“God Raised Me Up Friends”: Characteristics of Spiritual Friendship Among Early American Methodist Women

Combining primary and secondary sources, the author describes spiritual friendships among women as a characteristic of the Methodist movement in North America from the late eighteenth to late nineteenth centuries, suggesting that these bonds played a determinative role in the movement’s growth. The article demonstrates how distinguishing features of early American Methodism, including its social occasions (such as class, band, and society meetings, love feasts, events with guest preachers, and gatherings segregated by sex), spirituality of sanctification, and proactive social concern, were predominantly constituted by women’s participation and grew from invitations by and for women. These features likewise facilitated the development of women’s leadership as organizers within the movement, of which they have been and still are the predominant gender. The author contrasts the influential role of women in friendship as a determinative factor in the movement’s growth with the more familiar veneration of its prominent male itinerant preachers.