Asbury, Francis

(1745 –1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, now The United Methodist Church in the United States. As a young man in October 1771, English-born Francis Asbury traveled to America and, during his 45-year ministry in America, he devoted his life to ministry, traveling on horseback or by carriage thousands of miles to faithfully deliver sermons to those living on the frontier. Bishop Asbury’s tireless leadership helped spread Methodism in America. He also launched several schools during his lifetime, although his own formal education was limited. His journal too left a lasting legacy and is valuable to scholars for its account of frontier society, as well as giving insights into his personal life and ministry. He is also known as the ‘prophet of the long road’. It is said that he rode over 275,000 miles on horseback to preach and organize the new ‘religion of the frontier’. For 45 years, he travelled from Maine to Virginia through the untamed landscapes of those times, so it is no surprise that his horse looks very tired.