Apostolic Succession

I have recently been geeking out about the issue of apostolic succession since reading a blog post about the Methodist connection to the universal church.  This recent investigation began when my father asked me for resources about the theology of ordination, a part of Christian tradition that recent American evangelicals have unfortunately neglected and left misunderstood.  This blog post is, in part, my own attempt to revive and spread an understanding of this historic practice which dates back to the time of Jesus Christ and the apostles.  It's also my own little tribute to those who've gone before me.

Below is the Apostolic line that lead to me, in reverse order.

Gregory R. Coates ordained in 2010 by David W. Kendall

David W. Kendall ordained in 1982 by Robert F. Andrews

Dr. Kendall was elected as one of three bishops in the Free Methodist Church - USA in 2005 where he still serves.  I met David Kendall as a high school student when he pastored the McPherson (KS) FMC.  I was close friends with his daughter, Charis.  Bishop Kendall combines a sharp mind (he has a Ph. D. in New Testament) with a warm pastoral heart and a deep passion for the kingdom of God.

Robert F. Andrews ordained in 1955* by Edward C. John

Bishop Andrews (1927-2014) was known for his baritone voice and deep love for both church and family. He served as a pastor in both Kansas and Indiana as well as hosted a nationally-syndicated radio show created by Free Methodists known as the Light and Life Hour.  In fact, you can even listen to one of these old recordings here!  His radio sermons were later published in a book called When You Need a Friend in 1979.

Edward C. John ordained in 1936* by Robert H. Warren

E. C. John served as a Free Methodist missionary to Japan shortly after the end of World War II to reorganize the Free Methodist presence there. He served as Free Methodist bishop from 1961 to 1974 and died in 2005.  His address to the General Conference of 1969 can be heard here.  Edward John was originally a businessman who entered into the ministry later in life.  He graduated from Pennsylvania State University (B.A.) and Michigan State (graduate).

Robert H. Warren ordained in 1894 by Wilson T. Hogue

Robert Warren was born in Colorado as an only child in 1876.  Sensing a call to preach at the age of 18, he served as a pastor in many regions of the Midwest as well as in Southern California.  Warren was elected bishop of the Free Methodist Church of North America in 1935.  Unable to fulfill his entire term, Warren died of leukemia in September of 1938.  Warren preached his final sermon, titled "The Things that Remain," in Spring Arbor, Michigan and those who heard it "wept and rejoiced as the bishop made [the listeners] see the stability of God's throne, His Word, and His power to save, cleanse and keep to the end" (Blews, Master Workmen, ch. 13).  We would know little about his life, had it not been preserved by Richard Blews in his book Master Workmen.

Wilson T. Hogue ordained in 1873 by E. P. Hart
Wilson Hogue, one of the most important bishops in Free Methodist history, was born in 1852, elected bishop in 1903, and died in 1920. During this time, Hogue embraced theological premillennialism (in disagreement with B. T. Roberts) and led the FMC in the direction of fundamentalism during the Fundamentalist-Modernism Controversy of the early 20th century.  His parents being Scottish-English Methodists who were discipled in the Methodist Episcopal Church's class meetings, Hogue was a life-long advocate for the spiritual value of accountability.  In 1915 Hogue published a two-volume history of the FMC, a valuable historical document, and founded Greenville College in Illinois (my alma mater!), serving as its first president.

Edward Payson Hart ordained in 1863 by B. T. Roberts

Born in mountainous Vermont in 1835, the Hart family moved to northern Illinois during Edward's teens.  E. P. was converted as the result of a 1858 revival meeting held in Marengo, IL by the fiery preacher John Wesley Redfield.  Since his charismatic worship style and fervor for holiness offended some of the other Methodist Episcopal clergy in the area, when Hart learned of Roberts' expulsion from the MEC, he joined the newly formed Free Methodist Church.  In 1881, Hart and his wife Martha moved to the west coast and are largely responsible for the FMC presence there to this day.  Hart's life as been recounted in a book by John Kulaga, Provost at Asbury University in Kentucky.

B. T. Roberts ordained in 1852 by Thomas Morris

The founder of the Free Methodist Church (to which I belong), Roberts was excluded from the Methodist Episcopal Church against his will in 1860 for arguing vociferously against the practice of pew rental, the increasing respectability of the Methodist Church, and abandoning the Wesleyan message of entire sanctification.  Roberts was also a strong proponent of ordaining women and, indeed, wrote a book by that very title.  He also opposed worldly associations such as Free Masonry and sought to recover a simpler, more earnest form of Christianity.  The Methodist Episcopal Church claims to have excluded him for insubordination, but Free Methodists like myself maintain that he was forced out against his will because he spoke truth to power.

Thomas Morris ordained in 1820 by Robert R. Roberts

Growing up a skeptic within a Baptist home, Thomas Morris was drafted into the War of 1812, but his family paid for a poorer man to serve as his replacement.  Converted by the Methodists in 1813, Morris was ordained elder in 1820 and supposedly rode on horseback some 5,500 miles preaching in the Ohio area.  He became bishop in 1836 and also served as the editor of the Western Christian Advocate, a very important Christian periodical in its day.

Robert Richford Roberts ordained in 1808 by Francis Asbury

Robert Roberts was elected bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816 shortly after the death of Francis Asbury, who had died en route to the General Conference held that year.  He was the first married man to be elected to this office.  Asbury described him as a "good preacher blessed by God" who left the "people pleased." (Wigger, American Saint, 378).  He also founded Indiana Asbury University, which is now known as DePauw University, in Greencastle, Indiana.  Roberts Park UMC in downtown Indianapolis is named after him.

Francis Asbury was ordained in 1784 by Thomas Coke

Francis Asbury, rightly known as the Father of American Methodism, is one of the most significant and yet overlooked figures in American religious history.  Appointed by John Wesley to serve in the British colonies as one of his representatives, Asbury arrived in 1771 and stayed in America until his death in 1816.  His tireless proclamation of the good news, warm spirit, friendly demeanor, and indefatigable willingness to travel through any weather in good or ill health is largely the reason that Methodism became America's largest Protestant denomination shortly after his death.  His biographer John Wigger (a fantastic book!) claims that at the height of his ministry he was the most recognizable figure in America, save only George Washington.  I could write so much more!  But I will leave it at that...

Thomas Coke ordained by John Wesley and appointed superintended in 1784

Coke may rightly be called the first ever "Methodist Bishop."  Here's how.  His predecessor, John Wesley, was both the father of the Methodist movement and a committed Anglican priest.  But as Methodism grew in the British colonies in America, Wesley faced a major dilemma.  Many of the newly converted Methodists needed to be served the sacraments of baptism and communion, yet these people did not live in a place accessible to an Anglican church.  Appalled to learn that some Methodist lay people were actually serving communion -- an act that Wesley condemned strongly, saying in 1760 that "he would rather commit murder than administer the Lord's Supper without ordination" -- Wesley knew he needed to act.  However, according to hundreds of years of church tradition, only a bishop is allowed to ordain.  Wesley, who was not a bishop, pleaded with the Anglican Bishop of London, asking him to ordain someone to serve in the colonies, but to no avail.  With no other alternatives, Wesley fell back upon his longstanding conviction, rooted in his reading of Scripture, that presbyters/elders of the church may also ordain if a bishop is unavailable.  Thus in 1784, Wesley ordained Thomas Coke and appointed him as a superintendent over the work in America.  Wesley didn't call Coke a "bishop" and was appalled when he later learned that Coke and Asbury were referring to themselves as such.  Nevertheless, this is how Coke came to be known as the first Methodist Bishop.

John Wesley ordained in 1728 by John Potter

Here is where Methodism separates from the Church of England.  Wesley, a revivalist preacher, practical theologian, and spiritual reformer devoted to recovering earnest Christianity and the spirit of purity taught by the New Testament, lived his life faithfully as an Anglican priest and yet was conscious, by the end of his life, that Methodism was taking on a life of its own in other parts of the world due to circumstances beyond his control.  Wesley devoted his life to growing and discipling those followers of the Methodist movement he believed the Holy Spirit to be creating, especially following his "heart strangely warmed" experience at Aldersgate on May 24, 1738.

Dr. John Potter ordained in 1715 by Dr. Baxter Tenison

Potter served as Bishop of Oxford from 1715 to 1737 during which time he ordained Wesley.  After the unexpected death of William Wake, he was made Archbishop of Canterbury where he served until his death in 1747.  He was a highly learned man who wrote on theology, mathematics, astronomy, and church governance.  

CHECK BACK LATER.  MORE TO COME!!!...


Dr. Baxter Tenison, 1701

Dr. Philip Tillotson, 1683
Niles Sancroft, 1658
William Laude, 1633
Kyle Abbot, 1610
Richard Bancroft, 1604
Mark Whitgift, 1577
Steven Grendall, 1575
Dr. Matthew Parker, 1559
Phillip Barlow, Bishop of London 1536
Thomas Cranmer, 1533
William Warham, 1503
Cardinal Morton, 1488
Cardinal Bourchier, 1469
Cardinal Kemp, 1452
Henry Chichele, 1413
James Abingdon, 1381
Simon Sudbury, 1367
Simon Langham, 1327
Walter Reynolds, 1313
Robert of Winchelsea, 1293
John Peckham, 1279
Robert Kilwardby, 1269
Boniface of Savoy, 1252
Edmund Rich, 1234
Richard Weathershed, 1230
Stephen Langton, 1205
Hubert Walter, 1197
Fitz-Jocelin, 1191
Reginal, 1183
Baldwin, 1178
Richard, 1170
Thomas Becket, 1162
Theobald, 1139
William de Corbeuil, 1122
Ralph d'Escures, 1109
St. Anselm, 1093
Wulfstan, 1064
Edmund, 1012
Elphege, 1006
Aelfric, 995
Sigeric, 990
Ethelgar, 988
Dunstan, 959
Odo, 941
Phlegmund, 890
Rufus, 859
Cuthbert, 814
Herefrid, 788
Egbert, 749
Ethelburh, 712
Theodore, 668
Deusdedit, 652
Justus, 635
Laurentius, 604
St. Augustine, 601
Aetherius, 591
Maximus Lyster, 587
St. Mark Pireu, 581
John, 562
Gregory II, 547
Linus, 532
St. Evarestus, 502
Christopher III, 485
Christopher II, 472
Timothy Eumenes, 468
Clement of Lyons, 436
Basil, 415
James, 413
St. Christopher, 394
Paul Anencletus "the Elder", 330
Mark Leuvian, 312
Pious Stephenas, 291
Andrew Meletius, 283
Gregory Antilas, 276
St. Matthias, 276
Philip Deoderus, 241
Maximus, 203
St. Nicomedian, 180
St. Irenaeus, 177
St. Polycrates, 175
Lucius, 156
Demetrius, 131
St. John the Elder, 113
St. Onesemus, 91
St. Timothy, 62

St. Paul the Apostle 

Jesus the Christ