate, and there were about 200 people. Susanna
wrote several plays that would be fundamental in the education of her children.
In addition to letters, Susanna Wesley wrote meditations and biblical
commentaries for her own use. In 1735, she became a widow and went to live with
Wesley. At his death, he asked his children to sing a psalm.[62]
Wesley said he learned more about theology from his mother than from
theologians in Britain.
A virtuous mother
"He
suffered the pain of loss. Nine of his children died as babies"
Susanna
Wesley was exemplary even though she was the mother of nineteen sons and
daughters. He went through the same struggles as his family today. In fact,
much more.
Her
husband Samuel was arrested because of debt and she had to keep her house alone
for a period. At that time, as long as he did not pay the debt, the person
remained imprisoned.
He
suffered the pain of loss. Nine of his children died as infants. "His
twins died, as did his first daughter, Susanna. Between 1697 and 1701, five of
his babies died (...). Some of his children had smallpox."[63]
And
she was an exemplary mother to the point that there are several books about her
education and care for her sons and daughters. But she was a determined woman
with a vision ahead of her time.
Her
sons and daughters, when they learned to read, she first taught the first
verses of the Bible. She reserved each day for one of her sons and daughters to
talk and learn about their difficulties and development.
She
was very methodical. Two of his sons revolutionized spiritual life in England
in the eighteenth century.
John
Wesley was a great organizer, an administrator. He preached wonderfully and was
extremely dedicated in the pursuit of holiness. He restored the doctrines of
the Holy Spirit and Christian Perfection that were forgotten in his day.
Charles Wesley was a preacher and composed about nine thousand hymns, which the
Methodist people sang with enthusiasm.
Susanna
was a preacher of the Word at a time when women did not preach. His home was
transformed into a place of worship. With the arrest of her husband, she opened
the doors of her home and ministered the Word to about 200 people.
Susanna
was Wesley's counselor. After the death of her husband Samuel in 1735, she went
to live with a daughter and then with John Wesley in the so-called Foundry,
which was the "Headquarters" of Methodism.
On
several occasions, he guided his sons and daughters by letter and in person.
When a layman from the group called Methodist began to preach in the streets,
Wesley thought about stopping it, but his mother advised him first to listen to
him.
It
was not customary to preach in the streets. Wesley went to listen to him and
approved the new strategy. He himself constantly preached in the streets. When
he was prevented from preaching in Anglican temples, Wesley said, "The
world is my parish."
Here
are some of Susanna's practices with her sons and daughters:
-
Their children were taught about the importance of confession. When they did
something wrong and confessed, she did not punish them, but praised their
attitudes.
-
When it was necessary to discipline, she was gentle and moderate.
-
Respect for others was an obligation.
-
None of the children could invade a brother or sister's privacy, no matter how
insignificant.[64]
The
Master in Psychology Janete Suárez wrote an article where she comments on education for children
and makes use of Susanna Wesley's tips:
"Do
not allow children to eat between meals and be in bed after 8 p.m.
Children
should take their medicine without complaining and nothing should be given if
they ask crying. Just politely.
Children
should learn to pray as soon as they begin to speak. They should also be silent
during family worship.
To
avoid lies, no mistake that is confessed and that the children soon regret
should be punished. The stubbornness of children must be mastered and worked
with God to save their souls.
Do
not allow a child's sinful act to go unpunished.
Do
not punish children twice for a single offense.
The
good behavior of children should always be praised and rewarded and every
attempt to please, even if small, should also be praised.
Children
must preserve the right to property, even in cases of minor importance.
Children
should be taught to fear the rod and to keep all promises made rigorously.
Don't
require a daughter to work before she learns to read well."[65]
Susanna
had the same problems as her current family or much more. But she was a winner
and today she is seen as a model mother, a virtuous mother.
===============================
Black Freedom Mother in South Africa
===============================
"This work is not for you, kill that spirit of
yourselves and do not live above your people, but live with them. If you can
get up, bring someone with you."[66]
(Charlotte Maxeke)
Charlotte Manye Maxeke (1874-1939) was born in Ramokgopa, Polokwane, South Africa. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father a foreman and a lay preacher in the Presbyterian Church. He attended primary school in Uitenhage, senior school in Port Elizabeth and Edwards Memorial School. In 1885, her family moved to Kimberley, where she became a teacher. Charlotte and her sister, Katie, joined the African Choir in 1891, which toured England (1891-1893) to honor Queen Victoria.
In 1894, Charlotte went with a choir to Canada and the USA. In America he won a scholarship to Wilberforce University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he met and married Marshall Maxeke.
He graduated with a bachelor's degree in science in 1905. She and her husband returned to South Africa and founded the Wilberforce Institute.
In the African Methodist Episcopal Church she was elected president of the Women's Missionary Society. From 1919, she became active in legislation and was a co-founder of the Bantu Women's League and was the organizer of the Women's Missionary Society in Johannesburg.
She and her husband established a school in Evaton and went on to teach and evangelize in other places, including Thembuland in the Transkei under the Sabata king Dalindyebo. Charlotte participated in the king's court, a privilege for a woman.
They then settled in Johannesburg, where she became the first African woman bailiff.
She and her husband attended the launch of the South African Native National Congress in Bloemfontein in 1913.
He participated in the formation of the Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (UTI) in 1920 and set up an employment agency for Africans in Johannesburg. She was the first black woman to become a probation officer for juvenile offenders.
Charlotte was honored as "Mother of Black Freedom in South Africa." In Tanzania, a nursery school is named after him. Johannesburg Hospital was renamed Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.[67]
"At the All-Africa Convention, held in
1935 to defend the Cape African vote, Dr. Alfred Bitini Xuma, who would later
become president general of the ANC, praised the life of Charlotte Maxeke,
calling her the Mother of African Freedom in honor of her commitment to women
in South Africa." [68]
===============================
The mother of the
Holiness Movement in the USA
===============================
"Phoebe Palmer is often called the 'mother of the holiness
movement.' His influence on the holiness movement was profound
Phoebe Palmer (1807-1874) was born in New
York City. His father, Henry Worrall, was born again listening to Wesley preach
to 5,000 people in England.
His mother, Dorothea Wade Worrall, instilled rigorous
Methodist values in her children from an early age. Palmer was disciplined, spiritually sensitive, and an avid reader of
biographies of Methodist women.
At the age of 11, he was
already writing about his commitment to Jesus. In 1827, she married Walter
Palmer, a physician and devout Methodist.
The death of three of her
four children in childhood led her to trust more in God's love. He experienced
the entire sanctification taught by Wesley, which is the belief that a
Christian can live a sin-free life.
He began to teach and write
letters to pastors and bishops. He was a confidant of Methodist bishops.
Phoebe impacted Catherine
Booth, leader of the Salvation Army, and influenced several prayer groups that
experienced the outpouring of the Spirit and healings.
In 1837, she became the
leader of the prayer meetings held in her home, which were attended by New York
businessmen, bishops, and Methodist ministers. The Methodist Church was
influenced in the USA.
They became preachers and
ministered in churches and at camp meetings. They spread Christian holiness
throughout the U.S. and in several countries. They spent four years in England.
Palmer wrote several books,
including The Way of Holiness, a
foundational work in the Holiness movement. In the book The Father's Promise,
Palmer defended the idea of women preaching in Christian ministry, which was
unheard of at the time.[69]
Palmer also began traveling
to spread the word, despite the birth of two more children, a daughter Phoebe
(1839) and a son, Walter Camp, Jr. (1842). She and her sister also helped found
a religious magazine, The Guide to Holiness (1839) and Palmer became a
regular contributor. In 1843, she collected her articles and published them as The
Way to Holiness with Notes on the Subject. The Way of Holiness went
through several printings and sold more than 20,000 copies in its first six
years."[70]
Phoebe Palmer's family was a
member of St. John's Methodist Church in New York, where she struck up a
friendship with Fanny J. Crosby, the famously blind writer of 9,000
congregational hymns. "Perhaps it was the example of Miss Crosby who
encouraged Phoebe Palmer Knapp to write more than 500 hymns. But his greatest
success was that of going through a collaborative effort with Miss Helena.
Crosby". [71]
"Phoebe Palmer is often
called the 'mother of the holiness movement.' His influence on the holiness
movement was profound—and it continued long after his original writings were
forgotten. His emphasis was on (1) entire consecration to God, (2) faith in
God's promise ("the altar sanctifies the gift"), and (3) public
witness. This was Palmer's 'Shortest Way' to Christian holiness – a teaching
that made the idea of Entire Sanctification accessible to the masses – for
years and years, long after his death.[72]
Phoebe Palmer was one of the most well-known
women of the nineteenth century. [73]
===============================
The
mother of civil rights in the U.S.
===============================
She is now a symbol of the anti-racist struggle in the USA. Rosa won a
gold medal from the U.S. Congress in 1999 with the inscription "Mother of
the Civil Rights Movement of the present day"
Rosa Parks (1913-2005) was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. After his parents
separated, he went to live on a farm around Montgomery, with his maternal
grandparents, his mother and a brother.
She was a seamstress and a member of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church (AME).
She was arrested for
refusing to give up her seat on a local bus to a white man on the first day of
December 1955.
This fact helped launch the
Civil Rights Movement in the USA, becoming the fuse of the anti-segregationist
movement.
He was side by side with Martin Luther King, who encouraged blacks to
boycott buses.
She said, "In my
education and in the Bible, I learned that people should stand up for their
rights, just as the children of Israel rose up against Pharaoh."
A film – The Rosa Parks – was released about her story. Parks
helped with communion and baptisms at her local congregation in Detroit and was
also a deaconess, the highest position for a laywoman in the denomination.
She died in 2005 at the age of 92.
In 2013, a bronze statue of Rosa Parks was erected in Washington,
remembering the civil rights leader.[74]
===============================
[1]
https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/wen/ephesians-1.html
[2]https://www.gbhem.org/publishing/publications/mothers-in-israel-methodist-beginnings-through-the-eyes-of-women
[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Zion_Church
[5]
http://educaterra.terra.com.br/almanaque/diadasmaes/diadasmaes.htm
[6] http://www.wvculture.org/history/jarvis.html
[7] https://www.umc.org/en/content/
methodist-history-the-founding-mothers-of-mothers-day
[8]
http://www.wvculture.org/history/jarvis.html.
[9] http:// pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associação_Cristã_de_Moços
[10] https://www.umc.org/en/content/
methodist-history-the-founding-mothers-of-mothers-day
[11] REILY, Ducan A.
Documentary History of Protestantism in
Brazil. ASTE, São Paulo, 1984, p.275.
[12] Idem, p.276.
[13]
http://www.wvculture.org/history/jarvis.html
[14] www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2002/may10.html
[15] www.wvculture.org/hiStory/thisdayinwvhistory/0508.html
[16] Ditto.
[18]
http://www.adretiro.com.br/estudo_7a.htm
[20]
http://www.adretiro.com.br/estudo_7a.htm
[21]
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/mothersday/a/anna_jarvis.htm
[22]www.rootsweb.com/~wvtaylor/founder.htm
[23] Ditto.
[24]
http://educaterra.terra.com.br/almanaque/diadasmaes/diadasmaes.htm
[25]
http://www.adretiro.com.br/estudo_7a.htm
[26]
http://www.nossosaopaulo.com.br/Reg_SP/Barra_Escolha/A_DiaDasMaes.htm
[27]
http://educaterra.terra.com.br/almanaque/diadasmaes/diadasmaes.htm
[28]
http://www.adretiro.com.br/estudo_7a.htm
[29] Ditto.
[30] www.rootsweb.com/~wvtaylor/founder.htm
[31]
https://www.umc.org/en/en/content/methodist-history-the-founding-mothers-of-mothers-day
[33]https://www.gbhem.org/publishing/publications/mothers-in-israel-methodist-beginnings-through-the-eyes-of-women
[34]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Wesley
[35] https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Sarah_Wesley
[36] https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Sarah_Wesley
[37]
http://www.emanuel.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/P-7.2-2009-Michael-A.-G.-Haykin-My-Sister-Dearest-Friend.pdf
[38]
http://media.sermonaudio.com/mediapdf/11108932252.pdf
[39] Ditto.
[40] https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Sarah_Wesley
[41]
http://www.emanuel.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/P-7.2-2009-Michael-A.-G.-Haykin-My-Sister-Dearest-Friend.pdf
[43]
https://dl.atla.com/exhibitions/exhibits/show/the-life-and-ministry/a-family-of-his-own
[44]
http://media.sermonaudio.com/mediapdf/11108932252.pdf
[45]
https://www.wikitree.com/wwiki/Gwynne-60
[46]
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gwynne-60
[47] https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Sarah_Wesley
[48]https://www.poetryfoundation.org/p
Poets/Charles-Wesley
[51] https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Sarah_Wesley
[52] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Wesley
[53]
https://www.mywesleyanmethodists.org.uk/content/people-2/lay_people/hannah-ball-friend-john-wesley-founder-first-sunday-school
[54] LUCCOCK,
Halford, Ibidem, p. 86.
[55] https://www.mywesleyanmethodists.org.uk/content/people-2/lay_people/hannah-ball-friend-john-wesley-founder-first-sunday-school
[56]
https://www.mywesleyanmethodists.org.uk/content/people-2/lay_people/hannah-ball-friend-john-wesley-founder-first-sunday-school
[57]
https://www.mywesleyanmethodists.org.uk/content/people-2/lay_people/hannah-ball-friend-john-wesley-founder-first-sunday-school
[58] Search: https://books.google.com.br/books?isbn
www.myprimitivemethodists.org.uk/page_id__1199
[59]
https://www.irishpalatines.org/ about/methodism.html
[60] Ditto.
[61] Search:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Heck
www.victorshepherd.on.ca/Heritage/barbara.html
www.home.ripnet.com/.../barbara_and_paul_heck.html
http://home.ripnet.com/legacy/colonel_edward_jessup/UEL_Col_J/barbara_and_paul_heck.html
www.interpretermagazine.org
›... › April 2004
[62] Search: www.intercessoras.com.br/.../historias.../437-o-ministério-de-susanna-we
www.diariodamulhervirtuosa.blogspot.com/.../biografia-de-susana-e-joao-wesl
www.aartedeensinarcom.blogspot.com/.../quem-foi-suzana-wesley.html
http://livrariavozdoqueclama.blogspot.com/2009/04/susana-wesley.html
www.comunidaderochaviva.com.br
› Home › Articles and Studies
www.mulhervirtuosadeusquerteusar.blogspot.com/.../o-ministerio-de-susana-
[63]
https://www.revistaimpacto.com.br/biblioteca/susanna-wesley/
[64]
https://www.revistaimpacto.com.br/biblioteca/susanna-wesley/
[65]https://guiame.com.br/gospel/familia/mae-do-pregador-john-wesley-deixou-dicas-de-como-educar-criancas-luz-do-evangelho.html
[66]
https://www.longmarchtofreedom.co.za/BronzeStatues/Statue/618aa9f1faf6d2fddee410b8
[67]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Maxeke
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/charlotte-n%C3%A9e-manye-maxeke
http://www.dacb.org/stories/southafrica/maxeke_charlotte.html
[68]
https://www.longmarchtofreedom.co.za/BronzeStatues/Statue/618aa9f1faf6d2fddee410b8
[69] Search:
http://newlife.id.au/equality-and-gender-issues/phoebe-palmer/
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoebe_Palme
www.teachushistory.org/.../phoebe-palmer-1807-18
www.healingandrevival.com/BioPWPalmer.htm
[70]https://www.teachushistory.org/
second-great-awakening-age-reform/approaches/phoebe-palmer-1807-1874-holiness-theology
[71]https://wesleyano.inf.br/biografia/322/
[72]https://wesleyano.inf.br/biografia/322/
[73]https://wesleyano.inf.br/biografia/322/
[74] Search: http://hollowverse.com/rosa-parks/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_Methodist_church_did_Rosa_parks_go_to
http://www.philadelphiamlk.org/Pages/RosaParks.aspx
http://www.religionnews.com/2013/02/27/rosa-parks-statue-unveiled-at-capitol-celebrated-by-ame-church/
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