What Methodists Should Say About Religious Liberty

Methodism has been enormously blessed by religious liberty, which allowed John Wesley and his followers to proclaim the Gospel freely, outside the state church, often outdoors, to larger numbers of persons not typically exposed to organized faith. When attacked by angry mobs, Wesley appealed to the magistrates, citing their nation’s protection for freedom of speech and religion. Early American Methodism similarly benefitted from constitutional protections for speech, religion and association, with Francis Asbury and other circuit writers, with their followers, freely preaching, meeting, organizing and living out their faith under protection of law.