Mothering and the Making of Methodists
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I was sitting on a wooden bench at a large kitchen table, next to an open hearth, listening to the tour guide share with my ordination class how Susanna Wesley educated her children in that very room, in the Old Rectory in Epworth. It was in that space that Susanna taught John and Charles and discipled them in the Christian faith. I was dealing with morning sickness, just a few weeks pregnant, and as I took in my surroundings, I felt a deep connection to my heritage. My eyes got misty as I recalled the large wooden dining table, in various parsonages of my youth, at which my own mother discipled my siblings and me with Bible reading, prayer, and devotions. I was, in this moment, connected to my personal history, as well as that of Methodism’s founders, and at once tangibly aware of a future that would be shaped in much the same way. It is this at-home discipleship, modeled by mothers (and others) that was essential to John Wesley’s own spiritual journey and to the future of the Methodist movement.
My daughter is just one year old and her primary mode of learning is imitation. Whether it is waving or clapping, blowing kisses, signing “more,” or trying out new syllables, she has developed these forms of communication and interaction by mimicking her parents, as all children do. Our children’s spiritual development takes place in the same way: it begins with imitation. We can see this with Susanna and John’s relationship as well. Her spiritual and devotional life served as a model for her children, and its imprint left a lasting mark on John. Susanna Wesley had a rigorous personal spiritual life. She might have been called a Methodist herself, as her devotional life was structured in a methodical way. Multiple times a day she separated herself from the world to pray and examine her conscience. The journal she kept reveals her disciplined and intense spiritual life, one she clearly imparted to her children (Wallace 1984). Susanna believed that a Christian’s mind should always be attentive to the Holy Spirit’s direction in all aspects of life; this was how she approached her responsibilities toward her children. Her utmost priority was serving God with her life and instilling the same in her children (Oden 2013). She modeled for her children an active relationship with God, encouraging in them the same, and in turn they regarded her as their spiritual guide and counselor.
We see Susanna’s influence on John, as he is well-known for his structured spirituality in his personal practice and in his leadership of the Methodist movement. His journals reveal the discipline by which he led his life, continuing the traditions and practices in which his mother raised him. A foundational aspect of Susanna’s approach in raising her children was instilling in them this ordered spiritual life through the practice of spiritual disciplines (Oden 2013). These methods stayed with Wesley throughout his life and became key to the spiritual life of all Methodists. His mother’s position as his spiritual guide also remained with him, as he wrote to her for theological and practical advice in adulthood. We can read of her approval of his continued practice of an ordered spiritual life in their correspondence. Susanna commends John in a letter for how he uses his time and then offers a suggestion, as mothers do, that he could commit more of it to meditation, which she believes is “the best means to… add strength to our pious resolutions of any exercise whatsoever” (Wallace 1997). Thus, Susanna’s mothering was a model for discipleship that influenced Wesley’s methodical spirituality, whether around the kitchen table in his childhood or in the form of letters after he had left home.
The role of a discipling mother in the spiritual formation and development of her children is a meaningful aspect of prevenient grace in their lives. Even in just the first year of my daughter’s life, I have prayed daily for her to be formed in Christ’s image and to know his grace and truth. Though she has been baptized in the church and is being raised in a Christian home, there must come a time where she acknowledges God’s grace in her life and comes into her own personal faith. This was certainly the case for the Wesley brothers, who each had heart-warming experiences--John at Aldersgate and Charles a few days before--in which they felt they trusted Christ for their salvation and were justified by their faith. These experiences were key to their leadership in the evangelical revival and the movement of Methodism, but they are also the result of years of spiritual development, some attributed to their mother, in which God’s grace was working to call them to this moment.
Charles wrote to his mother to share his newfound justifying faith and her response provides us with a differing theological perspective of his experience; and yet we see, too, her support as she rejoices with him. Susanna tells Charles that he has “fallen into an odd way of thinking” to suggest that he didn’t have a spiritual life or faith before this moment, “as if a man should affirm he was not alive in infancy, because when an infant he did not know he was alive” (Wallace 1984). She goes on to draw an analogy to the natural development of a person, saying that just as people mature through stages from infancy to adulthood, so Christians must go through degrees of grace over time and with the help of the Holy Spirit, to grow in spiritual strength and come to deeper faith, hope, peace, and joy in Christ.
Yet, Susanna also rejoices with her son’s newly attained hope in Christ and encourages him to expect further work by God’s Spirit. Charles actually made a note on her letter that she was not clear of faith, though he continues to go to her for spiritual counsel and conversation. Despite her difference of interpretation of the momentous event in Charles’ life, Susanna offers us an outline of a model of spiritual growth and displays her own theology of the continuing work of the Spirit in one’s life of faith, which is certainly reflected in Wesley’s own understanding of grace, salvation, and the continuing sanctification by the Holy Spirit. Susanna may have thought differently from her sons about their faith prior to these justifying moments, but however they interpreted their heart-warming experiences, Susanna’s role remained important in their faith life. Her mothering was a part of the grace which led them to these experiences, and her role as spiritual guide remained for years to come, as they went on to lead many others to that same justifying faith and then to encourage them on to a further work by God’s sanctifying Spirit.
My greatest hope and deepest prayer for my daughter is that she, too, would come to acknowledge God’s grace in her life and come to faith in Jesus Christ. This was Susanna’s desire for her children as well. Out of that desire, she raised them in the faith and continued to advise them spiritually in their adulthood. She did this not only for John and Charles, but she imparted her life of faith to all of her children, and every one of them remained Christian into adulthood (Oden 2013). She understood her role as a mother as that of spiritual responsibility for the children God entrusted to her, relying on the Holy Spirit to guide her in her own spiritual life and in that of discipling her children. Being a mother to her children was her life’s calling, and the impact of her faithfulness on the kingdom has caused many to look to her as the Mother of Methodism.
In the past year, my own spiritual life has taken a turn. My roles in ministry, mission, and academia are still a part of my calling, but I now have a new role mothering my daughter. I often think that even if my positions in the seminary and church went away and my academic aspirations were no longer possible, the charge God has entrusted to me in caring for the one-year-old toddling around my feet is vital kingdom work.
This year has been a life-changing year for all of us. The global pandemic has impacted the church, leaving us with questions and concerns about the future and forcing us to rethink our approaches to ministry. In this new reality, the role of discipleship in the home has become even more significant. Churches are limiting the types of in-person ministry they can offer and are providing programming in new ways, much of which involves connecting online from home. As our homes are becoming the central location of our spiritual lives, we must consider the impact of this shift on our children. I have seen the hard work of many children’s ministers to adapt to the circumstances of 2020 and I certainly don’t want to discount the positive influence that their ministry continues to have. However, the role of mothers and fathers to disciple their children in the home, to teach them the faith around the kitchen table, and to model a Holy-Spirit-led life before them is essential, kingdom-influencing work. And for the children and those new to the faith who don’t come from Christian homes, we need to think about how parenting can be a part of their discipleship, too. There are many in our churches and communities in need of spiritual mothers and fathers to guide and counsel them in their journeys of faith.
My maternal ancestral line is filled with Methodists, so I can say on a personal level, mothering had some influence in making me a Methodist. But speaking for its impact on all Methodists, this mothering-discipleship was essential for the Wesley brothers, who founded our movement. Susanna’s influence in their spiritual lives is exemplary of the role of mothering in the making of Methodists. This is our Methodist heritage and the legacy we should live into; the future of Methodism relies upon spiritual mothering (and fathering) to teach our children to live their lives guided by the Holy Spirit.
Wallace, Jr., Charles. “Susanna Wesley’s Spirituality: The Freedom of a Christian Woman.” Methodist History, 22:3 (April 1984), 158-173.
Oden, Patrick. “’Let us Not Spend our Time in Trifling’: Susanna Wesley, a Mother to Her Sons.” Wesleyan Theological Journal, (January 2013), 112-125.
Wallace, Jr., Charles ed. Susanna Wesley: The Complete Writings. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Rebekah R. S. Clapp is an ordained deacon in the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. She serves as the Coordinator of the Hispanic Christian Academy at United Theological Seminary, and she is a PhD Candidate in Intercultural Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary.