First Wesleyan Missionaries Arrive in America - Timeline Event
Time Period
10-20-1769
Description
Prior to 1769, Methodist preachers in America, like Thomas Webb, had written to John Wesley to send Methodist missionaries to help build upon the work they started. At, the Leeds Conference of 1769, John Wesley asked for volunteers to go to America as missionaries. Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmore, both young preachers at the time, offered their services. On October 20, 1769, they arrived six miles below Philadelphia in Gloucester Point, New Jersey.
Pilmore stayed behind in Philadelphia while Boardman traveled to New York, though they would alternate posts every four months or so. Pilmore was an aggressive evangelist who helped spread Methodism not only in Philadelphia, but also in Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Meanwhile, Boardman was considered likeable and a good preacher, but fairly lax in his post, which led Wesley to remove Boardman and elevate Francis Asbury, who became the preeminent leader of American Methodism.
Pilmore stayed behind in Philadelphia while Boardman traveled to New York, though they would alternate posts every four months or so. Pilmore was an aggressive evangelist who helped spread Methodism not only in Philadelphia, but also in Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Meanwhile, Boardman was considered likeable and a good preacher, but fairly lax in his post, which led Wesley to remove Boardman and elevate Francis Asbury, who became the preeminent leader of American Methodism.
Interactive Timeline(s)
Browse Related Timeline Entries
Religious Groups
Methodist/Pietist Family: Other ARDA LinksMethodist/Pietist Family: Religious Family Tree
Biographies
Pilmore, JosephWesley, John
Related Dictionary Terms
Asbury, Francis (1745-1816), Christmas, Church, Denomination, Doctrine, Wesley, Charles (1707-1788), Wesley, John (1703-1791)Photographs
Richard Boardman portrait- Internet Archive
Joseph Pilmore portrait- Internet Archive- from The Heart of Asbury's Journal
St George's Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia- Hathi Trust- from The History of Methodism, vol 1 by John Fletcher Hurst
Book/Journal Source(s)
Bucke, Emory Stevens, 1964. The History of American Methodism Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.Web Page Contributor
Benjamin T. GurrentzAffliated with: Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in Sociology
