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Citation: Mesaros-Winckles, Christy. “Saved, Sanctified and Filled with the Spirit: 
Narrative Accounts of Early Free Methodist Women Evangelists.” April 26, 2022, Toronto, 
Ontario: MPEG-3, 20:52 min.

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So our talk this afternoon saved, sanctified and filled with the spirit narrative accounts of early free Methodist women evangelists. 
Timer on. Alright, so first couple slides. I'm not really going to focus on a lot. I hope to have time for questions at the end, but 
this is a lot of the different women I'm researching. I'm trying to really kind of find the narratives of women within the Methodist 
tradition who before I started researching them or primarily just like names and conference minutes. So what I'll talk about today is 
some of their stories, as well as kind of the conflict surrounding ordination within the Free Methodist Church. The denomination, if 
you're not familiar with the history, was found in 1860. When we look at kind of the roles women were allowed 1878 women were granted 
the ability to become licensed conference evangelist. That didn't give them the right to marry, baptize, or serve communion, but they 
could travel and preach. They could also be appointed, although. It's nearly seven, really. No one was appointed to a circuit. 1886. 
We began to see that they were also allowed to serve as delegates representing their annual conferences. And 1890 at the General 
Conference, it really kind of the debate on ordination really kind of came to a head. It was sent back then to the annual conference. 
Four years later in 1894, they addressed it again and the denomination voted it down. However, the issue did not die there. I'm talking 
primarily. Today, about 1890 through about 1910, women were granted a kind of additional roles. By 1907, they were allowed to be 
ministerial delegates, which was the same level as what an ordained elder could be for their quarterly and annual conferences, and 
they could serve as a local pastor. By 1910, they were also allowed to be ordained as a Deaconness, but they were not granted ordinations 
either until 1974. So from here I'm going to kind of read my paper, go a little bit more traditional academic. And I'll start off with the 
story of one of my favorites, Doctor Anna Grant. So in 1897, Doctor Anna Grant traveled alone to Aurelia on the northwestern edge of Iowa, 
holding a weeklong revival service at the invite of some in the community. As her November 8th, 1897 report and the Free Methodist notes, 
not everyone in the community wanted the services, as it was a busy time of the year. But after holding a vote asking how many one of the 
Holiness experience to continue, the response was overwhelming. Grant notes that in a week, six individuals experienced either the blessing 
or the pardon of purity as men repented from tobacco and women from their vanity. As she said, I find hungry souls everywhere. They are 
sheep without a shepherd, and this doctrine and experience of holiness is as foreign as though it came from heaven lately. Grant concludes 
the report, hopeful she can organize a few months class in a real year. Before she leaves, she ends urging other free Methodist to follow 
her. As she is the only free Methodist in the area working her report is just one of many. Such reports by three Methodist women evangelist 
at the turn of the 20th century. Like Grant's, these women were often first contact communities had with the denomination. They blazed trails 
for future outreach efforts. They were extraordinary individuals who often balance family responsibilities and an active ministry and Grant's 
case. She was a mother of ten children, a trade doctor, and a licensed evangelist in the Free Methodist Church. Family stories tell of her 
often leaving home to be an evangelist or doctor, or both leaving her children. Care of her husband, John Grant. The ministries of these 
pioneering women evangelists also coincide with the time of social reform efforts and the Progressive Era of American history. Women were 
becoming active in social causes such as suffrage and the temperance movement. Traditionally, male dominated professions such as law, 
medicine, and ministry were opening to them, and the changing societal role women played was being hailed in suffragist publications such 
as the women's column and the Women's Journal, which regularly published commentary and commendation on women's accomplishments. Including 
women being appointed that to the pulpit. So why have these troubling women been forgotten? Perhaps in the case of free Methodism women 
evangelist, it's maybe because they're quest for ordination was not achieved during their lifetime, and history is often told by those in 
power. As myth that this literary scholar Vicki Tolar Collins aptly summarizes in her research on Methodist women during and shortly after 
John Wesley's time, women's lives are managed and silenced and used by those in authority, in this case early male superintendents of the 
Free Methodist Church, to enhance the organizational narrative if the narrative does not. Fit the image conceived by these individuals and 
the contributions are often not included and are ultimately forgotten. And the Free Methodist Church, the 1890 and 1894 General Conference 
debates on women's ordination was also coming at a time of increased anti suffrage activity in the United States. As historian Susan Marshall 
notes and her research on anti suffrage movement of the Progressive Era, there was a strong connection to religious chemistry by those opposed 
to women's advancement. Acknowledging women had lack of legal protection, anti suffragists would still argue that it was a God-given decree that 
women were subordinate to men, even citing Eve enticing Adam and Genesis and their subsequent fall and the writings of the apostle Paul and 
Ephesians where women were told to submit to their husbands as unto the Lord. This quote, natural inferiority of women was the basis of the 
natural rights arguments against women in the pulpit and they're enfranchisement into politics and other professions traditionally held by men. 
Thus, advocates of women's ordination face an uphill battle that pitted them against underlying philosophical beliefs of society. The quote 
women's fear argument was seen again and again in the 1890 and 1894 General Conference debates and in the pages of the denominational publication 
the Free Methodist, both before and after general conferences. Yeah, I'm right out there. Yep. So the service that women evangelists the Free 
Methodist Church, as we kind of look at the history, was somewhat uneven, as annual conferences were some more supportive than others, and granting 
women both circuits in licenses, often the conferences on the western frontier or in rural parts of the South for more willing to give women a 
ministry circuit as the denomination was continually short on licensed elders at the turn of the 20th century, a topic that regularly came up in 
the Free Methodist by let me go here to this one. So this is my. Own research, which I'll talk a little bit more about how it got to these numbers 
afterwards. But by 1900 there were 174 licensed women at the AngelList and the denomination, and by 1910 there were over 400. So you can see the 
numbers just keep rising and rising. Despite this number of increase in women evangelists, the number of women who were appointed to ministry did 
not proliferate. So many women joining, becoming evangelists, not a lot appointed. A 1904 denominational statistic report and the Free Methodist 
noted that in 1903 there were 1008 circuits to be supplied, but only 665 ordained elders. Through a search and recruitment of outside pastors, all 
but 153 circuits were staffed, and as the author noted, the denomination also had 87 women acting as supplies to fill those unappointed circuits. 
Yet despite women's staffing circuits, some conferences remained adamantly opposed to women in ministry. Conferences such as the Genesee and New 
York conference have been opposed to women's preaching since the denomination was founded in 1860, even though they regularly had many licensed 
female evangelists. They did not appoint any women until 1909, and even then the appointment was for licensed female evangelist appointed and 
partnership with a spouse who was an ordained elder. Genesee Conference Anthony work conferences lack of recognition for license when evangelist 
even within their own conferences was a source of tension and the topic of it. October 29th, 1901 editorial in the Free Methodist by female 
evangelist Billy Barrenger Bill Barringer called out the conferences leadership for refusing Emma Roberts, the daughter-in-law, the denominations 
founder BT Roberts and wife of Benson Roberts, a spot of honor at quarterly conference and camp meetings. As they are under noted, these slights 
are offered her and she must feel the lack of appreciation for the great work she is doing for the denomination, which thus keeps her under its 
oppressive heel. Roberts had been a licensed evangelist since 1888 and was also an administrator at Chili Seminary in New York. I mean, look at 
the history of women's appointments. Most were within the oil City Conference, Pittsburgh Conference, West Virginia, Arkansas, Southern Missouri, 
Oklahoma, north-south Dakota. You can kind of see the rural Western Conference is more favorable. These conferences regularly appointed several 
women to circuits sometimes and as a couple with a spouse who was ordained, but just as often on their own. These women were prolific writers who 
regularly wrote reports to the Free Methodist. They used writing as a tool to promote ministry, and this was a common rhetorical technique for 
Methodist women dating back to the 18th century Methodism in England. As historian Phyllis Mack noted in her book part of religion in the British 
Enlightenment, 18th century Methodist women use personal narrative and testimony in their sermons more than their male counterparts. Narratives 
appeal to the masses who could see their own flaws and similarities through the narratives of women evangelists. So while the women placing emphasis 
on personal struggle and their ministry reports, what they did was also kind of talking about deeper self reflection and awareness. And they did this 
on larger scale in the writing than their male counterparts and their ministry reports. However, this emphasis on personal bias and repentance shouldn't 
be viewed as an attempt by women to fit within the rhetoric of their naturally weaker states, as religious historian Catherine Brekus noted, while 19th 
century female preachers emphasize their weakness. They really sounded a self abasing as their 18th century foremothers. As historian Zink Sawyer explains, 
the slight change in narrative structure was partly due to late 19th and early century female evangelist, some often using their position and personal 
experiences to further the cause of equal rights. In fact, as the quote monopoly of the pulpit as the Seneca Falls Convention termed it, this was the 
centre of gender debates. And more so than any other profession. Allowing women to be ordained was admitting a fundamental shift in populist theology. 
This is why I think it was so controversial. Free Methodist women evangelist reports are really excellent illustrations of women kind of talking about 
this dual empowerment, yet also testimony. Depending on the year, there are a lot of different women appointed. One I want to focus on though is Eliza 
Witherspoon, who was appointed to circuits in southern Missouri and Arkansas in the early 1900s. Depending on the year, she also had a special designation 
as conference evangelist. And what that meant was she was granted a traveling preachers license and she essentially traveled throughout the entire conference 
preaching at various churches as requested. As an evangelist, you could be both male or female, and there were two distinct levels of licensure within the 
denomination. Poorly conference evangelists were licensed individuals who would have to go through new about four times a year when the poorly conference 
met. Whereas annual conference licenses really went up for review once a year. The annual conference is what? Lies ahead. Her ministry updates in the Free 
Methodist regularly emphasized to work and starting Sunday schools and protracted meetings. In 1895, her report from Virginia, Missouri states this and the 
month of April, we held meetings for three weeks. God sent us help, and souls were converted to God. More than 20 in #5 profess the experience of holiness. 
She notes that they organized the Sunday school in Virginia and because of the revival and she ends with the prayer that closely resembles Psalms 77, God 
Keepeth each one, and my Sinner prayer, thy way of God, is in sanctuary. Who is great is our God, thou art that do us wonders. Use of interweaving biblical 
passages into their ministry accounts and conversion narratives was also a rhetorical device these evangelists would use to ensure that the reader could see 
their connection between their ministry and scriptural precedents. From the slide first. Right. So go on. So we're turning back to Anna Grant, who I started 
the presentation with. She's another wonderful example. So she served as a free Methodist evangelist for about 34 years. Besides being a trained Dr. and the 
mother, she often would embark on evangelistic work wherever the family was living. In the 1880s, she ministered at various evangelistic events in Indiana. 
In 1890, was a lay delegate for northern Indiana. At the Free Methodist General Conference, she voted in. Fear of automation. For the 1890s to the 1900s, her 
family then moved to Iowa and then finally to granite OK, when the territory first opens the settlements. Eventually, by 1911, she moved to Southern California 
for health reasons, and she again took up active ministry, serving as an appointed pastor for the three Methodist San Diego Church from 1912 to 1913. In 1913, 
San Diego had a population of about 60,000, and it was known as a destination for men who wanted to visit the numerous houses of entertainment or ill repute 
within the city. So this is a quote from one of her reports. She noted, and numerous reports as a pastor that she was really active in working with the women 
who worked in these red light districts. And you can really kind of tell the ruggedness of 1913 San Diego from a report March 11th, 1913 which is talking 
about a four week revival where she had a guest evangelist come and she concludes by saying 30 souls directly or indirectly found their way to sound conversion 
and entire sanctification. She noted the spiritual battle during the revival. Wax taught at times, reminding me of the Inquisition and the Dark Ages when men 
and women put to death for their fidelity to God, and nothing but the strong army of the law prevents us from receiving violence, as several nights a crowd 
would gather in front of the church, she said they sent a Catholic in with concealed weapons to kill the preacher, but he was hindered by one of God's little 
ones. He even followed him to the past. Parsonage antagonized him, but two of their members were converted and one Catholic preacher. Sanctified. I love the 
language and how vivid and colourful she is. Revivals seem to be the norm in the San Diego Church, especially when Grant was the pastor. And this is seen 
again in a 1912 San Diego Sun article where the church is kind of talked about and know the fact that they have only about five or six regular members, but 
they hold four weekly services that average about 15 to 20 in attendance. But as the Sun notes, because the membership is so small, grant salary was also. 
Extremely small, but she had adult children who, as she noted, subsidized her salary, so that was a nice bonus that she was able to have. Not every female 
evangelist had that, but accounts like grants in San Diego really aren't an anomaly. By 1910, there were about 81% of all licensed female evangelists were 
women. This was about a 50% increase from five years ago, when in 1905 only 33% were women. The breast for men. However, while women were being licensed as 
evangelists in greater numbers, and this is after should remind you of 1894, they defeated ordination for women. Women still in massive numbers. We're going 
into the denomination, becoming licensed evangelists and serving in ministry. But they really besides being an evangelist, their official role was kind of 
murky. Evangelist Ada Hall wrote an article in April 25th, 1911 titled Forward, Backward Witch, Free Methodist, and she outlined the frustration her and 
other female evangelist had because they had to continually defend the denomination against outsiders who questioned why the Free Methodist Church did not allow 
women to be ordained. As Hall notes, we have been humiliated and ashamed. When we have to explain to outside people the position of our church on this question, 
they always go away disappointed, for they expect better things of us because of our high spiritual standard as laborers together with God and with one another 
and the great harvest field. Seeing the night so soon cometh, is it not wise that you rather help these women who labour among you and save them from laboring 
under the present humiliating hindrances? She goes on, and ends by saying we had about. One name and knew what it stood for. We would be thankful the question 
will never die down or be settled until the right is reached. Follows the article pinpointed an ongoing rhetorical trend within denomination, changing the title 
roles open to women to give the appearance of more ministerial authority without actually giving them any more authority. When women were first licensed in 1878, 
they were simply called evangelist. But as Hall notes later, the designation became more complex as evangelists could be licensed by the quarterly conference. The 
annual conference. And student conference minutes really became littered with lots of different titles for the AngelList, further really kind of complicating the 
situation. Added to that the 1907 General Conference ruling that allowed female evangelists to be appointed as a ministerial delegates, that was something that was 
even more confusing. Why could they be a ministerial delegate yet not ordained? Within that first year difference, conferences seated about 15 women as ministerial 
delegates and 10. Different conferences that same year, they were also allowed to be appointed as deaconesses and Ada Hall, who wrote the article. She herself was 
both one of the first deaconesses in the denomination and also a licensed evangelist. Assumed women could serve as many roles as they wanted as long as that role 
wasn't as ordained elder. And the debate continued really off and on throughout the next 5-10 years. They haven't really gone much beyond 1915, but the pages of 
the few Methodist regularly featured kind of back and forth on what is women's role should women be ordained. And I want to conclude with a really powerful 
editorial written by a woman evangelist who identifies herself simply as SAH. And this was in June 22nd, 1907, she wrote a defence of her ministry entitled The 
Rights of Women. Creatures, and she argues that preaching alone is no longer enough. Women must be allowed to baptize and marry individuals who come to their 
churches, requesting, as she explains, all are aware that preaching alone is not the only way of reaching hearts. So are you guys on zoom? I keep forgetting to 
change it. All right, we'll go to this one. This is the final one. So as she says, to illustrate what she means by being handcuffed, I give the following case. 
A family of foreigners live in the neighborhood of the Free Methodist Church. The babe was very ill. The Free Methodist pastor was sent to baptize it. She thought 
of the open door to the hearts of the parents, you know, to carry the gospel. But knowing the discipline, she had her hands tied and she had to refuse saying that. 
She was not allowed to baptize. As she said in the article, it was late in the evening. The pastor by the time she called in a male colleague, the baby had died. 
She said it was an opportunity, obviously, to reach the family, but the opportunity was gone. As she notes, SSAH notes cases such as this she's often advised by 
brother and within the denomination to just ignore the discipline and to go ahead and baptize the baby. Yet she says she and other female evangelists were asked 
if they were willing to be governed by the discipline when they joined the denomination. As she said, I ask you which is better to advise the sisters. You violate 
the discipline or make a discipline which the sisters can be governed by and carry on the work of the master when duty calls. Alright, so I could keep going, but 
I'm going to stop because I'd rather have time for questions too.



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