Nathan Bangs (1778-1862)

Nathan Bangs was an American Christian theologian in the Methodist Tradition and a very influential leader in the methodist Episcopal Church before the 1860s.

Nathan received a limited education, taught school and in 1799 went to Upper Canada in search of work as either a teacher or a land-surveyor.

!800 he was converted to Methodism and worked for 8 years as an itinerant preacher in the wilderness of the Canadian provinces. He took responsibility for organizing the first camp held in Upper Canada. in 1805.

In 1805 he also married Canadian Mary Bolton of Edwardsburgh Township. They had 11 children

After a brief stint in Lower Canada he was transfered back to the USA in 1808 - first in Albany then New York 1810. 1812 made presiding Elder of the Lower Canada District, also riding the Montreal Circuit Today he would be equivalent to a district superintendent.

With war brewing between Britain and the USA he ended up becoming Presiding Elder of the Croton Circuit in Delaware.

1820 he was transferred from a pastorate in New York to become the Senior Book Agent of the Methodist Book Concern . Founded in 1798 by John Dickins it was the publishing arm of American Methodism. Under Nathan the establishment was provided with its first press, binary, official premises and weekly newspaper. He paid off the Concern’s debts and was the first editor of the Methodist Magazine. In 1828 he officially became editor also of the Christian Advocate. When the Methodist Quarterly Review replaced the Methodist Magazine in 1832 he stayed editor.

In 1836 Nathan became the principal founder and secretary of the Methodist Missionary Society. He devoted his chief energies to its service. (1836-41.

In 1841, aged 62, he left the Society and was appointed president of the Wesleyan University of Middletown. His skills unfortunately did not far well in higher education. He returned to New York where he spent the next 20 years devoting his time to writing and pastoral work. He did stay on the Wesleyan board until his death.

His most important piece of writing was History of the Methodist Episcopal Church from its Origins in1776 to the General conference of 1840 (4 volumes, New York, 1839-42) ( See list at end of wikipedia entry)

Unfortunately his reputation suffered when he failed to support Methodist abolitionists at The General Conference in 1844.

Nathan died on 3rd May 1862 in New York City.

He had an illustrious career. During his time the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC), in both the USA and Canada, was transformed from an alternative society into a middle class, main stream denomination.

Jared Maddox’s book Nathan Bangs which came out for the bi-centenary of the MEC in 2019 revises our estimates of the man who played Wesley-like roles in refashioning post Asbury American Methodism for the print age.

Sources
Britannia Online Encyclopedia
Methodist mission Bicentenial
wikipedia