Methodism And Female Clergy

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men to be involved in the early Methodist movement. While John Wesley technically never allowed women to preach, he did encourage them to share openly. This would change later in his life, but early on he made an effort to encourage women to be leaders in a variety of ways.
In his book John Wesley: Holiness of Heart and Life, Charles Yrigoyen, Jr., observes:
Methodists flourished under the direction of class and band leaders, persons of spiritual strength and insight. Most of them were women! Among them were Sarah Crosby, Dorothy Downes, and Grace Murray, exemplary Christians whose witness persuaded many to accept God's grace and begin a new life....In effect, (these women) were engaged in preaching, and many people experienced conversion as a result of their testimony and proclamation of the gospel.... In 1787, despite the objections of some of the male preachers, Wesley officially authorized Sarah Mallet to preach, as long as she proclaimed the doctrines and adhered to the disciplines that all Methodist preachers were expected to accept.
From as early as 1742 female class leaders were appointed. Both sexes were encouraged to speak of their spiritual lives in public. They also spurred on their fellow Methodists to keep a strong faith and repent of their sins. Some women, like Sarah Crosby (1729-1804), were specifically encouraged by Wesley himself to share openly in public; however, he was sure to prohibit her from formal preaching. On March 18, 1769, Wesley wrote in a letter to Sarah, “Pray in private or public as much as you can: even in public, you may properly enough intermix short exhortations with prayer. But keep as far from what is called preaching as you can. Therefore never take a text, and never speak in a continued discourse, without some break above four or five minutes. Tell the People "We shall have another prayer meeting at such a time & place” (John Wesley)
By April 1742 the London Society listed 66 class ...