William Mc Kendree - Ministry

Ministry

In 1788, while living in Brunswick County, Virginia, William was received on trial into the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Unusually, he was admitted without first obtaining a License to Preach and without anyone's recommendation. Bishop Francis Asbury appointed him as junior preacher to Mecklenburg circuit and he served for several years on neighboring circuits.

The Rev. McKendree continued as an itinerant preacher until November 1792, when, having been influenced by Mr. O'Kelly to join in certain measures of pretended reform, he was greatly disappointed by their failure at the General Conference. Mr. O'Kelly withdrew from the M.E. Church. Mr. McKendree, sympathizing with him, sent in his resignation as a minister. But the Conference agreed that he might still preach among the Methodist societies.

Rev. McKendree soon obtained leave to travel with Bishop Asbury, that he might ascertain for himself whether his impressions had been well founded. In a short time he was convinced he had been deceived. He therefore devoted himself to a careful examination of the Rules and Discipline of the Church as drawn up by John Wesley, and as established by the General Conference in the U.S.A. McKendree became fully convinced both of their harmony with the primitive church and of their particular adaptedness to the circumstances and wants of this nation.

In 1793 the Rev. McKendree was sent to South Carolina, but returned the next year. For the next three years, his circuit was vast—extending from Chesapeake Bay to the Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains. In 1796 he became Presiding Elder. In 1798, he was appointed to the Baltimore conference, and in 1800 he went with Bishop Asbury and Bishop Richard Whatcoat to the Western Conference, which met that year at Bethel, Kentucky.

Rev. McKendree was appointed the Presiding Elder of the Kentucky-Holston District, 1800-01. In 1801, the conference sent McKendree to oversee the church's efforts in Southeastern Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and western Virginia and part of Illinois. He subsequently became Presiding Elder on the Cumberland District. He served as a circuit preacher in addition to his organizational efforts, becoming a respected figure in the region. He was the leader of the Great Revival in the West.