Withdrawal of November 8, 1842

On November 8, 1842, Orange Scott, La Roy Sunderland, and Luther Lee withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal Church, grieving that a church could tolerate slaveholding while restraining abolitionist preaching. Their act was not a rejection of the gospel, but a plea that the church must repent rather than regulate sin. They believed holiness must be visible in public obedience, not confined to private devotion. “Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)

Their separation carried real cost—loss of standing, salary, and security—yet it displayed the Christian courage that values faithfulness over comfort. They sought to keep consciences tender, refusing peace that required silence in the face of human bondage.

Orange Scott (1800–1847)

Scott, a Methodist minister shaped by revival faith and Wesleyan teaching, became convinced that sanctification must bear fruit in justice and mercy. He argued that Christian witness is weakened when believers excuse what Scripture condemns. In leaving, he modeled pastoral integrity: he would not ask Christ’s people to submit to a system that dulled moral clarity.

Scott’s leadership helped gather like-minded believers who saw abolition not as political fashion but as neighbor-love applied at great personal risk. “Learn to do right; seek justice. Correct the oppressor; defend the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17)

La Roy Sunderland and Luther Lee

Sunderland was a forceful reform voice and writer, skilled at exposing compromise and urging repentance. Lee, a gifted preacher and later editor, helped shape a tone of earnest piety joined to action. Together with Scott, they encouraged Christians to speak plainly, pray fervently, and suffer patiently—trusting God to vindicate truth in His time.

The True Wesleyan and the Wesleyan Methodist Connection (1843)

With prayerful resolve, they began publishing The True Wesleyan, calling readers to “scriptural holiness” that touched family life, church discipline, and national conscience. The paper rallied believers for reform, strengthened isolated abolitionist Christians, and insisted that the church’s mission includes both gospel proclamation and righteous practice. In 1843, this witness helped prepare the way for the Wesleyan Methodist Connection, a new body committed to freedom, holy living, and a church testimony that could not be bought with silence.