Elijah Hedding


Elijah Hedding was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1824.

Early life

Hedding was born near Pine Plains in Dutchess County, New York to parents of English origin. He was trained in prayer by his mother, who was brought into the church under circuit preacher Benjamin Abbot. It is said that when he was only three years old, his mother taught him the first principles of the Christian faith and he felt the fear of God. For several years he practiced secret prayer.
When Abbott began preaching in the neighborhood, his ministry resulted in the conversion not only of Hedding's mother, but his grandmother and other relatives as well, all of whom joined the Methodist Episcopal Church. Hedding attended public worship with his mother and remained with her in class-meeting after the preaching.
Bishop Matthew Simpson related one occasion in Hedding's young life of Christian faith:
When he was about 10 years old, Hedding's parents moved to Vermont. When he was about 15 or 16, a Methodist family from Connecticut moved into the neighborhood and began holding meetings in their home. There was singing and praying, and Hedding, being a good reader, was appointed to read one of John Wesley's sermons or a portion of Baxter's Call. These meetings were kept up regularly until 1798, when this home became a Methodist preaching place on a regular circuit.
The woman of the house, reportedly a Mrs. Bushnell, used to frequently talk with young Hedding privately on the subject of the Christian religion. He is reported to have said about those conversations :
About six weeks after this, Hedding remained in class-meeting after preaching, when the preacher and brethren, seeing his distress, kneeled in interceded for him. During the meeting he received spiritual comfort and gave his name as a probationer in the Methodist Episcopal Church on 27 December 1798.
At the time of his awakening, Hedding received some comfort but he had not a clear consciousness of his acceptance and conversion. He says of this, quoted by Bishop Simpson:

Circuit riding and ordained ministry

Though only licensed as an exhorter, in 1799 Hedding supplied the place of Lorenzo Dow who had left his circuit. In 1801 Hedding was admitted on probation in the Newark Annual Conference. He was ordained, both deacon and elder, by Bishop Richard Whatcoat.
Hedding served a variety of appointments, as a pioneer circuit preacher or a city pastor. In 1807 he was appointed the presiding elder of the New Hampshire district. In 1811 he was stationed in Boston. In 1817 he was again a presiding elder, this time in the Portland district. He was subsequently appointed to Lynn Common, to Boston, and then the Boston district. "Father Taylor", the noted sailor preacher, was converted under Hedding at the Bromfield Street M.E. Church in Boston.

Episcopal ministry

Hedding was elected and consecrated as a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church at the general conference which met in Baltimore in May 1824. For nearly 28 years he performed the duties of his office with great ability.
Bishop Matthew Simpson offered this assessment of Hedding's episcopacy:

Faith in the face of death

Hedding suffered in his early years from violent attacks of inflammatory rheumatism. He became seriously ill in 1848 but continued to work. He said, "I hope for, and expect to receive, salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Hedding's last illness was protracted and severe. Nevertheless, his mental powers were clear and vigorous to the last. About 10 days before his death he said, quoted by Bishop Simpson:
After a protracted illness, Hedding died on 9 April 1852 in Poughkeepsie, New York. He was buried in a rural cemetery on the east side of the Hudson, below Poughkeepsie.
In 1862, a decade after his death, a Methodist campmeeting ground in Epping, New Hampshire, was named in his honor.

Selected writings