This single sheet of paper helped change the course of Methodism in America.

I photographed it at the Museum of Methodism in London this summer. Dated September 2, 1784, and signed by John Wesley, the document records Wesley setting apart Thomas Coke as superintendent for the Methodist work in the newly independent United States. Wesley’s own journal records that he set Coke apart by the laying on of hands and prayer, assisted by other ordained ministers.

The American Revolution had created a serious problem for Methodists. For years, Wesley had insisted that Methodism was a renewal movement within the Church of England, not a separate denomination. But independence had changed the situation. The Church of England no longer exercised the same ecclesiastical authority in the new United States, and American Methodists had very few ordained ministers available to baptize, administer the Lord’s Supper, and provide pastoral oversight.

Wesley had wrestled with this problem for some time. He had even appealed to the Bishop of London to ordain a minister for America, without success. Eventually Wesley concluded that Scripture and the practice of the early church permitted him, as a presbyter, to act. On September 1, 1784, he ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey to serve the American Methodists. The following day he set apart Coke as superintendent.

What makes the document especially interesting to me is Wesley’s language. He describes himself as “providentially called at this time to set apart some persons for the work of the ministry in America.” This was not a casual administrative decision. Wesley believed circumstances had created a responsibility he could no longer avoid.

Coke sailed for America carrying Wesley’s plan. On November 14, he met Francis Asbury at Barratt’s Chapel in Delaware. Asbury would not simply accept Wesley’s appointment as superintendent. He wanted the American preachers themselves to approve it. That led to the gathering of Methodist preachers in Baltimore for what became known as the Christmas Conference.

Beginning in December 1784, that conference formally organized the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. Coke was received as general superintendent, while Asbury was elected by the American preachers and then ordained and consecrated. American Methodism now had its own ordained ministry and ecclesiastical structure.

Standing in front of this document made that history feel remarkably tangible to me. American Methodism, which would eventually send circuit riders across the frontier and establish churches, schools, colleges, missions, and publishing ministries across the nation, can trace an important part of its institutional beginning back to what Wesley was doing when he signed this paper.

It also reminds me that sometimes faithfulness requires recognizing when circumstances have changed while the mission has not. Wesley was deeply attached to the Church of England, but his greater concern was that people across America have access to the gospel, the sacraments, and faithful Christian ministry.

The structures changed. The mission remained. That challenges me personally. It is easy to become attached to the way ministry has always been done. Wesley’s decision reminds me to distinguish between the methods I may prefer and the mission God has actually given us. The question is not simply whether we can preserve what is familiar, but whether we are faithfully reaching and serving the people God has placed before us.

That is Wesleyan theology in practice: holding firmly to the message while being willing to do what is necessary to carry that message to the people who need it.