Hester Ann Rogers (1756 - 1794) is relatively unknown today, but in the 18th and19th centuries, the Methodist Church and those who agreed with John Wesley's teachings about entire sanctification, pointed to her as an example that other women should follow. She was John Wesley's housekeeper, the wife of an early Methodist preacher, the mother of eight children and constantly exhibited the behavior and demeanor appropriate to Wesleyan holiness.
Throughout her life, Rogers influenced those around her, testifying to God’s work in her own life and exhorting others to allow God to work in theirs. She taught classes, wrote letters of encouragement, and visited the sick and poor, all while maintaining her own household. Yet her many activities did not supplant her first love, love for God, but rather grew out of that love.
Rogers' Spiritual Journey Towards Wesleyan Holiness
From the age of sixteen, Rogers faithfully kept a journal, documenting the ups and downs of her spiritual journey and especially her experience of Christian perfection as defined by Wesley. After she was entirely sanctified, another term used to describe Wesleyan holiness, Hester’s seesaw spiritual journey became more consistent. She grew in her relationship with God. Just prior to her unexpected death, at the age of 38, Hester wrote a book about her spiritual journey and included excerpts from her journal. Her narrative has been reprinted dozens of times and is still in publication today.
Rogers' Begged God for the Gift of Entire Sanctification
As a teen, enticed to live the good life provided by her godmother, Rogers struggled with the notion that being a Christian meant giving up fun, romance, nice clothes and dancing. As she vacillated between her desire for the things money can buy and her need for God, Rogers often prayed. She begged God to give her a sense of direction and a deeper love for him.
Even after receiving the gift of perfection, Hester was confronted by a variety of experiences she described as temptations and often she engaged in what she called Christian warfare. It was her faith in God and her reliance on prayer that helped her navigate the difficult times.
In her book, Rogers related times when she says that Satan spoke to her, making suggestions that caused Rogers to cry out to God for help. Time after time, in responses she attributed to God, Hester would suddenly remember Scripture that gave her an answer to the doubt or question that had been raised by the devil. In describing her experience, Rogers wrote about her behavior, feelings, and thoughts. Through her writing, she candidly revealed her stormy passage through what she saw as a rebellious adolescence to a submissive spiritual maturity.
Rogers and John Wesley Become Close Friends
Rogers met John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, in 1776. They began a correspondence that continued until she became his housekeeper in 1790. It was at his urging that she wrote and had published her testimony. The narrative documented the struggle she faced while trying to understand the Christian journey as preached by Wesley and promulgated by the early Methodists.
Clothed in humility and always eager and ready to help those in need, Hester Ann Rogers would make a good example of how to live without the special spiritual gift of entire sanctification. But Rogers' greatest attribute that was the primary reason other women wanted to emulate her was her holiness, her ability to live out the love she received from God.
John Wesley's Doctrine of Christian Perfection provides more information about the Wesleyan teaching on holiness.
Mistie Shaw - Writing for nearly half a century, Shaw's interests and education meander from music to the military, and from faith to fun.
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