Susanna Wesley

On this Mother’s Day I am reflecting on the “Mother of Methodism,” Susanna Wesley.  Her sons, John and Charles, began the Methodist Movement that changed the world.  I believe that the Christian nurture of Susanna and her husband Rev. Samuel Wesley, had much to do with their success.  Susanna home schooled her many children at an early age and used the Bible as a means of instruction.  She also had private meetings with each one to inquire about their soul.  She practiced the means of grace as a way of life in the home: prayer, study of scripture, fasting, tithing, self examination, worship, and the Lord’s Supper.  She prayed for an hour in the morning and an hour at night.  When her husband was away on business she would conduct worship in her kitchen.  Susanna once wrote in her journal, “There is nothing I now desire to live for but to do some small service to my children, that as I have brought them into the world, I may, if it please God, be an instrument of doing good to their souls.”


 

There are children in our lives that need our Christian nurture.  They may be your own children or grand children or children in your church or neighborhood.  There is nothing more precious than nurturing the soul of a young person.  It is one of the most important things we can be doing as we strive to grow our churches. 

 

Bishop Peggy A. Johnson