Christmas Conference

Prior to the revolution, American Methodism consisted of itinerant preachers commissioned by John Wesley the founder of the Methodist societies in England.

Asbury began to be looked upon as the leader of the groups, whereas Dempster moved to upstate New York, where he ministered locally.

During the war, he ceased his circuit riding and stayed at the residence of his friend, Judge Thomas White of Delaware.

Before the war, the Methodist itinerant preachers were appointed to form societies, but they were expected by Wesley to work within the Anglican Church, as they were not ordained.

This produced some difficulty as Anglican Churches were limited to the coastal cities, and the itinerant preachers were moving westward and inland.

In England, at the Methodist Conference in Leeds in July 1784, Wesley himself ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as elders, appointing them to go, along with a group of itinerant preachers to America.

Asbury, catching the spirit of democracy in the new country, refrained from accepting the ordination until approved by the American connexion.