Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman (SRSC 12)

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Mission with Prophetic Power: The Journal of John Woolman

in general or regarding how he will act in the future. During these years Woolman settled into marriage and into a career that was less cumbersome and more in keeping with the “plain way” that resonated with his values and his desire to be free for missionary travels. Mention of his father’s death leads Woolman to reflect on common themes in his Journal : the issue of slavery, war, economics, and his self-understanding of his role as a “prophet.”

T he T ext First Mission (1743)

My esteemed friend Abraham Farrington, being about to make a visit to Friends on the eastern side of this province and having no companion, proposed to me to go with him; and after a conference with some elderly Friends I agreed to go. We set out on the fifth of Ninth Month, 1743; had an evening meeting at a tavern in Brunswick, a town in which none of our Society* dwelt; the room was full and the people quiet. From there we went to Amboy, and had an evening meeting in the courthouse, to which came many people, among whom were several members of Assembly, 1 they being in town on the public affairs of the province. In both these meetings my ancient companion was engaged to preach largely in the love of the gospel. From there we went to Woodbridge, Rahway, and Plainfield, and had six or seven meetings in places where Friends meetings are not usually held, chiefly attended by Presbyterians, and my beloved companion was frequently strengthened to publish the word of life among them. As for me, I was often silent through the meetings, and when I spoke it was with much care, that I might speak only what truth* opened.*

1 Assembly – Government representatives.