Last year as I was looking for Progress Era women evangelist reports in The Free Methodist and I kept coming across accounts from a Blanche Stamp. Like so many women from this time period, I had no idea who she … Continue reading Blanche Stamp Free Methodist Traveling Revivalist
In the July 8, 1895, issue of The Free Methodist, an Eliza Witherspoon sends a ministry report from Virginia, Missouri noting that she, her mother, and sister had been “advocating the principles of Free Methodism” in that part of the country for the past seventeen years. Eliza tells readers her family is the lone Free Methodist family in the area and had spent the past three weeks holding meetings where “God sent us help and souls were converted to God– more than twenty souls.” Far from being a single report, Eliza Witherspoon begins appearing regularly in The Free Methodist over … Continue reading Eliza Witherspoon: Early 20th Century Evangelist in Southern Missouri
Dr. Sarah Anne Grant served as an evangelist in Northren Indiana, Iowa and Oklahoma for the Free Methodist Church. While she appears as a licensed evangelist for the Northern Indiana Conference in 1890 and 1891, her ministry in Iowa and Oklahoma appears to have been more informal (or else annual conference minutes aren’t incredibly accurate and didn’t report all licensed evangelists). She turns in regular ministry reports while working in Iowa and in Oklahoma. The Grant family appears to encourage Free Methodist elders to come and hold revivals where Sarah would assist.1 She again appears as a licensed evangelist in … Continue reading Anna Grant Pastor of San Diego Free Methodist 1912-1913
In March 1903, W.G. Hammer visited the Grant family in Granite and sent an update to The Free Methodist. At that time, Granite had 1500 residents, several large mercantile, four churches, and according to Hammer, the largest public school building in the state. Hammer noted the Grant family’s philosophy was to take evangelistic work with them wherever they moved. Continue reading Dr. Anna Grant Oklahoma Pioneer and California Minister
When someone thinks of an American suffragist images of Alice Paul, Elizabeth Cady Stanton or Susan B. Anthony might come to mind or the image of women pushing the boundaries of social norms by becoming doctors and lawyers. Yes, those … Continue reading Statistics on Early Women Evangelists in the Free Methodist Church
According to family stories*, Sarah Anne Grant approached her husband John in the late 1860s or early 1870s with some surprising news: she felt called by God to become a doctor. Sarah already had two children at home, but John was supportive so she left him home to tend their farm and their children while she studied medicine. At this time in American history, a female doctor was a rarity. Women faced numerous professional hurdles to become doctors. Many medical schools wouldn’t accept them as students, leading to the founding of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1850 so … Continue reading Sarah Anne Grant MD: 19th Century Pioneer in Medicine and Ministry
A little over a year ago, I published a post “Who was S. Annie Grant?” Since that time, I’ve been trying to track down information on the other women delegates at the 1890 and 1894 Free Methodist General Conferences. I’ve written extensively about the two delegates who spoke on the floor in defense of women’s ministries, but who were the other women? At the 1890 General Conference there was Clara Wetherald from Eastern Michigan and Anna Grant from Northern Indiana. In 1894 there was Ida Gage from Ohio, Mrs. Coleman from Wisconsin, Mrs. Barnhart from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and Clara Sage … Continue reading The Other Female Delegates at the 1890 & 1894 Free Methodist General Conferences
As Josh Duggar awaits his trail on child pornography charges, one big question I keep hearing from people regards his wife Anna. Will she leave Josh or allow him back in their home with their six (soon to be seven) children? Josh ‘s release on bail stipulates that he will live with family friends so he isn’t currently home with his wife. However, it’s unlikely Anna will leave Josh as her fundamentalist Christian beliefs stipulate marriage for life and emphasize that a woman’s primary role is a wife and mother. Continue reading Marriage is For Life in Anna Duggar’s World
The very language used to define Josh’s abuse as “curious about girls,” “they didn’t even know he had done it” or the defense by the victims that their brother had “made stupid mistakes” all illustrate a lack of understanding and/or stubborn refusal to fully understand severity of mental health issues Josh Duggar was struggling with as a teenager and continued to struggle with as an adult with a wife and father of soon to be seven children. Continue reading The Failure of Christian “Counseling” in the Duggar Family Saga
A list of all articles published about the Duggar Family on Free Methodist Feminist. Marriage is For Life in Anna Duggar’s World The Failure of Christian Counseling in the Duggar Family Saga The Hypocrite and the Believer Part One The Hypocrite and the Believer Part Two The Duggars Take Christian Patriarchy Ideas Mainstream TLC and the Fundamentalist Family Continue reading The Duggar Family Posts