09/05/2026
From the Commission on Archives and History of The UMC:
"Who will go?" John Wesley asked. "I will go," 22-year-old Francis Asbury answered.
September 4 marks the 255th anniversary of the day in 1771 when the young English lay-preacher Francis Asbury boarded a ship bound for America, a move that would secure his spot in .
As he wrote in his journal, he set sail "from a port near Bristol" to "visit" America, a trip for which Asbury had volunteered when John Wesley sought traveling preachers to go to the British Colonies.
Within a few days of arriving in America, Asbury preached to a group in Woodrow, Staten Island, launching his career to lead the Methodist movement in America.
Within the first year, he served as John Wesley's assistant and traveled to 25 different settlements. When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, Asbury chose to remain in America rather than return to England.
For the next 30 years, Asbury rode an average of 6,000 miles each year, preaching virtually every day and conducting meetings and conferences. In 1784, Asbury was ordained bishop by Bishop Thomas Coke at the Christmas Conference. Under Asbury's direction, the church grew from 1,200 to 214,000 members and 700 ordained preachers.
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Photos from Pastor Dylan's Western PA Annual Conference Wesley Heritage Pilgrimage in summer 2024, of Pill, England, the harbor Bishop Asbury left from.
