Toronto Methodists

Mormon History 1830-1844

Toronto Methodists

Mary Fielding's brother and sister, Joseph and Mercy, leave for Canada; Canadian Methodism; William Patrick and the study group; Irvingites. Family primitivist congregations grow in England but Mary is destitute; at thirty-three she leaves her aging father to join her brother and sister in Toronto; the study group continues; John and Leonora Cannon Taylor.
1832–1834	Joseph and Mercy Fielding in York
Joseph and Mercy leave for Canada	In search of a better future, Mary Fielding's older brother, Joseph, and younger sister, Mercy, sailed for Canada on March 25, 1832. Joseph was thirty-five, Mercy twenty-five.	sailed: ¶ Joseph Fielding diary
Providence	"It was the conviction of almost all my friends that the Lord had some special purpose in this thing," Joseph later recalled.	¶ Joseph Fielding letter
Preparing the way Bible reading	My relations said they thought I was going to prepare something for the rest of the family. … [O]n the morning that I with my sister bid farewell to my native place, we read as our regular lesson the 105th Psalm, and as the 17th verse was read, "He sent a man before them, even Joseph," &c. (that being my name) and taking it in connexion with our thoughts … our minds were particularly struck, and I went off as cheerfully as though I had been going home; the Lord was with me in all things.
Buy farm near York	Joseph had an offer to labor as a tenant farmer near York, the capital of Upper Canada. Unfortunately, the landlord died soon after their arrival, but within a few months he was able to purchase a farm at Charleton Settlement, ten miles northwest of the city.	Charleton Settlement later became known as Down's View, a city suburb. Canada, 1.
York Methodists 1831 growth	York was a popular immigrant destination. In 1831, the year before Joseph and Mercy arrived, the population had grown from 4,000 to 5,500, an increase of 37.5%, and the new residents were ripe for new religion. Methodists experienced a succession of revivals, bought land half way between the city center and Charleton, and built their first brick chapel in the area.	Canadian Methodism, 260.
1833 difficulties	But in the year after Joseph and Mercy arrived, the Canadian "connexion" of the church formally united with the British connexion—a highly unpopular move in the New World—and church growth dropped dramatically.	Ibid. 305, 312.
1834 troubles	Troubles continued to afflict the church through 1834. At the annual conference held in June, that year in Kingston, it was decided
Stop ordaining lay preachers	That whereas, in the judgment of this Conference, the ordaining of men engaged in secular pursuits to the office of the holy ministry is contrary to the principles and practice of the Venerable Founder of Methodism, in future the ordination of local preachers shall cease, as the altered circumstances in which the Connexion is placed render it unnecessary.
Contrary to anti-clerical spirit of the times	This was a slap in the face to many Canadians who had partaken of the anti-clerical spirit of the Second Great Awakening. Below the border, American Methodism had completely separated from the English connection in 1784. Thanks to the lay circuit riders west of the Alleghenies between 1812 and 1830, the number of Methodists had multiplied nearly six-fold, from 30,000 to more than 175,000, and it would soon become the largest denomination in the United States. The return to formalism in British Methodism seemed a terrible mistake to many Canadians, a mistake contrary to their own New World experience.	Ahlstrom, 372, 436–37.
John Fielding a lay preacher	As their father had been a lay preacher, Joseph and Mercy most likely did not take this change well.	¶ Joseph Fielding letter

1833	Irvingites
William Patrick the Canadian connection to the Catholic Apostolic Church (Irvingites)	At the end of 1833, William Patrick, a well-to-do government bureaucrat, licensed Methodist preacher, and member of the Toronto establishment, wrote his friend, the Reverend George Ryerson, who had gone to England to raise money for Indian missions. While there, Ryerson became disillusioned with British Methodism and joined the Catholic Apostolic Church. Members of the church were popularly known as "Irvingites," after of their popular preacher, William Irving.	Prominent Methodist layman William Poyntz Patrick (d. Oct. 13, 1863) was a clerk in the Upper Canadian House Assembly and chief office clerk of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. Not to be confused William Patrick, Methodist clergyman, businessman, and politician, also of Upper Canada in the same period. Source Taylor preparation, 124–25. Rev. Egerton Ryerson established the Methodist weekly, Christian Guardian, in November 1829. In three years the paper had a circulation of 3,000. "It came to be regarded as the leading newspaper of Upper Canada, a tireless defender of religious freedom, democracy and education." Ryerson's "passion and determination were his greatest strengths— and often his worst enemies: in his first 11 years as editor he was voted in and out of office three times by the Methodist Conference." Source; Irvingites, 80.
Irvingite history and beliefs	A popular Scottish Presbyterian minister preaching in London, Irving and others, had formed the Society for the Investigation of Prophecy in 1826. Influential banker and Member of Parliament, Henry Drummond became the group's principal benefactor and one of the founding fathers of the Catholic Apostolic Church. The church's theology centered around the imminent return of Jesus Christ and the destruction of the wicked before the millennium; restoration of the gifts of the spirit, especially prophecy and glossolalia; and the return of the Jews to Jerusalem.
1834 Irvingite mission	Patrick suggested to Ryerson some in Toronto might be interested in the Catholic Apostolic Church, and his friend arranged for two missionaries, William Caird and William Cuthbert, to leave for Canada in February 1834.
Joseph's interest	The missionaries were favorably received, and "for some time" Joseph Fielding—an inveterate student of holy writ—was "much interested" in Irving's interpretation of the Second Coming, millennium, and signs of the times.	¶ Joseph Fielding diary

	Mary Fielding in England
1834 Mary destitute Sometimes doubts	Joseph and Mercy had been gone a year when Mary wrote, "I am left quite destitute. All is sold and we are left considerabley in debt so that we have now nothing to depend upon but the unseen hand of our Heavenly Father. We are indeed in the vally of humiliation." Her faith was tried. "The dealings of the almighty towards us as a family have indeed been very misterious. I have at times been led to doubt wether his hand can have been in all the changes that have taken place." Nonetheless,	Mary Fielding to Joseph and Mercy R. Fielding, March 18, 1833, Mary Fielding
Hopeful Like Israel in the wilderness	I cannot help feeling a hope yes and a good degree of confidence that the Lord has gracious designs towards us still. I look upon our present situations being something like that of the Children of Israel in the wilderness, that we may wisely take warning by there conduct & never yield to murmuring or complaining disposition.	¶ Rachel and Mary
Timothy's sermons	The sermons of her brother-in-law, Timothy, so thrilled her "that I could scarcely sit still." He had urged the congregation to be filled with the Spirit, "speaking to yourselves in Psalms & Hymns and spiritual songs making melody in your hearts unto the Lord," and declared
Gifts of the spirit	if we were all filled with the gifts & graces of the Spirit as we as Christians ought to be the Church would hardly hold us & really with only the measure of it which I experienced I felt that it was truly the Lord is carrying on his work in this Church in a very pleasing manner.
Congregation growing	The size of his congregation was growing steadily, "and altho things of unpleasant nature now & then occur which is not to be wondered at in an infant Society like this still the work prospers."
James' congregation in Preston	In Preston, where her brother James' Primitive Episcopal congregation had grown to a hundred members, the news was equally good. "Some of the most abandond Charicters have been awakend under his ministry and have become new Creatures."

	The Fieldings' doctrinal views
Joseph's issues with Methodism	Meanwhile, Joseph was not feeling anything like a new creature. He attended Methodist services across the street from his house and was liberal in his donations, but found little satisfaction. He was convinced that Methodists, along with all other churches, misunderstood the second coming of Christ. Methodist preachers taught that through their ministries the world would be converted, ushering in the millennial reign, after which Jesus would return for the final Judgment. But Joseph's reading of the Bible convinced him that the wicked would flourish until the second coming, at which time Jesus would destroy the wicked. Only then would be righteousness triumph and the millennial reign begin.
Difficult to retain the Spirit Searches scripture Liberal donations	… as to temporal things I had all things needful and something more. As to Spiritual, I was preserved from [outward?] but was not as faithful as I ought to have been [it?] [lacuna] and for some time very difficult to retain the Spirit of God. I would sometimes get stirred up afresh. It appeard almost impossible to keep it up. I was diligent in searching the Scriptures and attend Means of Grace, and liberal in supporting the [-] of God among the Methodists, who I suppose, as [-] of the Spirit and of Truth as any [--].	¶ Joseph Fielding diary
Irving and the millennium	I had for some time been much interested in the Subject the Millennium &c. which had been revised by [Edward Irving], a Scotch Minister in London, and partly from writing and partly by reading the word of God was fully convinced that the Christian world as it is called, was in a very different State to what [was] supposed [to be].
Second coming misunderstood Sectarianism	As to the second coming [of] Christ, it [was] almost entirely denyed or misunderstood as The Day of the Lord as spoken of [lacuna] Ezekiel and all the Prophets, in which the wicked [-] be destroyed was almost entirely overlooked, a great of professing Christian, [by] far the greater part, believing or at least hoping that the Gospel would convert the World and spread the Knowledge of the Lord over the whole Face thereof, each Sect imagening that their particular Christian [faith] would predominate and be the main Cause in the of God of finally accomplishing that End. …
Disaffected	If I spoke of this, or questioned the propriety of their Explanations, I was said to be disaffected, and as I could not but speak of the second coming of Christ, it was frequently declared in the Pulpit that he would not come until the final Judgment.
Polarized	If I said that they were fallen they said it was because I myself was fallen, and they feared I should fall into hell.
Hopes for restoration	I plainly saw that they even mangled the Word of God. At [5] this I was often much grieved, so much so that I had but little Comfort in attending the Meetings, and was constrained often to pray the Lord to send us the Gospel in its fulness and Power, that he would raise up and send men as in Days of old, Pastures [pastors] after his own heart that should feed us with Knowledge and Understanding.
Mary's pre-millennialism	Mary shared her brother's pre-millennialist views:	Mary Fielding to Joseph and Mercy R. Fielding, op. cit.
	The more we read and study the sacred word the more we are convinced the time is now at hand when the Son of Man in all his Glory with that of the holy Angels shall again make his appearance in the Clouds of Heaven, when all shall be distroyed who have not obeyed the voice of the prophet.	Mary Fielding to Joseph and Mercy R. Fielding, op. cit.
Counsels Joseph and Mercy	She urged Joseph and Mercy to study the prophets carefully, for they spoke "not only of sufferings of Christ but also are full of the Glory that should follow when the Lord of hosts shall reign on mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his Ancients."
1834 emigrates	But until that time, Mary would have to attend to her temporal circumstances. In 1834, leaving her aging father in the care of her other siblings, she sailed from England to join Joseph and Mercy.	CHC, 6:388.

1834	Toronto
1834 study group William Patrick	The year 1834 was also the year that York was renamed Toronto, and soon after Mary's arrival, the three siblings joined a Bible study group in the city. The group had organized two years earlier under the leadership of William P. Patrick.	Toronto: First Century, 332. after Mary's arrival: ¶ Joseph Fielding letter
New teachings: apostasy, pre-millennialism	When the Fieldings joined, the group was meeting several times a week. "We saw many things which had not been taught us" Joseph wrote, "for instance, the first and second resurrection, the destruction of the wicked in the last days by the judgments of God, the coming of Christ to reign on the earth, in the millennium, and the apostacy of the Gentile churches."	¶ Joseph Fielding letter
Methodist investigation	These teachings did not sit well with Methodist clerics, who convened a conference to investigate the beliefs of Patrick and other preachers in the group. Taylor later summarized the conclusion of the conference:	Life of Taylor, 33. ¶ John Taylor's Methodism
Ultimatum	Brethren we esteem you as brethren and gentlemen; we believe you are sincere, but cannot fellowship your doctrine. Wishing, however, to concede all we can, we would say: You may believe your doctrines if you will not teach them and we will still retain you in fellowship as members, leaders and preachers.
Preachers withdraw	Unwilling to abide by these conditions, Patrick and others surrendered their licenses but retained their membership in the Methodist church—though another Methodist preacher who stayed with the Fieldings from time to time, returned to the orthodox fold.	returned to the orthodox fold: ¶ Joseph Fielding letter

	John Taylor
John Taylor in England Emigrates	Like Joseph and Mercy Fielding, John Taylor had emigrated from England in 1832. He had been an unusually spiritual child, having seen a vision of an angel blowing a trumpet, and on several occasions hearing the "sweet, soft, melodious music" of angelic choirs. At sixteen he converted to Methodism and became an exhorter, or local preacher, at seventeen. Seven years later, following the prompting of the Spirit, he emigrated to preach the gospel in America. After a few months in New York, he moved to Toronto, where his parents had settled in 1830.	Life of Taylor, 27–30. ¶ John Taylor's Methodism
Leonora Cannon	Within a few months of his arrival, John proposed to Leonora Cannon, a member of the Methodist class he led. She was:
	refined both by nature and education, gentle and lady-like in manner, witty, intelligent, gifted with rare conversational powers, possessed of a deep religious sentiment, and, withal, remarkable for the beauty of her person.
Marriage	Leonora turned him down. At thirty-six she was nearly eleven years older than he. But later she dreamed of him, a dream she interpreted as providential, so when he proposed again, she accepted. They were married January 28, 1833—not by a Methodist preacher, but by an Anglican chaplain.	Anglican chaplain: Taylor preparation, 123.
Upper Canada Missions