-
CHAPTER 3. Bible, Closet, and Family Altar: The Private Means of Grace
- Wilfrid Laurier University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
AT the close of 1856, Charles Lockhart visited his father in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. He suggested that they hold some “Special Services ” during his visit. “There is all of Thomas’s family unconverted.”1 And so in February of 1857, revival services were held in the Methodist church at Parrsboro. Among those attending was seventeen-year-old Annie Leake, niece of Charles Lockhart, and one of Thomas Leake’s “unconverted” children. Thomas Leake and his wife Olevia were Methodists, and Olevia’s father, John Lockhart, was a Methodist exhorter who frequently led prayer meetings in nearby villages. Once a Sunday school opened nearby, Annie attended enthusiastically. Religion was a part of her childhood, but at seventeen she was still unconverted.2 The Methodist emphasis on conversion went back to the experience of John Wesley. For a number of years he had been searching for personal redemption, and on May 24, 1738, he felt his “heart strangely warmed”; by faith he appropriated the saving work of Jesus Christ. His brother Charles had undergone a similar, if more private, experience a short time earlier. John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and others preached a message calling for this new birth as the way to salvation , and in the years to come, the experience of conversion came to provide a major component of Methodist identity. Thus it was not just Annie Leake’s relatives, but she herself who hoped for her conversion. For some days, Leake attended the revival services with longing, but at first with disappointment. Finally, on the evening of February 12, she “found Jesus.” She wrote, “The invitation soon came for penitents. I needed no urging from Uncle Charles or anyone. As quick as a flash I was kneeling, and the rail was soon filled. My first prayer was, ‘Keep the devil away.’ I wanted to be converted, and Jesus granted all I desired, something tangible. Pardon was written in golden letters on my heart, Notes to chapter 3 start on page 253 63 Bible, Closet, and Family Altar: The Private Means of Grace CHAPTER 3 and then a sweet peace filled my soul; it was that ‘blessed assurance’ that I was indeed converted.…It was the knowledge that He died for me, that led to my salvation.”3 Leake’s conversion was quickly followed by a second experience, which she called the “second blessing” or the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” From the time of John Wesley it was common for Methodists to claim an experience beyond conversion. Both the descriptions of it and the names for it varied, but those who experienced it found themselves sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Her conversion and her sanctification placed Leake in the vast company of Methodists who had shared these experiences. The Means of Grace Conversion was a pivotal event, and many like Leake found sanctification to be an empowering experience.4 Yet even after conversion and sanctification, Methodists continued to make a spiritual journey. They were called to labour, yet they could not trust in their own powers, however diligently they might exercise them. Fortunately they did not need to. According to John Wesley, God provided both “providential” and “prudential” means of grace. The providential, or “instituted,” means of grace were ordained by God; these included the Lord’s Supper and also several private means of grace including prayer, searching the scripture, and religious conversation. There were also prudential means of grace: religious services and, for believers, doing good and avoiding evil. All of these offered assistance to Christians on their journeys , and both women and men were called to avail themselves of these opportunities. 64 EVANGELICAL EXPERIENCE AND THE MEANS OF GRACE Annie Leake (later Annie Leake Tuttle), probably photographed in Truro, NS, in 1859. Photo courtesy of J. Ernest Nix. [18.208.203.36] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 11:06 GMT) The stories of countless Methodist women describe their faithfulness to the private means of grace, especially to private prayer and Bible reading. Sermons, editorials, and inspirational literature enjoined men and women alike to pray and to read scripture, but the biographical accounts of women particularly abound in descriptions of how they closeted themselves with the Lord, or read their Bibles on their knees. This perceived connection between women and the private means of grace may have been partly practical in origin. Throughout much of the nineteenth century the work of wives and mothers was arduous, particularly for those responsible for the oversight of large households...