[2] In 1796, at the age of 21, Atherton entered the Wesleyan ministry on the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Methodist circuit.

Atherton's fresh and original style of preaching gave him a place among the most famous preachers of England in the first half of the century.

[4] Following the upsurge in interest in education which accompanied the extension of franchise in 1832, the Methodist Conference commissioned Atherton, together with Richard Treffry and Samuel Jackson to report on Methodist schools, coming to the conclusion that if the Church were to prosper, the system of Sunday schools (3,339 in number at that time, with 59,277 teachers and 341,442 pupils) should be augmented by day-schools with teachers educated to high school level.

After working under the direction of the Wesleyan Conference for more than fifty years, Atherton was chosen as the president of that assembly during 1846.

[11][12] Atherton published several works,[13] among which were a sermon on the 'Insecurity of Life,' in 1818; an abridged 'Life of Lady Maxwell' in 1838; and an 'Address on the Character, Agencies, and Religious Effectiveness of Wesleyan Methodism,' in 1839.