A Story about People and Structures
Some are institution people. They see processes and procedures as the best way to meet needs.
Others people see processes and procedures as irrelevant or even obstacles to meeting needs. I’ll call them pragmatic people for this post.
Needs are met most effectively when both types of people work together.
Robert Strawbridge is a little-known name. In fact, it may not have been known at all if it weren’t for his pragmatism in opposition to institutional Francis Asbury.
Asbury’s name is well-known. He was one of those responsible for setting up the circuit-riding system of Methodist preachers in America early in the history of American Methodism. Asbury was a masterful administrator who lived up to the strict demands he placed on others, winning the respect of nearly everyone who worked with him. Because of the system he set up, Methodist influence spread and endured far and wide.
Strawbridge, however, saw needs that weren’t being met by the system, so he operated outside the system to get stuff done. Methodist ministers in America had no way to become ordained at that point, so none of them were technically eligible to serve communion or baptise. People wanted (and I would argue they needed) these means of grace, so Strawbridge just served communion and baptised, qualified or not.
That made Asbury grouchy. When Strawbridge died, Asbury wrote in his journal that “He is now no more: upon the whole I am inclined to think the Lord took him away in judgment.” While Strawbridge lived, the two were often in conflict around this topic. There were times when they aligned in disliking one of John Wesley’s appointees who outranked them both, but for the most part, they didn’t get along.
Strawbridge was eventually expelled from service as a Methodist circuit rider despite the fact that he believed and preached Methodist theology. Asbury couldn’t afford a maverick in his institution.
Without the structure Asbury assembled and maintained, Strawbridge’s highly fruitful life would have been a flash in history’s pan. Yet Strawbridge’s pragmatic methods were so effective that even 8 years after his expulsion from Methodism, over half of North American Methodists had been converted under his ministry. (Of course, he didn’t care that he had been expelled, so Strawbridge’s ministry continued after his expulsion.)
Methodism’s longevity has more to do with Asbury than with Strawbridge–systems last–but there were parts of the system that wouldn’t have had people in them without Strawbridge.
Methodism needed both institutional Asbury and pragmatic Strawbridge.
American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists by John Wigger
Others people see processes and procedures as irrelevant or even obstacles to meeting needs. I’ll call them pragmatic people for this post.
Needs are met most effectively when both types of people work together.
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Robert Strawbridge
Asbury's Most Wanted™
Asbury's Most Wanted™
Asbury’s name is well-known. He was one of those responsible for setting up the circuit-riding system of Methodist preachers in America early in the history of American Methodism. Asbury was a masterful administrator who lived up to the strict demands he placed on others, winning the respect of nearly everyone who worked with him. Because of the system he set up, Methodist influence spread and endured far and wide.
Strawbridge, however, saw needs that weren’t being met by the system, so he operated outside the system to get stuff done. Methodist ministers in America had no way to become ordained at that point, so none of them were technically eligible to serve communion or baptise. People wanted (and I would argue they needed) these means of grace, so Strawbridge just served communion and baptised, qualified or not.
That made Asbury grouchy. When Strawbridge died, Asbury wrote in his journal that “He is now no more: upon the whole I am inclined to think the Lord took him away in judgment.” While Strawbridge lived, the two were often in conflict around this topic. There were times when they aligned in disliking one of John Wesley’s appointees who outranked them both, but for the most part, they didn’t get along.
Strawbridge was eventually expelled from service as a Methodist circuit rider despite the fact that he believed and preached Methodist theology. Asbury couldn’t afford a maverick in his institution.
Without the structure Asbury assembled and maintained, Strawbridge’s highly fruitful life would have been a flash in history’s pan. Yet Strawbridge’s pragmatic methods were so effective that even 8 years after his expulsion from Methodism, over half of North American Methodists had been converted under his ministry. (Of course, he didn’t care that he had been expelled, so Strawbridge’s ministry continued after his expulsion.)
Methodism’s longevity has more to do with Asbury than with Strawbridge–systems last–but there were parts of the system that wouldn’t have had people in them without Strawbridge.
Methodism needed both institutional Asbury and pragmatic Strawbridge.
References
Robert Strawbridge: First American Circuit Rider by Frederick MaserAmerican Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists by John Wigger
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