Hoover Wesleyan Church History
In 1835, under the labors of the Rev. Edward Smith, Martha Rogers Hoover came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Along with her husband, Charles, she joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, where they were members for eight years. Sometime after coming to Christ, Martha came to hear the famous abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Martha and Charles withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal Church and united with the newly formed church-- the Wesleyan Methodist Church--made up of other former members of the Methodist Episcopal Church who were dissatisfied with its stance on the issue of slavery.
As Martha and Charles began to speak out against slavery, their family became ostracized in their Ohio town, with their children getting barred from continuing to attend public school. When, in 1851, the State of Iowa began giving away land for free, Martha and Charles set out for Iowa, settling out in rural Quasqueton, IA. There, they organized church services in a log school before Charles was moved to walk over forty miles from rural Quasqueton to Dubuque in order to order lumber to build a church. The church was completed in 1884, and in 1891 it was deeded to the Wesleyan Methodist Church (now The Wesleyan Church), where it still remains a faithful beacon to rural Quasqueton and Troy Mills.
Until the day she died, Martha stayed true to the Wesleyan Methodist causes of abolitionism, temperance and women's suffrage. Hoover Wesleyan Church followed Martha’s lead, and in 1905, Bertha Betzer Ellis became the first woman pastor in Hoover Wesleyan Church History.
Our Denomination’s History
The Wesleyan Church was founded in 1968 when the Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Pilgrim Holiness Church merged. The new denomination was shaped by the Wesleyan Methodists’ appreciation for structure combining with the Pilgrims’ entrepreneurial spirit.
The holy blaze in the hearts of Wesleyans caught fire in 18th century England with a Church of England priest, John Wesley, who called upon Christian believers to commit to a life of holiness and the study of God’s Word. Our name “Wesleyan” honors him.
Wesley was an outstanding Oxford scholar, yet regarded himself as “a man of one book,” the Bible. It was while studying the Bible that Wesley received assurance of his salvation through faith. It was the Bible that motivated his vision for offering Christ to the common people of England and which eventually led to the nation’s greatest spiritual revival.
Biblical truth inspired Wesley to develop a school for orphans, job programs and medical assistance for the poor, efforts to reform inhumane prisons and arguments for the abolition of slavery. Confidence in the Bible as “the only and sufficient rule for Christian faith and practice” (to use Wesley’s own words) remains a hallmark of The Wesleyan Church today.
It was in 1843 that our leaders organized to address social issues through The Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America. Wesleyans were one of the first denominations in America to ordain women and were at the forefront of giving laity significant roles in church leadership.
The movement spread like wildfire as passionate Wesleyans began to radically apply their faith to every area of their life and communities, leading to reformations in education, culture, and governments.
Wesleyan groups in both England and North America openly opposed slavery, called for women’s rights, and stood up against child labor atrocities.
This distinct call to holiness and witness bound Wesleyans together as a diverse family of multiple nationalities, races, languages, and cultures. Members of The Wesleyan Church continue to be catalysts for individual and social transformation.
Learn more about our history in the Wesleyan archives.