In the Midst of Early Methodism: Lady Huntingdon and Her Correspondence

by John R. Tyson, Boyd S. Schlenther

Selina Hastings, the Countess of Huntingdon, was the chief administrator behind the Calvinistic wing of Methodism, and was its main organizer. She leased chapels, purchased advowsons (the right to nominate a person to hold a church office), and appointed chaplains and lay preachers to staff the far-flung connection of more than sixty-seven chapels and preaching posts. She established a college for the training of preachers and operated an orphanage.

In the Midst of Early Lady Huntingdon and Her Correspondence introduces the Countess of Huntingdon to a modern readership from the vantage point of her own letters and papers. As a friend and confidant to most of the leading figures of the Eighteenth Century, English revival, Lady Huntingdon was indeed, located In the Midst of Early Methodism . Among her frequent correspondents were John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, Philip Dodderidge, and many lesser-known evangelicals. Through the works of her most illustrious chaplain, George Whitefield, the Countess also became involved in religion and politics in North America. Hence, her voluminous correspondence includes letters to and from George Washington, John Jay, and Phillis Wheatley, an early African American Poetess. This is the first representative anthology of the letters and papers of Selina Hastings, which are presented chronologically from the early years of her marriage through her last days and death.

350 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2006

About the author

A life-long United Methodist, John R. Tyson was born in Pittsburgh, PA. He first became interested in the hymns of Charles Wesley as a child, when he sang them in the yellow-brick Center Avenue United Methodist Church, in Pitcairn, PA. He would subsequently become an internationally known expert in the life and work of Charles Wesley.

While trying his hand at Business Administration as a major, at Grove City College, Tyson experienced a call to ministry and switched to majors in History and Religion. He attended seminary at Asbury Theological Seminary, receiving the M.Div. After brief pastorates in Florida and Pennsylvania, he pursed doctoral studies at Drew University, earning the M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Theological and Religious Studies. Desiring to know more about his own theological heritage, he wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on “Charles Wesley’s Theology of the Cross.”

Tyson currently teaches Church History at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and serves as Director of United Methodist Studies. Previous to coming to that post he taught at United Theological Seminary and Houghton College. He has authored more than 80 articles and conference papers, as well as having edited or written eight books. His most recent book The Great Athanasius: An Introduction to His Life and Work was published in 2017.
John is married to Jill Kingdon Tyson. They are raising four children. In his spare time he enjoys reading, writing, and sports. He is an avid Pirates, Penguins and Steelers fan.