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Samuel Leigh. PICTURE: Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Sydney Living Museums. |
25th August, 2015
A celebration service will be held at Sydney’s Wesley Mission this Sunday to mark the 200th anniversary of the arrival in Australia of its first Methodist minister, Rev Samuel Leigh.
Rev Keith Garner, the mission’s superintendent, said the arrival of Rev Leigh in 1815 was a realisation of the hopes of Sydney’s early Wesleyan community.
"As Australia’s first Methodist missionary, Samuel Leigh showed remarkable courage and perseverance in the face of great hardship and the gruelling task of ministry in the fledgling colony of Sydney," he said.
Rev Leigh dedicated himself to reaching as many people as possible with God’s Word after his arrival, often visiting people door-to-door or on horseback including on roads frequented by bushrangers. He is also noted for his concern for the poor and for the Aborigines he encountered.
Rev Garner said Australian Christians today could learn a lot from Rev Leigh’s faith and missionary work. "The legacy Samuel Leigh has left is not just about the churches and ministries he instigated or set up; it is as much about his sacrificial commitment to the work of God, his determination to continue in his ministry despite heartbreaking obstacles, and his humble and enduring faith.
The celebration comes three year’s after almost 2,000 people marched through Sydney’s streets to mark 200 years since the city’s earliest Wesleyans – including Edward Eagar, Thomas Bowden and John Hosking – wrote a letter to the Methodist Church in England pleading for them to send a minister. The arrival of Rev Leigh was an answer to that question.
The special service will be held at the Wesley Centre at 220 Pitt Street in Sydney’s CBD on 30th August from 2.30pm.
– DAVID ADAMS
