Elijah Hedding

Elijah Hedding (7 June 1780 – 9 April 1852) was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1824.

Birth and Rebirth

Elijah was born near Pine Plains, in Dutchess County, New York to parents of English origin. He was trained in prayer by his mother, who was brought into the church under Circuit Preacher Benjamin Abbot. Indeed, it is said that when Elijah was but three years old, his mother taught him the first principles of the Christian faith, and he felt the fear of God. For several years he practiced secret prayer.

When Rev. Abbott began preaching in the neighborhood, his ministry was blessed in the conversion not only of Elijah's mother, but his grandmother and other relatives, as well, all of whom joined the M.E. Church. Elijah attended public worship with his mother, and remained with her in class-meeting after the preaching.

Bishop Matthew Simpson related one occasion in Elijah Hedding's young life of faith:

:after Mr. Abbott had spoken to the class, he went to little Elijah and said, "Well, my boy, do you think you are a sinner?" He replied, "Yes, sir." Mr. Abbott then, with vehemence and loud voice, said, "There's many a boy in hell not as old as you are," and most impressively exhorted him to seek religion. Bishop Hedding says of this event "It not only frightened me but produced real religious concern, as I doubt not it was accompanied by the operation of God's Holy Spirit."

When Elijah was about ten years old his parents moved to Vermont. When he was about fifteen or sixteen, a Methodist family from Connecticut moved into the neighborhood and began holding meetings in their home. There was singing and praying, and young Elijah, being a good reader, was appointed to read one of John Wesley's sermons, or a portion of Baxter's Call. These meetings were kept up regularly until 1798, when this home became a Methodist preaching-place on a regular circuit.

The lady of the house, reportedly a Mrs. Bushnell, used to frequently talk with young Hedding privately on the subject of the Christian religion. Elijah Hedding is reported to have said about those conversations (quoted by Bishop Simpson)::"Her conversation, more than anything else, was the means of my seeking religion. After one of these conversations, on my way home I turned into a grove and kneeled by the side of a great tree and covenanted with God to part with all my idols and seek salvation with all my heart."

About six weeks after this, Elijah remained in class-meeting after preaching, when the preacher and brethren seeing his distress, kneeled in interecessing for him. During the meeting he received spiritual comfort and gave his name as a probationer in the M.E. Church. This was 27 December 1798.

Conversion to Christ

The story of Bishop Hedding's early Christian life is testament to the sometimes slow and steady moving of the Holy Spirit in Christian conversion. For, though at the time of his awakening (shared above) Elijah received some comfort, he had not yet a clear consciousness of his acceptance and conversion. He says of this (again quoted by Bishop Simpson)::"About six weeks after this, while conversing with a brother about the Witness of the Spirit, the light of the Spirit broke in upon my mind as clear and perceptible as the sun when it comes from behind a cloud, testifying that I was born of God, and that it was done at the time before named, when my guilt was removed and I found peace in believing."

Circuit Riding and Ordained Ministry

Though only licensed as an Exhorter, in 1799 Elijah Hedding supplied the place of Lorenzo Dow, who had left his circuit. In 1801 the Rev. Hedding was admitted on probation in the Newark Annual Conference. He was ordained, both Deacon and Elder, by Bishop Richard Whatcoat.

The Rev. Mr. Hedding served a variety of appointments thereafter, as a pioneer Circuit Preacher or a city Pastor. In 1807 he was appointed Presiding Elder of the New Hampshire district. In 1811 he was stationed in Boston. In 1817 he was again Presiding Elder, this time on the Portland district. He was subsequently appointed to Lynn Common, to Boston, and then the Boston district. "Father Taylor," the famous sailor preacher, was converted under Hedding at the Bromfield Street M.E. Church in Boston.

Episcopal Ministry

The Rev. Elijah Hedding was elected and consecrated a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church at the General Conference which met in Baltimore, May, 1824. Thereafter, for nearly twenty-eight years, he performed the duties of his office with great ability.

Bishop Matthew Simpson offered this assessment of Elijah Hedding's episcopacy::"He was remarkable for promptness in duty, wisdom in council, strict integrity, and deep piety. Anxious days and sleepless nights and strong intercessions with God showed his deep solicitude for the prosperity of the churches. His pulpit power, his excellence as an officer, his administrative ability, gave him prominence in the affections and confidence of the M.E. Church."

Faith in the Face of Death

Elijah suffered in his early years from violent attacks of inflammatory rheumatism. He became seriously ill in 1848, but continued to work. He said, "I hope for, and expect to receive, salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."

His last illness was protracted and severe. Nevertheless, his mental powers were preserved clear and vigorous to the last. About ten days before his death he said (once more, quoted by Bishop Simpson)::"With the stroke God gave me wonderful grace, and it has been with me ever since. Not a day, not an hour, not a moment have I had any doubt or tormenting fear of death. I have been times so that it was doubtful whether I would live five minutes, but all was bright and glorious. But to-day I have been" wonderfully blessed."

:"I was reflecting upon the wonder of God's mercy,--how a just and infinite and holy God could take such vile creatures to dwell with Him in so holy a place; so unworthy, so sinful, so polluted. I thought of His great mercy to me,--how much He had done for me,--and I had such glorious views of the atonement of Christ,--His sufferings and the glory that should follow,--that my soul was filled in a wonderful manner.

:"I have served God more than fifty years. I have generally had peace, but" I never saw such glory before, such light, and such gloriousness, such beauty! "Oh, I want to tell it to all the world! Oh, had I a trumpet voice,

After a protracted illness, he died 9 April, 1852 in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was buried in a rural cemetery on the east side of the Hudson, below Poughkeepsie.

elected writings

*Sermon: The Supreme Deity of Christ, New England Conference, Bath, Maine, 1822. (also as a 20 pp. pamphlet in 1829, and later published by the New York Conference, as well).
*Sermon in The Methodist Preacher, Ebenezer Ireson, Editor, 1831.
*Sermon: "Self-Government," in The Methodist Preacher, S.W. Willson and Ebenezer Ireson, Editors, 1832. (previously published as a pamphlet in 1831).
*Address at Oneida and Genesee Conferences on "the Duty of the President of an Annual Conference; on the Rights and Powers of Such a Conference and on the Principles and History of Said Church, on the Act of Holding Slaves;" also "Thoughts on Evil Speaking and a Report on Slavery of the Genesee Annual Conference," pamphlet, 28 pp., 1837; (also in Elliott, C., History of the Great Secession, Document 27, 1855.
*Discourse on the Administration of the Discipline, delivered in 1841 at Philadelphia, Newark, Providence, and Maine Conferences, and published in miniature book form by request of these bodies, 1842 and 1845.
*Sermon: "Christ the Theme of the Prophets," in Clark, D.W., The Methodist Pulpit, 1848.
*Special Salvation, pamphlet, 29 pp., 1850.
*Sermon: "Self-Government," in Sermons on Miscellaneous Subjects, Cincinnati, 1847; also in The Methodist Preacher, Augurn, 1852.

Biographies

*Stevens, A., Memorials of the Introduction of Methodism into the Eastern States, 1848.
*McClintock, John, Biographical Sketches, 1853.
*Clark, D.W., Life and Times of Rev. Elijah Hedding, D.D., (introd. by E.S. Janes), 1855.
*Hibbard, R.F., Startling Disclosures Concerning the Death of John N. Maffitt, "a Review of Bishop Hedding's Decision," pamphlet, 1856.
*Ludlow, H.G. and Kilbourn, David, a sketch (with letters of Tobias Spicer) in Annals of the American Pulpit, W.B. Sprague, 1861.
*Pierce, B.K., a sketch in Lives of Methodist Bishops, Flood and Hamilton, 1882.

References

*Leete, Frederick DeLand, Methodist Bishops. Nashville, Tenn., The Methodist Publishing House, 1948.
*Short, Roy Hunter, Chosen to be Consecrated: The Bishops of The Methodist Church, 1784-1968, Lake Junaluska, N.C., General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church, 1976.

ee also

*List of Bishops of the United Methodist Church

Persondata
NAME=Hedding, Elijah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
DATE OF BIRTH=7 June 1780
PLACE OF BIRTH=Pine Plains, New York
DATE OF DEATH=9 April 1852
PLACE OF DEATH=Poughkeepsie, New York