225th anniversary of John Wesley's death

Painting by Lisa Katzenstein

After John Wesley died – 225 years ago this week – Francis Asbury noted in his journal that he probably would never read the works of the founder of Methodism again “without reflecting on the loss which the Church of God and the world has sustained by his death.”

Then, Asbury, the founding bishop of the Methodist Church in America, continued on horseback to appointments in Virginia. He still had a mission to carry out – which he did for another 25 years before his own death on March 31, 1816.

The United Methodist Commission on Archives and History is marking both anniversaries, but focusing more on the 200 years since Asbury’s passing, noted the Rev. Alfred Day, the commission’s top executive.